Color and Emotion

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) used color to express emotional states rather than visual reality. His swirling skies, thick impasto brushstrokes, and intense yellows and blues weren't records of what he saw — they were records of how seeing made him feel. His approach led directly to Expressionism.

Van Gogh loaded his canvases with thick impasto — ridges of paint so heavy they cast shadows. His brushstrokes became as expressive as the subjects themselves. Gauguin fled to Tahiti, pursuing a primitivism that used flat color and simplified forms.