Vincent Van Gogh Research Paper

Vincent van Gogh, born on March 30th 1853, became an influential contributor to the Post-Impressionist art movement and impacted the development of 20th century art. Through his “impulsive, gestural technique and symbolic colours” (Callow, 1990), he encouraged artists after him to interpreted the world through their eyes, mind, and heart. By challenging the natural representation of his subjects, incorporating themes of deeper symbolism and emotional content into his works, as well as his bold stylistic brush stokes, allowed for a significant perception in the art world. His sense of freedom for experimentation discarded the traditions of the Impressionist style in which restricted artists to focus on the effects of colour and light in nature …show more content…
These artists were known to use various styles of painting their reaction to the world, while experimenting with “geometric and definitive forms, unnatural, bold and simplified colours” (Stokstad, 2010) and occasional symbolic content. Although artists at the time created figurative work, they began to investigate abstraction by simplifying shapes and creating an emphasis on the artificiality of the picture. They would also experiment with cropped and flattened perspectives, similarly shown through Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne (Stokstad, 2010). Through Cézanne’s work, he challenged the rules of perspective, allowing for an illusion of space and contested the viewer’s perception of illusion (Stokstad, 2010). Post-impressionist used their independent artistic styles to emphasize on their own subjective vision. As such, van Gogh and other Post-Impressionist focused on the influence of their memories and emotions, allowing their work to resonate with the viewer on a profound level, rather than simply portraying optical imitations. By concentrating on themes of deeper symbolism, the artist's mind and soul; Post-Impressionist were prone to painting with emotion to focus on individual, subjective views of the