Vincent van Gogh at the Albertina
The
Albertina will display 170 masterpieces by Dutch expressionist Vincent van
Gogh from September 5 to December 8, 2008 in an exhibition entitled Vincent
van Gogh: Drawn Pictures. The focus of the exhibition will be the
interaction between van Gogh’s drawings and paintings created in his final
years in Paris and Arles.
Van Gogh was a trailblazer of the Expressionist movement. His distinct
brushwork makes his work unmistakable, as shown in instantly recognizable
pieces such as Sunflowers. The exhibition at the Albertina will include The
Harvest from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam as well as View of Les
Vessenots Near Auvers from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.
Van Gogh’s paintings owe their vitality and intensity to his fast and
spontaneous brushstrokes, clearly visible due to his thick application of
color. This expressiveness also shines through in his drawings. His sketches
served two purposes – as a preparation for his paintings and afterwards as
a follow-up to allow the artist to correct a painting, on the rare occasion
that he revised or reworked one of his quickly completed pieces.
The works of the artist who lived in constant poverty now fetch record
prices. The oil on canvas Portrait of Dr. Gachet is among the ten most
expensive works of art in the world. It was sold for USD 82.5 million in
1990.
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