Front of the Class: Van Gogh’s contribution to the development of modern painting

Van Gogh’s different approach to his paintings had very profound and significant effects on the evolution or development of modern painting. His works influenced many artists from his generation and hence. In fact, almost all the great artists of the late part of nineteenth century to the present are in one way or another influenced by Van Gogh. The Fauves, for instance, is just one of the proofs of his influence. As to the artists, several artists were also significantly influenced and this is quite evident in their works.

Distinctly in the way he used colors is also very influential to other artists of his generation and even to the present. Since Van Gogh, we see bright hues of red, yellow, oranges, greens and blues. As typical of Van Gogh’s palette, which includes the colors of chrome yellow, chrome orange, Prussian blue, lead white, emerald green, red ocher, black, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, vermilion, ultramarine, zinc white, red lake, raw sienna, these modern colors are used by modern artists and these same colors distinguished them from the artists of the past. We also see the style of Van Gogh, impasto, used by many artists and using his same colors.

Van Gogh’s introduction of the Japanese prints to his fellow painters also has a profound effect on their works. As seen in most of the Japanese prints, Van Gogh used complimentary colors to make the picture achieve the illusion of being bright. This he did by the use of oranges and yellows with blue or by using the colors of red with green. At the same time, Van Gogh sometimes used single color, such as in his famous sunflowers. These he restricted his palette and used almost nothing but the color of yellow.

And yet most dominantly is his use of bright colors of yellow, oranges and blue to create a more dramatic mysterious effect, such as in Starry Night, “and by this simple combination of the bright head against the rich blue background, I get a mysterious effect, like a star in the depths of an azure sky”.

There are several painters who were greatly influenced by the works of Van Gogh. One of them is his close friend Emile Bernard. Although Bernard is most associated with the Post Impressionist school, his works can be seen as having a touch of Van Gogh in terms of color. His Woman and Haystacks, Brittany, which was probably painted in the summer of 1888 had the same solid and bright colors of red and blue which was done by Van Gogh to create a more bright effect. This color manipulation technique is seen in this same piece. The use of dark hues in combination with each other created a picture of a bright summer day and the bright face of the woman. We see the same technique or use of color in many works of Van Gogh.

In close examination of the Woman and Haystacks, it has a strong resemblance with the color manipulation and usage of Van Gogh in Portrait of Woman in Blue. Although the Portait of Woman in Blue is portrait it has the same use of dark colors to bring out the brightness as seen in the Woman and Haystacks.

Also, in the Woman and Haystacks, there is the thick outline which defines the areas of colors. The Japanese style of flat shapes of colors is also clearly seen in the painting. The flatness of the shapes of colors were use to distort the natural form of the Woman and Haystack and created instead a tilted space which brought the woman forward into the picture. This style of having outline is seen in Van Gogh’s Marguerite Gachet at the Piano. As in both paintings, the dark outline is used in some of the shapes of colors to bring into focus what is far and what is near the view.

In Woman and Haystack, the woman was brought forward with the use of the dark outline while in Van Gogh’s Marguerite Gachet at the Piano the dark outline was used to bring forward the side view of the woman, her gown and her seat into a side view. And again there was the tilting of the scene which was achieved by the use of these dark colors as outline.

The still life works of Emile Bernard are also the best examples of the influence of Van Gogh on him as a painter and on his use of colors. One cannot fail to recognize the semblance or the similarity between Bernard’s Still Life with Fruit and Van Gogh’s Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs.

In both paintings, there was the same use of darker backgrounds to bring forward the fruits and vegetables. Although Van Gogh’s work is darker than that of Bernard’s the combination of colors were used to give the fruits and vegetables a more real and natural depiction. The combination of colors were used to put into its right perspective the fruits and vegetables. In Van Gogh’s Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs, the darker shades created a realistic clogs while in Bernard’s darker shades of the same monochromatic color brought to life the fruits.

The same can be seen in the Still Life with Orange of Bernard. Here, since it is a darker painting, the dark background again is very important in bringing the fruit into its realistic form. Although this time, the combination of colors: the very bright orange in dark blue and light blue background can be seen in other works of Van Gogh and not on the Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs.

In Emile Bernard’s Jeune Fille Sur La Colline (Young Girl on a Hill), again there was the use of bright yellow and different shades of yellow to create the bright day the girl is enjoying. The use of different shades of yellow was able to create the sense of serenity and brightness which was not normally utilized by other artists. This is the same as the colors used by Van Gogh in his Two Women Crossing the Fields.

In Van Gogh’s Two Women Crossing the Field, there was that same yellow and different shades of yellow utilized to create the mood of the picture; the same as in Bernard’s. Although the Two Women Crossing the Field had different style than that of Bernard’s Young Girl on a Hill, the same yellow and different shades of the color yellow were utilized to create the bright sunny day mood. And there was also the same colors of green and blue and nothing else, in both paintings.

In Bernard’s Madeleine in the Bois d'Amour, there were again the same Japanese flat colors used to create the effect of solid areas of color. And of course, there is the outline of dark colors. We see the same technique and use of flat colors in Van Gogh’s Young Girl Standing Against a Background of Wheat. In both paintings, there was the same technique in the use of colors in typical Japanese prints which Van Gogh introduced to his contemporaries, including Bernard.

Aside from Emile Bernard, Van Gogh influenced profoundly the works of Paul Gaugin, particularly through the Japanese prints introduced by Van Gogh during the time they were together in France in 1888. Also, as influenced by Van Gogh, there were the same large flat areas of bright and non naturalistic colors, particularly yellow and orange, in the works of Gaugin.

In the Yellow Christ of Gaugin, the same bright yellow, bright orange and dark outline can be seen in the picture. The same flat colors were also used to bring the Christ forward into the painting. These colors are typical of Van Gogh and in some cases, such as in Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures, although Van Gogh did not use the same intensely bright color yellow as used by Gaugin in Yellow Christ, the same flat yellow created the scene of the paintings. There was also the same dark outline used in both paintings to bring forward the flat colors into perspective. In the Yellow Christ, the color yellow was combined with the color orange while in the Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures the color yellow was combined with the color green. In both paintings these combinations created a monochromatic bright scene.

This can also be seen in another work of Gaugin, the Ondine. In Ondine there are the same monochromatic colors of yellow and green. This makes it resembles more the Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures of Van Gogh.

In portraits, the influence of Van Gogh on Gaugan is quite obvious particularly in his portrait with darker hues. In his portrait of Madeleine Bernard the dark blue dominating the colors of the portrait is used alongside other darker colors. Again there is also the color yellow to contrast with the different shades of blue and to highlight the beauty of Madeleine Bernard.

The same color combination of different shades of blue can also be seen in the Portrait of Doctor Gatchet by Van Gogh. In the Portrait of Doctor Gatchet (1890), the color blue also dominated the portrait. The blue had different shades and they were used alongside each other and to bring forth into focus the much brighter face of Doctor Gatchet. And although the blue in Gaugin is darker while the blue of Van Gogh is lighter, the color was used to emphasize the face of the persons.

But nothing is more obvious as to the influence of Van Gogh on Gaugin than on his still life. In the Bouquet of Flowers by Gaugin, the same bright yellow and bright orange were used in the same way Van Gogh used them in his still life. His Bouquet of Flowers is similar with that of Van Gogh’s Vase with Twelve Sunflowers and Three Sunflowers in a Vase. Gaugan’s Bouquet of Flowers is like a combination of these two still life of Van Gogh. The colors yellow and orange were used to create a masterful depiction of lovely flowers which are so bright and yet so alive, if not lifelike. This is also achieved by Van Gogh in his use of bright yellow and orange, whether solely or in combination with each other.

References

Emile Bernard. Ackland Org.