My Trip to the Yale Art Gallery.

One rainy day in January, 2012, I made a trip with my mother to the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. I was really excited to go with her because she loves art just as much as I do and can see things in paintings that I cannot. I have been to the Yale Art Gallery before and was surprised when I went there to see that there was still construction going on. When I first walked in I noticed the lobby and how open and welcoming it felt to me. I was really excited to see if things had changed or new pieces were there.

The Yale Art Gallery is America's oldest college art museum. It is open to the public and students from all over go there to study magnificent pieces of art. The museum was founded by an artist named John Trumball in 1832. Trumball had designed the gallery and donated 100 of his own paintings to the college to place into the gallery. In 1953, Louis Gahn redesigned the gallery's main facility into more modern arcitecture. Today, the area is being renovated and restored to complete Kahn's vision. The renovations will be done in December of 2012 and will allow for more galleries, exhibitions, and classrooms.

Edward Hopper Western Motel 1957.
 oil on canvas

 

Edgar Jean-Baptiste Phantom of the Night
1980 oil on canvas

      When I walked in and looked at the on view pamphlet, I was imediately attracted to the third floor which contains European and American Art from 1200 to the present. However, I started on the fourth floor and worked my way down. On the forth floor, I found a small area with some strange, but interesting works of art. Some of these paintings included Western Motel by Edward Hopper. This painting was not exactly strange but it was very interesting and the colors in it contrasted well. One of the stranger and certainly interesting pieces I found there was Phantom of the Night by Edgar Jean-Baptiste in 1917 with oil on canvas. The dark look of it and the oddity of the creature continued to keep me interested. There were many interesting paintings on this floor, but these were two of my favorites on the fourth floor.



Marx Reichlich The Jester 1519-20

Tempera on Panel



Francesco Francia

 Virgin and Child,
 known as Gabaro Madonna
1495 oil on panel



Claude Monet
The Artist's Garden at Giverny
1900 oil on canvas



   The third floor had countless pieces of art including pieces from Monet and Van Gogh. This floor contaied European and American Art from the 1200s to the present. Two of the pieces that I was attracted to was The Jester, created by Marx Reichlich in 1519-1520. I found this piece to be really strange and the expression on the Jester's face seemed mysterious and some-what creepy to me but I love jesters and clowns and so I really liked the look of this painting. Monet had a couple paintings there as well but I loved the one called The Artist's Garden at Giverny. His use of color and the way everything flows in his paintings were fabulous to me. It is a gorgeous piece that I could not stop staring at. Another painting that I was attracted to was Francesco Francia's Virgin and Child created in 1495 with oil on panel. I remember learning about this painting in art history class. From looking at this painting in the book to see it in person is a completely different experience, entirely. I can read about paintings all day, but to actually see it in front of me was a thrilling experience.



Tusk Carved in Relief
Congo

Late 19th-early 20th Century

Elephant Ivory tusk and pigment



    The second floor has African and Asian Art which I enjoyed. I enjoyed to Asian a lot, their eye for detail is amazing. For example, they had an Altarpiece with a Figure of Vasudhara from the Late Malla-Shah Period It's created with gilt brass alloy and inlaid stone in the 18th century. The detail that was put into this piece I thought was magnificent. It's a beautiful piece. As well as on the other side where there was an African elephant tusk that had a scene of life and nature carved into it. I found it even mroe interesting with a man with a top hat carved into it as well as a man with an African hat on. To me, it showed the relationship between Africans and Europeans in the late 19th and earth 20th century. The skill and craftmanship it took to create this tusk is magnificent.

Altarpiece with a Figure of Vasudhara
Late Malla-Shah Period. 18th Century
Guilt Brass Alloy and Inlaid Stone

    The first floor had a 9/11 exhibit, called Remembering 9/11 however, the day that I had gone, for some reason, that exhibit was closed for the day. I was a little upset, however, there was so much to see that I still enjoyed every minute there. There were also some ancient works of art such as carvings and head sculptures on the first floor as well. Over all the entire museum was a great experience. They have so much to see there and so much variety. The people working there are very knowledgeable, including the security there, I was quite impressed and plan to visit there again soon.

     My absolute favorite artist of all times is Vincent Van Gogh. I love his work because he puts so much passion and feelings into his work, you can really feel and see what he wanted to express in his art. You can see the sadness he experienced in life and how he put those feelings onto the canvas. When I walked around the corner on the third floor and found that there were two Van Gogh paintings, I was amazed. I especially loved Le Cafe' de Nuit (The Night Cafe'). It was created with oils on canvas in September of 1888 in Arles located in the south of France. It is 28.5 by 36.25 inches of pure magnificence. It is a painting of a cafe' where there are people sitting at the tables and a pool table in the middle of the room. All the people are sitting with their heads on the tables or in their hands as though it is the end of the night or as though they are having a really bad night. There is one man standing near the pool table looking straight out at the viewer. All of the lights have a brilliant glow around them and Van Gogh used great shadowing to add to the affect of the brightness coming from the lights. I was able to get extremely close to the piece and see every brush stroke and every detail of the painting. I could not stop staring at it, every where I looked there was something more interesting to me about this piece. I could see how thick of paint he actually used, which people hear about all the time, but do not always get to really experience it and grasp the reality of his works.

Vincent Van Gogh Le Cafe' de Nuit (The Night Cafe)
1888 oil on canvas
28.5 x 36.25 inches

         Vincent Willem Van Gogh was born on March 30th, 1853 in Groot Zundert, Holland and was one of six children, his older brother Theo being one of his greatest influences and confidants. As a child, he was very intelligent, but sensitive and had very little self confidence. At the age of 16, he left home to apprentice the Hague branch of Groupil and Company, an international picture and art dealer with his brother, Theo and uncle. When he left his home, he grew lonely, missing the simplisity of his home which depressed him. He fell in love and was let down, causing a greater depression which cost him his job in Belgium. After being fired, he attended formal art classes where his cousin-in-law, Anton Mauve, who was an artist as well, had encouraged him to begin to paint. He began to paint and prided himself in the quickness to which he was able to complete paintings. In 1886, Vincent joined his brother Theo to study with the painter Fernand Cormon. There he met Pissaro, Monet, Gauguin, and other well known artists. With these artists help, Van Gogh had learned to lighten his pallet and shorten his brush strokes. He continued with imense thickness in paint and texture in his works. In 1888, Van Gogh moved to Arles, located in the south of France, where he thought there was a colony of artists residing there. As he independantly studied there, his work became brighter and he used color and symbolism to express his feelings. He incorporated impressionists as well as his newly found interest, Japanese Ukiyo'e which is wood block printing ideas. Later, Gauguin would join him in Arles and create his own version of the night cafe which was much brighter and lively. Although they were friends and learned from each other, Gauguin and Vincent argued a lot and one argument would even drive him to cut off part of his own earlobe off.


Close up of the pool table.



    In the ten years that Van Gogh painted, he created almost 1000 paintings and an extensive amount of drawings. Among all of those paintings, however, he only sold one painting and that was to a family friend. His style is considered post-impressionism, expressionism and symbolic with impressionist art inspiring him and him inspiring expressionism for future artists. When he created a piece, he did not have a distinction between his art and life, all feelings he felt were expressed the same. His intention in his paintings was to grasp the visual impact and emotional tension. If he did this successfully, he would sign the piece, if he did not like the piece, he would not sign it. The fact that no one wanted any of his paintings and told him that they were not good, depressed him even more. He grew to the mentality that if his work was worth nothing, than he himself was also worth nothing. Vincent created an intense inner solitude and his depression grew to the point that he could not control it and on July 29th, 1890, at the age of 37 years old, he tragically shot himself and died in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, in the arms of his brother Theo.



Close up of flowers and the thick paint and beautiful texture. 



      Vincent had once wrote to his brother about the painting stating, "in my picture of the Night Cafe', I have tried to express the idea that the cafe' is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime. So I have tried to express, as it were, the powers of darkness in a low public house, by soft Louis XV green and malachite, contrasting with yellow'green and harsh blue-greens, and all this in an atmosphere like a devil's furnace, of pale sulfur" ("The Night Cafe' in the Place Lamartine in Arles"). Among his many works of art, The Night Cafe' was one of the most bold and stricking pieces. It is one of the best known paintings from his Arles period and depicts the interior of the Cafe' de la Gace which was an all night tavern owned by Joseph Michel Ginoux and his wife Marie. The feeling of the atmosphere which was desolant, dim, and depressing served as an inspirations for Vincent to paint the scene. The owner, Joseph is depicted in this painting as the man standing at the side of the billard table with the expressionless face staring right at the viewer. Also in the painting are the locals all drinking and who are all down on their luck, slouching and drunk to depict this time of dispair and as well as porstitutes who were also at a bad time in their life. The figures of the painting give the viewer a sense of lonliness and desperation and showed the lowest part of society and terrible passions of humanity. Van Gogh was able to do this using sinserity and symbolism with the contrast of bright colors against the depressing state of all the people.

   The composition itself gave the viewer many elements of emotions and played with the viwers senses. The lines of the floor and angles of the lines give the viewer a feeling of vertigo. The perspective for the viewer is in the corner and downward towards the floor, which adds to the vertigo feeling and gives that sense of lonliness that the others in the piece, feel. The lines from the floor, the thick black lines on the billard table, and in the texture bring the viewers eye deep into the piece, through the distraught of the people and even more depth is created with the half curtained doorway. Van Gogh used objects of pleasure to contrast the dark, grim feelings of the figures who are absorbed in their individual lonliness and dispair. The brightness of the billard table, the wine bottles and the glasses are all signs of a joyous occasion, however, in this piece it almost acts as a tease to the rock bottom figures.

   



Close up of clock, showing his brush strokes
and how he used the paint.

    The objects in Van Gogh's painting aside from the bottles and tables all possess a purpose for the piece. The black and white clock shows the time being quarter past midnight depicting how late into the night it is as well as creates a slight contrast in color against the bright and illuminating colors. The glare of the lights enhances the piece and fills the space space with brightness adding a feeling of hope within the piece. The heavy brushstrokes that he uses around the lights also give a sense of movement of light throughout the painting. His use of color brightens up the piece brilliantly as well.



Close up of one of the lights.
Shows a beautiful use of paint to create a magnificent glow.



   

 Throughout the ten years that Van Gogh painted, he created amazing, emotional works of art. One can really feel the pain and depression that Van Gogh was feeling when he created his pieces. A great example of depression and isolation that Van Gogh felt was in his rendition of The Night Cafe'. This painting is one of the most powerful expressions of the human condition and of their emotions. One can feel the depressing atmosphere as if they were in the cafe' feeling just as burnt out as the others in the painting. However, the emotional toll that his paintings craeted are what makes his pieces so unique and amazing. His passion for art is expressed all the way through his life to his death and his pieces, and although he never got to see it happen, they will be part of art history forever and he will be forever known as one of the greatest artists that ever lived.



Close up of bottom right, his signature.
Vincent only signed the paintings that he liked.

Bibliography

• Harding, Elizabeth. "Analysis of the Night Cafe'-Vincent Van Gogh". Ezine Articles 2012. http://ezinearticles.com/?Analysis-of-the-night-cafe---vincent-van-gogh&id=305562
• Hodge, Susie. The Great Artists: And Their Most Important Works. London: Querccus Publishing Plc., 2010.
• Metzger, Rainer and Ingo F. Walther. Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings. China: Taschen GmBH, 2006.
• Roffo, Stefano. Vincent Van Gogh. New York: Gramercy Books. 1993.
• "The Night Cafe' in the Place Lamartine in Arles". Vincent. 2012. http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0463.htm
• "The Night Cafe". Yale University Art Gallery: New Haven: 2004-2012. http://artgallery.yale.edu/pages/collection/popups/pc_modern/enlargell.html.

For your entertainment, I have added a clip from my favorite tv show, "Dr. Who" where the doctor, who can travel through time and space, brings Van Gogh to the year 2010 to see what has become of his paintings. I know it is not related to the museum, however, it made me love Van Gogh even more because I feel this portrayal of his reaction would have been what the real Van Gogh would have felt...

(Sorry the picture is in reverse, couldnt find a better video though)