Colour Fading in Van Gogh and Gauguin

One is aware that painting materials evolve with time. They take on an appearance which is specific to the pigments and techniques used in the various epochs. The relationship within the tonalities change, and some pigments are subject to environmental influences, especially the effect of light.

Artists of the Gothic period and the Renaissance used colours whose stability had already been ascertained and, thanks to long workshop experience, they chose them in accordance with the medium in which they wished to bind them. They were also aware of their specific properties, for instance their resistance to various ambient influences. The present condition of these paintings testifies to the excellen­ce of the techniques employed by these artists.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the pro­portion of drying oils in the medium gradually increased, materials underwent a new type of aging. This process usu­ally induced darkening. Twentieth-century observers are so accustomed to this darkened appearance that even famous experts, art historians or specialists could be misled as to the artist's true intentions.

This calls to mind the curses pronounced against the restoration of the Sistine Chapel: the darkening of Michelangelo's frescos was not due to any change within the paint material itself, but to the soot and other deposits from the burning of candles and similar sources of pollution not to mention some unfortunate former conservation treatments. This superficial accumulation of grime has given the fresco a misleading appearance similar to that of oil paintings of-the same period. The fresco is still in a good condition, apart from limited losses in the plaster. The freshness of the fresco. colours recovered after the recent cleaning gives one an idea of how bright and luminous contemporary oil paintings must have been .

A other example of colour alteration is illustrated by the Tintoretto fragment of three red apples and green leaves, discovered by chance during the 1905 restoration in the Scuola di San Rocco in Venice. The fragment was part of a frieze with the heraldic arms of the great schools, and putti holding garlands of flowers. and fruit, and had been pro­tected from light and pollution by being folded under another part of the frieze. The colours had remained un­altered, and retained their original intensity.

Reading about painting conservation, one is too often told about paintings that have been brought back to their original freshness, as though they had just come from the artist's studio. This illusion comes from a misunderstanding of the inevitable impact of time on the materials that consti­tute works of art. It is necessary to have a profound knowl­edge of a painter's technique in order to get an idea of his vision at the moment of creation. Equally essential is the historical knowledge concerning the artist's intent, in order to be aware of the chromatic change of his paintings.

Generations of scholars have studied the works of the past, examining arid comparing them, and have arrived at conclusions that are well known to us today. Yet we have far less information about works executed in the last 100 or 150 years, which does not mean that they have been less subject to change. We often wonder, for instance, if certain colours have not faded a phenomenon that is well known in watercolours and tapestries. Jean Leymarie, who studied Van Gogh's oeuvre in depth, mentioned a strong alteration of certain chrome yellows, but to the author's knowledge there has as yet been no specific documentation of such a change of chrome yellow in Van Gogh's work.

Profile of Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin

Paul (Eugéne-Henri) Gauguin was born on June 7, 1848 in Paris. Gauguin is considered one of the leading painters of the Postimpressionist period.

In 1849 his jounalist father's political activities forced the family into exile. The Gauguin family set off for Peru. His father died during the crossing from France. Gauguin's mother, of Peruvian descent on her mother's side, and her two children moved in with a great grand uncle and his family in Lima.

At the age of 17 Gauguin joined the French merchant navy, travelling around the world for six years. After the death of his mother in 1867, he settled down with his wealthy guardian, Gustave Arosa, who had a large art collection that included works by Delacroix. This period in time shaped Gauguin's interest in the arts. He started collecting Impressionist paintings, and became an amateur painter.

Gauguin began his career as a stockbroker in Paris in 1872. He attended the Impressionist's first exhibition in 1874, and was captivated by the impressionist style. He purchased works by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and others. His exposure to the Impressionists reinforced his desire to become a painter.

In 1883 the bank that employed Gauguin experienced financial difficulties, and he found himself free to paint full-time. Much of his work during this period was influenced by the Impressionists, especially Pissarro. In 1884 Gauguin went to paint at the artists haven of Pont-Aven. Influenced during this period by van Gogh, Seurat, and Degas, he began to adopt his own independent style.

In 1887, Gauguin left France for Panama. For a short time he worked as a labourer for the Panama Canal Company. He soon left Panama for Martinique, where he continued his development as an artist. In 1888 he returned to Brittany. His experience in Martinique broadened his vision and enabled him to develop original interpretations of scenes in Brittany.

In October, 1888 he travelled to Vincent van Gogh's home in Arles, France. His stay was both traumatic and fruitfull for both artists. They learned a great deal from each other but were often at odds. Gauguin returned to Paris in December after Van Gogh's "ear incident."

Gauguin's break with the Impressionists came when he painted "Vision after the Sermon," where he tried to depict the inner feelings of his subjects. This painting also marked the start of a new painting style that came to be known as "Symbolism."

Although this period had been highly productive for Gauguin, he was deeply depressed and in 1891 abandoned his family to seek an idyllic life in the South Pacific Islands. He stayed briefly in Tahiti's capital, Papeete, and then relocated to a remote part of the island.

He lived in Tahiti from 1891 to 1893, and again from 1895 until his death. In Tahiti his painting style evolved to reflect the Pacific Islands' primitive forms and brilliant colors. His striking images of Polynesian women rank among the most beautiful paintings of the modern age. On May 9th, 1903, Gauguin, dissipated by drug-addiction, died of a heart attack on Hiva Oa Island in the Marquesas in French Polynesia.

Nude study
or Suzanne sewing
1881
Ny Carlsberg-Glyptotek
Copenhague, Danmark

In April 1887, he embarks with the painter Charles Laval for Panama, from where he will gain Martinique.

He lived there from June to October in a hut on a plantation, within 2 kilometers from Saint-Pierre.

Tropical vegetation, Martinique

Profile of Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh

Fast Facts

Birth: 30 March 1853
Death: 29 July 1890 (aged 37)
Background: Dutch - The Netherlands
Brother: Theo Van Gogh
Van Gogh's works are some of the most expensive in the world, but during his lifetime, he only sold one painting.

Influences Today

• Rap artist Tupac Shakur created a poem and turned it into a rap song called "Starry Night", dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh.
• Don McLean wrote a song called "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)". It has also been covered by singer Josh Groban. It is said that this song was played to rapper Tupac on his deathbed by his mother.

What art movement is he associated with?
Van Gogh was a leader in the art movement Expressionism, which consists of distorting reality for emotional effect. His most famous paintings show that his brushstrokes are very wild, symbolic and have intense colour. The flow of the brush's movements produce a swirly effect which lets the viewer see the collective emotion in the scene.


How did he develop his signature style?
Vincent joined his brother and best friend Theo in Paris, the manager of an art gallery. There Van Gogh studied with Cormon and met artists such as Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin. He started to lighten his colours and painted in short brushstrokes like the Impressionists. He and his friend Paul Gauguin often painted together. 




What other occupations did he have?
The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. He worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage, Belgium (where he was fired for being overzealous). He stayed in Belgium and during his early period, he made a few paintings such as the The Potato Eaters. These early works are sombre, sharply-lit and more generic.

Why did he cut off his ear?
Well, Van Gogh was good friends with another famous artist named Paul Gauguin in France. However, their relationship was deteriorating and they quarrelled fiercely about art. Van Gogh became paranoid that Gauguin was going to desert him. This excessive tension reached its climax when Van Gogh chased Gauguin with a razor, but then cut his own ear off (the lower part of his left ear lobe). He wrapped this in newspaper and gave it to a prostitute named Rachel at the local brothel, telling her to keep the object carefully. Needless to say, Gauguin left and never saw Van Gogh again, even though he told his brother Theo he wanted to see him and thought about him all the time.

Did he really go crazy?
Yes. After cutting off his own ear and being hospitalized in critical condition, he spent the following month back and forth between his home and the hospital. He suffered from hallucinations and paranoia that he was being poisoned. The police closed his house after a petition by thirty citizens who called him the fou roux, "the crazy redheaded man". He committed himself to a mental hospital called Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in a former monastery.

Where did he paint The Starry Night?
During his stay in the mental hospital. At this time some of his work was characterised by his signature swirls. There, the clinic and its garden became his main subject. Due to the shortage of subject matter beyond his supervised walks outside, he painted interpretations of his previous student Millet's paintings, as well as his own earlier work. Van Gogh actually wasn't not satisfied with this painting, but today it is one of his most famous paintings.

Starry Night

Who was Dr. Gachet?
After the clinic, Van Gogh often saw the physician Dr. Gachet. Van Gogh's first impression was that Gachet was "sicker than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much." Van Gogh painted a couple portraits of him and his Portrait of Dr. Gachet today has been sold for $82.5 million U.S.

Dr. Gachet

How did Van Gogh kill himself?
Van Gogh's depression deepened, and on 27 July 1890, at age 37, he walked into the fields and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died in his bed two days later. Theo rushed to be by his side and reported his last words as "La tristesse durera toujours" (French for "the sadness will last forever").

Irises

This was was one of his first works while he was at the asylum. There is a lack of the high tension which is seen in his later works. He called the painting "the lightning conductor for my illness", because he felt that he could keep himself from going insane by continuing to paint. The painting was influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, like many of his works and those by other artists of the time. The similarities occur with strong outlines, unusual angles, including close-up views and also flattish local colour. In 1987, it became the most expensive painting ever sold - for $54 million to Alan Bond, but he could not afford it and it had to be re-sold.

Cafe Terrace at Night

He painted this street cafe in Arles, France. Today, the cafe has become so popular because of this painting that the cafe has been named Cafe Van Gogh, seen here on the right.

This is the first painting in which he used starry backgrounds. He later used this starry technique for Starry Night and Starry Night Over the Rhone.

Sunflowers

Van Gogh made numerous oil paintings on canvas of Sunflowers and other still life objects. These series are quite famous. New technology for inventing pigments allowed for new possible colours, and the use of the yellow spectrum here was considered innovative at the time. In a letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh wrote saying "the sunflower is mine in a way".