Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Van Gogh revisited (2)
By Kwon Mee-yoo
This is the second in a series of Vincent van Gogh’s works that will be featured as part of the works currently on display at the exhibition titled “Van Gogh in Paris: a Dialogue with Modernism” at Seoul Arts Center. ― ED.
Before heading to Paris in March 1886, Vincent van Gogh was a realist painter mostly using dark colors, as seen in this "Head of a Woman" (1885) from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
It is one of a series of peasant paintings he produced from 1884 to 1885. Most of these portraits show rough features, such as “coarse, flat faces, low foreheads and thick lips, not sharp but full,” according to the museum.
However, Van Gogh's brother Teo criticized the works as being too dark, and he realized that he needed to switch to brighter colors in order to succeed. It provided a catalyst for change for Van Gogh and he explored the potential of the use of color while he was in Paris.