Van Gogh Blog » Drawing

Van Gogh Windmills

Sonya — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:23:41 +0000

A native of Holland, many of Van Gogh’s early drawings depicted Dutch landscapes and life. A common fixture in the Dutch landscape even today is the windmill. Van Gogh created several different drawings containing windmills. The windmills were also a very popular subject for Van Gogh during his stay in Paris in 1886 and 1887. Living in an apartment with his brother Theo in Montmartre, the mills (le moulin) were not only part of the scenery but eventually became part of the nightlife as many were converted into dance halls and cabarets. However, Van Gogh’s depiction of the windmills showed more of the gray and desolate side of Montmartre rather than a city beginning to boom with growth from Paris.

Many of Van Gogh’s windmill paintings and drawings are on display in museums today all over the world. Sadly, Van Gogh’s painting Windmill on Montmartre, autumn, 1886 (F: 271, JH: 1186) was destroyed by fire in 1967. View more of Van Gogh’s Windmills here:

Happy Holidays from the Van Gogh Gallery

Sonya — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:01:28 +0000

We would like to thank all of our visitors for supporting the Van Gogh Gallery and wish you the best this holiday season. It seems only fitting that our wishes come from Van Gogh himself, so here are some of his holiday musings and a drawing from a letter he wrote to his brother Theo in December of 1882:

“My intention in these two, and in the first little old man, is one and the same, namely to express the peculiar sentiment of Christmas and New Years Eve. Both in Holland and England this is always more or less religious, in fact, it is that way everywhere, at least in Brittany, and in the Alsace, too. Now one need not agree exactly with the form of that religious sentiment, but if it is sincere, it is a feeling one must respect. And personally, I can fully share it and even need it,”

Letter Source:

Webexhibits

Related Articles:

Gogh Here for the Holidays

Share Your Drawing

Sonya — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:43:19 +0000

I recently received another inquiry about some drawings owned by a Van Gogh Gallery visitor. The four drawings shown were sent to me with the following inquiry:

“I purchased 4 pencil drawings some years back at a flea market. They aren’t signed but 3 different museums have said that they are late 1800′s and look to possibly be Van Gogh. I wanted to send you three pictures. Two are pencil drawings and one is a faint sketch on the back of a drawing. “

Our reader would like to get any feedback on these drawings, so if you recognize any of them as being drawn by a particular artist, whether it is Van Gogh or someone else, please share your expert opinions with us. We would love to learn more about these pieces. Please comment and share your thoughts.

Share Your Painting Part 2

Van Gogh Drawing