Daily Art Quote #9 (by Vincent van Gogh)

pyrowngs (63)in #dailyartquote • 7 years ago (edited)

Daily Art Quote:

“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.”

~ Vincent Van Gogh

("The Starry Night", 1889, by Vincent van Gogh)

I have always loved The Starry Night painting by Van Gogh. In the late 1990's I painted some of the scenery for a production of The Tempest, by Shakespeare at the Bellevue Community College (Now just called "Bellevue College"). I painted the backdrop which hung behind a large platform that was supported by several carved figures (statues). I pretty much only worked on the backdrop, though. It was loosely based on Van Gogh's Starry Night, with large swirls of blue. I remember painting those swirls, with the drop stapled to the floor. I remember walking around in circles while I painted the long, curved strokes of paint - almost in spirals. It was fun & somewhat dizzying. I remember feeling excited at the opportunity of getting to "copy" (even just somewhat) the "Starry Night" painting.

This website has a very good write-up of his life. I just read most of it, and am very saddened to read about all of his troubles with mental health and depression, and his very short life. I was already aware of him cutting off his ear, but did not realize that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and at the young age of 37! This website has all of his paintings catalogued and in chronological order. It is a HUGE list of paintings! He was very prolific! Here are a few more of his paintings: