Picture Assignment:

Biography Vincent Van Gogh

He was born in Groot-Zundert, a small town in Holland in March 1853. His father was a Protestant pastor and he had three uncles who were art dealers.

His early life seems generally to be unhappy, after a period of working in his uncle’s art dealers, he became frustrated and so became a Protestant minister. He became a preacher in the poor agricultural districts of Brabant. He empathized with the poverty of the inhabitants and began to share their poverty and rough living conditions. Despite trying to live according to the gospel message of poverty, the churchauthorities were displeased that Van Gogh seemed to be undermining the ‘dignity of the priesthood.’ He was relieved of his post and Van Gogh turned to art. Despite always disliking any formal training, he studied art in both Brussels and Paris. He began painting seriously, and in Paris was influenced by the new impressionist painters of Monet, Renoir and others. Financially helped by his close brother Theo, Van Gogh later travelled to Arles in the south of France were he continued his painting – often outside – another feature of the impressionist movement.

In Arles, he had a brief, if unsuccessful, period of time with the artist Gauguin. Van Gogh’s intensity and mental imbalance made him difficult to live with. At the end of the two weeks, Van Gogh approached Gauguin with a razor blade. Gauguin fled back to Paris, and Van Gogh later cut off the lower part of his ear with the blade.

This action was symptomatic of his increasing mental imbalance. He was later committed to a lunatic asylum where he would spend time on and off until his death in 1890.

In 1890, a series of bad news affected his mental equilibrium and one day in July, whilst painting, he shot himself in the chest. He died two days later from his wound.

Title:"The Starry Night," Vincent van Gogh.

Date:1889

Interpretation: I think the many stars and moon in the sky represent the light that he needed. The irregular and nebulous sky represent his feeling and all his mental issues. At the same time, the stars and moon lights provide proofs of the hope he was waiting for. Personally, I love this paint. The color blue gives a different connotation of the night. In the same way, it is like the picture is in constant motion. I think that was exactly how he was feeling. Looking for help where nobody was able to do so. 

1. Edvard Munch

   Painter
2. Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. Wikipedia
4. Born: December 12, 1863, Ådalsbruk, Norway
5. Died: January 23, 1944, Oslo, Norway
6. Periods: Expressionism, Symbolism, Modern art
7. Children: Jacob Munch
8. Siblings: Johanne Sophie Munch, Peter Andreas Munch, Laura Catherine Munch, Inger Marie Munch
9. Artwork 
   

   The Scream

   1893

   

   Madonna

   1895

   

   The Sick Child

   1885

   

   Puberty

   

Title:  The Scream Date: 1893

Interpretation: I believe that the Scream is a representation of fear, anxiety and personal feelings. In the same way, The Scream gives me that sense of isolation and panic with the red sky as a background. I think that Munch was dealing with his own demons where he did not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Added to that, the texture and exaggerated colors create that endless circle of desperation. That being said, that is why this picture is related to Nihilism because it has that sense of nothing and hopeless. In other words, it is telling you that the situation is bad and it is going to get worse.  

Friedrich Nietzsche

Title "Portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche"

Date: 1906

Interpretation: One more time, the exaggerated color and the hopeless expression are present on Munch's paints. I think that Munch presented Nietzsche's ideas of a death God and pessimism. In other words, both ideas of believing in nothing and pessimism go along with the Nihilism.