Wednesday Mar 30, 2011
Brother’s Keeper
Impasto Master (detail)
Post-Impressionist Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, was born this day in 1853.
From An Artist Empowered:
The Brothers van Gogh:
Theo van Gogh was certainly ambivalent of his older brother’s original talent. While providing a monthly allowance and art materials for Vincent, who routinely sent him paintings that would one day attain iconic status, he was also dismissive of his brother’s art.
An art dealer of some note, Theo promoted and encouraged Pissarro, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Sisley, Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet; but he refused to exhibit Vincent’s work on the pretext that they were not yet good enough.
In his assessment, Theo may even have been sincere, but that didn’t make him right.
Vincent, who knew all this, ultimately accepted his brother’s stipend for unfettered time to paint, but at a price: his work, especially during those last productive years, would end up collecting dust in a corner of Theo’s apartment in Paris.
This post captures the dynamic between the brothers.
BTW: Is this self-portrait by Vincent?
This is a detail of my homage painting, Impasto Master, which is based on one of Van Gogh’s self-portraits.
