Paintings

Gogh Cafe

Dreaming of Starry Nights

Perhaps one of my favorite artists of all time is Vincent Van Gogh. I don't know. There's something about his paintings that give me this dreamy, whimsical feeling – the kind of feeling where you believe all things are possible. Knowing Van Gogh mainly for the stirring he brought about from his infamous ear experience, I wanted to do a little research on the man who brought so much beauty into the world.

 

Born in Holland, Vincent William Van Gogh was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter. Raised mainly in Holland and spending quite a bit of his younger years in Paris, Van Gogh felt a pull later in his life to the clean and beautiful skies of Provence. And it was perhaps here that he produced some of his best work. Living in Arles, Van Gogh's creativity, productivity and madness all reached a climax. He worked for a short while with fellow artist Paul Gauguin, eventually driving him away. In one year alone, he painted nearly 200 canvases, all the while living in intense isolation and an immense suffering. In fact the only main contact he had with the outside world was in his letters he'd write to his patient brother Theo.

 

The townspeople of Arles though were not as patient with him. A heavy drinker, and occasional user of whores, Van Gogh offended the majority of his neighbors. So much so that in 1889 the people of Arles petitioned to have him evicted. The shock of this left him even more unable to cope with life, eventually leading him to self-commit himself to an asylum in St-Rémy.

 

Most of Van Gogh's paintings are now in Moscow and Amsterdam, so you can't view them in France. However, you can visit many of the places that inspired his works in Arles. Starry Night may have been painted from the Quai du Rhône just off Place Lamartine. The Café La Nuit on Place Forum is exactly reminiscent for the terrace platform, scattered with tables and immersed in gaslight under the stars, from the painting Terrace de café le Soir. In fact, Van Gogh and Gauguin used to frequent here often.

 

So it seems to me that to learn more about this magnificent artist and his traumatic, yet beautiful life, I need to venture to the French countryside. And Provence couldn't be a more amazing vacation destination. If you're interested as well, Sceptre Tours has great European River Cruise packages that travel right through this region.

About the Author

Which artists would you prefer to buy Van Gogh or Pablo Picasso?

While was on the liberty of the seas my family and I went to an art auction we have won a piece of art but I can't remember who is the artist name. Anyway as we leaving the auction my parents give me a print of an Charles Lee printing called Mythical Rose. They were giving out to everyone but I forget to grab me one and every since that auction I got into fine. My parents brought a print a of Starry Night by Van Gogh and The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum they are hung up in our house. While we at the auction the auctioneer had everyone bid on a Pablo Picasso but since it was so expensive we did not buy it. One day I like to fill my house of with fine art like Charles Lee, Van Gogh, Picasso and Peter Max. Which one of the artists paintings would you like to buy and why?

A Picasso sold recently at auction for a staggering sum, I think about £70 million - or whatever. The highest amount ever paid for any painting.

Yup, I'll have the Picasso.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/picasso-sells-at-auction-for-record-pound70-million-1962849.html

But I do like Vincent. In particular his paintings of the Windmills of Montmartre Paris.

http://online-art-museum.com/wp-content/main/2010_01/View-of-Montmartre-with-Windmills.jpg

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/01/40/93/montmartre-windmill.jpg

Bucharest In Your Pocket - Grand Café Van Gogh

Tags: 1st-ela-rr-tc-rst, art, gogh, gogh cafe terrace, gogh cafe terrace at night, vangogh, van_gogh

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm and is filed under paintings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.