The Example of Vincent van Gogh
Denying Forms, Systems and Academicism in Art and Religion
abstract
The Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-90) affected the art movements and artists of the 20th century. His artistic thought, symbolic language and perspective on reality was far from that of the painters of his time and so they could not understand him or appreciate his work. Van Gogh did not consider himself to be an academic artist, or his work to be of academic standard. He knew that they were not technically perfect. In van Gogh’s works, art is governed by spirituality. Van Gogh rejected academicism in both art and religion.
Keywords: Academicism • Canon • Religion • Systems • Symbols