S   This is a self portrait made by Vincent Van Gogh called “Self Portrait with Straw Hat” which was painted in 1887. I chose this piece of artwork as it fit the description of a realistic portrait and also because I find the style of Van Gogh’s artwork very interesting and unique.

 

Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch painter who lived in the 1800’s between. He was born on March 3rd 1853 and passed away on July 23rd 1890. In his lifetime Van Gogh had lived in the Netherlands, London and France. At the age of 15 he started working at his uncle’s art dealership and was then sent to an art gallery in london a couple years after. He was said to be suffering from mental illnesses which caused him to both cut off his ear and end his own life 1890. In his lifetime van gogh completed over 2,100 artworks 860 of which were oil paintings with the remainder being watercolour, sketches and drawings among many more. Although his artwork was not of high value in his time it is now some of the most highly ranked pieces of artwork in today's day and age. Some of his most well known paintings are The Starry Night, Sunflowers and his self portraits. Van Gogh’s work is known for its beauty, emotion, colours and style.

This self portrait is one of his many famous self portraits and may be showing the darker time periods in his life since dull shades of blue and grey were used in the background.

The surface of this painting has quite a rough yet shiny texture. This is due to the small quick brushstrokes which were used to create this painting. The background of this painting seems especially rough since, unlike the main subject of the painting which has a flow of lines, the background has brush strokes which go in different directions. The background lines seem to have been painted with quick motions which make it appear even rougher and may show either frustration or a lot of energy. However, the painting of himself seems much smoother since all the lines have a flow and are all going in the same direction.All the lines in his face and beard are all pointing in an inward direction making his face the focal point.

The colours used in the background of this picture are very dull and washed out but the colours used on his face are much more vibrant making him stand out. His hat and clothes are also painted with very bright colours which creates a nice contrast between him and the background.  

This is another painting done by Vincent Van Gogh Called ‘Wheatfield with Crows’. This was painted in July 1890 with the use of oil paints.

This painting was painted 1890, the year Van Gogh had died and is considered one of his very last pieces of work. This painting shows was Van Gogh was like and his mental whilst working though factors such as colour, texture and the way things are painted.  

The narrow path between the tall wheat plants come to an end which could show how he was going to take his life and that it was the end of the road for him. Even the crows are going in that direction and slowly fading away into the sky. The wheat plants are facing in all different directions which could indicate that there was a lot of chaos in Van Gogh's life and there were not many things he could do about it. The sky and moon look a little bit disoriented in this painting which could indicate how things in his life were not making sense and fixing them were out of his control.

The texture of this painting is quite rough overall since all the lines are on different directions without much flow. The sky has some very distinct lines which shows they were painted with a lot of emotion and energy. When looking at the sky it gives a very urgent and desperate feel whereas as the ground is slightly more calm.  The paths are the smoothest part of this painting as they have a good flow and look like they have been painted very calmly. The overall colours are quite dark but some vibrant colors were used in the grass, wheat and sections of the sky. The paths were painted in a slightly darker color giving a good contrast between the wheat and paths, this also helped the paths stand out.

The difference between the two paintings is that the self portait had much less going on.

 

 

Sources:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Vincent_van_Gogh_-_

 

https://www.biography.com/people/vincent-van-gogh-9515695

 

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/vincents-life-and-work