By his striking use of colour for emotive effects and his almost hallucinatory patterns of brush strokes, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-90) changed the course of European painting. Using slides we shall first study the development of painting in 19th-century France from the Old Master tradition to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism and how Van Gogh fits into this. Then we shall study not only Van Gogh’s remarkably rapid stylistic development but also what the paintings have to tell us about his dramatic and tragic life – his explosive quarrel with the painter Gauguin, his stay in a mental asylum and his final suicide. Lists of slides shown will be provided, together with notes on 19th-century French colour theory.
Speaker Leslie Pitcher has a degree in classical literature & languages from Trinity College, Cambridge. He lectures for the Arts Society, the WEA and U3As. He has also lectured at Brompton Oratory on religious art. His particular interest is in the classical tradition in art from the ancient world to the Renaissance and Baroque.
Cost: £10 (£12 to non-members)
See the Surrey U3A Network events page for more information and application form