Description of the painting by Vincent Van Gogh “Boats in the sea”

Description of the painting by Vincent Van Gogh Boats in the sea

The canvas “Boats at Sea” was painted by the outstanding nineteenth-century artist Vincent Van Gogh in 1888. At present, this amazing painting, painted in oil in the traditional style of the author, is kept in the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

The work was done in an impasto technique, the rich texture of the image allows its author to convey the meaning encoded in the canvas to the observers even more clearly and expressively.

The picture shows a simple seascape. In the foreground, the artist places huge, seething, recalcitrant waves that continually rise above the water surface. This suggests that the canvas depicts, not only the storm and the storm, but also affects the mood of the observers, radiating anxiety and nervousness. This contributes to the contrasting color gamut, which is selected for the image of troubled water.

Van Gogh presents raging waves in thick gray-blue, lead, greenish, olive and amber strokes. This part occupies the largest space of the canvas. It symbolizes an unfavorable period in the life of the master, we find it difficult to feel his serious doubts and wanderings.

On the canvas there are several boats with sails, they smoothly move to the horizon between the pearly sky and the lavender surface of the water. Like a flock of birds, these wooden cars easily overcome water spaces in the invisible formation. It seems that they are all directed to one point. This arrangement gives reason to suggest that the artist wanted to show that, despite all the difficulties of life, he still goes to the intended goal.

Small boats in this case represent the stages or steps towards reaching this specified invisible and desired point, hidden somewhere beyond the horizon.


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Description of the painting by Vincent Van Gogh “Boats in the sea”