Van Gogh's Influence

"Van Gogh’s greatness goes beyond his brilliant draftsmanship and approach to color and structure. [He] is the artist who almost single-handedly brought a greater sense of emotional depth to painting. In that way, he can truly be called the father of Expressionism.”

Ronald S. Lauder, 

President of the Neue Galerie, 

NY 

Van Gogh, born 1853, died at the age of 37 after  "one of the saddest episodes in a life already rife with sad events." In his last months alive Van Gogh struggled with "fits of despair and hallucination during which he could not work, and in between them, long clear months in which he could and did, punctuated by extreme visionary ecstasy."

 Van Gogh rose to prominence only after his death; posthumously influencing a new generation of artists with his innovative works.  His unique Post Impressionist style along with his brushwork and and use of color link together Impressionism and Expressionism. His symbolic use of color that expressed his personal emotions was the very definition of abstract Expressionism, and he has since been recognized as one of the founding fathers of the movement. Van Gogh's influence can also be seen in the use of color in Symbolist and Fauvist works. Since his death and up to modern day, Van Gogh has influenced thousands of artist -- all whom reinterpret his works in the light of their own concerns.  For Wassily Kandinsky, he represented the way forward to abstraction, while for Oskar Kokoschka, he signified a vital figurative tradition based on the great humanist art of the past. Erich Heckel was already experimenting with broken brushwork, but he found in Van Gogh a new sense of visual drama. Emil Nolde engaged with Van Gogh at a spiritual level, seeking like his mentor to “grasp what lies at the very heart of things” and “transform nature by infusing it with one’s own mind and spirit.”

For further information of Van Gogh's influence, watch "The Power of Art - Van Gogh": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG1zGY7lE1U