Artist 19: Vincent van Gogh

Born in 1853 in the Netherlands, he is one of the most famous artists to date with his unmistakeable art style. My personal favorite picture from him is "Starry Night." My reasons for liking this are, well, partly because of the conditions of how it was painted. What I mean by that is that he painted this while he was in a mental hospital. No, I don't like it simply because of that, that would be silly. My point is that, as he was known to suffer from mental illness, my personal assumption is that the artwork would not be so beautiful and peaceful. I do not believe this LOOKS like it was done by a mental patient, although his pure skill possibly enhanced the outcome of this piece. Even in a mental hospital, Van Gogh was still able to express his amazing talent so gracefully. His works, such as this, are oil paint, yet they remind me of pastels. Mostly because of the color, yet also the simple fact of the brush strokes give it a pastel appearance. The many short strokes give everything a texture and allow your eyes to follow them all around the painting, as they swirl with the stars and proceed around the town. While Van Gogh was known to have a rather macabre feeling to his works, I really don't see it in this one, though I believe I used to. Note that not all of his works have that feeling, many of them are very beautiful and light hearted! This one is no exception and it gives no assumption that the creator suffered mentally.