![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwh5twqD5rgJ9ThNLHZ2VeFx9D1rQ3ipjJQVOzId2iBmv9tr3k9hhdbiyOe2zJndGnR89XJZHPrTyHnQSX2uO-cHm4JMP0P7-8wYDld6jf_lsyfObuB5qiRxGgcXR8LKbyLLqtA/s400/van-gogh-potato-eaters.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42OSXG9tghFOHXQFjRJbToM2sjBjOoHCUkH_fqBUlho-OKFOfnukj2h2JMy824Bs5M7dfUVWFd41ECuNo-d34YaaPxL1utcMsogvQgkcZuUG_EnoY3-ifL1CvKCiwVpPsRiZiIw/s400/vaGogh_cafeterraceatnight.jpg)
"The Potato Eaters" -- from 1885 -- is often contrasted in theme and color palate to Van Gough's creations from the south of France, painted a few years later in his very short life. For example this painting, "Cafe Terrace at Night" has a completely different feel to it. People are eating, to be sure, but Van Gough is no longer celebrating them as he did the humble potato eaters.
Update: there's a new show in New York about Van Gough's paintings of night scenes, reviewed here: Nocturnal van Gogh.
3 comments:
I LOVE The Potato Eaters. My father was an art historian and his main passion was Camille Pissarro, exactly because he painted common people doing common things. I don't mean "common" as in any kind of derogatory connotation, I just mean everyday activities. That's what fascinated him.
I also love Pissaro, but I haven't included him in any blogging to date. I like his subject matter, but I also like him because he was such an incredible master of impressionist effects. From across a room, a Pissaro painting reveals an entirely different scene than you see close up.
I'm learning so much about art from this series of posts.
Post a Comment