Van Gogh's Chair on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Van Gogh's Chair'' is a painting created in 1888 by Dutch artist
''Van Gogh's Chair'' is a product of the artist's tumultuous time spent with fellow painter
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 ...
. It is currently held by the National Gallery, London.
The painting shows a rustic wooden chair, with a simple woven straw seat, on a tiled floor. On the chair seat is a decorated pipe
Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to:
Objects
* Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules
** Piping, the use of pipes in industry
* Smoking pipe
** Tobacco pipe
* Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
and a pouch of pipe tobacco
A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simp ...
. In the background is an onion box with Van Gogh's name on it. It has become one of Van Gogh's most iconic images, to the extent that Van Gogh's cataloger Jan Hulsker
Jan Hulsker (2 October 1907, The Hague – 9 November 2002, Vancouver) was a Dutch art historian especially noted for his work on Vincent van Gogh. He studied Dutch literature in Leiden and was promoted with a thesis on the author Aart van der Lee ...
noted that "there are few pictures of Vincent's about which so much was written in later years."
Background
On 7 May 1888 Van Gogh moved from the Hôtel Carrel to the Café de la Gare, atArles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
, in the south of France. He had befriended the proprietors, Joseph and Marie Ginoux. The Yellow House
''The Yellow House'' ( nl, Het gele huis), alternatively named ''The Street'' ( nl, De straat), is an 1888 oil painting by the 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
The house was the right wing of 2 Place Lamartine, A ...
, at 2 place Lamartine, had to be furnished before he could fully move in, but he was able to use it as a studio. He wanted a gallery to display his work, and started a series of paintings that eventually included ''Van Gogh's Chair'' (1888), ''Bedroom in Arles
''Bedroom in Arles'' (french: link=no, La Chambre à Arles; nl, Slaapkamer te Arles) is the title given to each of three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
Van Gogh's own title for this compos ...
'' (1888), ''The Night Café
''The Night Café'' (french: Le Café de nuit) is an oil painting created by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in September 1888 in Arles. Its title is inscribed lower right beneath the signature. The painting is owned by Yale University and is curr ...
'' (1888), ''Cafe Terrace at Night
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
'' (September 1888), '' Starry Night Over the Rhone'' (1888), and '' Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers'' (1888), all intended for the decoration for the Yellow House.
Description
''Van Gogh's Chair'' is a product of the artist's tumultuous time spent with fellow painter Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
. Both this work and its pendant piece ''Paul Gauguin's Armchair'' are painted in complementary colours, blue and orange for van Gogh, red and green for Gauguin. The two paintings were painted before Van Gogh cut off his ear, but continued to be refined after he was hospitalised. Van Gogh set out to "in these two studies, as in others, I myself sought an effect of light with bright colour"
Analysis
The contrasts between ''Van Gogh's Chair'' and ''Paul Gauguin's Armchair'' have led to much analysis of the symbolism of these two paintings. While Van Gogh's chair is simple and unpretentious, Gauguin's is far more lavish and ornate. This has been interpreted in light of Van Gogh and Gauguin's tempestuous relationship.See also
* Décoration for the Yellow HouseReferences
Sources
* * * * * {{19C-painting-stub Paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1888 paintings