Art Analysis Blog Post
Art Analysis Blog Post
The piece of art I chose was "Café Terrance at Night" By Vincent Van Gogh, a very well known artist with many beautiful art pieces and contributions to the art community.
My favorite art element in this painting is the use of color that Van Gogh uses. Van Gogh used bright colors that complimented each other. The use of the bright yellow against the dark blue makes the Café look like it is lit up. These colors give the impression that the café is lively compared to the rest of the painting. The use of warm tones of yellow and orange used on the left side of the painting symbolize a positive and joyful feeling compared to the right side of the painting which uses cool tones of blue. The contrast between each side of this painting could represent the different highs and lows of Van Gogh's life. This painting is very interesting because many scholars have suggested this painting has an allusion of "The Last Supper" by Da Vinci. If you look closely in the middle of the café, it shows a man with long hair symbolizing Jesús standing amongst a group of people symbolizing the disciples at the café. I found this super interesting as I didn't notice this at first. Van Gogh used immense detail in this painting to show the texture and depth of the stone ground. This really gives that rustic view to a street in France at night. The foreground of this painting is very empty compared to the rest of the painting. The table in the foreground, I think that this represents Van Gogh's lonely past.
Van Gogh created this painting in 1888 and took his own life two years later. Many of Van Gogh's paintings were not popular until after his passing. Van Gogh struggled with many mental illnesses in his life and once even cut off his own ear because he was so angry. I really enjoyed this painting because of what it symbolizes. We have all struggled with hard times throughout life and really inspiring of how Van Gogh used his life in reference to his art.
Citation: Gogh, Vincent Van. “Café Terrace at Night, 1888 by Vincent Van Gogh.” 10 Secrets of Café Terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh, https://www.vincentvangogh.org/cafe-at-night.jsp.
What's interesting about Van Gogh is his use of that very rich blue in his evening scenes. Despite his well-documented emotional issues, he painted some of the most beautiful and expressive evening scenes of anyone which creates an interesting duality. Do you know if he was manic? or chronically depressed.
ReplyDeleteHi Kody! This is probably my favorite painting of all time. The dark sky and people walking in the distance make the painting feel so tentative. We can see that people look like they are starting to clear out and head home on the street, but the light at the cafe is still on. I have always wondered if maybe more people were going to the cafe- possibly it was busier during the evening hours.
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