Van Gogh's Chair
- F498
- JH1635
Van Gogh's Chair is a painting created in 1888 by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. 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 and a pouch of pipe tobacco. 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 noted that "there are few pictures of Vincent's about which so much was written in later years."[1]
Background
On 7 May 1888 Van Gogh moved from the Hôtel Carrel to the Café de la Gare, at Arles, in the south of France.[2] He had befriended the proprietors, Joseph and Marie Ginoux. The Yellow House, at 2 place Lamartine, had to be furnished before he could fully move in, but he was able to use it as a studio.[3] 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 (1888), The Night Café (1888), Cafe Terrace at Night (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.[4]
Description
Van Gogh's Chair is a product of the artist's tumultuous time spent with fellow painter Paul Gauguin. 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.[5] Van Gogh set out to "in these two studies, as in others, I myself sought an effect of light with bright colour"[6]
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.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Hulsker (1996), 376. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFHulsker1996 (help)
- ^ Gayford (2006), 16.
- ^ Callow (1990), 219.
- ^ Pickvance (1984), 175–176.
- ^ Hardy (1997), 43-44.
- ^ van Gogh, Vincent. "Letter 736". Vincent van Vogh - The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ "Vincent's Chair with His Pipe - Gauguin's Armchair". vggallery. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
Sources
- Callow, Philip (1990). Vincent van Gogh: A Life. Ivan R. Dee. ISBN 978-1-56663-134-1.
- Gayford, Martin (2006). The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-91497-5.
- Hardy, William (1997). Van Gogh: The History and Techniques of the Great Masters. Eagle Editions. ISBN 978-0785807964.
- Hulsker, Jan (2006). The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. John Benjamins. ISBN 1556195133.
- Pickvance, Ronald (1984). "(exh. cat)". Van Gogh in Arles. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-87099-375-6. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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works
- Early works (1881–82)
- Portraits (1881–1890)
- Peasant Character Studies (1881–1885)
- Van Gogh's family in his art (1881–1888)
- Sien (1882–83)
- Cottages (1883–1885)
- Water Mill at Gennep (1884)
- Still life paintings, Netherlands (1884–85)
- Old Church Tower at Nuenen (1884–85)
- Amsterdam (1885)
- Wheat Fields (1885–1890)
- Le Moulin de la Galette (1886)
- Still life paintings, Paris (1886–87)
- Montmartre (1886–87)
- Self portraits (1886–1889)
- Outskirts of Paris (1887)
- Asnières (1887)
- Seine (1887)
- Japonaiserie (1887)
- Sunflowers (1887–1889)
- Trees and Undergrowth (1887–1890)
- Copies by Vincent van Gogh (1887–1890)
- Langlois Bridge at Arles (1888)
- Saintes-Maries (1888)
- Boats du Rhône (1888)
- Décoration for the Yellow House (1888)
- The Roulin Family (1888–89)
- Hospital in Arles (1888–89)
- Flowering Orchards (1888–89)
- Almond Blossoms (1888–1890)
- Paintings of Children (1888–1890)
- The Wheat Field (1889)
- Reaper (1889)
- Olive Trees (1889)
- Wheat Fields (1889)
- Butterflies (1889–90)
- Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy (1889–90)
- Auvers size 30 canvases (1890)
- Auvers Double-squares and Squares (1890)
- Lost works by Vincent van Gogh
- Display at Les XX, 1890
- Boy Cutting Grass with a Sickle (1881)
- Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg (1882)
- The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague (1882)
- Church Pew with Worshippers (1882)
- Woman on Her Deathbed (1883)
- Landscape with Trees (1883)
- Peatery in Drenthe (1883)
- Landscape with Wheelbarrow (1883)
- Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam (1883)
- Breton Women (1888)
- Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman (1890)
- 87 Hackford Road (1873 or 1874)
- Marsh with Water Lilies (1881)
- Sorrow (1882)
- Portrait of a Man in a Top Hat (1882)
- Torso of Venus and a Landscape (1887)
- Head of a Girl (1888)
- Van Gogh Museum
- Van Gogh House (Drenthe)
- Maison Van Gogh
- Kröller-Müller Museum
- Monastery of Saint-Paul de Mausole
- Vincent van Gogh (1886 painting)
- Portrait of Vincent van Gogh (1887)
- The Painter of Sunflowers (1888 painting)
- Lust for Life (1934 novel)
- Van Gogh (1948 film)
- Lust for Life (1956 film)
- Van Gogh (1956 opera)
- Vincent and Theo van Gogh (1963 statue)
- "Vincent" (1971 song)
- Vincent (1987 film)
- Vincent & Theo (1990 film)
- Vincent and Me (1990 film)
- Dreams (1990 film)
- Vincent (1990 opera)
- Van Gogh (1991 film)
- Vincent in Brixton (2003 play)
- The Yellow House (2007 film)
- "Vincent and the Doctor" (2010 TV episode)
- Loving Vincent (2017 film)
- At Eternity's Gate (2018 film)
- Theo van Gogh
- Wil van Gogh
- Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
- Andries Bonger
- Theo van Gogh (film director)
- Anton Mauve
- Johannes Stricker
- Jacob Baart de la Faille (1928 and 1970; "F")
- Jan Hulsker (1978, revised 1989; "JH")
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