Lot # 119 VINCENT VAN GOGH Dutch 1853-1890 Nov 8, 2018 Auction

Vincent Van Gogh’s Oil on canvas features a landscape scene with cypresses in the countryside. Signed and attributed to Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) on the lower right corner. Marked with gallery seal and notation on verso. 18 x 23.9 cm (7.1 x 9.4 inches).

Vincent Van Gogh was a self-taught artist and had only worked for about a decade.  Vincent Van Gogh made over 900 paintings and 1,100 works on paper. Influenced by Jean-Francois Millet and the Barbizon School artists, van Gogh’s early work comprised of dour portraits of Dutch peasants and depressing rural landscapes. In 1886 he moved to Paris, and stayed there for approximately two years, where Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism seemed to have made a big impact on his painting. He brightened his palette resulting in many experimentations with shorter brush strokes, impasto, and complementary colors. Van Gogh’s paintings, made in Paris announced the bolder Post-Impressionist style which he is best known for today.  Van Gogh’s life, compounded by his anti-social behaviour, was plagued with many challenges and difficulties.  He was emotionally unstable, humorless, and argumentative.  Consequently, this did not help towards making his pieces becoming overly popular.  Therefore, during his lifetime, his works were under appreciated.  Unfortunately, contributing to these problems, he eventually had a breakdown and moved to an asylum in the south of France.  Circumstantially, this was where he painted landscapes, portraits, interiors and still lifes steeped with personal symbolism.