Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Netherlands) is the subject of many drawings, sketches and paintings made during Vincent van Gogh’s early artistic career. Most still lifes made in the Netherlands are dated from 1884 to 1885, when he lived in Nuenen. His works were often in somber colors. Van Gogh experimented with the use of light falling across objects.
The next two years (1886-1887), transformed the subjects, color and techniques that Van Gogh used in creating still life paintings. In Paris he painted many still life paintings of flowers, experimenting with color, light and techniques he learned from modern artists.
Van Gogh moved to Nuenen in 1884 where he lived for two years. Upon Van Gogh’s arrival, a studio was made for him from a laundry room at the back of his parents’ home. Vincent’s father, Reverend Van Gogh wrote to his son Theo: “We do not think it’s really suitable, but we have had a proper stove installed… I wanted to put in a large window as well, but he prefers not to have one.”During that time he completed numerous drawings and watercolors and nearly 200 oil paintings.[1]
In November 1884 Van Gogh taught some friends from Eindhoven, a large town near Nuenen, to paint inanimate objects in oil. Van Gogh, in his enthusiasm, created a series of still life paintings of bottles, bowls and pots and other objects.When Van Gogh created still life paintings he was able to explore light and its effect on colors. A close-up of the bottle in “Still Life with Straw Hat” reveals that way in which Van Gogh used varying shades of the same color to depict how light would fall, or be shaded, in the everyday items he painted from home or the garden.
His palette consisted mainly of dark earth tones, particularly dark brown, and he showed no sign of developing the vivid coloration that distinguishes his later, best known work. When Van Gogh complained to his brother Theo van Gogh that he was not making enough effort to sell his paintings in Paris, Theo replied that they were too dark and not in line with the current style of bright Impressionist paintings.
Van Gogh lived with his parents in Nuenen in 1884 and 1885 when the still life paintings were made. Behind the vicarage was a large enclosed yard with vegetable plots and a small orchard. Van Gogh made many paintings of the resulting produce, such as potatoes, cabbages, and apples.
Vincent van Gogh 