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How intensely did Vincent van Gogh paint?
Van Gogh worked hard. Very hard. Carrying around his easel, paint and canvas in hot and windy conditions. But also painting itself was hard work. Painting fast with thick brushstrokes naturally came with the intensity of his creative process.
"I’ve sometimes worked excessively fast; is that a fault? I can’t help it. For example I’ve painted a no. 30 canvas — the summer evening — at a single sitting. It’s not possible to rework it; to destroy it — why, because I deliberately went outside to make it, out in the mistral. Isn’t it rather intensity of thought than calmness of touch that we’re looking for — and in the given circumstances of impulsive work on the spot and from life, is a calm and controlled touch always possible? Well — it seems to me — no more than fencing moves during an attack.”
Sunset, Wheat Fields Near Arles
Arles, June, 1888
Oil on canvas
73,5 x 92 cm
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Later, in 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh reached the amazing average of 1 painting a day.
Today 133 years ago, on 27 June 1888,
Vincent van Gogh wrote to Emile Bernard from Arles:"I’ve sometimes worked excessively fast; is that a fault? I can’t help it. For example I’ve painted a no. 30 canvas — the summer evening — at a single sitting. It’s not possible to rework it; to destroy it — why, because I deliberately went outside to make it, out in the mistral. Isn’t it rather intensity of thought than calmness of touch that we’re looking for — and in the given circumstances of impulsive work on the spot and from life, is a calm and controlled touch always possible? Well — it seems to me — no more than fencing moves during an attack.”
Sunset, Wheat Fields Near Arles
Arles, June, 1888
Oil on canvas
73,5 x 92 cm
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Later, in 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh reached the amazing average of 1 painting a day.
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