The story from NPR.org on Van Gogh’s “Ox Cart.”
The story from the Portland Art Museum.
Professor M. Och
ARTH 114 and ARTH 115: Introduction to Western Art, University of Mary Washington
The story from NPR.org on Van Gogh’s “Ox Cart.”
The story from the Portland Art Museum.
When i first heard about the new Van Gogh painting, i was quite excited, because Van Gogh is my favorite artist and i love his work. “The Ox Cart” is less of what i expected from Van Gogh. Unlike his later pieces, this piece is darker than usual, and not as impressionistic ( ex: the exaggeration of the brush strokes) as his later pieces.
The “new” van Gogh is an early work…and more like the Realism of mid-19th century painters.
This new Van Gogh is very closely related to the Potato Eaters. The dark colors are very similar to each other and the subject matter of the poor peasant is very similar as well. It is certainly more Realistic than Impressionist. He has not seen any Impressionist art yet, so his art does not show that influence.
I think it’s interesting that this Van Gogh is stylistically and chromatically different from Van Gogh’s other works. I love that this work is kind of a glimpse into his creative mind before he was exposed to impressionism and took up that school of art. I like how he doesn’t use light as a focal point in this work but rather darkness as well. I think it’s interesting that the family had this painting for so many years yet never realized it’s significance.