My "bachelor" art collection predictably consisted of reproduction prints of old-world maps and sailing ships - and a poster of John Wayne. Sometime after Andrea and I started dating, we did a "date trip" to a Monet exhibit going down over in New Orleans. After walking the galleries displaying his and other artists' works, I found I'd became a fan of impressionist painters. I was fascinated by how they approached their subjects. If you put a paintbrush in my hand, my left-brain point of view would attempt to create as photo-faithful a rendering as possible.
Impressionist painters were more ambiguous, unbound by hard lines and edges. Their characteristically short brush strokes left swirls of colors that melted and flowed into each other when the painting was viewed at a distance. Accompanied by giving prominence to the play of light on their subjects, the result was the vaguest impression of their chosen vignette rather than photo fidelity.
A few weeks ago, Andrea and I attended an immersive exhibit of the works of Vincent Van Gogh. While not considered an impressionist artist, Van Gogh did hang with that crowd and incorporated many of their techniques into his own style.
I think my summation of the immersive experience was a succinct, "Fantastic."
Much has been made about Van Gogh's unusual paint palette. His color choices are typically described as intense, rather like the artist himself. It's been suggested Van Gogh had visual deficiencies, particularly with the color yellow. His use of extremely vibrant pigments was his attempt to overcome the muted tones he saw in real life. The man literally saw the world differently, and this showed through in his art.
"Starry Night" is among those works of art that are instantly recognizable. Painted while Van Gogh was convalescing at a mental ward, it was completed the year before he died. A departure from earlier works, it reflects the darkness he was then experiencing with frequent bouts of depression and paranoia. Even in the midst of his personal weariness, he recalled the bright hopefulness of his more comfortable color scheme. It makes an appearance in the exceptional brightness of the moon and stars as they pierce the swirling darkness.
"Starry Night" is one of my personal favorites. In it, I see the artist's struggle against a profound sadness that would claim his life within the year. Although deep in the depths of his personal pain, he refused to give the darkness full sway and managed to create one of the world's most beautiful works of art.
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