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Vincent van Gogh |
Vincent van Gogh (van go) is a very important artist because he was one of the first artists to decide that things didn't have to be painted the colors that they are in the real world. He could paint a sky light green if he wanted, or a straw roof purple, or mountains bright blue! When he was alive, people werenĚt used to this and didnĚt like his work. They also thought his paintings were sloppy because of the energetic brushstrokes. But even though he only sold one painting during his lifetime, today he is one of the most famous artists in the world.
Mr. van Gogh had a reason for using color the way he did. He wanted to use it to create a feeling, or as he said, "to show what is in [my] heart." What feelings do you think he was trying to communicate in The Old Mill? Use your imagination to change the colors in the painting. What feelings can you create by changing the colors?
To understand this painting a little bit better it helps to know what Mr. van Gogh was doing when he worked on it. He had been living in the large city of Paris, which is in the north of France. In the winter, Paris is gray, cold, and wet. In February 1888, Mr. van Gogh had been sick, and moved to the town of Arles, in the southern part of France, where the building in the painting can still be seen. It is almost always warm and dry there. The sun shines brightly most of the time. The fields are fertile, and the sky and water are bright blue. How do you think the change in the weather from Paris to Arles affected the artist?