

Van Gogh wrote about Delacroix, Millet, Corot, Breton, and many other artists of his time, expressing his support for the Romanticism of these painters. That blue in the ripe corn or against the withered leaves of a beech hedge-so that the faded shades of darker and lighter blue are emphasized and made to speak by contrast with the golden tones of reddish-brown-is very beautiful…” In one letter to his brother Theo, the artist wrote, “Here the peasants’ figures are as a rule blue. Auden, we have an in-depth look into Van Gogh’s process of painting, as well as his emotional and spiritual state of mind during the documented periods.Ĭolor was of the utmost importance to Van Gogh, as is obvious in his paintings. In the book Van Gogh: A Self-Portrait Letters Revealing His Life as a Painter, selected by W.H.
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These insights offer, for any reader, a primer on how to see more deeply and an understanding of the dedication and endurance that’s required to make important art. Van Gogh wrote about color, composition, light and shadow, mediums, and the way he saw people and landscapes.

Today, his letters are read by many artists as an astute education to apply to their own work.

He wrote more letters than he produced paintings: approximately 2,000 letters and only 900 paintings. Perhaps the most famous artist who wrote prolifically was Vincent van Gogh. It allows us to see their work on different levels, which can enrich and embolden one’s relationship with art. To read the writing of artists is to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of their work. Though better known as a writer and historian today, Vasari’s artist background surely colored his descriptions of the life and work of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other Renaissance artists. Tuscan painter and sculptor Giorgio Vasari published two editions of Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in 15. In sixth-century China, Xie He wrote Six Principles of Painting, in which the painter emphasized that ‘spirit’ or energy is of primary importance in painting. The painter Apelles wrote about technique in 332 BC. Xenokrates of Sicyon, a Greek sculptor born around 280 BC, is considered one of the world’s first art historians. Throughout human history, there are examples of artists who have also written about art.
