And #TuesdayTwirl
Dear friends. For the second part of my favourite paintings series I've chosen an unexpected van Gogh.
The choice of van Gogh is obviously not unexpected. He is one of the best loved artists in the world. But his most admired and copied paintings tend to be the flowers (irises, sunflowers, cherry blossom), the self portraits, and the starry night series.
I have had crushes on all of those at different times of my life. We have a reproduction of Irises in the front room. It's true to say I have never met a van Gogh I didn't like.
But the pictures that fascinate me the most are his paintings of ordinary people. In particular I love to look at The Zouave, above, and the postman Joseph Roulin, below.
The Zouave, an Infantryman called Lieutenant Milliet, has a blue uniform with red-orange braids, a red cap and two yellow stars on his chest, all placed against the background of a green door and orange bricks. He looks thoughtful, as if he is contemplating his career.
The first thing that we notice about the Zouave is how bright the colours are. van Gogh chose what he described as "a savage combination of incongruous tones."
Lieutenant Milliet became a close companion to the artist. Van Gogh was excited to have a model for a portrait. He often felt as though he did not know enough people who would willingly pose for him.
Despite the fact that Milliet agreed to pose for a portrait, the pair did not always agree on artistic matters. Milliet found van Gogh rather impatient and abrasive. The portraits produced by van Gogh were not particularly admired by the Lieutenant, but he recognized that keeping silent on the matter would serve him well rather than voicing his dissatisfaction.
Van Gogh created several versions of the Zouave and the Postman. He told his sister in 1888 about the postman saying: “I much prefer to paint something like this than flowers.” Fortunately for us, he added: "As one can do the one and not neglect the other, I just take the opportunities as they arise.”
Do you have a favourite van Gogh? Do share in the comments.
Sharing my posts with these fabulous sites.
Subscribe for 1 email a week from Is This Mutton for an update on posts you may have missed, or follow Is This Mutton on Feedspot. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky
TUESDAY TWIRL LINK-UP
Tuesday Twirl is one of the last remaining fashion link-ups. Other topics are welcome but not recipes I'm afraid ---- there are several link-ups for those.
Bloggers, scroll down to below the thumbnails to see the joining instructions. Find new readers!
Readers, please take a look at a couple of posts and make our day by leaving a comment there. Blogging is a lonely business. Hearing from readers is one of the joys of it.
LAST WEEK'S FAVOURITES
5 Swaps to Elevate Your Look by Jennifer at Curated by Jennifer
Which Swimwear Choice at 64? by Alison at Midlife and Beyond
Is This Mutton Choice
Banned Books by Olivia at Bookish and Bemused
.jpg "The Zouave by Van Gogh: Favourite Paintings")
.jpeg)
My favourite van Gogh is cafe at night. The sphere of that painting appeals to me. The colours, the stars. But I like a lot of his paintings. We have a van Gogh museum nearby, so we often visit it.
ReplyDelete