Describe

In this painting, Van Gogh has created the portrait of a man leaning on his hand and staring solemnly forward. Using dark, gloomy colors, as in blues, blacks, and grays, he has bought a feeling of sadness into the piece. Through his use of abstract, waving, lines he creates motion. You can see this especially in the background of the painting and the coat, as well as the face, of the man depicted. This piece is primarily made up of positive and negative shapes (background), invented and compound shapes (the gentleman), and organic shapes (the flowers).

Analyze

This is a dynamic painting made so by the repetition of abstract lines moving throughout the piece. The work is balanced by the the slant of the figure his face balances out one end while his heavy coat takes care of the other. The emphasis of the painting are the areas painted in with bright colors, as the rest is dark and somber; this would be the man's face, hat, hands, books, and plant. Those are also the areas that your eyes are first drawn to, they then follow the flowing lines across the background and down his coat. On the same subject, the dark and bright colors greatly contrast each other increasing visual interest in the piece.

Portrait of Dr. Gachet
by Vincent van Gogh

Interpret

To me this work expresses the sadness and loneliness that torments the human mind. The way he leans on his hand shows despair and the dark colors, as I have previously mentioned gives that aura to the work. Also, the way his abstract lines flow downward induces the ideas of feeling low and meaningless.

Sadness, Emptiness, Despair