Analyzing Van Gogh’s OLIVE ORCHARDS | Consciousness, Perception, Visual Meaning | Understanding Art
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- Опубликовано: 28 янв 2021
- Vincent Van Gogh was a troubled man. He embodied the tortured genius and the starving artist-selling only one painting in his entire life, living often at the expense of family who believed in his potential as an artist. He was always something of an outcast.
“He was rather unsociable, which made him difficult to live with. People were often afraid of him, because of his wild and unkempt appearance and his intense manner of speaking. The way he looked and acted alienated people, which did not make life easy for him.” (Setbacks and Perseverance: An Artists’s Life by Leo Jansen, and Nienke Bakker in Vincent Van Gogh, Ever Yours: the Essential Letters)
I doubt many people could remain completely sane in such a continuous state of failure and alienation. Van Gogh certainly could not. In 1889, he arrived at a breaking point, suffering a series of mental breakdowns in which he succumbed to hallucinations, spent days in complete confusion, unaware of what he was doing, and cut off his own ear.
With nowhere else to turn, Van Gogh admitted himself to the psychiatric clinic in Saint-Remy, where he was to live for a year, during which time he continued to work, and produced some of his most famous works of art-like the starry night-as well as lesser known works of art such as this series of Olive Orchards. Much Like Starry Night, these paintings are alive.
In one the trees are like flames of fire. There's an upward motion, that makes you feel as though you feet are being lifted off the ground in a hot air balloon. In another the low roar of a moving river or gust of wind tears through the branches. The motion here is different: it winds and weaves in and out of the trees as if there’s a river-like currant that makes us think for an instant that we are on the banks of a stream that is flowing away from us to the distant mountains. In a sense we are: we are on the banks of the stream of consciousness.
Many paintings seem to capture the single frozen frame of a paused film. But when it comes to our real life experience, there is no pause button, no frozen instant. There is not even a single present moment. You can't pinpoint a single, monadic point in time that is the, quote, 'present.' The present is a transmomentary series, a plural of moments. It is a 'happening' thing, it is ongoing. We live, and think, and feel in a gray area somewhere between remembering what has just happened to us and expectation, imagining before our eyes what our futures hold.
Van Gogh painted this world. Not the world of a single frame, paused in motion, but several frames at once. He paints the world as it exists in phenomenal experience; there is no clear line of demarcation between past, present, and future, nor is there a clear, convenient divide between perception & emotion, seeing & feeling. To see is to feel, and to feel is to see differently.
I can’t help but seeing these paintings as deeply religious. There is something of the Garden of Gethsemane in them, the garden on the mount of olives, the garden of suffering, where drops of blood are sweated out in prayer, feeding the roots of the Olive Trees, the symbol of peace, prosperity, feasting, and anointing. When Jesus died hanging from crossed boards, the sky, we are told, grew dark and the earth quaked-when he prayed among the Olive Trees of Gethsemane, one would think the way of things warped not unlike this.
In actual fact, Van Gogh was engaged in discussions of the Gethsemane theme with fellow painter Paul Gaugin when he painted these Olive Orchards. The latter had painted an explicit scene of Christ in the garden in 1889, and Van Gogh responded with his own Olive Orchards that same year. But Christ is nowhere to be found in Van Gogh’s paintings.
Van Gogh explained that there was no need for a Christ figure. “One can express anguish without making reference to the actual Gethsemane, and... there is no need to portray figures from the Sermon on the Mount in order to express a gentle and comforting feeling." “I shall not paint a Christ in the Garden of Olives, but shall paint the olive harvest as one might see it today, and by giving the human figure its proper place in it, one might perhaps be reminded of it."
Van Gogh’s belief on things is often hard to pin down-over the course of his life he played the part of both the fervent religious devotee, and the disillusioned skeptic-but it’s hard to deny that there is a spiritual quality flowing through these paintings, the murmuring song of the Chinese Dao which flows like a river but is unnamed and unamenable. The last great mystery beneath all things.
#VanGogh #Painting #UnderstandingArt #Art
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He was a painter of superb genus .... Who brough motion to the unseen world all around us 5hrough his artwork. He didn't just ponder what he saw .... He translated what he saw in colours and motion.
He sensed the interdependent play of reality by the unseen world and its effects and raveges it can exert upon all things around us.
It is truly impressive how a piece of art can surpass the artist itself sometimes. Everyone knows Van Gogh, his name and the self portrait he famously did of him with the bandages in his ear. But not many really look into the depressing history he actually had. Really loved your video man ! Really made me think about how little things in a painting can be so.... complex. Keep it up❤ !
Indeed, the beauty of the art often masks the suffering of the artist. . . Glad you liked the video, dude! Thanks for chiming in!
These videos are a good thing. Thank you, and keep going.
My thoughts exactly !!! Great job !!! please..., keep it up !!!
Your feeling and understanding of Art is wonderful. Fantastic video. 👍
How can people get so good at creative writing? I adore this video. You are a total wordsmith in my eyes.
Please. Please. Please revisit Van Gogh in future videos. This video is masterful in capturing a feel to a select few painting which I myself have never seen before. Van Gogh is certainly my favorite artist and this video above and beyond does him great justice. I would be very excited to see you periodically give your thoughts on more of his work. Your channel is criminally underrated.
What a fascinating take on what Van Gogh was trying to convey. My favorite line from this video is: “Van Gogh is not showing us what is there, but teaching us how to see what is there.” As an artist, my goal has always been to draw and paint what is there. It never occurred to me that my drawings and paintings can be used to teach others how to see as an artist sees, how I see when I am moved by the beauty of a simple thing, like the rich texture of a tree trunk, the different shades of green in a grassy meadow, the reflection of the sky on a pond, the cool blue shadows on the snow when the sun sets in the wintertime, the intense blue and purple petals of wild flowers that bloom in the summertime, which always fills me with profound sensual pleasure. Henceforth, I shall not be so concerned about conveying what is there. Infinitely more meaningful would be to do, as Van Gogh did, and teach others how to see what is there - how to be inspired and charmed and spiritually enriched by what is there.
We still live in a world where artists are hardly paid or appreciated until after they're dead. But the age of the "superstar" artist seems to have come to a close anyway. There are so many more artists, and so many who are exceptionally talented. But whether because we have such short attention spans or because it's just too hard to pick out the best of the best when there are so many in the crowd, or some other reason, very few people seem interested in "art" these days. Entertainment and art can often mesh, and both are at their best when they work together. But art, good art, is hard to produce. It's hard to define. What is "good" art? Art requires something of the viewer whereas entertainment requires far less. And so we're back at the beginning: People receive immediate value in entertainment, which subverts the monetary loss of purchasing it. But art's value increases over time, the more it's there and the more you think about it. Perhaps this is why artists struggle to be seen and valued.
Great points.
We live in a digital age. All the great works of art are video games, movies, and television shows, and all the great artists worth their salt make digital art, CGI, and have a powerful knowledge of programming. Programmers are the artists of the future now and art is now not only aesthetic but functional changing not only how we see the world and experience it but how we live in it.
@@inlikeflynn7238 which is incredibly sad. Gone are the days of magical oil paintings. I hate modernity.
@@Ziad3195 Yeah, It is sad. I constantly feel this creeping horror when I think about death, and that's what happened. The old masters died, and there was no one interested in taking their place, but I console myself with the fact that art still exists today in a different capacity. Art is not the same, and I won't argue that it is better, but there is still good art that we can all enjoy, and we should be thankful for what we have.
@@Ziad3195 Yeah, It is sad. I constantly feel this creeping horror when I think about death, and that's what happened. The old masters died, and there was no one interested in taking their place, but I console myself with the fact that art still exists today in a different capacity. Art is not the same, and I won't argue that it is better, but there is still good art that we can all enjoy, and we should be thankful for what we have.
This is incredible! I love it. From the Greek to the interpretation from the national Gallery of Art.
Peace, like a river… Dreams I’ve yet to have spilling off canvas fragrant and warm.
I was fortunate enough to experience Van Gogh's olive orchard collection at the DMA about a year ago. I brought me to tears. So much vulnerability.
He is and will always be my favorite artist
When I was younger I didn't think much of his work. Nowadays I appreciate it much more.
Your videos are so thought provoking. And Van Gogh is my favorite artist. Thank you and keep the content coming. It’s amazing!
I live your channel. Keep up the good work!
It's a fukin shame the low number of views on these videos, I'll do my part and share
Utterly sublime ...... thank you ..... a beautiful understanding of these divine "living" paintings.
You use all the words I love in absolutely the right order.
Nice technique! The super-imposing of Artwork over the photo of the orchard. Excellent viewing experience!
My father-in-law cherished Van Gogh
Has his good taste rubbed off on you?
Magnificent analysis! :)
Thank you!
Great video dude! I got sucked in by your analysis of The Wanderer and you have in this delivered again.
Do you have a source for the music at the end?
Just discovered you. Wonderful videos. Thank you.
I love your videos!
I love your videos. Only just found your chanel and am rushing through all your videos in the last two days. My Personal favorite Pictures are the Pandemonium from John Martin, inspired by Paradise lost, wich you have covered several times. My second Favorite is the Wanderer from Caspar David Friedrich wich i see after all your videos. I would edvise you to come to my home city of Hamburg one day and lose your self in the original one day. Its a really Dreamy Picture.
Such an amazing channel!
You're so right.
Van Gogh cut his ears off to get out of Pentridge because he knew all the other prisoners wanted to get him, the governer insisted he wouldn't be transferring him to another prison despite the governor knowing Van Gogh had a target over his head, but the governor didn't expect him to cut his ears off, "you thought I wouldn't get out, but look who's leaving!!" He mocked.
"GET HIM OUT!" shouted the governor, as Van Gogh was escort past him in the hall by the screws, with a towel wrapped around his head tightly, in a vain attempt to stifle the blood flow.
I love your videos.
song at 1:40?
Great insights.
I just discovered your channel in the past couple of days. You did some excellent analysis on MASTER AND COMMANDER and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. I think you should do a review of THE AVIATOR (the life of Howard Hughes). Keep up the great work.
fuck man you need more subs
Van Goff, also pronounced "VAN GA-CA-CA"
Your voice is too sensual. Tone it down