Artist Study: Vincent van Gogh

Class Contributor: Christie Groff, River City Homeschool Adventures, Jacksonville, FL
Picture
Artist
Vincent Van Gogh
Birth: 1853, Zundert, Netherlands
Death: 1890, Auberge Ravoux, Paris, France
Period of Art: Post-Impressionism
Contemporaries/Events on the timeline: Henri Rousseau, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Camille Pissarro

Living Books Recommended
Vincent van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Van Gogh (Art for Children Series) by Ernest Raboff 
A Child's History of Art: Painting by V.M. Hillyer
Online Biographies
Van Gogh Gallery
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Van Gogh Museum

Documentaries
van Gogh: Painted with Words (1:20) - Drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as Van Gogh. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters that Van Gogh sent to his younger brother Theo, and of those around him. What emerges is a complex portrait of a sophisticated, civilized and yet tormented man. Note - There are mentions of things that may not be appropriate for all viewers including a brothel visit, the ear incident, and mental illness. Please preview. Some segments linked below as relate to specific paintings.

How to do a Picture Study in a Home or Group Setting

Co-op Study Description
Vincent van Gogh was a prolific artist known for his use of vivid colors and his ability to capture emotion with charcoal, pencil, ink, and especially oil paintings.

“Van Gogh firmly believed that to be a great painter you had to first master drawing before adding color. Over the years Van Gogh clearly mastered drawing and began to use more color. In time, one of the most recognizable aspects of Van Gogh’s paintings became his bold use of color. This is evident in both Van Gogh's landscapes and his still life paintings.” ~ http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/

Below is a small selection of van Gogh’s works. We present six of these pictures every other week in a 12 week term. The odd weeks are for composer study. 
There are several articles on the internet that elaborate on the background and symbolism in his pictures. These are noted below.  Please keep in mind that the authors of these articles may have their own interpretations of van Gogh’s work.  We are always careful in co-op to let the children form their own relationships to the picture and not to project our own thoughts.  However, these articles are informing to the teacher.

The below links to the art work represent the highest quality images I could find in the public domain. We print the works of art at Best Value Copy online on light card stock.  Each child has their own print for study to be kept in their co-op binder. Each family receives a print for display at home. 

1. Starry Night, 18892. Starry Night Over the Rhone, 1888 
3. Still Life - Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, 1888
4. Self Portrait with Pallette, 18895. Vincent’s Bedroom in Arles, 18896. First Steps (after Millet), 1890 - Compare Millet & van Gogh paintings7. The Potato Eaters, 18858. Avenue of Poplars at Sunset, 1884
9. Cafe Terrace, Place du Forum, Arles, 1888
10. Fish Drying Barn in Scheveningen, 1882
11. Irises, 1889
12. Lane With Poplars Near Nuenen, 1885
13. Haystacks in Provence, 1888 - Do these remind you of Monet’s Haystacks?
14. Le Moulin de la Galette, 1886 - Note: van Gogh painted this scene many times with great variety. See this Wikipedia article for examples.

Additional Resources