Online Van Gogh Exhibition : Review by Varya
Where is it?
It was an online exhibition hosted by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam through Washington DC History and Culture which is a non-profit Community Organisation.
When did I attend?
Saturday the 2nd of January, 2021
What was involved?
Exploring Vincent Van Gogh’s history and life, and the influences on his art.
What art form was it?
Impressionism. Oil on canvas, watercolour.
Have I seen something like it before?
No. I haven’t been to any art exhibitions before so it was interesting to have experienced this.
What was good about the exhibition? I have learnt more about Vincent Van Gogh’s background alongside his art. However they also showed other artworks made by people who Van Gogh would have talked to or been influenced by at the time, for example John Russel, another artist who he met in Paris made a portrait of him along with Henry de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin. It really displayed how his different emotions contributed to factors like the subject of the paintings and the colours used in them. For example, when he was in Paris he used more warm colours like yellow and he did more paintings about young couples which were possibly affected by his own relationships than before when he used darker shades like dark brown and dark grey and created paintings like potatoes eaters based on starving labourers.
What was not so good?
Nothing. The only thing is that it would have been even better in person however current circumstances couldn’t have allowed that so this is really good.
Would I recommend it?
It was a very insightful and informative exhibition, so I would definitely recommend it to other people.
What did I learn from it?
I learnt about the backstory to Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings and about how he is misrepresented by the media and by most of the world today. It is really unfortunate how many people just dismiss him as the famous artist who went ‘crazy’ or ‘cut his ear off’ but they never regard how incredible it was that he worked with his struggles and obstacles and was still able to produce these masterpieces.
