Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
made in 1887, while he was living in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
with his brother
Theo
Theo is a given name and a hypocorism.
Greek origin
Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example:
*Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
.
Outskirts of Paris, pastoral settings
Van Gogh liked to explore the outskirts of Paris, searching for pastoral settings in parks and the wooded areas of the suburbs. His goal was to find scenes that would allow him to explore techniques he learned in Paris.
File:Van Gogh - Am Stadtrand von Paris1.jpeg, ''On the Outskirts of Paris'' 1887 Private Collection (F351)
Outskirts of Paris, effects of industrialization
Like many Impressionsits, Van Gogh was concerned about the way in which the landscape and way of life were affected by technical progress and industrialization. He felt the concern back in the Netherlands, which he expressed to
Anthon van Rappard
Anthon Gerard Alexander van Rappard (14 May 1858, Zeist – 21 March 1892, Santpoort) was a Dutch painter and draughtsman. He was a pupil of Lawrence Alma-Tadema. He was also a friend and mentor of Vincent van Gogh for about four years, who is sai ...
, "I remember as a boy seeing that heath and the little farms, the looms and the spinning wheels in exactly the same way as I see them now in
Anton Mauve
Anthonij "Anton" Rudolf Mauve (18 September 18385 February 1888) was a Dutch realist painter who was a leading member of the Hague School. He signed his paintings 'A. Mauve' or with a monogrammed 'A.M.'. A master colorist, he was a very signific ...
One of the versions of ''Outskirts of Paris'' (F264) illustrates the encroachment of urban expansion to the pastoral life. To Van Gogh, industrialization meant loss of a revered lifestyle, the simple life of the peasant. Paul van der Griip, author of "Art and Exoticism: An Anthropology of the Yearning for Authenticity", wrote of Van Gogh's intention to portray his message of concern, "In his representations of the city he mainly paid attention to the expanding outskirts which swallowed up the countryside, whereby city and country life were often juxtaposed, sometimes in the form of trains for factories blotting the countryside."
Of Van Gogh's painting ''Outskirts of Paris'' (F264), Schwartz and Przyblyski write that although Van Gogh provides dots of color in a bleak terrain, "The factories - for that is what those lumpish buildings are - will replace the windmill, and the villas will march across the mud and cornfields until they reach the premonitory gas standard."
File:Van Gogh - Am Stadtrand von Paris.jpeg, ''On the Outskirts of Paris'' 1887 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California (F264)
File:Van Gogh - Am Stadtrand von Paris nahe Montmartre.jpeg, ''Outskirts of Paris near Montmartre'', watercolor, 1887, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (F1410)
See also
*List of works by Vincent van Gogh
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Outskirts of Paris
1887 paintings
Paintings by Vincent van Gogh
Paintings of Paris by Vincent van Gogh