SELF PORTRAIT and THE RED VINEYARD AT ARLES

Needed to set the siren this a.m. so we'd be up in time to get ready for today's general Venny meeting.  Afterwards, four of us are taking a trolley eastward for lunch.  A pretty day dictates we get out and partake in its beauty.

Lord help me, my yesterday was spent in my jammies, eyes glued to the New Mexico trial.  The state rested its case just in time for the judge to call it a day.  While I'm out and about today, I'll be thinking what the defense's case will be like.  Can imagine it might get a bit brutal.  My opinions about the team of defense lawyers I shall keep to myself.  The only inkling is that one of them looks like a Kardashian!  

The tactics used by attorneys in an effort to discredit and dishonor the witness are sometimes brutal and cruel.  Innocent people are subpoenaed to testify to things that are routine to their profession.  The opposing attorneys will stop at nothing to put doubt in their testimony.  A trial that I recently watched was so bad in this regard.  There were two defense attorneys, and one was worse than the other in making witnesses feel like they were the ones who were on trial.  The courtroom can be a cruel arena.  As much as I love the legal world, I would not want to be called to provide witness testimony.  

My mind is made up as to the verdict I myself would vote for.  We'll have to wait and see.  As far as Mr. Baldwin goes, well, his lawyers are going to have to come up with some real hard facts to fight what he's up against and what is shown on video films of him during the rehearsals.  There's always the question, tho, does money really talk?  Time will tell.  I don't want to wish time away, but my big summer stay-cation will be Baldwin's trial that starts on July 9th.  I'd give up a trip to England I'd miss the trial.  

 Van Gogh painted some 36 self portraits in ten years.  It wasn't that he was self-absorbed or had a big ego.  He simply wanted to practice painting people.  Over 25 of these self-portraits were done while he was in Paris (1886-88).  At that time he was short of money which made it difficult to find models.

Here I'll inject the fact that the artist Picasso considered Van Gogh as his patron saint.  He spoke of him with intense admiration and compassion. 

Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat - 1887

Vincent painted himself by looking in the mirror.  What we view to be his right side is actually his left side.  It's interesting that he did not portray himself as a broken man for the sake of pity.  Instead, he was convinced that painting would help him to heal.  "I retain all good hope," he wrote to Theo.

Note the short rough brush strokes.  It's said that each stroke of his brush was a deliberate act of self-expression, allowing him to communicate his innermost thoughts and feelings to the world.  His brush strokes are truly at the heart of his genius.  He mastered the art of holding a brush to paint a deeply artistic language.

The sorrowful element of Vincent's artistic genius is that he himself sold only one painting during his lifetime.  It was "The Red Vineyard" sold at the Brussels exhibition in 1890.  In a letter to his brother discussing the sale, Van Gogh expressed embarrassment that the buyer paid exhibition sticker price of 400 francs, when in fact they probably should have gotten a 'friend's price.'   (According to an online monetary converter, 400 franks in 1890 would have been equal to $78.00)

The Red Vineyard - 1888

In an 1888 letter that Vincent wrote to his brother he stated that the vineyard looked like red wine in the sunset.  The top half of the painting looks yellow, just as Vincent observed it as he walked through the vineyards.

In the foreground are figures hunched over picking what appears to be a large basket of grapes.  Some appear to be women and some men based on their clothing.  We see a horse and carriage driven by a man sitting on top, who appears to be heading toward the left side of the painting.  There's a row of larger trees to the left of the picture that creates the look of a border.  

Vincent painted a beautiful golden yellowed sky with a large pale-yellow sun, which is placed more to the right of the composition.  This suggests an afternoon sun more than a morning sun.  Take note once again that Vincent places one lone man standing in the waterway.  

Van Gogh's painting The Red Vineyard is now housed at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia.  It has been there since 1948, after being sold several times.  The person who first purchased it from Vincent was Anna Boch, a Belgian painter, art collector and the only female member of the artistic group.🖌