Vincent's Chair, 1888, 93 x 73.5 cm, National Gallery.
Gauguin's Chair, 1888, 90.5 x 72 cm, Rijksmuseum
The colour composition of this work is based on variations around the
pairs of primary complementaries--blue and orange, and red and green. These appear in their purest form only in
occasional passages, to set the keynotes for the composition. Thus the area of purest red on the paving beneath the
chair is balanced by touches of green above it and by a further stroke of green on the nearest chair leg. Van Gogh
stresses structure through emphatic outlines, added later, that serve to contain areas of pure painting. The strength
of these increases the impact of the image, but also creates a certain tension between line and colour. In distorting
the perspective of the floor and the chair leg, Van Gogh imposed his own personality upon the work, stressing the
subjectivity of his view.
The pipe,
handkerchief and tobacco give a focus to the picture in both narrative and pectoral terms, providing a note of neutral
white at the centre of the interplay of cool and warm hues. The use of blue to outline the parts of the chair increases
the sense of cool draftsmanship restraining the sensuous handling of the painting.
The floor tiles are painted with the waving brushstrokes that Van Gogh often used in the backgrounds of
his work at this time. Short horizontal and vertical strokes alternate in a loose mesh of reds, browns and greens. The
thickness of the paint used is revealed by the heavy smear from the side of the brush that is left alongside each
stroke. William Hardy's
book
Van Gogh: The History and Techniques of the Great
Masters
Vincent van Gogh The Chair Vincent probably got the notion for this painting from an engraving he
purchase while he worked at a London Gallery (1873), the print is of Charles Dickens’s empty chair in commemoration of
the great author.
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