Fishing Boats on the Beach by Vincent Van Gogh Tile

Fishing Boats on the Beach at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1888, is a landscape painting of boats on the beach in the Mediterranean. The soft greys, tan, blue and creamy white colours of ocean, sand, clouds and sky contrast with the flattened, thickly outlined blue and red forms of the fishing boats, a hallmark of the mature Post-Impressionist style that emerged while Van Gogh was living in the town of Arles in the south of France. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and intense, heightened colours. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh’s early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in sombre earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to colour and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.