IDENTITY
Letter 536 — Colourists, harmonists and broken colour
Nuenen, 1885
Content Summary
Van Gogh reflects on colourists and harmonists through Rembrandt, Veronese, Rubens, Delacroix and Velázquez, connecting practical colour questions with ideas encountered in art literature.
CONTEXT
Topics
Colour Theory, Broken Colour, Colourists, Harmonists, Literature, Working Method
Materials & Pigments
Related People
Vincent van Gogh, Theo van Gogh, Rembrandt, Paolo Veronese, Peter Paul Rubens, Eugène Delacroix, Diego Velázquez, Eugène Fromentin, Charles Blanc, Théophile Silvestre
Paintings
RESEARCH
Quotation
a colourist like Veronese, like Rubens, like Delacroix, like Velázquez
Research Focus
The letter shows Van Gogh using both paintings and written discussion of earlier masters to develop a comparative understanding of colour harmony and broken colour.
Related Work / Relevance
Contextual
SOURCES & EVIDENCE
Source Type
Letter
Source
Source Edition
Vincent van Gogh — The Letters, scholarly online edition (Van Gogh Museum / Huygens ING)
Source URL
Evidence Type
Primary Source, Scholarly Annotation
Related Readings