9781422271827

VINCENT VAN GOGH

(as much as possible). It seems that the reason that Van Gogh painted the weaver subject a number of times lay in his admiration of craftsmanship and simple machinery. As in other paintings of the period, he was interested in the Rembrandtesque effect of the artificial gaslight in which most of the weavers worked. He was also attracted by the silhouette of the figure and loom against the brighter walls.

PLATE 6 The Weaver/The Loom (1884) Oil on canvas (probably on card), 14 1 ⁄

2 x 17

3 ⁄

4 inches

(37 x 45 cm)

This is a subject that Van Gogh treated a number of times in different ways and on different scales. It was his practice to repeat most of his significant subjects with either small variations or to make them almost identical

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