I am busy with a project and
not painting so thought
I would pass my personal
observations on
a couple of winter paintings.
We have been hit with an unusually
large amount of snow here in southern
New Mexico and it brought to mind
poor van Gogh moving from
Paris to Arles
for the warmer climate
only to arrive during an
unusually cold and snowy time.
A true artist... he did get out and paint!
Vincent van Gogh.1888. Landscape In The Snow.
What's not to enjoy when
looking at these paintings.
Warm and cool colors bouncing off
each other add a vibration
of energy to his strokes.
In the top one
In the top one
The red house has the
importance of being
near the vanishing point
with everything converging
comfortably to it or from it.
Even the edges of the trees
and dog fit perfectly.
I really like the way
the black hat lines up
on the horizon, and the
duller red of the jacket is perfectly
at home with the
colors in the front ground.
Vincent painted the one below
a few days later...and good for him...
he obviously was trying to
experience a whole different
composition.
Vincent van Gogh 1888
Snowy Landscape with Arles in Background.
His horizon line is still high with
a secondary focal area
of house and tree
off to the right, making the cooler
blues he used to paint
the town of Arles
appear even more distant.
The repeat of verticals in this painting
add interest and strength.
I really like the
foreground, but have no idea
what his vantage point was.
These two snow landscapes
are rather sparse probably
because, like all of us,
it takes getting familiar
with a subject to
really do it justice.
That... or it was too darned cold!
For example- look how he painted the area
10 months later.
And of course it was warmer then!
Vincent van Gogh 1888
The Red Vineyard
This one is supposed to be the
only painting Vincent ever sold
during his lifetime.
I have just read Leesa Padget's
new post, and surprise...
she wrote lovely things about me
HERE
Thank You so much, Leesa.
