Art is a powerful weapon which can be used to fight against social issues. World’s history has its own proof of incredible people such as writers, actors and painters who have used their art to voice against social injustice intending to bring out the voice for the voiceless.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) was a worth mentioning artist and a painter who had dedicated his artistic life to represent the marginalised and the subjugated community in the 19th century through his paintings. Being an artist who embraced post-impressionism, he developed his style independently deviating from the trend of impressionism, the method of painting nature in terms of light and colour.
Most of his paintings are about the reality of lifestyles of the downtrodden and the marginalised such as peasants, workers and prisoners. Van Goh wanted to enlighten the society about how these people had been institutionally marginalised through the certain structures of the heterogeneous society using his art. Therefore his paintings have become a realistic depiction of the human lives which were unheard and subaltern during the 19th century.
His early life
Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 to a middle class family in the Netherlands. His father was a pastor and as a result of this, he had to grow up in a strictly religious environment with his six siblings. He took his first education at Methodist College and then entered the school of Theology in Amsterdam hoping to become a minister which he had withdrawn later.
He devoted his life to the church and worked as a preacher with the intention of helping the poor to make their lives better. Therefore, in 1878 he volunteered to move into a coal mine in Belgium and began his preaching there, living with coal miners and their families. While being with them, he drew some pictures of hardworking miners and their families to show the impoverished life that they had been leading.
His Art
In 1880, he returned to Brussels and became an artist taking lessons on his own. He was inspired by the colour and light in the impressionist art and tried to imitate it, but ended up creating his own style which was unique and unconventional. He did not limit himself to a certain box and investigated new techniques and even new approaches to painting, developing his styles independently.
Using colour as the major symbol of expression, he took his paintings to different parameters in the art, emphasising his deviation from the naturalism followed in the impressionism. Starry Night (1889) is the best example which shows him breaking the tradition of naturalism in his works.
Potato Eaters (1885)
Potato Eaters (1885) is one of the most famous works of Van Goh painted on canvas (82cm*114cm), placed in Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. This was an attempt to portray an emotional and poignant moment of a peasant family eating potatoes for their dinner after a day of hard work. They have been presented with tired faces, coarse working hands and rough clothes in a gloomy environment which are the distinctive characteristics of peasants.
He had used different categories of dark gray, yellow and brown colours to highlight the light through the darkness. Their faces are presented with full of serious expressions constructed with the light which add a melancholy tone to the work.
His use of dark colours in the background made up with gray, brown and green, give a realistic sense to the picture in order to show the darkness embodied in their real life. Therefore, this is a non-exaggerated, realistic and a deep expression of the powerful human emotions distinguished in the hard working peasants in the countryside during the 19th century.
What is important in this painting is not the artistic quality, but the message that Van Goh wanted to give. Many critics say that this picture was something which he truly felt on peasants during the time he had spent with peasant’s community. Peasants who lived in the 19th century in the countryside had been left untouched by the industrial revolution, resided at the bottom of the feudal system.
They worked at farms owned by aristocrats for low wages. Their life was hard, and they were beaten by cruel hands of poverty. Potatoes were the food of the poor and the cheapest meal they could afford. In that sense, this picture attempts to narrate the social cultural environment in the 19th century where the working class suffered and suppressed a lot.
The Prison Courtyard (1890)
Prison Courtyard (1890), also known as Prisoner’s round or Prisoner’s exercising is an oil painting on canvas, placed in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
Here a group of prisoners walking in a circle at the prison yard surrounded by high brick walls. Presenting high walls, he indicated how these people had been imprisoned without letting them get contact with the outer world. He struggled to bring out the sorrow, disappointment and repentance embodied with these prisoners with his creative use of colour and configuration.
He wanted to picture them not as prisoners, but a part of the community. In this way, he voiced for the marginalised community of prisoners and brought their unheard voice out.
His death
Van Goh shot himself and tried to commit suicide, but did not die immediately. He died two days after his suicidal attempt due to an allergy in his wound. The gun he had used to suicide was found by a farmer and was sold at auction for 162,500 Euro.
His Legacy
Van Goh was the only artist who looked at humanity with a sympathy, through the visual medium of art. Once, he had said that “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people”. He did not receive the recognition or the respect that he had expected when he was alive, but posthumously became one of the most recognised post-impressionist artists.
His life story made into numerous films and books, his paintings inspired many artists and museums were created to the honour of his name. If you go to Instagram, You will find countless fan pages dedicated to Van Goh and his paintings. Today, Vincent Van Goh has become an immortal artist whose impressions last forever.