Mulberry Trees, Chestnut Trees and Post-Impressionism: The 19th Century
Post-Impressionism began in the west by the 1880s. Its methods and techniques were becoming more popular. Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat and others were among the artists who advanced this movement. It began both as an extension of impressionist trends and as a rejection. Paul Cezanne’s and Vincent van Gogh’s work was influential in this period. Cezanne’s Farmhouse, Chestnut Trees, Jas de Bouffan (1885) and van Gogh Mulberry Tree (1889) show how post-impressionist art can take many forms. While the styles of these works are different, they all share a common understanding of music and human emotion.
To examine these pieces effectively, you must first establish their context. Initially, impressionism focused on painting mechanically and capturing fleeting light and shapes. Baudelaire was one of many artists who said in this period that it is the artist’s job to capture the passing moments. Post-Impressionists generally disagreed with the dictum. In fact, van Gogh stated that he painted to capture eternity. Post-Impressionists kept using vibrant colors and mixed them optically. They also worked on daily-life subjects. Instead of placing emphasis on the topic, they used symbolic forms to bring life and energy to their work.
Cezanne’s Farmhouse at Jas de Bouffan with Chestnuts is one of the Post-Impressionist pieces that shows these differences. Chestnut trees frame a farmhouse from Cezanne’s Jas de Bouffan. Cezanne was inspired by the same feelings as many Post-Impressionists. The image is composed entirely of organic colors like greens and yellows. Tree trunks and building elements are reduced to their geometric, basic elements. The main building could also have been painted, but he instead chose to paint the chestnut tree and modest farmhouse. It would indicate a familiarity and pride with the estate. Not just in the grand buildings, but perhaps also in the more quiet settings. He invites the viewer to an intimate, yet simple view of his sentimentality and connection with his home. The pigments are so thinly applied in some areas that the canvas is visible, which gives the work a dreamlike, transparent quality. The leaves consist of diagonal and parallel brushstrokes. This suggests movement in an incredibly geometric way. This orderly feeling is evident throughout the painting. The basic shapes of the farmhouse windows and walls have been simplified. The trunks and foliage are simplified. Overall, there is no texture to the painting. The focus is on the overall organization of the objects rather than the specific construction.
This reductionist painting technique also creates a feeling of isolation. It is a balanced landscape, but it’s uninhabited. The landscape is a balance, yet uninhabited. There are no signs that someone lives there, nor any tools or laundry in the yard. Cezanne manages to capture the contrast between familiarity and comfort, as well as isolation. The delicate balance between his muted colours and simple lines shows the conflicting emotions. He creates an appearance of calmness, despite the turmoil that nature and soul are experiencing. His bittersweet feelings are reflected in the way he portrays this scene. This is something that most viewers can relate to. His landscape captures more than the naturalistic moment. It is a portrait of the artist’s personality.
Vincent van Gogh created Mulberry Tree, a work that is no less significant as a post-impressionist masterpiece. The swirling autumn colours are a reminder of the confusion van Gogh felt a year prior to his death. The painting is a landscape with a mulberry bush on a hillside. The image is an exercise in contrasts. Van Gogh first paints the pale ground with short, abbreviated brushstrokes. These are framed by a sinuous, long trunk in dark brown and green. The tree’s leaves take up most the canvas. They are tendrils in vibrant reds, yellows and oranges that curl, spread and grasp. The mulberry looks like it is on fire when its branches are interspersed by coils of black and brown. Van Gogh contrasts this chaotic scene with the calm backdrop of cerulean skies painted in diagonal straight brushstrokes. The canvas feels top-heavy because of this dazzling display. The paint is thick enough to make the canvas look like a sculpture. It is embossed and has a three-dimensional effect. Van Gogh has made the tree incarnate. It is only alive because of his perception.
It’s his distinctive painting style that makes one wonder: how can a single, simple tree be so full of emotion? Van Gogh adapted the Post-Impressionist movement to his own style. The tree is used to express his emotions, just as paint was used for painting. The mulberry branch is his vehicle to let him express himself without physical boundaries. Mulberry Tree ultimately highlights Cezanne’s paradoxes. The contrasts seem out of place at first. The autumnal feel of the leaves is vibrant and upbeat but also emphasizes how fleeting life can be. Their fiery strokes radiate, implying growth and movement, but the chaos of the swirls also trespasses to the outer planes. These swirls of chaos are firmly rooted in the earth below. Van Gogh’s reductionist landscape reflects his deepest fears and long-held desires. The conflict inherent in the exploration is a result of his preoccupation with eternity and infinite. Van Gogh’s masterful projection of his feelings and sensations onto nature is a masterpiece. The painting, in true Post-Impressionist fashion, has gone beyond its original purpose as a window into reality to reveal the artist’s mind and soul.
However, comparing these two paintings is more than just a matter of serenity versus vitality. Post-Impressionists in both cases, their goal was to bring out the character and intimacy of a scene that is easily visible. Cezanne, like van Gogh, arranged his compositions to give the best impression possible of the subject. They aimed to convey the essence and character of the objects painted. It is the way they approach it that makes a difference.
Mulberry Trees and Chestnut Trees are significant because they represent a departure from the Post-Impressionist movement. Cezanne’s desire to capture the essence of an object led him to simplify and geometric forms. This trend can be seen as a precursor of Cubism. Cubism is the more analytical and abstract style of early 20th-century artists like Picasso and Mondrian. Cezannes main emotions of isolation and comfort are conveyed through early Cubist techniques governed by order. Van Gogh chose a completely different stylistic approach. Mulberry Tree may be Post-Impressionist but it is in no way geometric. The swirling and textured brushstrokes as well as the vibrant colors are clear precursors to Abstract Expressionist. Cezanne’s and van Gogh’s worlds were not merely a representation of their surroundings. They used the interaction between shape and color to describe it.
The paintings have a powerful impact on viewers because of their color and complexity. The paintings let us see and feel an object as it was seen by the artist. Van Gogh achieved this by using different brushstrokes with complementary colors and an unbalanced composition. Cezanne, on the other hand, used reductionist techniques, muted tones, and reduced colors in order to convey loneliness and nostalgia. They did not record landscapes objectively, but synthesized them by focusing on various aspects which allowed them to perpetuate their own perception of it. Mulberry Trees and Chestnut Trees both show the varied styles and techniques of Post-Impressionism. However, they share the same desire for capturing the complex feelings and emotions that we feel when viewing nature.
