Van Gogh at work / Marije Vellekoop ; with contributions by Nienke Bakker, Maite van Dijk, Muriel Geldof, Ella Hendriks, Birgit Reissland ; text editing, Paul Holberton ; translations, Ted Alkins, Michael Hoyle, Beverley Jackson.
Publisher:
Mercatorfonds ;
Copyright Date:
2013
Description:
304 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 26 x 31 cm
"First published to accompany the exhibition 'Van Gogh at Work' at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 1 May 2013-12 January 2014." Includes bibliographical references (page 298) and indexes.
Summary:
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is often considered to be a genius in a class of his own, an exceptional self-taught artist who paid little attention to the art world around him. In reality, Van Gogh learned extensively from others, exchanged ideas with his contemporaries, and often made use of prevailing methods and techniques to hone his skills. This book explores the workmanship behind his artistry. The reader follows Van Gogh's quest to perfect his skills and the way he adopted various drawing and painting techniques; acquired information about materials; learned about the physical characteristics of canvasses, paint, paper, chalk, and other materials; how he approached working on paper and canvas and which factors influenced his working practice. Showing his work alongside that of other artists demonstrates the degree to which he followed examples set by his contemporaries. Van Gogh's working methods are explored along with his most famous works, addressing topics as the use of a perspective frame, color theory, the influence of contemporaries and the famous repetitions of a theme as in the Sunflowers and the Bedroom series.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.