Vincent Van Gogh Term Paper

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Vincent Van Gogh's Artwork Became Famous After His Death

Vincent van Gogh is one of the most well-known artists of all time. His works sell for extraordinary sums of money. Many artists like van Gogh became popular only after their death. Vincent contributed much to Western society. His artistic vision laid the groundwork for modern impressionism, abstraction and even expressionism. His technique is still admired today by artists and students alike. His artwork became popular after his death as more and more people began recognizing the subtle brilliance of his work. This idea is explored more below.

Artistic Style

Vincent Van Gogh is among the most well-known artists of all time. His work including The Starry Night and Sunflowers is often copied on post cards, posters and paintings from the home. Van Gogh is considered among the greatest of the "post-impressionist" artists. His artwork is well-known in part because of its bold use of color, course strokes and interestingly contoured art forms (Pioch, 2002). Many feel that his work reflected the mental illness he suffered during his life, which is discussed in the next section. Vincent's work also influenced many artistic styles including early abstraction, fauvism and expressionism (Wikipedia, 2005).

Despite his stunning work, during his lifetime Van Gogh sold just one painting (Pioch, 2002).

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It was only after his death that his artistic genius was well-known and appreciated. This is due in part because his work inspired similar styles of work including expressionism and abstraction.

Mental Illness

Much of the literature available about van Gogh notes his frequent bouts with mental illness. During his lifetime Vincent spent many nights in an asylum. In fact, the famous artists spent more than a year at Saint-Remy asylum, "working between repeated bouts of madness" (MCS, 2005). At one point van Gogh threatened another painter with a razor. Eventually van Gogh shot and killed himself as a result of the pain and immense mental torture he suffered during his lifetime.

Many suggest that the most brilliant and crazy people in the world are artists. This is definitely true of van Gogh. Part of what draws people to van Gogh's work after his death is the immense emotional intensity evident in his paintings. His works reflect subtle and not so subtle emotions, including darkness and light. The contrast between dark and light times in his work further supports the notion that van Gogh suffered from bipolar disorder, a mental illness characterized by tremendous mood swings. Fortunately the public has a fascination for people with mental illness. Vincent's mental state is an often-discussed topic in.....

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