art history

I love history, and art history in particular.

I was reading part of these great books last night

and it got me thinking about the need for expression

and how similar we all are, in so many ways...

There's so much to learn

about one another, isn't there?

Regardless of how far back you go in time.

We are far more similar

than we are different.

I believe the need for expression

is far greater than we sometimes realize.

 I wanted to share

at least these few little things with you

that i find so interesting about these few artists.

Auguste RENOIR (1841-1919)

broke his right arm several times during his life,

and learned to paint with his left hand.

At the age of 57, he has severe athritis,

and eventually paints from his wheelchair.

But still - he paints.

(Renoir, with an already paralyzed right hand)

Claude MONET (1840-1926)

Attempts suicide several times in his life,

by jumping into the Seine River.

Between 1916 and 1926, he works on 12 large canvases,

that become The Water Lillies

and within this time frame,

he goes nearly blind due to cataracts.

Still, he paints.

(Monet - The Water Lillies)

Edouard MANET (1832-1883)

One of the great impressionist painters

who becomes good friends with artist BERTHE MORISOT,

who eventually becomes his model for painting.

He falls in love with Berthe, but in 1874,

she married his brother, Eugène.

Edouard's pain becomes obvious in his brush strokes

and choice of color in his paintings of Berthe.

He is no doubt filled with grief and longing,

and at the age of 40,

he becomes partially paralyzed

due to an illness.

And yet - he paints.

He dies at the age of 51.

The differences between this earlier painting

and the last painting in 1874

show the differences

between love

and loss.

Berthe MORISOT (1841-1895)

Her paintings are accepted at the Salon de Paris

when she is only 23 years old.

She builds a home in Paris

where she often entertains artists & writers,

including her dear friend, Edouard Manet.

Edouard dies in 1883,

her husband in 1892,

and her sister in 1893.

There is a dark cloud cast around her

and her work as an artist.

Still - she paints.

She dies of the flu in 1895,

at 54 years old.

(Berthe Morisot, self portrait, 1885)

Vincent VAN GOGH (1853-1890)

Of all the Impressionist painters,

Van Gogh is the one who inspires me the most

and who i feel was most misunderstood.

 He began to paint at the age of 27,

and painted over 1000 canvases in a period of 10 years.

He also wrote over 800 letters to his best friend & brother Theo.

Vincent suffered from epilepsy and other mental issues

that would surely be treated today,

but they go untreated in the 1800's and eventually,

he is brought to an asylum in Saint Remy de Provence, in Paris

after he cuts off part of his ear.

Van Gogh, self portrait, 1887

Van Gogh, self portrait, 1889

(Van Gogh, his last self portrait, 1889,

given to his mother as a gift.)

Still, he paints.

While he is in Saint-Remy,

 he paints Starry Night.

In 1890, at the age of 37,

he walks to a corn field

shoots himself in the chest,

and dies 3 days later.

His brother Theo dies only 6 months later

at the age of 33,

no doubt of loneliness.

They are buried next to one another

in Auvers, Paris.

Vincent Van Gogh sold one painting during his lifetime.

Today, they are worth millions.

I'm adding this footnote after i saw Lorinda's comment,

for fear that some of you

may run out & cut your wrists this afternoon...

;-)

This may sound to some like

the plight of the suffering artist

but what i find so interesting

is how despite everything,

despite how difficult or tragic

or traumatic these lives were -

they still felt the need to create.

The need for expression.

Perhaps it is not despite everything

but because of everything

that this need was so profound?

How about you?

Do you feel more creative

when all is well,

or does your art seem to take on

new meaning

when there's a gray cloud above your head?

Do you use art as a way

to help you out

of the darkness,

or simply to express this darkness?

Humour me.

I have a curious, passionate heart.

I said so in my profile.

:-)

And hang around.

Tomorrow's post may not be so heavy.

xoxo