080031 SE Vincent van Gogh - the Late Works (2022W)

Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise are the last three prominent stations of Vincent van Gogh's painterly activity between 1888 and 1890. On the one hand, the painter reached a wider public through his participation in exhibitions; on the other hand, these years show clear signs of a further deepening and radicalisation of van Gogh's artistic principles. In addition, the stay in Auvers stimulated the painter to a veritable creative frenzy, leading to the completion of around 80 paintings and 60 drawings in 70 days. The reception of the Japanese woodblock print, the contrasting colours, the impasto painting style and the novel use of a personally coloured symbolic language (for example, with candle and sun motifs) can be seen as the most essential characteristics whose significance for the avant-garde will be illuminated in the course. The fact that van Gogh has been seen as a hero of modernism at least since Julius Meier-Graefe (1932) also plays a role. Van Gogh's work is mostly explained by means of his biography. This highly problematic focus poses a particular challenge for an art historical appreciation.
The course begins with introductory units, followed by presentations (always two per unit). All images of the introduction and the presentation topics are already available on moodle. Detailed references to the special literature on the respective topics will be given in the units of the office hours as well as via e-mail. The students have familiarised themselves with a specific art historical topic and have received the relevant specialist literature in an independent and critical manner. They are able to observe and precisely describe art historical phenomena, to narrow down topics in a meaningful way, to pose research questions, to form hypotheses and to discuss them in discussion with the specialist literature. They are also able to convincingly present the results of their research, observations and reflections in oral and written form.

Presentation topics:

1. biography: the last three years of his life (incl. letters, relationship to his brother Theo)
2. 19th century landscape art and its influence on van Gogh (Barbizon School, Impressionism etc.)
3. 1888 Arles: Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin - from mutual stimulation to conflict
4. symbolism in van Gogh's paintings (sunflowers, starry night, shoes)
5. the use of models from French art (Millet, Delacroix, Doré)
6. the year 1888 (Arles): Portraits
7. the year 1888 (Arles): Sower
8. the year 1888 (Arles): Bedroom and chair
9. the year 1888 (Arles): Landscapes
10. the year 1889 (Saint-Rémy): The starry night
11. the year 1889 (Saint-Rémy): Olive trees and gardens
12. the year 1889 (Saint-Rémy): Cypresses
13. the year 1889 (Saint-Rémy): the self-portraits
14. the year 1889 (Saint-Rémy): Motifs from the sanatorium
15. the year 1890 (Auvers-sur-Oise): van Gogh and Dr Gachet
16. the year 1890 (Auvers-sur-Oise): Motifs from Auvers
17. the year 1890 (Auvers-sur-Oise): Lilies and roses
18 Van Gogh and Austrian art around 1900
19 Van Gogh's influence on German Art („Die Brücke“, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, Heinrich Nauen, Max Beckmann, Ludwig Meidner, Peter August Böckstiegel)
20. the "Van Gogh myth" - between cinematic reception (e.g. Kirk Douglas [1956], Loving Vincent [2017]) and commerce (immersive exhibitions)