1. Van Gogh: A Great Painter or a Mad Genius?

2. Vincent Willem Van Gogh (1853—1890) "It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to.... The feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures." Vincent van Gogh

3. More than a century after his death, Vincent van Gogh has become a legend. So many myths surround his name today that his major place in the development of modern art is often overshadowed. Despite his turbulent life, Van Gogh pursued throughout his career a clear artistic goal: to create images of great emotional intensity based on a careful study of the effects of color and composition. «Three sunflowers» (1888)

4. Interested in colour theories, Van Gogh began experimenting with the use of bright, pure colors to heighten the expressiveness of his work. He opens a world of artificial lighting for us. The colors look crazy, symbolizing something unhealthy, lifeless and destructive. His art belonged to the avant-garde of his time, and as such was not accepted by the public at large; but Van Gogh had the support of an entire circle of friends, artists, and critics. «Night Cafe» (1888)

5. «Red Vineyards in Arles» (1888) Looking at this masterpiece you feel soothe with some suspense, pushed into a rippling depths, to the brink of the subconscious – and unconscious. No one will answer the question if Vincent Van Gogh deliberately alters the natural colors or if he really sees them in such a way. But look at the picture! Stop your internal dialogue! And you will see people start moving. You will even hear the quiet conversation of the grape pickers.

6. Van Gogh's first major painting,«The Potato Eaters» of 1885, reflects his ambition to be "a painter of peasant life." At the time the artist was living in the small village in southern Holland, and found inspiration in the harsh experience of workmen. «The Potato Eaters» (1885)

7. The two years Van Gogh spent in Paris, exposed to the recent trends of the French avant-garde, were crucial to his artistic development. «A Pair of Shoes», perhaps painted soon after his move, still shows the dark colors of his Dutch works. The frontal, close-up view of the worn-out shoes - often interpreted as a symbolic self-portrait. But Van Gogh's discovery of impressionism and postimpressionism, and the friendship he formed with artists such as Gauguin and Signac, led to a dramatic change in his palette and brushwork. «A Pair of Shoes» Paris, 1887

8. Another source of inspiration that Van Gogh explored in Paris, was Japanese woodblock prints. The Japanese influence would remain strong throughout Van Gogh's works, finding its way in his use of daring perspectives and in the flat decorative patterns he often added to the background of his later portraits. «Courtesan»(1887)

9. It was during his Parisian period that Van Gogh painted most of his self-portraits - mainly because he was unable to afford models. «Self-portrait in dark felt hat»(1886 ) «Self-portrait in a straw hat»(1887)

10. In February 1888 he left Paris for the small town of Arles, in Provence where he developed his ideas about the expressive value of color: "Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily, in order to express myself forcibly." These ideas found direct application in a group of paintings he created to decorate the so-called Yellow House. In «The Bedroom», for instance, the intense colors were intended to produce an image of "absolute restfulness." «The Bedroom», October 1888

11. Throughout his life, Van Gogh suffered from mental problems that may or may not have been medical in origin. In 1888, he cut off his left ear lobe. Vincent Van Gogh died on July 29th, 1890, two days after shooting himself in the chest. «Self-portrait with a Bandaged ear» 1889

12. In the paintings he left he had expressed his deeper feelings through the most lucid combination of bright colors, bold compositions, and a rich handling of paint - thus setting the direction for many of the expressionist tendencies in twentieth-century art. « View of Paris from the apartment Theo on the street Lepik» (1887) «The bridge over the Seine» (1887)

13. Vincent Van Gogh: is he a great painter or a mad genius? Or perhaps, an unhappy creator doomed to solitude and fear? He has been working as an artist for nine years only, but he has more than 2000 works. And with the help of his paintbrush he managed to show on his canvases the brightest feelings: anger, doubts, fear, hopes… «Prisoners Exercising» (1890)

14. After his death, Van Gohg’s brother Theo wrote, «People should realize that he was a great artist, something which often coincides with being a great human being. In the course of time this will surely be acknowledged, and many will regret his early death».

15. Thank you for your attention Loiko Larisa Vladimirovna