VINCENT VAN GOGH

van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, children art history, art appreciation

1853-1890

Vincent van Gogh, an artist whose paintings and drawings include some of the world's best known, most popular and most expensive pieces today and yet, he was poor his whole life and only became famous after he died!

It was only later in life and after many career changes, that he tried his hand at art, and practiced by copying other artists that he admired, like Rembrandt and Millet.

His first works had predominantly dark colours and a lot of them portrayed scenes in Holland of poor peasants and workers.

"I see drawings and pictures in the poorest of huts and the dirtiest of corners." Vincent Van Gogh.

We looked at his early works that were more sombre colours, a lot of them done with charcoal, pen and black chalk The Potato Eaters stood out for my children for some reason!

van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, children art history, art appreciation

Once he moved to Paris and with the influence of Monet and Gaugin as well as the Japanese art styles of the time, he began to use brighter colours in his art and experimented with a lot of different styles. He loved the countryside and enjoyed painting birds and animals.

vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, children art history, art appreciation, starry_night

The Starry Night was a favourite with us and the children both chose this one to do a painting in the style of the artist we were studying. It was interesting to see that they both had the same paint, paper and picture, but their interpretation was so different!

starry night, van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, art appreciation

starry night, van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, art appreciation

My son wanted to try his hand at a self-portrait, so he propped up a mirror on our dining room table, and drew himself!

van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, children art history, art appreciation

After Paris he headed south to Arles, France where he shared a house with Paul Gaugin for a while. The house was yellow, and apparently, he loved the colour yellow!

We enjoyed a story called The Yellow House: Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin Side by Side by Susan Goldman Rubin all about that time in his life.

He also loved painting flowers, we also did some still life paintings of flowers.

van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, children art history, art appreciation

van Gogh, vincent van gogh, children art appreciation, children art history, art appreciation

Bedroom in Arles was also a picture that got our attention. It is a lovely one to use for narration purposes, because although the lines and colours are simple, there is actually quite a lot of detail in the picture.

My children were fascinated with the idea that he painted Cafe Terrace at Night with lighted candles around the brim of his hat so that he could see...we decided not to try that as a fun activity!

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."van Gogh.

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