Vincent van Gogh
Hello DailyArt fans! Today we continue our partnership with our favorite Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. For the next several Sundays, we will be presenting amazing masterpieces created by Vincent van Gogh from their collection (and they have a LOT of amazing van Goghs). Enjoy!
Interior of a Restaurant is one of Van Gogh’s most Pointillist works, although he applies the stippling technique in his own distinctive manner. The tables and chairs are not rendered in dots, but in long brushstrokes. Moreover, he uses gradations of color to suggest shadows, a practice from Realism that is not consistent with Pointillism.
Exuberant bouquets adorn the tables laid with white tablecloths, like floral still lifes. High in the corner, a black hat floats as a reference to a Parisian, who is about to take a seat at the table. The contrasts between the complementary colors—red and green for the walls, yellow and (gray) purple for the floor, and the yellow-orange of the furniture with the blue in the tablecloths—have been carefully applied.
Van Gogh may well have intended the work as a kind of homage to modern art. The poster or crepon on the wall on the right indicates his interest in Japanese printmaking. The painting in the middle is his own (also a Pointillist work), Lane in Voyer d'Argenson Park at Asnières. It is possible that he is alluding to the role that he himself hopes to play in the development of the new art.
P.S. Do you know that in our Post-Impressionism 101 online course, you can learn more about Van Gogh's genius? Check out the first lesson for free!
P.P.S. Here are 5 reasons to visit the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands. If you still haven't been there, you should definitely change that!