Van Gogh's heavy skies, Monet's water lily filled ponds

I was looking at Van Gogh's art recently. Then yesterday I was driving home and there's a section of the county that is on a higher plateau and seems to draw dramatic clouds. I love the rural scenes around here and I love taking photos of sky and clouds. I love the night sky too, the moon and planets, but I'm not skilled with night photography and the photos I take of the celestial objects tend to come out blurry. Here are a few of the scenes I shot yesterday on the ride home of the pastures and clouds and sky.

I like Van Gogh's work, but if I had to live under what he viewed (and painted) as such an oppressive sky, I'd feel trapped. The sky is looming, pressing I'd feel as though it's reaching down to swallow me up. Perhaps in Van Gogh's madness, this IS how he felt.

His paintings are pretty though. Many of them are just heavy. Apparently, Van Gogh's wavy skies and night time swirls are meteorologically and astronomically accurate!

Monet... I was watching The Impressionists on Amazon Prime. Interesting 4-part series. Anyway, Monet as we all know, liked to paint water. Especially water lilies and ponds. One of my own favorite photos was of two lilies in a pond. I put that photo together with Monet's, lol, for comparison.

Monet planted all his water lilies and ponds. He painted the Japanese bridge over his pond 17 times in different conditions and weathers. Monet loved his spot in Giverny France. He fell in love with the place from the moment he saw it, rented a house there, and finally bought a property 7 years later (the soonest he could afford it). Here are some more art resources on Van Gogh and Monet.

Thanks for reading!


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