Q1. Schama talks about Van Gogh with carefulness and seems like he feels sorry for him because of what he has been through throughtout his life. I did some research and it seems that Van Gogh was suffering from anxiety and other mental illnesses. He killed himself at an early age, I believe the article said he was 37 years old. You can see in the video that he has a great deal of anxiety and doesn't know how to handle it. He is constantly jittery or walking around in the video. He doesn't sit still long enough. Hence, why Schama talks about him a little more differently than the others, with the other painters Schama was a little more aggressive with his voice and his points. I like Van Gogh more than the others because even though he was suffering from anxiety, it seems as that was the best time for him to paint his paintings. Under the pressure is when he worked best, and thought best about everything that surrounded. You can see clearly in his paintings that his mood played a big role in his painting, by the colors, by the dramaticness of his paintings.
Q2. I like the starry night over the Rhone, its quiet, calm and nobody is around to hear your thoughts. I like the bright blues, yellows, and the motion of the water in the painting. The sky is lit up by bright yellow stars and there are so many of them, assuming that its the furthest away from a city. The further you are away from the city lights, the more stars you will see in the sky. There are a few fluffy clouds in the sky. I love going to places like this, because it gives me the opportunity to clear my head or to listen to my own thoughts without hearing my children or fiance in the background.
Q3. I like all of Van Gogh's paintings, in each painting has a different meaning or symbol that reprsents him and his thoughts. It's about how he sees the people and subjects he is painting. If I could have a skill like his and paint that many paintings I would feel very accomplished and relaxed because I would be able to put all my thoughts on a black canvas and make something beautiful out of it.
Question for open discussion: What did you convey from Van Gogh's paintings? What do you think his thought process was like?
I think that your first question response was spot on. A lot of what you said about Van Gogh's mental state in relation to his painting is really accurate sounding. Overall your blog was great. I like the Rhone painting as well.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I conveyed a somewhat jumpy thought process from Van Gogh's paintings. However, they were organized into very beautiful paintings, so it does not really matter. It seems his mental state did not have a terrible outcome on his work. Because he was an impressionist, he fit right in with the style. If his work was any earlier, I think that he would be considered strange.
I really enjoyed your answer to question 2. You described the painting beautifully and injected your own feelings and thoughts into your answer. When you tall about the paintings being away from a city since you can see so many stars. THAT is not something I would even think about when looking at a starry sky, despite knowing this fact to be true. Also, you speak of the calmness portrayed in this painting. Your answer was very inward and personal and i think it showed that you truly do love this paintings by Van Gogh and have experienced a place like this.
ReplyDeleteOverall this was a great blog post. I enjoyed your answers and I think that they were all right on the mark. Great!