Artist of the Month


My first person whom I have

picked to be the Artist of the 

Month is, my favorite, Vincent 

The reason being for Van Gogh being my favorite, is that his paintings have that special texture. I love texture in paintings. The brush strokes are so personal to me. I feel that the visible random brush strokes put the viewer at the place and moment of the artist when he/she put it there, on that canvas. Now one can over do such a texture and ruin a painting, but if done right it leaves an amazing effect.

Vincent Van Gogh was born March 30, 1853 and died on July 29, 1890 at the age of 37. He was and still is known for his incredible oil paintings and pen sketches. Van Gogh is a Post-Impressionist. He over his 37 years completed near 900 paintings and over a thousand sketches. Most of his work is in well renowned museums across the globe and some lucky few who own a private collection.

My favorite paint by Van Gogh is The Starry Night. 
My favorite painting by Van Gogh, The Starry Night
The Starry Night was one of Van Gogh's last completed pieces. Some of his best work he produced over his last few years of life. Van Gogh at this time voluntarily placed himself in a mental hospital. He suffered a lot from mental illness throughout his life. Some call him insane others call him a genius. Mental illness ran throughout his bloodlines. And often times he would refer to his brother that he only sees himself as Vincent and not a Van Gogh. That is why you see most of his art work signed by just his first name, Vincent. It wasn't until after he died that people started referring to his art as a Van Gogh, rather than a Vincent. 

Throughout his life Vincent Van Gogh produced many self portraits, over 30 of them actually. He would always use a mirror to view himself while he painted. So as you look at his self portraits you must realize that when looking at his left side you are actually viewing his right. Actually can be kind of confusing. His most expensive self portrait today is where he has no beard. While Vincent was in a sanatorium he painted no self portraits 

Currently that is all that I have for Van Gogh. I'm sure while I keep updating things I will add more.