Today we were inspired by the water and created our own sailboat painting inspired by the great Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gogh.
Vincent Van Gogh was born in Zundert, Netherlands in 1853. He was the oldest of six children.
Van Gogh dedicated his life to art at around the age of 27. Before that he had many jobs, he was a missionary, he worked in a bookstore, an art gallery and was a teacher.
He developed his art skills by using pencils and charcoal and sketching people and objects. He practiced a lot to get better!
Throughout his life he was supported by his brother, Theo, who was an art dealer in Paris. He encouraged Vincent to paint and bought him art supplies and even tried to sell his paintings but they were not the style of paintings that buyers wanted at that time.
Theo introduced him to the new style of painting, Impressionism and urged him to move to Paris to study the style. Van Gogh developed a unique painterly style while studying in Paris. He used energetic brush strokes and unique colour combinations that make his work instantly recognizable.
Van Gogh’s struggles with mental health lasted throughout his life. Some of his most famous works such as Starry Night were done while he was being treated in a mental asylum.
In a short span of 10 years, Van Gogh painted over 2,100 paintings. 860 oil paintings and more than 1300 watercolours, sketches and drawings.
Although his works have been sold for some of the largest sums in the art world – for example Portrait of Dr. Gachet sold in 1990 for $149.5 million – he only sold one piece of art, The Red Vineyards near Arles, while he was alive. He sold this painting in 1888 for 400 francs (about $1000 today) to Anna Boch, an impressionist painter and collector from Belgium. She was a friend of Van Gogh.
Sadly, he died at the young age of 37.
The piece that inspired our Sailboat project is this painting by Van Gogh entitled Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. As well as one of his famous quotes:
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” – Vincent Van Gogh
It was so much fun to create with our online group today! Thank you to all of the students who shared their work during the class.