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Colour expresses something in itself. One can’t do without it; one must make use of it. What looks beautiful, really beautiful — is also right.
Study of colours
Vincent wanted to know more about how colours work. He studied lots of books on colour theory, from which he learned that complementary colours – red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange – intensify one another.
Vincent now understood the theoretical principles behind these colour pairs. But the illustrations in his textbooks were mostly in black and white: how was he supposed to apply the principles in
Muddy tones
Vincent started to use complementary colours, but he continued to mix them, resulting in ‘muddy tones’. At first sight, his work still shows the same natural grey and brown shades as his Dutch counterparts.
Vincent saw the light in Paris
Having moved to Paris, Vincent went to see a ceiling mural by Eugène Delacroix in the Louvre. It was a revelation: now he knew how bright colours could work together.
Modern art in Paris encouraged Vincent to adopt a lighter, brighter and looser painting style, like that of the Impressionists. He also fell under the spell of the ‘Pointillists’ (originally a term of
Colour variations
Vincent produced one colour study after another. Which colour combinations create the most powerful effect? How many variations are there of a single colour? Colour had now become an obsession for him.
He used coloured wool to test different combinations before trying them out with his expensive paints. He kept his little balls of wool in this box. |
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发表于 2023-7-14 10:24:57
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