Vincent van Gogh."They say...that it isn't easy to point yourself either." Vincent van Gogh painted some thirty-seven self-portraits, all of them in the last five years of his life. In his letters to his brother, Theo, he describes the process of painting these portraits as exploratory exercises in color theory This article is about the musical alter ego of Brian Hazard; for the theory of color, see color theory Color Theory is the musical alter ego of American singer-keyboardist-songwriter Brian Hazard. and brushstroke. in reference to this particular self-portrait, he writes of his struggle "to get the combination of ashen ash·en 1 adj. 1. Consisting of ashes. 2. Resembling ashes, especially in color; very pale: A face ashen with grief. and gray-pink tones" against a "background of pale malachite malachite (măl`əkīt), a mineral, the green basic carbonate of copper occurring in crystals of the monoclinic system or (more usually) in masses. It is translucent or opaque; the luster is silky, vitreous, adamantine, or dull. ." However in a letter to his friend Paul Gauguin Noun 1. Paul Gauguin - French Post-impressionist painter who worked in the South Pacific (1848-1903) Gauguin , he reveals something of his need to stress his own personality in this self-portrait. "I exaggerate my personality. I have in the first place aimed at the character of a simple bonze bonze n. A Buddhist monk, especially of China, Japan, or nearby countries. [French, from Portuguese bonzo, from Japanese bons worshipping the Eternal Buddha," van Gogh wrote. He also wrote to his sister about this portrait in which he said he looked "like a Japanese." Van Gogh had a strong interest in Japanese prints, which were popular in Europe around this time. |
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