Van Gogh: A Copyist?
- George Burgan
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
While watching one of many documentaries on YouTube about Vincent van Gogh, I heard art critic Waldemar Januszczak describe Van Gogh as an ‘instinctive copyist’, a phrase that initially caught me off guard. "Did he just accuse him of plagiarism? Was Van Gogh's style a ripoff?”
I quickly paused the video and realized that one of my first Van Gogh favorites is "The Siesta (after Millet)." And there it is, right in the name - "after Millet." This was reinforced after a trip to the Chicago Institute of Art, where I noticed that "The Drinkers" was influenced by Honoré Daumier.
As it turns out, Vincent van Gogh directly copied the great works of Jean-François Millet, Delacroix, and Hiroshige and was influenced by Daumier, Rembrandt, and others.
Van Gogh wasn't merely copying because he lacked ideas or the ability to create his own works; it was a way to sharpen his skills and expand his view. And for Vincent, I believe a necessary part of his journey to discover his own style.
But there were other practical reasons why artists copied great works:
Out of sheer admiration for those great works, Van Gogh felt a deep kinship with Jean-François Millet's focus on the working class
Out of necessity, due to a lack of models or money to afford them, given that the majority of Van Gogh's direct copies or influenced pieces were completed while he was institutionalized, he had no access to models.
In a September 1889 letter to his brother Theo, Vincent shares his thoughts on copying the works of others.
I can assure you that it interests me enormously to make copies, and that not having any models for the moment it will ensure, however, that I don’t lose sight of the figure. I place the black-and-white by Delacroix or Millet or after them in front of me as a subject. And then I improvise colour on it but, being me, not completely of course, but seeking memories of their paintings – but the memory, the vague consonance of colours that are in the same sentiment, if not right – that’s my own interpretation. Heaps of people don’t copy. Heaps of others do copy – for me, I set myself to it by chance, and I find that it teaches and above all sometimes consoles. So then my brush goes between my fingers as if it were a bow on the violin and absolutely for my pleasure. (Letter 805)
During his transformative period in Paris, he met so many like-minded artists with whom he would discuss, argue, and draw ideas. The more I looked, the more I realized Van Gogh wasn't unusual at all. Camille Pissarro adopted pointillism from Seurat and Signac. Paul Gauguin adapted his work after Bernard and Van Gogh. Toulouse-Lautrec was influenced by Degas.
As I look at paintings from the Impressionist era, I see these artists all learning this way, experimenting, honoring, and responding to each other's styles - evolving to create their own unique styles.
Van Gogh, a copyist? Yes. Van Gogh, a plagiarist? No! His copies were training and devotion to great artists.
