Self Portrait (Vincent van Gogh, 1889): Blank Notebook Unruled
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Self Portrait (Vincent van Gogh, 1889): Blank Notebook Unruled Details
Decorative Notebooks for People who Love ArtMULTIPURPOSE: Blank journal notebook for sketching, jotting down thoughts, doodling, and taking notesCOVER DESIGN: A bold and beautiful reproduction of "Self Portrait" by Van Gogh (1889)QUALITY: Non-glossy cover, so fingerprints and light glare won't be a problem. Premium quality paper provides an enjoyable writing experience. SIZE: 6 x 9 inches - 100 pages - Easy to CarryAbout the Cover: This, the last of Van Gogh's self-portraits and one of the greatest, was painted only months before his death. The compulsive, restless allover ornament of the background, recalling the work of mental patients, is for some physicians an evidence that the painting was done in a psychotic state. But the self-image of the painter shows a masterly control and power of observation, a mind perfectly capable of integrating the elements of its chosen activity. The background reminds us of the rhythms of The Starry Night, which the portrait resembles also in the dominating bluish tone of the work. The flowing, pulsing forms of the background, schemata of sustained excitement, are not just ornament, although related to the undulant forms of the decorative art of the 1890s; they are unconfined by a fixed rhythm or pattern and are a means of intensity, rather, an overflow of the artist's feelings onto his surroundings. Beside the powerful modeling of the head and bust, so compact and weighty, the wall pattern appears a pale, shallow ornament. Yet the same rhythms occur in the figure and even in the head, which are painted in similar close-packed, coiling, and wavy lines. As we shift our attention from the man to his surroundings and back gain, the analogies are multiplied; the nodal points, or centers, in the background ornament begin to resemble more the eyes and ear and buttons of the figure.Self portrait is a motif that Van Gogh always returns to, as artists have always returned to their beloved themes - Monet his The Waterlily Pond, Cezanne his Mont Sainte-Victoire. During his lifetime, Van Gogh created more than 30 self portraits.
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