Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most renowned and influential painters in the history of Western art. Known for his vivid and expressive painting style, Van Gogh’s works are characterized by thick, visible brushstrokes, bold colors, and imaginative perspectives.
One of the most distinctive features of Van Gogh’s paintings is his bold and bright color palette. From sunflower yellows to azure blues, crimson reds to emerald greens, Van Gogh embraced a vibrant spectrum of pigments in his work.
But did Van Gogh really use unusually bright colors compared to other painters of his time? Or is this impression simply an aspect of Van Gogh’s style that makes his works instantly recognizable today?
In this article, we’ll examine Van Gogh’s use of color in depth. Looking at his paintings chronologically throughout his 10-year career, we’ll analyze how his color choices evolved over time. We’ll also compare Van Gogh’s color palette to other 19th century painters to gauge whether he truly stood apart in his vivid color sensibility.
Van Gogh’s Painting Career
Before analyzing Van Gogh’s use of color, it helps to understand the trajectory of his brief but highly prolific painting career.
Van Gogh did not become serious about painting until 1880, when he was 27 years old. Prior to that, he had pursued various vocations including art dealer, teacher, and Protestant minister.
His painting career can be divided into four main periods:
- The Netherlands, 1880-1885: Van Gogh began painting in a dark, earthy color palette influenced by Rembrandt and other 17th century Dutch masters.
- Paris, 1886-1888: exposure to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists led Van Gogh to adopt a lighter, more vibrant palette.
- Arles, 1888-1889: these were Van Gogh’s most prolific years where he used vivid colors and thick paint to capture the light and landscape of Provence in Southern France.
- Saint-Rémy and Auvers, 1889-1890: increasingly abstract and emotional paintings with swirls of intense, contrasting colors in the last year before his death.
Keeping this chronology in mind, let’s dive into a deep exploration of Van Gogh’s color choices throughout his evolution as an artist.
The Netherlands Period (1880-1885)
When Van Gogh began painting in 1880, he mainly created sombre, earthy portraits of peasants and laborers reminiscent of 17th century Dutch masters like Rembrandt. This early dark color palette was partly an artistic choice, but also stemmed from financial constraints limiting Van Gogh’s access to a wider spectrum of pigments.
Some representative paintings from Van Gogh’s Dutch period include:
- The Potato Eaters (1885) – dominated by browns and grays
- Peasant Woman Digging (1885) – dark green and brown tones
- Peasant and Peasant Woman Planting Potatoes (1884) – somber greens, browns and blacks
However, as Van Gogh’s talents progressed he did begin incorporating slightly more vivid hues in this period. This included mixing in reds and oranges to portray more dramatic lighting, as seen in:
- Still Life with Bible (1885) – hints of red
- Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen (1884–85) – oranges and browns
Overall though, Van Gogh’s early Dutch color palette was very constrained and muted compared to the bright hues he would use later after discovering the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements.
Paris Period (1886-1888)
Van Gogh’s palette dramatically shifted after he moved to Paris in 1886 and discovered the revolutionary new styles of the Impressionist, Pointillist and Post-Impressionist artists also working in the city.
Energized by these movements and with access to better quality paints, Van Gogh began adopting a lighter, more vibrant color palette including:
- Vivid blues – Parisian street scenes
- Lush greens – parks and gardens
- Bright yellows – sunlit indoor scenes
- Fiery oranges and reds – Japonaiserie (Japanese-influenced) prints
Representative bright, lively paintings from Van Gogh’s 2 years in Paris include:
- View of Paris from Montmartre (1886) – blues and greens
- Interior of a Restaurant (1887) – yellow interior
- A Pair of Leather Clogs (1887) – complementary blues and oranges
- Courtesan (after Eisen) (1887) – vivid reds and greens
However, Van Gogh also continued exploring some darker color palettes in Paris, evident in moody urban scenes like The Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quarry (1886). Overall though, his Paris period demonstrated a much wider and more vibrant use of color than his Dutch period.
Arles Period (1888-1889)
Van Gogh’s palette reached its full maturity and intensity during the Arles period from 1888-1889. Here he used color strategically and symbolically to capture the distinctive light and landscape of Provence in Southern France.
Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888. The bright Mediterranean light was a revelation after the grayer skies of Holland and Paris. Energized by the change in climate and scenery, Van Gogh’s paintings from this period radiate color.
Some signature colorful paintings from Van Gogh’s Arles years include:
- The Yellow House (1888) – vivid yellow house
- Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries (1888) – bright blue boats on yellow sand
- The Sower (1888) – golds and blues in fields
- Sunflowers (1888-89) – saturated yellows in numerous sunflower still lifes
- The Starry Night (1889) – whirling blues, yellows and oranges
- Irises (1889) – purples and greens of irises
Van Gogh wrote frequently in letters about his excitement over the light and color in Arles and how he tried to use paint to capture these sensory experiences. Some memorable quotes include:
- “Here we’re far south, and I’m seeing things with an eye more Japanese, more primitive.” (Letter to Emile Bernard, 1888)
- “The sun here is so intense that it seems to ignite everything.” (Letter to Wilhelmina, 1888)
- “It often seems to me that the night is even more richly colored than the day.” (Letter to Wilhelmina, 1888)
These quotes demonstrate Van Gogh’s embrace of heightened color in this period, from sun-drenched yellows to the mystical nights of Arles.
Saint-Rémy and Auvers Periods (1889-1890)
After leaving Arles following the famous incident where he cut off part of his own ear, Van Gogh was admitted to an asylum in Saint-Rémy in May 1889. Although troubled personally, he continued painting prolifically until his death in July 1890.
As his psychological troubles intensified in his final year, Van Gogh’s use of color became even more exaggerated, symbolic and emotive. Paintings from 1889-1890 feature intense, contrasting colors that almost vibrate off the canvas.
Notable paintings from this period include:
- The Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888) – swirling blues and yellows
- Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun (1889) – contrasting greens and yellows
- Irises (1889) – vibrant blues, purples and yellows
- Almond Blossom (1890) – bright pinks and blues
- Wheatfield with Crows (1890) – turbulent reds, yellows, blues and greens in one of his final works
In these late paintings, Van Gogh used unnaturally vibrant and contrasting colors for emotional impact. The colors are less naturalistic representations of landscape and more exaggerated expressions of his interior state.
Did Van Gogh Use Unusually Bright Colors?
Now that we’ve surveyed Van Gogh’s use of color throughout his career, let’s analyze whether his palette was unusually vibrant compared to other artists in the late 19th century.
While Van Gogh’s color choices were bolder and more saturated than the traditional Dutch artists he admired early on, he was not working in isolation. The development of new synthetic pigments in the 19th century gave many artists access to brighter colors than ever before.
Impressionists like Monet were also using pure, unblended colors applied separately to capture the vibrancy of light. Some of Monet’s vivid blue and green landscapes exhibit a similar intensity to Van Gogh.
However, where Van Gogh diverged was his free and emotionally expressive use of these bright pigments. Looking at later comparable French landscapes, Van Gogh painted with much thicker, more visible brushstrokes and contrasts.
For example, compare Van Gogh’s Green Wheat Fields, Auvers (1890) to Monet’s The Seine at Argenteuil (1873):
| Van Gogh – Green Wheat Fields, Auvers (1890) | Monet – The Seine at Argenteuil (1873) |
|---|---|
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While both paintings use vivid greens and blues to portray nature, Van Gogh applied the oil paint much more thickly. His brushwork is visible and energetic compared to Monet’s smooth blending. The colors are also higher in chroma and placed adjacent to create striking contrasts.
Another comparison can be made between Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles (1888) and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Rousse (1887), two contemporary portraits of interiors painted while the artists were both in Paris:
| Van Gogh – Bedroom in Arles (1888) | Toulouse-Lautrec – Rousse (1887) |
|---|---|
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Again, Toulouse-Lautrec used a vivid, complementary color scheme. But Van Gogh’s perspective is more exaggerated and the walls are painted in uniformly saturated, unrealistic hues.
Based on these and other similar comparisons, it’s clear Van Gogh’s use of color was certainly bold and expressive for the time. But it was his unique, thickly textured and emotionally symbolic application of bright pigments that truly set him apart from his Impressionist and Post-Impressionist contemporaries working with a similar palette.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Van Gogh did use bright, vivid colors, especially in the Arles and Saint-Rémy periods.
- His access to new pigments expanded his palette significantly after the muted Dutch period.
- Impressionists were also using bright hues, but Van Gogh applied colors in a thicker, more visible expressive way.
- The symbolic and emotional use of color culminated in the Saint-Rémy period.
- So while the palette was not unique to Van Gogh, his bold application and color symbolism stood apart.
It was this innovative, imaginative approach to using vivid color that made Van Gogh’s work revolutionary. The bright hues were a means to convey emotion, light, and a spiritual experience of nature and landscape.
Over 130 years later, those vivid colors leap off the canvas and continue to captivate viewers. Van Gogh’s innovative use of a bright, thickly applied palette was crucial to making his paintings some of the most famous and impactful ever created.