Women Picking Olives, Vincent Van Gogh, 1889
I chose Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Women Picking Olives”( 1889) for this assignment. This painting stood out because there was not a lot going on. I felt calm and relaxed looking at this painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I noticed that Vincent Van Gogh used the same paintbrush strokes throughout this painting. The sky in the background, the leaves on the trees, the tree trunks, the path, and the grass on the floor all have a two-dimensional line work. All of these details have the same features. Even the colors Vincent Van Gogh chose for this painting are not bold. The sky is not the typical blue color instead it has a light pink shade. The women in the painting also have a shade of green similar to the leaves on the trees. Vincent Van Gogh went for the neutral colors with this painting.
All of these elements helped bring this painting together. The colors balance each other out, and all the shades of green used toward the bottom help the sky stand out just enough. The painting also only focuses on three women in the field picking out the olives. They are also all in the same spot, using the same ladder. It is not a whole field with an overwhelming amount of women. This painting is not intense. It’s like the phrase a little goes a long way. Vincent Van Gogh added just the right amount of details. Which helps the viewer feel a peaceful atmosphere just by looking at this painting.
When I walked through the European Art Gallery, this painting stood out to me because when I read the title of the painting I expected to see a huge field with many olives and women. However in the painting by Vincent Van Gogh I only saw two olives and three women. Which made me want to analyze the painting more and understand the minimalism. Evaluating all the elements of art helped me understand the different perspectives of paintings. When I took the first glance of this painting I wondered why it was so simple. However now after dissecting the principles and elements, I know you do not need a lot to get the point across.
In one of the letters Vincent Van Gough wrote to his mother Anna Carbentus Van Gogh, he mentions the colors he chose for the painting. He writes that he is working on “another rather large painting for you of women harvesting olives. The trees gray-green with a pink sky and purplish soil. All the colors more subdued than usual.” [Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, inv. No. b668 V/1962; pub. in Van Gogh Letters 1958, letter no. 619; Van Gogh Letters 2009, letter no. 831]. Vincent Van Gough knew the colors he picked out for this painting were not common colors someone else would have picked. However, he still went forward with publishing the painting. In another a letter he wrote to his sister Wilhelmina Jacoba he mentions how the painting was for her. He writes that “I hope that you’ll quite like the canvas I’m doing for Mother and you at the moment. It’s a repetition of a painting for Theo, Women picking olives.” [Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, inv. No. b718 V/1962; pub. in Van Gogh Letters 1958, letter no. W18; Van Gogh Letters 2009, letter no. 832]. From this, we can tell he was a genuine person for making a painting for his loved ones. As well as how Vincent Van Gough sees the painting “ Women Picking Olives” ( 1889) is his own perspective.
The artwork I chose from this gallery connects to Post-Impressionism by the colors Vincent Van Gogh picked out. Making the sky a pink color is abnormal, but a great way to catch the audience’s attention. The scenery in this painting focuses on nature, we see an open area with the sky and the trees. This painting also is not a picture-perfect painting, the artist does not have perfect lines for the pathway. The lines are curved throughout this painting. Throughout all his paintings as well, we can see the different types of brush strokes. Post-Impressionism was more interested in being open-minded to artwork. “Women Picking Olives” ( 1889) is a great example of this idea due to all the small details Vincent Van Gough created.
Work cited
Dutch, Vincent van Gogh. “Vincent van Gogh: Women Picking Olives.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Jan. 1889, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436536.
