9781422271827

VINCENT VAN GOGH

Expressionist exploration in the few years of life he had left. In this painting, his manipulation of thick impasto and the careful composition moving from the top left to the bottom right in a steady progression of trees suggest that there are more trees behind the viewer, with two effects. First, it connects the viewer with the small isolated figure and second, it draws the viewer into the picture space and the emotional tension of the young girl’s pose. It was Post-Impressionist in its Expressionist intention before Van Gogh was actually aware of the Impressionist movement.

PLATE 2 Young Girl in Wood (1882) Oil on canvas, 15 1 ⁄ 3 x 23 1 ⁄

4 inches (39 x 59 cm)

Although Van Gogh began drawing with the serious intention of becoming an artist, it was not until the summer of 1882 that he began to paint in oils. This painting is interesting on this basis alone, since it is one of the earliest executed by him, and it shows rather more basic accomplishment than he is usually recognized as possessing. Indeed, as his unsuccessful career advanced, his Academic control was gradually replaced by his

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