Gauguins Chair Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Vincent van Gogh – Gauguins Chair
Edit attribution
Download full size: 3500×4421 px (4,2 Mb)
Painter: Vincent van Gogh
Location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
Album navigation:
One of the most famous artists of the century was born in Holland. From childhood he was a quiet and withdrawn child, and no one could have imagined that Van Gogh would reach the heights of life, become famous throughout the world, and the legacy of his paintings would be treasured forever. He was driven by an overwhelming desire to express his thoughts and assumptions about the meaning of life in his paintings. Van Gogh carried his friendship with the famous French painter Paul Gauguin almost throughout his life.
ArtClub
Best Contemporary Atists
Description of Vincent van Gogh’s painting Gauguin’s Armchair (Chair)
One of the most famous artists of the century was born in Holland. From childhood he was a quiet and withdrawn child, and no one could have imagined that Van Gogh would reach the heights of life, become famous throughout the world, and the legacy of his paintings would be treasured forever. He was driven by an overwhelming desire to express his thoughts and assumptions about the meaning of life in his paintings.
Van Gogh carried his friendship with the famous French painter Paul Gauguin almost throughout his life. When the Frenchman arrived in Arles, in 1888, the friends lived together for two months. This interpretation of the unification of the chair owner was an extension of the work Vincent’s Chair with Pipe, which was painted during the same period. Through these paintings, the artist wanted to convey the prototype of himself and his friend, the dissimilarity of the two characters, and the chair and armchair in the center of the room carried the meaning, as it were, of the center of the universe.
As the Master himself said: "The chair is the most necessary, the main and most domestic piece of furniture. Sitting on a chair, all the elements of that object engage every part of the human body.
The chair, as well as the chair, are inanimate objects, and the seat of man and is a symbol of the living. It leaves a trace in the material realm. The very idea of depicting "empty space" appeared many times in the artist’s creative imagination after his illness, when he realized that nothing is left of a person after death.
If in the first picture the artist depicted a chair with an extinguished candle, here, sad and lonely is an armchair with a funeral candlestick.
On two canvases depicts the lack of motifs brightly - expressed life position. After all, his only friend is gone, and with his departure, all of Van Gogh’s dreams and ideas have crumbled. After all, in addition to friendship, the artist had hoped to have a long and fruitful collaboration with Gauguin.
You cannot comment Why?
The painting carries several subtexts. Van Gogh painted this in December 1888, during a period of intense emotional turmoil and shortly before the infamous ear-cutting incident. The painting is often interpreted as a response to and a contrast with a portrait of Van Goghs own chair that Gauguin had painted earlier that year. Gauguins portrait of Van Goghs chair symbolized Van Goghs artistic identity and his connection to his work, with symbols like sunflowers and a garlic bulb. In contrast, Van Goghs painting of Gauguins chair, which is more solid and less ornate, can be seen as a representation of Gauguins more academic and perhaps stubborn artistic approach. The lit candle and open book on Gauguins chair might symbolize Gauguins intellectualism and perhaps his perceived superiority or self-assuredness that Van Gogh found both admirable and frustrating. The stark green background and the intense use of color contribute to an atmosphere of heightened emotion and psychological tension. The painting can be read as Van Gogh creating a portrait of his friend and artistic rival through the inanimate object that represented him, reflecting their complex and often fraught relationship.