Van Gogh at Night – I Hope to Get There

Here is a great sounding show at the Museum of Modern Art that I hope to see before it closes on January 5. As the new York Times wrote in Nocturnal van Gogh, Illuminating the Darkness, “Instead of the usual are-we-done-yet marathon followed with ordeal by gift shop, it quietly displays 23 paintings, 9 drawings and several letters by van Gogh in six intimate galleries.” In the meanwhile, you can see the slide show of parts of Van Gogh at Night exhibit. I especially liked the new ones to me, The Dance Hall in Arles” (1888) “Landscape with Wheat Sheaves and Rising Moon” (1889)

There are some familiar ones and ones that I have never seen before. The NYT review goes on to say,” What we see here is an artist with no time to lose, who gained crucial inspiration and information from the dusk, the twilight hours and the night with their constantly changing moons and relatively stable stars followed by the dawn’s first glimmers. They challenged his visual perception, stirred his imagination, expanded his palette and kept him close to nature’s cycles and mysteries.”

This is something that I like to explore in photography, and when I have time I want go back to in painting. It made me realize that all my painting, except one, Painting of St. Paul Street in Quebec in the Winter, has been done in regular day light. It is the transitions found in the change to night, night itself, and the beginning of the day offers so of the most interesting qualities to consider. Van Gogh does am amazing job handling these changes in a variety of ways.

Comments

[Lana]

Oooh. I wish I could catch that show, too. In reality, there are so many things to see all over the world, artistically speaking. This sounds very intriguing, though.
I find I paint more night scenes these days, myself, but I've always loved going out for solitary night hikes or what have you, so my paintings are clearly a reflection of those experiences (some of which are among the most awe-inspiring times of my life.)

[bill Ives]

Lana

Thanks for comment and enjoy your night walks. you have a nice warm climate for it. Bill