Van Gogh's Skies

 Though Vincent van Gogh was primarily self-taught, learning from art books and by copying works, he was still influenced by the world around him. He moved several times in his life and during his artistic career, both voluntarily and by necessity, and these moves and exposure to new scenery and ideas are clearly reflected in his art. In 1880, Van Gogh decided to become an artist, but it was not until he moved to Paris in 1886 that he began to create his more recognizable works. He moved again in 1888 to Arles, where he focused on his sunflower series and eventually cut off part of his ear. In 1889, he is admitted to an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where he is fascinated by the wheat fields, cypresses, and olive trees – and by the sky above.

The most famous sky Vincent van Gogh painted may well be The Starry Night, known for its arresting swirls and glowing stars, but Van Gogh did not start with swirling skies. In fact, it was only after he was introduced to the Impressionist style that his skies went from being flat backdrops to holding a place of prominence in his paintings.

This exhibition examines how Van Gogh’s depictions of skies changes over time by examining five of his oil paintings.

“View of the Sea at Scheveningen”

Vincent van Gogh

1882

Oil on canvas

Van Gogh Museum

Made less than a year after Van Gogh first started painting, View of the Sea at Scheveningen portrays the stormy sky above the ocean as three flat, heavy layers of looming clouds and a sliver of uneasy air. The sky’s brushstrokes are horizontal, while the clouds’ strokes curve from bottom left to top right with little variation. Painted before Van Gogh’s introduction to Impressionism, it lacks the short, swirling strokes that characterize his later paintings.

“View of Paris”

Vincent van Gogh

1886

Oil on canvas

Van Gogh Museum

In View of Paris, thick, short strokes portray the sky above Paris, which takes up over half of the composition. In Paris, Van Gogh was exposed to Impressionism, and while he portrays the city in detail, the looser strokes of the sky show the beginning of its influence in his work. The disorganized strokes of the clouds give them the beginning of a sense of motion, and the thicker impasto gives the sky more body than it had in his previous works.

“Cypresses”

Vincent van Gogh

1889

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

49.30

Van Gogh’s stay at Saint-Rémy gave him much time to heal and to paint the surrounding area. He was particularly enamored with the cypresses, which he described as “beautiful as regards lines and proportions, like an Egyptian obelisk.” While the two dark cypresses have a commanding presence, the sky possesses real body as well. Its swirling strokes are organized and so give the sky a sense of movement. Rather than using purely naturalistic colors, the whorls of pink and yellow intermixed with the predominant blue show Van Gogh’s entrance into Post-Impressionism.

“The Olive Trees”

Vincent van Gogh

1889

Oil on canvas

Museum of Modern Art

581.1998

In The Olive Trees, the unsteady landscape influences the sky above. As the ground rolls and the eye is left without a resting spot, the turbulent mountains provide a shape that the clouds mimic. Painted as a daytime companion to The Starry Night, the skies of this painting are a nearly uniform blue with more subtle whorls. The two viscous clouds rest heavily in the sky, distinct from it rather than integrated, but their swirls and exaggerated style make them distinctly Van Gogh and distinctly Post-Impressionistic.

“The Starry Night”

Vincent van Gogh

1889

Oil on canvas

Museum of Modern Art

472.1941

In The Starry Night, one of Van Gogh’s best-known paintings, the skies take command. Rather than simply acting as a backdrop for the cypress trees and village below, the two prominent swirls of the sky command attention. The glowing stars and moon manipulate the flat plane of the sky, their light rippling outwards until it meets the whorls of air. The low cloud bank above the mountains undulates, with hints of yellow-green reflected from the celestial bodies above. A vast difference from View of the Sea at Scheveningen, The Starry Night encompasses Van Gogh’s exuberant skies.