GOGH, Vincent van
(b. 1853, Groot Zundert, d. 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise)

View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic

Spring 1887, Paris
Oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Catalogue numbers: F 341, JH 1242.

In this painting van Gogh borrowed an aspect of Pointillism. If dabs provide visual dynamics, a carefully calculated balance of verticals and horizontals can provide a static stability. We see this idea at work in van Gogh's panorama. The vision of the sea of the city's houses is damned by walls, roofs and the horizon. To find the distance, our gaze must first negotiate a set of geometrical obstacles.




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