47 van Gogh paintings in one
My painting of the life and works of Vincent van Gogh is a map of where he lived, when he lived there, and what he painted when he was in that location.
I’ve been gripped by Vincent van Gogh since 1979 when on a school trip to London’s National Gallery, the Sunflowers hit me right between the eyes! Thirty-eight years of studying his works later, I still ‘discover’ paintings and drawing I’ve never seen before. I have blogged extensively about Vincent.
In my map of Vincent, I chose many of his best-loved paintings, and also lesser known works that show Vincent’s extraordinarily wide range of subjects: boats, trees, flowers, people, architecture, tree and even the stars.
What’s in the map of Vincent?
England
- Churches at Petersham and Turnham Green – Sketch in a letter of where Vincent was working in 1873.
- Books (1888)- Vincent read so much while he was in England, and not just the bible. He was especially fond of Dickens.
- Pieta (after Delacroix) – Vincent was especially religious while he was in England. He didn’t paint this copy of a Delacroix until 1889.
- Sailing boat in the channel from a sketch in a letter (1882).
- Almond Blossom – Vincent would have been familiar with the many blossoming trees in London’s public parks. He didn’t paint Almond Blossom until 1890.
- The Starry Night (1889) – I have used and adapted sections from this most-loved of Vincent’s painting to represent the sea.
The Netherlands and Belgium
- Bulb fields (1883) – One of Vincent’s earliest garden paintings.
- Cottages in Drenthe (1883) – He was fascinated by ordinary people’s homes, no matter humble.
- Sorrow (1882) – A sketch in a letter of Sien, the woman he lived with in The Hague.
- Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam (1883) – From the house where he stayed in Drenthe he could “look out on a very curious drawbridge.” He made this luminous watercolour.
- Man pulling a harrow (1883) – Sketch in a letter. The dignity of the labours of ordinary folk was a subject he returned to often.
- Boy Cutting Grass with a Sickle (1881) – Just a fabulous watercolour!
- Pollarded Birches (1884) – A masterful drawing of one of his favourite subjects – trees.
- The Potato Eaters (1885) – He considered this painting to be his first masterpiece. It’s not pretty, but he’s right.
- The Sower (after Millet) (1881) – He loved Jean-Francois Millet’s heroic peasant figures – the Sower was a favourite.
- Au Charbonnage Café (1878) – A sketch of a café in Brussels.
- Skull with a Cigarette (1886) – Painted while he was at the Antwerp Academy, perhaps it’s a macabre comment on his own poor health at this time?
- The Decrucq family home (1880) – Sketch in a letter of the house he lived in in Cuesmes.
- Quayside with Ships in Antwerp (1885) – He loved the bustle of the docks and made many sketches of the people coming and going, working and drinking.
France – the north
- Church at Auvers (1890) – One of Vincent’s most celebrated late canvases from Auvers-sur-Oise, where he is buried.
- Portrait of Agostina Segatori at the Café Tambourin (1887) – He knew the cafe intimately, it was a favourite haunt for many artists in Paris at the time.
- Wheatfield with crows (1890) – There is no proof that this was the last canvas he painted, although popular culture would like it to be!
- Marguerite Gachet in the Garden (1890) – Was he a little bit in love withe her? Maybe. He certainly loved Dr Gachet’s garden.
- Moulin de Galette (1886) – Hhe lived with his brother Theo close to this windmill in Montmartre.
- Farms near Auvers (1890) – “Here there are roofs of mossy thatch which are superb, and of which I’ll certainly do something” he wrote to his sister, Wil.
- Café Terrace at Night (1888) – “…a painting of night without black. With nothing but beautiful blue, violet and green, and in these surroundings the lighted square is coloured pale sulphur, lemon green. I enormously enjoy painting on the spot at night.”
- Artist’s Bedroom in Arles (1888) – Vincent was proud of the very original thought and meaning behind this painting – he copied it three times! Read more.
- The Munich Sunflowers (1888) – One of a series of paintings of “nothing but large sunflowers”. This one is my favourite.
- Pont Langlois (1888) – He made 4 paintings of this little lifting bridge over the Bouc canal. Bridges, canals… it reminded him of home.
France – the south
- The Harvest (1888) – One of series of landscapes of Le Crau which he made outside in the heat during an especially productive period. He wrote enthusiastically: ‘this canvas absolutely kills all the rest’. Read more.
- Portrait of Joseph Roulin (1888) – The Roulin family were true friends to Vincent and became his ‘adopted’ family in Arles.
- The painter on the road to Tarascon (1888) – This canvas is now lost, probably destroyed by fire during an air raid on Germany in the second world war.
- Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889) – Painted when he was staying at the asylum at Saint-Rémy.
- Still Life with Blue Enamel Coffeepot, Earthenware and Fruit (1888) – He painted many still lives, but this one is my favourite – a perfect composition, perfect colour balance and perfectly painted.
- Self portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889) – An extraordinary portrait painted just after the most notorious act of self-harm in the whole of the history of art! Why did he do it?
- The Artist’s Chair and Pipe (1888) – If you’ve ever tried to draw – let alone paint – a chair, and give it meaning, you’ll understand what a masterpiece this apparently simple composition is.
- The Yellow House (1888) – The house at 2 Place Lamartine, Arles where he lived in for 8 months in 1888. The house was destroyed by stray Allied bombs on 25 June 1945.
- View of Saintes-Maries (1888) – In June Vincent took the stagecoach from Arles and travelled the 30 miles to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a fishing village in the Camargue, where in just a few days he made 3 paintings and 9 drawings.
- A Pair of Leather Clogs (1889) – Vincent made many paintings of shoes and boots
- Olive Grove (1889) – The asylum at St Remy where Vincent stayed in 1889 was surrounded by olives orchards. He mad
e 18 paintings of these trees. By this time his religious faith had long disappeared, but still, for Vincent, they retained a symbolic quality.
- Boat from Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries (1888)
- Stars from Starry Night over the Rhone (1888) used to depict the sea.
And finally, the bottom right section
- Self -portrait (1889) – Vincent wrote to Theo: “You will need to study [the picture] for a time. I hope you will notice that my facial expressions have become much calmer, although my eyes have the same insecure look as before.”
- Letter from Still Life with Drawing Board, Pipe, Onions and Sealing-Wax (188x) –
- Great Peacock Moth (1889) – He found this large moth in the gardens at the asylum. He often painted butterflies, a symbol of hope. “Yesterday I drew a very large, rather rare night moth, its coloration astonishingly distinguished … the animal was so beautiful.”
- Irises (1889) – These grow wild round the asylum. In 1987, this painting became the most expensive painting ever sold at US$53.9 million.
- Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries (1888). I love the letter he sent to Theo from Saintes-Maries.
And finally, around Vincent’s head I have painted ivy. Ivy now grows on the graves of the van Gogh brothers in Auvers, binding them together in death, as they were in life.
Get a print of the map of Vincent