Vincent Van Gogh
Biography
A Dutch post-impressionist painter who is one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art: his name is Vincent Van Gogh. He was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands and died on July 29, 1890 at the age of 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the chest with a revolver.
He belonged to the upper-middle-class society, but at the age of 15, Vincent's family struggled with financial difficulties that resulted in his dropping out of school to find a job. He worked as an art dealer at his Uncle Cornelis' art dealership, Goupil & Cie, in the city and was soon relocated to the Groupil Gallery in London. There, he discovered his first love: Eugenie Loyer, his landlady's daughter. However, he suffered from a breakdown due to being rejected when he asked her hand in marriage. As a result, he lost his job from unleashing hatred towards the people at work. Afterwards, he decided to focus on religion. Nevertheless, his passion for becoming a Protestant missionary, did not go so well either, which had him drift even further to ill health and solitude. |
Between the years of 1860 and 1880 he took the opportunity to become an artist and remained in Belgium to study art. During his early Dutch period, his works were dark and showed little amount of vivid colours. For example, his first painting called "The Potato Eaters" (1885) contains dark tones and neutral colours. But in that same year, he also discovered Japanese-style prints. Most of his inspirations were based on Japanese woodblock prints by Hiroshige, Kesai Eisen and plenty of others. He liked the concept of the art so much that he even made copies while adding his individual unique style:
Original by Hiroshige
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Copied version by Van Gogh
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One Hundred Famous Views of Edo “Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake”, 1857, Utagawa Hiroshige (From the collection of Shizuoka city Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of Art)
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Bridge in the rain: after Hiroshige, 1887, Vincent van Gogh (From the collection of Van Gogh Museum)
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A year later, he moved to Paris to join his younger brother Theo. There he studied with several other impressionist artists: Fernand Cormon, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. Along the journey to becoming an artist, he developed his own techniques that were bolder and unconventional. Whilst his skills increased, he created new approaches to his works.
In the year of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh rented four rooms at The Yellow House in hopes that his friends would join him to establish a "Studio of the South" where they can combine and create artworks together. This is also the same year where he painted a portrait of the house and used a variety of different tints of yellow and blue (his signature colour of the time). His friend Gauguin joined him but it led to an unfortunate tragedy. It was said that Vincent was a difficult companion to be around, thus near the end of the year, Gauguin considered leaving the house in Arles. With an opened razor, Vincent threatened him from leaving and ended up cutting a portion of his own earlobe in the middle of the commotion. In the end, Vincent's insanity caused him to be sent to an asylum in Saint-Remy.
He considered himself a failure in life and almost never became an artist. He greatly struggled with a mental illness and remained impecunious for his entire life. Unfortunately, it was only after death that his art got the recognition it deserves. Vincent Van Gogh's last words were "la tristesse durera toujours" which translates to "the sadness will last forever."
In the year of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh rented four rooms at The Yellow House in hopes that his friends would join him to establish a "Studio of the South" where they can combine and create artworks together. This is also the same year where he painted a portrait of the house and used a variety of different tints of yellow and blue (his signature colour of the time). His friend Gauguin joined him but it led to an unfortunate tragedy. It was said that Vincent was a difficult companion to be around, thus near the end of the year, Gauguin considered leaving the house in Arles. With an opened razor, Vincent threatened him from leaving and ended up cutting a portion of his own earlobe in the middle of the commotion. In the end, Vincent's insanity caused him to be sent to an asylum in Saint-Remy.
He considered himself a failure in life and almost never became an artist. He greatly struggled with a mental illness and remained impecunious for his entire life. Unfortunately, it was only after death that his art got the recognition it deserves. Vincent Van Gogh's last words were "la tristesse durera toujours" which translates to "the sadness will last forever."
Interesting Facts about Vincent Van Gogh
- Vincent Van Gogh was fluent in French, German, English, and his native Dutch
- A fan of the writings of Charles Dickens and George Eliot
- Suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE): a chronic disorder of the nervous system characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures that lasts about one or two mintues)
- Had a catastrophic love life
- Clasina Maria Hoornik (alcoholic prostitute)
- Vincent had an older brother who died at birth with the same name as his
- Sold only one painting while he was alive
- Started painting at the age of 27 with no formal training
- Vincent wrote almost as many letters and postcards that often included a sketch of his artworks
- Had several close relationships with other artists: Paul Gaugin and Émile Bernard ―they planned to form a close-knit artists' community in the south of France
Van Gogh's Paintings and Artwork
His art was recognized with such beauty, colours and the hidden emotions it held. Several of Vincent Van Gogh's artwork are ranked among the most expensive in the world. He has completed more than 2,100 works, consisting of: 860 oil paintings, and more then 1,300 watercolours, drawings, and sketches. During his time, he has approximately made 900 paintings. Some of the most famous artwork Vincent Van Gogh created is listed below:
The Potato Eaters (1885)
The first masterpiece Vincent had painted was at the age of 27 called "The Potato Eaters". This painting represented a glimpse of harsh reality of poverty life.
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The Yellow House (1888)
Soon after moving in The Yellow House on Place Lamartine in Arles he sent his little brother: Theo a detailed description and a sketch of the house explaining its incredible tint of colour when sunlight reflects on it with a complimenting colour of blue representing the sky.
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The Starry Night (1889)
Vincent Van Gogh painted his most well-known painting in an asylum in Saint- Remy-de-Provence, France. This portraits the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room.
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Loving Vincent - the film
Loving Vincent - Official Trailer
Link to video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGzKnyhYDQI
Credits
Directed by: Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman
Produced by: Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart, and Sean Bobbitt
Written by: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, and Jacek Dehnel
Starring: Robert Gulaczyk, Douglas Booth, Jerome Flynn, Saoirse Ronan, Helen McCrory, Chris O'Dowd, John Sessions, Eleanor Tomlinson, Aidan Turner, and Clint Mansell
Music by: Clint Mansell
Cinematography: Tristan Oliver
Edited by: Dorota Kobiela and Justyna Wierszynska
Production Company: BreakThru Productions Trademark Films
Distributed by: Altitude Film Distribution
Produced by: Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart, and Sean Bobbitt
Written by: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, and Jacek Dehnel
Starring: Robert Gulaczyk, Douglas Booth, Jerome Flynn, Saoirse Ronan, Helen McCrory, Chris O'Dowd, John Sessions, Eleanor Tomlinson, Aidan Turner, and Clint Mansell
Music by: Clint Mansell
Cinematography: Tristan Oliver
Edited by: Dorota Kobiela and Justyna Wierszynska
Production Company: BreakThru Productions Trademark Films
Distributed by: Altitude Film Distribution
Creation
Loving Vincent is the very first 2017 biographical fully painted animated drama film about the life of the famous impressionist artist: Vincent Van Gogh and specifically about the relevant events that led to his death. The director and producer of the film, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman was an international co-production between Poland and the United Kingdom. They had a Painting Design team to help them start off with the basis of the creation, it approximately took a one year span to re-imagine Vincent's painting into the medium of the motion picture before actually planning to do the live action shot.
Techniques Used
Since the film is about Vincent Van Gogh, it's only common sense to use tradition when trying to re-create Van Gogh's artworks. They used around 65,000 oil painting canvas for each of the frames that are created by a team of 125 talented painters who mostly came from Poland and Greece. Overall the film consists of 853 shots, and 200 paintings on which it will be made available for sale.
All the characters are performed by real actors on constructed sets or against green screens with the duplicated designed look of Vincent's paintings, composited in through a live view system on the set.
Afterwards, the live action material was then combined with a computer animation for additional elements that added more depth and life into the film such as animals, (birds and horses), clouds, and blowing leaves. The computer animation and design paintings were then composited together to create the reference material for the painting animation.
The painting animators used the reference material as the base layout for their first frame alongside the movement of the shot. The painting animators job was to reconstruct the reference material in a similar art form of Vincent Van Gogh. Thereafter the motion of the shot was then redeveloped through animating each brushstroke.
All the characters are performed by real actors on constructed sets or against green screens with the duplicated designed look of Vincent's paintings, composited in through a live view system on the set.
Afterwards, the live action material was then combined with a computer animation for additional elements that added more depth and life into the film such as animals, (birds and horses), clouds, and blowing leaves. The computer animation and design paintings were then composited together to create the reference material for the painting animation.
The painting animators used the reference material as the base layout for their first frame alongside the movement of the shot. The painting animators job was to reconstruct the reference material in a similar art form of Vincent Van Gogh. Thereafter the motion of the shot was then redeveloped through animating each brushstroke.
Synopsis of the Storyline
The story of the film is illustrated using oil painted animation, on which it explores the life and bizarre death of Vincent Van Gogh. A year after the passing of the artist, a young man named Armand —Postman Roulin's slacker son --comes to the last hometown of the deceased troubled painter to hand deliver Vincent's final letter written for his little brother Theo. But due to numerous failed postal delivery attempts and the lack of respect Armand feels for the pointless task, it leads him to a journey to Auvers-sur-Oise where he decides to pass on the letter to Dr. Gachet who is a close companion of Vincent. This trip that is meant to part him from Vincent's memory eventually becomes an enlightening journey. Armand's stay begins to grow on him the longer he remains in the village. His fascination and curiosity about the life of the artist compels him to investigate Vincent's final days and meet many of the people of the village who not only knows the artist but also were the inspirations for his artwork. He has harbored suspicions regarding Vincent's death and wanted to confirm his ideas; however, later on he realizes his problematic life is already explained in his paintings. Thus, there are no easier ways of explaining the man's masterpiece than through his misfortunes which would ironically be appreciated in the future.
Awards
Loving Vincent has made 8 wins and 37 nominations for "Best Animated Feature Film". Some of the awards are listed below:
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival (Audience Award)
- European Film for Best Animated Feature Film
- Golden Trailer Awards
- Indiana Film Journalists Association, US (Original Vision Award)
- National Board of Review, USA (NBR Award)
- Shanghai International Film Festival (Golden Goblet Award)
- Vancouver International Film Festival (Most Popular Internation Feature Award)