Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles
| Date: | 1979
|
| Medium: | Oil on canvas with 3 framed and matted colorprints 14 x 40 inches. Total dimensions of work 47 x 40 inches |
| Size inches: | Total: 47 x 40. |
| Size cm: | 119.4 x 101.6
|
| Signature: | |
| |
| Location: | Work destroyed by the artist |
Recently another phase of variations on van Gogh emerged, which is dominated by American artists. ... In 1976 (Robert) Amft ... painted a landscape after van Gogh's
The Starry Night of 1889 ... and in 1977,
Bedroom in Arles, introducing a TV set on the chair facing the bed. Another American artist, George Deem, also focused on van Gogh's personally significant
Bedroom in Arles, using the three versions of the theme for a conceptual new juxtaposition. (Udo Kultermann, "Van Gogh in Contemporary Art,"
Art Voices/South, February? 1979)
Deem's reworking of Van Gogh's
Bedroom at Arlesis no attempt to copy, but rather a reinterpretation of the space, the paint, and the emotional quality of the original. The image is classicized, Italianized, made substantial; the perspective becomes more nearly correct, the paint less self-proclaiming. (Richard Kubiak,
Deja-Vu: Masterpieces Updatedexhibition catalogue, 1981).
Work destroyed by the artist 1994. This picture was in two parts, each in its own frame: an oil painting on canvas 32 x 40 inches; 3 colorprints of Van Gogh's 3 versions of the Bedroom at Arles, the 3 prints matted and framed in a single frame under plexiglass, 14 x 40 inches. Artist's instructions for hanging: The framed colorprints are to be hung directly above the oil on canvas, with a one-inch separation between the two frames.
This picture is in two parts, each in its own frame.
1. an oil painting on canvas 32 by 40 inches.
2. 3 color prints of Van Gogh's 3 versions of the Bedroom at Arles matted and framed in one frame under plexiglass. 14 by 40 inches.
Total dimensions of work 47 by 40 inches. (With frames 48 by 41 inches).
The framed color prints are to be hung directly above the oil on canvas, with a one-inch separation between.
(George Deem, undated note)
Van Gogh painted three versions of his well-known picture, The Bedroom at Arles, all in the same year, 1888. I have mounted a color print of each version to hang directly above my painting Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles. In my painting I obtained all my visual information from these three color prints. I did not represent Van Gogh's brushwork or color. My painting is not a copy of a Van Gogh. It is a use of his outline of an interior. (George Deem, note written for Deja-Vu: Masterpieces Updated exhibition, 1981).
I like the article on van Gogh (in Art Voices/South). I think this is the first time a painting of mine has been mentioned in print while I am still working on it. (George Deem, letter to Udo Kultermann, March 6, 1979)
