Research Paper on "La Grenouillere and Wheat Field With Cypresses"

Research Paper 6 pages (2144 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

La Grenouillere & Wheat Field with Cypresses

Belonging to the same style of painting (Impressionism) and painted just 20 years apart, La Grenouillere, by Claude Monet, and "Wheat Field with Cypresses," by Vincent van Gogh, represent, nevertheless, two different interpretations of nature, interpretations that are less an accurate representation of the elements of nature and more a reflection of the inner conditions of the two painters, including the state of their mental condition.

Monet is still at the beginning of his career by the time he paints La Grenouillere and some of his optimism still translates in the painting. At the same time, painting is also a direct source of income for him, which means that the product he make needs to be appealing to people. This is the reason why the subject of his painting is a popular place close to Paris where the citizens of the capital can go for recreation. In order to match this business purpose, his painting needs to give out optimism and encourage visitors to recreate. The painting also shows his distinct interest towards "the sparkling effect of light reflected on the water"

On the other hand, Van Gogh is in the final year before the end of his life and his creative period and the combination of poverty and mental disorder have taken their toll significantly on his life. His despair, lack of hope to live and disappointment with everything surrounding him is shown in this painting, a reflection of the mental condition in which he is in 1889.

In this paper, the two paintings will be analyzed from this perspective, drawing on the relevant differences between them as they reflect the mental state of the two painters. In order to support the thesis, the paper will also draw on relevant events from the lives of the two painters in order to better contribute to the final conclusion on the mental state of the two painters and the reflection of this state in their work.

The impressionistic style is evident in both Van Gogh's and Monet's painting. The figures and elements of nature are barely sketched: in Monet's painting, for example, the faces of the people present are not clearly painted and they appear as distinct marks of colors rather than as explicit characters. At the same time, in Van Gogh's painting there are no people, but only cypresses, wheat fields and occasional bushes.

This is a first element that points towards Van Gogh's mental condition: his refusal to include any human beings in his painting shows, at the same time, a self-exclusion from society. He rejects other individuals, both in his life and in his paintings. His reclusive living style is a clear indication that he is no longer content with society, but also with the fact that his mind can no longer accept society. Reclusion is always a sign of a mental disorder.

It is probably the brushstrokes that best show the difference of the mental condition of the two painters. The brushstrokes in Monet's painting are orderly, despite appearing similar to those in Van Gogh's work: similar curves, seemingly without direction. However, in Monet's work, these curves are differentiated to fit the characteristics of the environment they are picturing. The water has horizontal curves, implicitly describing the waves that the viewer assumes, a "brilliant visual evocation of a watery surface with its ripples and reflections"

. The forest is also distinctive because of the curves and combination of lines.

In Van Gogh's work, the brushstrokes have none of the orderly approach from Monet's work. One could assume, for example, that the large green bush in the left side of the painting is painted in that particular manner (brushstrokes from right to left) because of the wind blowing from right to left. This is not the case, because the wheat in the field is painted as moving in all possible directions, as well as the cypresses. Over all this chaotic framework is the painting of the sky, both from a color point-of-view (which will be discussed further below) and from the brushstrokes: here, there is a chaotic movement of lines in the sky.

The colors in Van Gogh's work are either depressing or they simply do not fit and do not reflect the actual reality of the respective painted element. The most important example in this sense is the plants, bushes and trees: their green is a dark and cold green, reflecting the state of the painter's spirit: gloomy and unhappy. The colors in the sky also show Van Gogh's state of mind: other than the blue and white usually used in painting the sky (as in Monet's painting, although here the sky is isolated in the upper left side corner and only rarely in other parts), Van Gogh uses the unnatural green in his work of the sky.

Monet's colors are mostly bright and rational where brightness cannot be used (such as the suits of the gentlemen). There is a clear sign of this in the bright red used for part of the boat, as well as in the nuances of blue that are used both in the sky and in parts of the water. The sky also shows "patches of dazzling sunlight, resulting in contrasts of light and shade"

-- the presence of light shows a different mental condition for Monet. Perhaps the nuances are not necessarily the most optimistic, but they are at least realistic in the description of the elements at hand.

The same orderly approach in Monet's composition differentiates it from Van Gogh's chaotic approach, a direct reflection of his state of mind. Monet places his human characters naturally in the nature and on the artificial island on the river. The boats are orderly placed around the shore and there seems to be an orderly perception of calm and serenity. In Van Gogh's work, the approach to the composition is dramatic and disturbed, the lines are chaotic and there seems to be no order whatsoever in the entire composition.

The biographies of the two painters are useful in shedding more light both on the mental condition of the two artists at the moment these paintings were completed and the way this is reflected in their works. Van Gogh is living during this time at Saint-Remy and commits himself to a mental hospital at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. It is interesting to note that his mental disorder is acknowledged by himself and that he acts as a sane person by recognizing a problem and acting to solve it.

However, one can see from his work during the time spent at the asylum, among these the "The Starry Night," as well as the painting discussed here, that the treatment is not working. "The Starry Night" has similar characteristics to the painting being discussed in this paper, most notably the circular brushstrokes and some of the unnatural colors in the work. These brushstrokes are also a sign of the "intense feeling" and emotions that Van Gogh was experiencing during this last period of his life.

Monet is in 1869, the time he paints his work, at the beginning of a long and successful career. His work is already recognized in some circles, starting with his painting Camille or the Woman in the Green Dress in 1866, but he is not the creator of a new style and his Impressionistic work is still at its beginnings. Young and far away from Van Gogh's depressions, with a family on the way (he will marry the following year and have several children before his wife's death in 1879), Monet looks optimistically into the future. As such, no sign of anguish or mental disorder in his painting, as there is in Van Gogh's.

On a further biographic note, Monet's painting is also a reflection of the social times in France during the time of Napoleon III, times that will end the following year, with the Franco-Prussian War, the defeat of the French armies and the occupation of Paris. This is still an optimistic period, a period where people enjoy leisure times, as well as time spent in each other's company. This is translated into Monet's style of painting, one that is similarly light and optimistic.

From this perspective, it is also interesting to place the two painters in the Impressionist style they painted in. Monet and Van Gogh are both innovators, they paint in a new style. However, Monet's links with reality are much more solid than Van Gogh's and this is obvious in the comparative analysis of the two paintings, as presented in this paper.

For Van Gogh, Impressionism is not only an innovation, but a way to step outside his mental condition, explore his madness and transform it creatively in an artistic expression that sometimes has no link to reality. In this particular painting, several elements point towards the way he goes beyond a simple portrayal of external realities, including some previously mentioned, such as the strange colors in the sky and the different… READ MORE

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