The Art of Vincent van Gogh: Part II

Here, we see one of van Goghs more recognizable pieces, that being The Night

Café. Van Gogh has quite an interesting take on his use of the colors red and green within the piece. For one, he actually despised the colors, which is why this piece is particularly interesting to me personally because it is not in the typical form or style of van Goghs. As we all well know, van Gogh was aloof during his time in Aries and typically did not enjoy the presence of company while he was mentally ill. So it is intriguing that he decided to depict a scene such as this particular one ultimately because it portrays a group of men, that being “drunken” derelicts. What is funny is that van Gogh ultimately despised the night café and believed it was an all night stay for drunken bums. Notice how the colors red and green are unable to depict the peaceful and luminous colors in which pieces such as Starry Night are able to exude. This piece has quite an unusual story behind it.

Known as the counterpart to Starry Night, Starry Night over the Rhone is once again, one of van Gogh’s greatest depictions of scenery and landscape during his time spent in Arles. What I find intriguing about this piece is the fact that it displays similar elements to that of Starry Night, but it essentially comes second to the famous piece. Almost all of van Goghs work is highly appreciated, but you seem to remember and think of Starry Night more than Starry Night over the Rhone. Within this piece, we once again see two of van Goghs favorite elements: The sky and the color blue. Notice how I named one of the pages within this blog “The City of Lights”? Here, we see exactly why France, in general, has earned this nickname. France is really the epicenter of art as well as aspects such as culture and architecture. But what is truly beautiful is the fact that France essentially allowed van Gogh to earn the honor as one of most color driven artists throughout the history of time. In the words van Gogh, the light and water that reflects within this piece is the result of a gas jet that has flown past.