Modern Art, Day 184 March 2013

Van Gogh, Munch

Gauguin, “The Spirit of the Dead Watching/Manao Tupapau,” 1892

Gauguin, “Day of the God/Mahana no atua,” 1894 painted while he was back in Paris in between trips to Tahiti

mysterious order to this magical realm; figures in fetal positions have symmetry and mirror each other

Gauguin, “Where do we come from, Who are We, Where are we Going?” 1897-8 last masterpiece woman figure picking apple is allusion to the Garden of Eden goose in the lower left corner alludes to the beyond and the end of life colors are heightened from what you’d see in nature and suggest the lushness of nature artist talked about the painting in terms of music: “It is a musical poem and is in no need of libretto” artist inspired other artists who worked on urban subjects

Van Gogh, “Potato Eaters,” 1885 comes from northern tradition grounded in Protestantism rather than Catholicism, which was concerned

with personal subjectivity interested in depicting the poor and engaging with the people through art since preaching didn’t work

out for him inspired by Rembrandt’s “Supper at Emmaus”; uses a single light that pools over the figures similar to

Rembrandt’s painting

Van Gogh, “Le Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre” 1887

Van Gogh, “Self Portrait,” 1886/8

Eyes anchor the composition swirling color shows dabbling in

neoimpressionism

Van Gogh, “Sunflowers,” 1888 signs often with only his first name appeared to other artists as naïve, but he was interested in other artists, including Daumier, Millet, and

the artists of Japanese prints

Van Gogh, “Flowering Plum Trees,” after Hiroshige, 1887

Van Gogh, “Night Café,” 1888 kind of people who would hang out there are a bit marginal and dangerous juxtaposition of complementary colors

Van Gogh, “Artist’s Bedroom,” 1889 his asylum room at St. Remy came here after incident with Gauguin (Theo subsidized Gauguin to come live with Van Gogh)

Van Gogh, “Van Gogh’s Chair” and “Gauguin’s Chair,” 1888 shows their personality through the chairs; Gauguin is more intellectual, Van Gogh is content with

simpler pleasures

Van Gogh, “Wheat Field and Cypress Trees,” 1889 rhythmic use of line and swirling patterns

Van Gogh, “Starry Night,” 1889

Van Gogh, “Wheat Field with Crows,” 1890 brushstrokes look like strands of spaghetti squash

Edvard Munch, “Self Portrait with Cigarette,” 1895 suffered alcoholism and nervous breakdowns very connected to Freud’s work part of an avant-garde group in Oslo family had to deal with tuberculosis and death

Edvard Munch, “Death in the Sickroom,” 1893

Munch, “Evening in Carl Johann Strasse,” 1889

Munch, “Puberty,” 1893 “The Madonna,” 1895-1902