The hustle and bustle of everyday life is something one would never be afraid to escape. The belief is in taking a breath of fresh air rather than the exasperating and exhausting days in the cities and towns ever since the past few centuries.
With industrialization, the serenity and tranquility of cities were lost under the innumerable industries and buildings being built rapidly.
In such times, the artistic inspiration might run low but few artists did take the initiative to escape the harshness of city life and shifted to stay in the calmness of the countryside. One of the many artists includes the famous Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh.
Though he may be notoriously known for cutting his ear which immortalized him for life, his accomplishments know no bounds. In 1888, the famous painter shifted to the countryside in the hopes of escaping the harshness of city life and in the hopes of staying with other like-minded artists.
It was then that he created the masterpiece, The Red Vineyard. The Red Vineyard, or The Red Vineyard of Arles, is the sole painting that he sold at a mere price of 400 francs. The painting colorfully depicts the workers in a grape vineyard.
The Red Vineyard: The Painting
The painting, after its soulful creation, was first exhibited in the Annual Exhibition of LesXX, 1890, in Brussels where it left a lasting impact on its viewers and admirers. The painting was then purchased by the Belgian painter Anna Boch, a purchase Van Gogh had later come to be embarrassed about.
Later, it was purchased in 1909 from a Paris Art Gallery by Ivan Morozov. After the Russian Revolution, the painting was then nationalized by the Bolsheviks and passed down to Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum Of Fine Arts, where it now resides. It would not be wrong to state that the painting had witnessed all the highs and lows of the time but none ever could tarnish its glory.
Upon retracing the history of the painting, one could be taken back to the time when the painter Vincent Van Gogh decided to move to Arles, France to escape the hectic pace of life and gain more clarity for his artistic skills. This painting would be the result of an ultimate fascination with the colors as he experiments with the autumn palette of colors.
The Meaning of the Painting
The painting could be described as a symbol of celebration of hard work and the natural beauty of rural life on a regular day, from the fresh air and blue skies to everlasting fields and healthy trees. With vibrant colors and energetic brushstrokes, the painting can evoke intensity and excitement during the harvest season.
It never fails to express the joy on the farmer’s faces as they harvest the crops they shed blood and sweat for. The farmhouse and the surrounding fields offer a peaceful backdrop to the hardworking farmers in the foreground.
Some even interpret the painting as a medium of Van Gogh’s undying fascination with experimentation of new techniques and fascination with color. Making such a masterpiece from his imagination after witnessing the scene one afternoon, the painting is filled with bold, expressive brushstrokes and vivid colors that can be seen dominating the canvas.
It perfectly captures the emotional and psychological intensity rather than just monotonously reproducing the realistic image. The creator rendered the world a masterpiece that he left behind for the newer generations to interpret and analyze the deeper meaning of the painting created.
Why ‘The Red Vineyard’ is So Powerful?
The painting was successfully able to capture the yellowed tones and glistening light of the early evening or late afternoon sun reflecting in the river running below. Most of the people, majorly women dressed in traditional dresses, were hunched over with outstretched arms, busy picking and harvesting from the vines around them, largely picking up grapes.
The sky was filled with blurry clouds and hues of yellow with a large pale-yellow orb, namely the sun. The landscape was highly textured, with varying brushstrokes on the canvas to render us one of the masterpieces known to the world.
The stylistic details adorning the whole canvas are a perfect depiction of a sun-filled afternoon under which the farmers work tirelessly to produce a successful harvest. From organic shapes for the farmers to the geometric shapes lining up the horizon, Van Gogh made an implicit usage of various shapes and strokes to give life to the now widely known, “The Red Vineyard”.
In conclusion, one could not stop but be mesmerized by the bold brushstrokes and the vast fields drawn onto a blank canvas, giving us the perfect insight into the painter’s mind.
There may be different interpretations of the painting made, but one would never fail to admire Van Gogh’s fascination with colors and his perception of the world, textured into the painting with the cold colors, giving an optimistic viewpoint to a simple afternoon scenery.