Vincent van Gogh's Masterpiece 'SUNFLOWERS' Vandalized @ National GalleryPrev TopicNext Topic

• eddessaknight

  

  LAS VEGAS
  United States
  Member #47,728
  November 22, 2006
  9,488 Posts
  Offline
  Oct 16, 2022, 10:33 pm

  ▲▼

  Time Line; October 16th, 2022

  Three brazen ostensible activists appeared in London court on criminal charges after protests including criminal charges of attacking  Van Gogh paintings by  throwing soup over Vincent  van Gogh's "SUNFLOWER" painting  :-(

  

  

  The iconic sunflowers

  Van Gogh was not the first artist to paint still-life flowers and he certainly did not invent sunflowers. He did things so differently that it shocked the art world. He chose to paint sunflowers with three shades of yellow and nothing else. This way he showed the world that it was possible to paint something with numerous variations of a single colour, without any loss of articulateness. His fellow painters criticised his sunflowers and thought they were ‘coarse and unrefined’. But this is what Van Gogh was aiming for, he enjoyed painting flowers that had gone to seed. He knew his sunflowers were unique and special so much so that when he died, his friends brought sunflowers with them to his funeral. Sunflowers became synonymous with Vincent, just as he had hoped. The sunflower series show sunflowers in all stages of life, from full bloom to withering. The paintings were considered visionary for their use of the yellow spectrum, partly because newly invented pigments made new colours possible. The vibrant yellow oil paints in Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" were first made available early in the 19th century. He was among the first artists to fully embrace them.

   

  

  Behind the Art: Why are Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ so famous and what meaning do they hold?

  The fourth version of Sunflowers called ‘Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers’ which now hangs in the National Gallery of London, United Kingdom is one of the most talked about in the sunflower series. (Photo: Van Gogh Museum)

  If one studies the life of Van Gogh, one will see a tortured human being hidden behind every brush stroke. Most of his masterpieces were made when he was going through psychosis in the mental asylum but sunflowers signified something else entirely for him. They communicated gratitude, friendship and hope that one day he will get better. He hung the first two paintings in his friend's room, the painter Paul Gauguin, who came to live with him for a while in the Yellow House. Gauguin was impressed by the sunflowers, which he thought were ‘completely Vincent’. Van Gogh had already painted a new version during his friend’s stay and Gauguin later asked for one as a gift, which Vincent was reluctant to give him. He later produced two loose copies, however, one of which is now in the Van Gogh Museum, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Yellow for Van Gogh was an emblem of happiness – in Dutch literature, the sunflower was a sign of devotion and loyalty. In their various stages of decay, these flowers also remind people of the cycle of life and death.

  Surprising facts about Van Gogh’s sunflowers

  Although one can appreciate the beauty of the sunflowers that Van Gogh so lovingly painted for his friend, they do not entirely know the history behind the art. Several facts about his artwork continue to entice art lovers as when Van Gogh moved to Arles, he entered into a prolific period in which he infused his works with yellow hues. Several theories attempt to explain this. One asserts he overindulged in absinthe while another suggests he took too much digitalis. Either substance could have tinted what he saw with yellow. Another surprising fact about the painting is: that painting nearly led to bloodshed. In 1890 in Brussels, a Belgian painter bristled at having his paintings displayed in the same exhibition as "Sunflowers," saying Vincent was a charlatan. Vincent's friend Henri Toulouse-Lautrec heard the disparaging remark and challenged the Belgian to a duel, which never took place. Another fact of the painting highlights how unstable the frame of mind of Van Gogh was before he cut off his ear: In Arles, Vincent rented quarters in what he called the Yellow House and furnished a room to accommodate Gauguin. He planned to decorate the room with sunflower paintings. Later, the Yellow House would be the scene of Vincent's self-mutilation. From being a loving and appreciating friend to fighting with Gauguin and harming himself, Van Gogh had a wide spectrum of emotions.

  It is true when they say an artwork represents the heart and soul of the artist. Van Gogh was so delighted with the sunflowers he painted in that one week that he celebrated the completion of his paintings with a shopping spree. Known as a very gloomy and mentally disturbed person, Van Gogh  was truly overjoyed by the sunflowers as they gave him hope for a better life. Although notorious for his shabby clothes, he bought “a black velvet jacket of quite good quality for 20 francs” and a large yellow straw hat. Both items appear to be hanging behind his bed in the painting he made of his bedroom two months later. The vibrant and joyful sunflowers have left an imprint on the art world of a tormented genius who sought happiness just like any other human.

  ~

  Nota Bene:

  Is there nothing to be off limits to destructive activities on our world treasures just to make  a political point?
• eddessaknight

  

  LAS VEGAS
  United States
  Member #47,728
  November 22, 2006
  9,488 Posts
  Offline
  Oct 17, 2022, 8:19 pm

  ▲▼

    STARY STARY NIGHT 

  "Be clearly aware on high. of the stars & infinity on high, The life seems almost enchanted after all

  ~Vincent Van Gogh

  ~
• eddessaknight

  

  LAS VEGAS
  United States
  Member #47,728
  November 22, 2006
  9,488 Posts
  Offline
  Oct 27, 2022, 4:59 pm

  ▲▼

  Protesters throw mashed potatoes at Monet painting

  BERLIN (AP) — Climate protesters threw mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in a German museum to protest fossil fuel extraction on Sunday, but caused no damage to the artwork.

  Two activists from the group Last Generation, which has called on the German government to take drastic action to protect the climate and stop using fossil fuels, approached Monet’s “Les Meules” at Potsdam’s Barberini Museum and threw a thick substance over the painting and its gold frame.

  The group later confirmed via a post on Twitter that the mixture was mashed potatoes. The two activists, both wearing orange high-visibility vests, also glued themselves to the wall below the painting.

  “If it takes a painting – with #MashedPotatoes or #TomatoSoup thrown at it – to make society remember that the fossil fuel course is killing us all: Then we’ll give you #MashedPotatoes on a painting!” the group wrote on Twitter, along with a video of the incident.

  In total, four people were involved in the incident, according to German news agency dpa.

  The Barberini Museum said later Sunday that because the painting was enclosed in glass, the mashed potatoes didn't cause any damage. The painting, part of Monet's “Haystacks” series, is expected to be back on display on Wednesday.

  “While I understand the activists’ urgent concern in the face of the climate catastrophe, I am shocked by the means with which they are trying to lend weight to their demands,” museum director Ortrud Westheider said in a statement.

  Police told dpa they had responded to the incident, but further information about arrests or charges was not immediately available.

  The Monet painting is the latest artwork in a museum to be targeted by climate activists to draw attention to global warming.

  The British group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery earlier this month.

  Just Stop Oil activists also glued themselves to the frame of an early copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” in the National Gallery.

  Nota Bene:

  Will destroying or disfiguring  world's master works of art actually help the Climate ???