Painter duo
Two painters
Two generations
Two minds
But one goal – to observe and to paint
Vincent’s Arles
20th February 1888
He left as snow fell in Paris
Seeking warmth, bright light and colour
Provence beckoned, Arles awaited
Cold welcome soon turned warm
Vincent keen to explore
Keen to advance painting style
Bold colours, dynamic brush strokes
May day and the yellow house his base
Hopes of a collective studio
Daring colour adventure begins
Townscapes, countryside, ordinary people, self portraits
23rd October 1888
His good friend Paul arrives
Dedicates a self portrait to him
Painting solace the quest
But two months later, no more
Their characters and artistic temperaments clash
Friendship ends
Collective studio shattered
23rd December mental breakdown
Absinthe takes hold
Left earlobe severed
But still he paints
His postman friend Roulin worried
Mental strife continues
Townsfolk complain of disruption
Red-headed madman must go
March 1889 police shut yellow house
What now for Vincent?
8th May, Arles ends after 300 paintings and drawings
25 kilometres to Saint Rémy voluntary internment
Personal demons, tortured soul
But still he paints, indeed his best
143 paintings – Starry Night
At the pinnacle of his genius
On to Auvers-sur-Oise and journey’s end
July wheat fields painted
And then its over
Suicide in that painted location
Next innings
Vincent’s legacy abounds
1886 a seven year old boy starts to paint
1901 sees Vincent’s paintings given to Roulin
Fires Pablo’s imagination
Pablo self portrait
Picasso, oval face and olive eyes,
always solemn and searching.
Pushing boundaries, challenging authority,
his artistic torch cuts through the fog of life.
At times his scrutiny turned inwards.
Self-critique of the physical and the psychological took hold.
Could it be self-doubt or ego which drove him on?
Or was it simply a visual diary of moments in his life?
1901, subdued bluish tones portray young Picasso in an older light.
Sadness and solitude emanate from the cloaked figure.
Though beset by trials and tribulations
he stands proud gazing at his audience.
1907, the face of cubism unfolds
angular features with large searching eyes.
He seems lean almost undernourished.
His sombre outlook dominates the vista.
1972, and then the end draws near.
Staring his own death in the face
there is fear in his sunken eyes.
Flesh nearly gone reveals his skull for all to examine.
Pablo asked, “Are we to paint what’s on the face,
what’s inside the face or what’s behind it?”
The recognisable image becomes less and less distinct,
until what is left is the naked soul.
And Pablo said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
But, eventually the soul becomes dust and all that is left is a memory.
We will always remember Pablo,
for art is life and life is art.
Painter duo recap
Nearly a century of art by Vincent and Pablo
A painter duo – true genius
Vincent once wrote “What lives in art and is eternally living, is first of all the painter, and then the painting”
Paintings for us all to cherish, explore and enjoy
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2025
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