Van Gogh’s Wheat Field and Cypress Trees was painted in 1889 and was first shown in The National Gallery, London. Although Van Gogh was a great artist, he was also a man with many strives and I think it shows in his art. I believe he saw life as a struggle. In a letter to his brother Theo he wrote that "paying a hard price to be a link in the chain of artists, in health, in youth, in liberty, none of which we enjoy ... " (Living with Art pg 18). I find this painting interesting for two reasons. The first is that it has a lot of color and is a fantasy like image; maybe he wanted to escape from his everyday life and paint something beautiful. On the other hand, I also find it fascinating because when I look at the painting I see a bit of loneliness and sorrow. The skies are blue, but they have swirls of grey, and the field looks windy; as if a storm may be coming in.
Claud Monet Fisherman’s Cottage on the Cliffs at Varengville was painted in 1882, 7 years before Van Gogh’s Wheat Field and Cypress Trees. Unlike Van Gogh, Monet lived a long, prosperous life and I believe he painted the world as he saw it. The fact that he lived a long, successful, almost “normal” life may be the reason he is not as well known as Van Gogh because to many normal lives aren’t as interesting as the abnormal. Like most people I find the painting very easy to like, and think it gives a serene feel.
The similarities I see between Van Gogh & Monet’s works are that they both show us nature’s beauty in a colorful way and the artists’ unique brush strokes have a way to make the painting come to life. Some differences I notice is that Monet’s painting seems more realistic and has more depth while Van Gogh’s piece seems fantasy-like or perhaps cartoonish. I also notice that Van Gogh’s strokes seem to be “swirled” while Monet’s seem to be kind of “sponged”.
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