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Van Gogh Museum
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"En plein air" is a French expression which means "in the open air". Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism.
Channels: ConservationPainting
Artists: Claude MonetVincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh has a reputation of being a loner as an artist, but is that correct? In his letters he gave his opinion on works of art he had seen and books he’d found worth-while. That is why in the restoration studio of the Van Gogh Museum not only Van Gogh’s own materials and techniques are studied, but also the work of his contemporaries.
The Van Gogh Museum has been conducting exhaustive technical research into the paintings and drawings by Vincent van Gogh in its collection for many years now. In this video you'll get a behind the scenes look of the research. For more information about the research project 'Van Gogh's studio practice in context', please visit: www.vangoghmuseum.com/studiopractice
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www.vangoghmuseum.com/studiopractice
The Van Gogh Museum has been conducting exhaustive technical research into the paintings and drawings by Vincent van Gogh in its collection for many years now. In this video you'll get a behind the scenes look of the research. : thanks a lot
Hi Scott,
Thank you for your comment on the video. To answer your questions: collapsible tube paints were available by the time Van Gogh had decided to become an artist. They were invented in the 1840s.
Van Gogh, particularly in his later works, does indeed use an incredible amount of paint. The quantity of paint does not directly effect the preservation of the object. That being said however, if the work of art is mishandled the impasto can be damaged. That is one of the reasons we put glass in front of the paintings. It has been known that before the works were glazed visitors would sometimes pick off bits of impastoed paint as souvenirs! It has been noted on examination of these paintings that impastoed paint has chipped off if for example, the work has been brush varnished in the past (usually by a restorer). Flattening of the impasto is also relatively common, especially on those works that may have undergone a severe wax-resin lining.
It is also interesting to note that when Van Gogh sent some of his works to his brother Theo, the paint was still wet and flattening was caused by him stacking one painting on top of another! If you look really closely at some areas of impasto you can actually see the canvas imprint from the reverse of the painting placed on top of it!!
Van Gogh was not the only artist who excessively used thick paint application, you should look at the works of Mancini for example!
We hope that this answers your questions.
Many thanks for your interest.
Regards,
Devi Ormond (paintings conservator, Van Gogh Museum)
Edith Schreurs (digital communication, Van Gogh Museum)
Very informative video. I assumed paint dispensed in tubes was not yet available during Van Gogh's period. I wonder when oil paint in tubes became available to artists. When visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I was quite impressed with the sheer volume of paint Van Gogh used in his excessively impasto style - more than any other painter I have seen. Does this affect the preservation of the art? Did any of Van Gogh's contemporaries use his style? Kind regards and hope to see more from your museum.
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