Tuesday, March 24, 2015
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
A painting by Vincent van Gogh will go on display Thursday at the Butler Institute of American Art.
The piece, on loan to the museum for an indefinite period from a private collector, is titled “In the Dunes” (In de Duinen), and is an oil-on-board landscape that the Dutch artist, a Post-Impressionist master, painted in 1883 in The Hague, Netherlands.
“In the Dunes” — which hasn’t been seen by the public in 55 years — is an early work by the internationally revered painter. It foreshadows the artist’s later, and very recognizable, style of paint application, composition and emotion.
Van Gogh (1853-1890), who did not become famous while alive, is one of the most well-known artists in the world, and his paintings are prized by museums and galleries.
“In the Dunes” (13 º inches by 19 1/8 inches) will be on display in the Watson Gallery, on the main floor of the Butler, at least through the end of the year, according to museum spokesperson Kathy Earnhart. The Watson is the Butler’s Impressionist gallery.
A special three-panel informational display unit has been created for it — something that is not typically done at the museum. Butler director Louis A. Zona wanted to give the piece special attention, said Earnhart.
The exhibit is a rare opportunity to see a work by van Gogh in the Butler, which is devoted to American art. The Dutch master shaped the work of American artists in the years after his death, explained Zona.
“Although Vincent van Gogh lived more than a century ago, his work continues to influence the world’s artists’ views of beauty, as well as their style of painting,” said Zona. “This is also true of the artists of this nation who, in the 20th century, became enamored of van Gogh’s paintings.
“It is wonderful to display this landscape [in the Butler], where van Gogh’s influence can clearly be seen in the collection of American masterpieces.”
Zona cited works by 20th-century American painters Robert Henri, Arthus Dove and Marsden Hartley as examples that are in the Butler’s collection.
Van Gogh’s influence also can be seen in the work of the post-World War II group known as the Abstract Expressionists, who were known for their emotionally explosive canvases. The work of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), the most-famous member of this group, personifies American Expressionist painting, said Zona. The Butler also has a Pollock piece in its collection.
Van Gogh’s influence also can be seen in the work of the Neo-Expressionist painters of the 1980s and beyond, and is prominently seen in the work of American painters Julian Schnabel and Roger Brown.
Van Gogh lived a short and troubled life.
In 1880, at age 27, he entered the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium.
The following winter, living in Amsterdam, he began painting. He lived frugally, explored color theory, and studied the works of the great artists. Van Gogh was painting peasants and rural landscapes at this time, and using dark earth tones. “In the Dunes” — the piece that the Butler will display — is an example of these early works.
Van Gogh would produce more than 900 paintings. Plagued by mental illness, he committed suicide at age 37.
Some of his best-known works are “Starry Night” and “The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum.”