The Potato Eaters green

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The Potato Eaters green: Vincent van Gogh

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Vincent van Gogh Oil Painting - The Potato Eaters green

Keywords: Potato, Eaters, green

Work Overview: Study for The Potato Eaters
1885
Private collection

The Potato Eaters, which was completed in 1885, was considered to be van Gogh’s first real piece of great work which led to many other pieces that followed. When the painting was done, van Gogh was still new to the art world, and had not yet mastered his own style–the use of colors and lighting that he became so well known for. In turn, the lack of character and his own style led to a unique and interesting look of The Potato Eaters.

Van Gogh created many simplistic details in The Potato Eaters, which when viewed together, created the work of art that many love. Some of the details he took in to account when creating the piece include:
– rafter boards that are in the back of the piece
– soft and gentle lines which form the window borders in the piece
– the picture frame that is seen hanging on the wall
– a larger platter of potatoes
– the woman who is pouring coffee to the seated men
– weathered and damaged edges to the table
– a large rectangular column that is found behind the table and seems to be holding the entire structure up and in place when it is viewed as a whole.

The subtle details that are created in The Potato Eaters, not only give it character and a unique look, they also lead viewers’ to have the impression that the room is a home or place of residence for the men in the image. It is a display of peasant life and the way these individuals used to live during the time period: in tight quarters, with limited food and drink, and other amenities that might have been available to them during that time period.

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Artwork description & Analysis: This early canvas is considered Van Gogh's first masterpiece. Painted while living among the peasants and laborers in Nuenen in the Netherlands, Van Gogh strove to depict the people and their lives truthfully. Rendering the scene in a dull palette, he echoed the drab living conditions of the peasants and used ugly models to further iterate the effects manual labor had upon these workers. This effect is heightened by his use of loose brushstrokes to describe the faces and hands of the peasants as they huddle around the singular, small lantern, eating their meager meal of potatoes. Despite the evocative nature of the scene, the painting was not considered successful until after Van Gogh's death. At the time this work was painted, the Impressionists had dominated the Parisian avant-garde for over a decade with their light palettes. It is not surprising that Van Gogh's brother, Theo, found it impossible to sell paintings from this period in his brother's career. However, this work not only demonstrates Van Gogh's commitment to rendering emotionally and spiritually laden scenes in his art, but also established ideas that Van Gogh followed throughout his career.

Copyright Statement:
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