Were "The Potato Eaters" Giants?
In the book “What makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh”, Muhlberger discusses different things about Vincent’s painting of “The Potato Eaters”. “The Potato Eaters” were actually a family named the De Groots. Vincent was friends with this family, and painted and drew several studies of them before he painted the final “The Potato Eaters” (Muhlberger, pp. 8-11, 2002).
Muhlberger goes into detail how the legs and arms of the De Groots are actually painted longer than they actually were. If you look at the painting of “The Potato Eaters”, you will see the fact that if the De Groots stood up in their tiny cottage, their heads might hit the ceiling. This was not actually how tiny their house was, but Vincent painted the De Groots this way on purpose (Muhlberger, pp. 8-11, 2002).
Muhlberger said Vincent painted the De Groots with long arms and legs, in the same way that “artists of old did with figures of saints” (Muhlberger, p. 10, 2002). With the De Groots arms and legs being extended, it would “give these kind peasants greater importance” (Muhlberger, p. 10, 2002). Vincent had a way of viewing things so much differently than the traditional way of viewing them. I’m sure, in Vincent’s mind, the De Groots were saints….
Vincent also painted the De Groots faces with as much light on them as the flame of the lamp in the painting. The rest of the room was mostly shadowed out and unimportant in Vincent’s “The Potato Eaters”, while the faces of the De Groots shone like the light of a candle. “The Potato Eaters” was considered Vincent’s first important work (Muhlberger, p. 8-11, 2002).
References
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Muhlberger, R (2002). What makes a van gogh a van gogh?. New York, New York: Penguin Group.
October 21 2006 | Painting and The Potato Eaters and Vincent van Gogh and What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh | 1 Comment »
