No Penn student has an excuse to miss Van Gogh “Up Close,” the new show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
For those who do not know much about Van Gogh (and aren’t living under a rock!), who lived from 1853 to 1890, he was an extraordinary artist who forever transformed the art of modern painting. Gogh was charmed by nature and his artwork demonstrates his intense inner emotions and his emotional experiences of the outdoors. The world-famous artist is known for his still lifes (many of them comprising of flowers and fruits) and landscapes due to his experimentation with focus and depth of field.
One can guess from the title of the show that Van Gogh incorporated a lot of everyday objects “up close” into the foreground of his paintings. One of Van Gogh’s gifts to future painters was his ability to have an object such as a piece of fruit look like it was going to fall out of the painting. The exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art highlights Van Gogh’s turbulent last four years of his life, was beginning when he left Antwerp for Paris in 1886 and ending the year of his death in 1990.
Other must-visit places for Philly residents? Stephen Starr’s new restaurant, Route 6!
Some of Van Gogh’s final pieces were even more intense than his previous paintings. For example, he increased the power in his brushstrokes and color usage and instilled even more emotional elements into his paintings. The incredible 40 pieces in the exhibit, borrowed from museums and collections from around the world, focus on exploring the motivations behind Van Gogh’s transformations in his artistic techniques in the concluding years of his life.
So now that you want to see the exhibit, here are some of the logistics. The show is in the Dorrance Special Exhibition Galleries on the first floor of the museum from February 1st to May 6th, 2012. Adult tickets cost $25 dollars each and can be bought by dialing 215-235-7469 (open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily) or can be bought online.
Keep in mind that the exhibition is closed on Mondays but open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It may be also good to know that the last tickets issued for a given day are 90 minutes before the museum closes. When you buy a ticket, you will also receive a free audio tour and general admission to the rest of the museum. So either hop in a cab or even walk there. What are you waiting for?