Vase with Peonies 1886

Vincent van Gogh painted "Vase with Peonies" using oil on canvas with a visible, thick impasto. Van Gogh's material handling is the key to understanding this work. The paint application is far from incidental; it's deliberate and expressive. He loaded his brush, each stroke a physical record of his process. The materiality is heightened by the subject matter, in the way he has built up the petals of the flowers, to give them a sense of tangible weight. What is so striking is the tension he creates between a traditional subject - the vase of flowers, a very conventional, bourgeois theme - and the almost violent application of the paint. This tension is what makes Van Gogh so radical. He's taking these elements, and subverting them through his process. Ultimately, to truly appreciate Van Gogh is to understand his material handling not just as a technique, but as a deeply embedded part of his artistic vision.