Imã Poppy Field by Vincent Van Gogh

Poppy Field by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1890, is a landscape painting of vast fields of brilliant red poppy flowers stretching to the distant tree lines and rolling hills. Busy, swirling, thickly and vigorously applied brush strokes of contrasting and complementary colors lead the viewer’s eye ceaselessly around the composition, giving a feeling of both appreciation of natural beauty and great disturbance. Points of purple-violet and other colors define other flowers in the foreground as well as the rounded tree tops that intersect the swirling sky at the edges of the field. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and intense, heightened colors. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh’s early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in somber earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to color and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.