Van Gogh’s Most Famous Paintings Everyone Should Know About. Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings are loved around the world. His unique post-impressionist technique, with striking strokes and colors, is instantly recognizable.
During his lifetime, the artist’s work was not well received and he sold very few of his paintings. He rose to fame after his death and is now one of the most famous painters to ever live. Also, his original works sell for millions of dollars. Some of Van Gogh’s most expensive paintings include Portrait of the Beardless Artist (1889) which sold for $71.5 million in 1998 and Portrait of Doctor Gachet (1890) which sold for $82.5 million USD in 1990. While many of Van Gogh’s original paintings are scattered throughout major museums and private collections around the world. Also many are now in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Vincent Van Gogh’s Most Famous Paintings
An extremely prolific artist – although most of his work was created in the last 10 years of his life. Van Gogh produced around 2000 works of art during his lifetime. Also, each piece bears a unique character part of the artist’s special legacy. Below is a collection of his most famous paintings.
Starry Night, 1889
Van Gogh’s The Starry Night (1889) is one of his most iconic paintings. Before this time, Van Gogh suffered from mental health problems to the point of having to have his left ear amputated. After this incident, in 1888, he was admitted to the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to recuperate. The scene we see in Starry Night is actually inspired by the scene Van Gogh saw from his room in the mental hospital. The swirling blue of the moonlit night sky has become synonymous with the artist’s style and emotional quality in his use of color.
Sunflowers, 1889
While in Arles, in the south of France, in the years 1888-1889, Van Gogh created five paintings of sunflowers in a vase, using only shades of yellow and a touch of green. He wrote that to him sunflowers symbolize “gratitude” and so hung one in his house. Later, his friend and painter Paul Gaugin, while living with him for a short time, said that he enjoyed the works and asked Van Gogh for one of the paintings to give him. Today, this replica is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Self-portrait, 1889
Van Gogh painted many self-portraits throughout his career, no less than 35 years old. The one below, painted in 1889, is one of his most famous. Van Gogh describes himself wearing what he was used to working with – a blue jacket and shirt. In an attempt to be as real as possible, he depicts sharp lines, forehead wrinkles, and striking red tones of his hair and beard. It was one of the last self-portraits he painted before his death the following year.
Potato Eaters, 1885
The Potato Eaters (1885) stands at a pivotal moment in Van Gogh’s stylistic and technical development. By depicting a family sharing a simple meal of potatoes. He not only wants to assert himself as a painter of peasant life but also challenges his artistic ability to experiment with light and shadows. Experimenting with grazing lighting and chiaroscuro techniques to bring out the features of your subject.
Wheatfield with Crows, 1890
Wheatfield with Crows was one of the artist’s last paintings. It captured crows flying out of the wheat fields and soaring into the deep blue sky above. The artist chose to put in the middle of the picture a small path leading through the wheat, creating a feeling of loneliness and uncertainty. Many see this painting as a harbinger of Van Gogh’s suicide and representative of the isolation he felt for many years. It is made all the more poignant by the fact that it was painted in the weeks before his death.
Iris, 1889
Iris is a series of Iris paintings by Van Gogh made during his time in the asylum in Provence. These flowers were in the garden of the refugee camp, which is why they appear in so many of his paintings created at this stage of his life. The Japanese ukiyo-e-influenced series focuses on flowers and uses interesting shapes and colors to depict their soft and gentle nature.
Bedroom in Arles, 1888
One of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings is The Bedroom in Arles (1888). It’s no surprise that the room on display is Van Gogh’s. He shows off simple furniture, using contrasting colors – although scientific research shows that the colors we see today are the result of fading over time. The artist intended perspective-free as a means to flatten the volumes to resemble Japanese prints. Of this painting, Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, “In short, looking at the painting puts the mind at rest, or rather the imagination 카지노사이트.”