The unfashionable artist who inspired Van Gogh | In Conservation: National Gallery

With Van Gogh's iconic 'Sunflowers' back on the wall at the National Gallery, Kristina Mandy gives us an insight into the conservation treatment for a painting by one of his major influences, the 19-century artist Adolphe Monticelli.
Monticelli was highly regarded by his contemporaries, and was especially influential on Vincent van Gogh, who bought a flower painting by him which resembles this one. Vincent and his brother Theo were involved in publishing the first-ever book on Monticelli.
Find out more about 'A Vase of Wild Flowers' by Monticelli: www.nationalga...
Dive into Monticelli's art: www.nationalga...
Dive into Paul Cézanne's art: www.nationalga...
Dive into Vincent Van Gogh's art: www.nationalga...
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The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The museum is free of charge and open 361 days per year, daily between 10.00 am - 6.00 pm and on Fridays between 10.00 am - 9.00 pm.
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[@petenicholson1323]

So interesting and so clearly explained. Thank you Kristina and everyone behind the scenes that help put it all together

[@PeterPaul175]

Beautifully narrated and explained. I hope we see more of this very knowledgeable and eloquent lady.

[@virginias.poston4308]

Love the side by side, pre- and post-cleaning examples, especially for the violet colors.

[@northernhemisphere4906]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you very much for sharing. Incredible work and knowledge provided in such a brief concise manner.

[@rembvanrijn]

Brilliant! Had almost forgotten about Monticelli (like so many others, obviously) but do now dimly remember having read in the past about van Gogh’s interest in his work. Never came across fact that VG actually bought one of them, however-really drives home the point. The technical info about varnish layers is fascinating, too. From the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots, it seems clear the cleaned painting will be stunning-fantastic work!

[@rtk3543]

A very informative presentation, I have read of Vincent Van Gogh's interest in Monticelli's work and I believe Theo Van Gogh also admired his work. Thank you for high lighting this fascinating and rarely mentioned artist.

[@donnadurant4000]

Just curious. Where did you read that?

[@gidimeir]

wonderful presentation and wonderful painting. thank you!

[@elizabethannegrey6285]

Thank you for this interesting and unusual art video. I am amazed at the intricacies of the art of painting - the act of applying paint to create an effect visible only when viewed from distance. The artist works at brush length but “sees” from a distance. Absolutely brilliant. Also notable is the patience required in the work of restoration. Five gold stars for this video.

[@liveoak4124]

Thank you for the depth of the information and the pretty pictures

[@lindanorris2455]

BEAUTIFUL!

[@tenniswerewolf8095]

Van Gogh’s Sunflower I just can’t my eyes off it. So beautiful

[@MicaRayan]

Just a very beautiful insights ❤️

[@darklingeraeld-ridge7946]

Yes the National should put together a show tracing the affinities of artists with Monticelli, who have used the forming of paint to physical and sensual effect, including Van Gogh, and Wayne Thiebaud. There are deeply interesting contemporaries working in this area, the deliberate use of pentimenti, relationships to plasticity..... Let me curate it for you!

[@scottbranham4839]

Which ultimately creates the abstract expressionists and action painters..Pollack etc.

[@claudiaramosmonteiro]

Loved how in-depth this was.

[@that_thing_I_do]

Enthusiastic and informative . The OCT scanning was eye=opening. (no pun intended)

[@VirgiliuM]

Fantastic, to go back to the roots of the amazing Dutch work... His portraits and flowers nearly reveal what a giant & founding father Jo Monticelli IS.

[@AvindraGoolcharan]

Eager to see the cleaned up version. Lots of brighter colors coming through.

[@jaimevazquezmurillo1927]

Very so beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing it. Congratulations.

[@JimLongCO]

Thank you Kristina! Such an excellent explanation of your process.

[@splodge5714]

This painting was on display in the basement of the National Gallery. It will be nice, after a good clean, to see it displayed upstairs next to Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Thank you.

[@59jaguar]

Fascinating. Good presentation

[@DV-dt9sq]

Absolutely wonderful!!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ Thank you so much!

[@LuliLulu]

I really enjoyed this presentation 😌

[@warriorson7979]

She's so pretty...😍🥰

[@jasmin0930]

Excellent presentation. Very informative and very interesting I have not heard of this artist but will be looking further into his artwork especially his influence on van Gogh. I love how modern technology is helping to do the work of bringing these paintings back to their original appearance.

[@cstz]

Great video as always, very informative but easy to understand, with really good editing. Thank you! I can't wait to be able to go to London and visit again.

[@1hayes1]

You have provided a very clear exposition of your intentions and working methods. Thank you.

[@michaeldarby3503]

I love Monticelli's use of impasto but it must make cleaning a nightmare.

[@rickh3714]

As a painter it is common to use a glaze medium (such as Venetian medium) over a heavily impastoed underpainting, the more waxy/resinous paint pooling in the interstitial elements of an impastoed brush stroke or pallete knife paint 'slab'. Figuring out intentional painting medium resin use over unintentional varnish resin or 'oiling out' discoloration in such situations is problematic. To some extent any painting conservation would tend towards a contemporary interpretation of intended results. However Monticelli wasn't Van Gogh. The curators must have fought hard against the temptation to adjust the painting too much towards making the painting more like one, to satisfy a more contemporary taste. The cotton swabbing must be examined constantly to determine if pigment is being lifted as well. This would likely indicate an intended oil medium with paint mix rather than merely an age discolored surface varnish.

[@AlphaNumeric123]

So fascinating despite having no background in art or history at all

[@opera93]

Thank you… great overview & interesting… I have been “doing a lot of art “ over the last 30 plus years : in a variety of media/ methods/means/ etc, or to mention , thousands of hours talking with/to Artists/ Shows/Experimenting; I can see where we do not create in total Vacuum, etc..

[@Divertedflight]

Thank you very much. I enjoyed watching this. I was going to ask why the painting was being cleaned from the right to the left. However after checking, I see you're left handed, so it's a simple answer.

[@grokeffer6226]

Beautiful !!

[@MrGoodDayToYouSir]

Love the editing on this! the way it pans over to the painting at the start 🥰

[@caldoreo]

I love your explanation, very informative

[@garysmith3173]

Wonderful explanation thank you.

[@Writinwater1281]

This is way better and much more informing then it’s title let’s on.

[@jennifer-threedogsinagarde8265]

Such an interesting video!

[@HolographicSweater]

it’s actually trendy to be unfashionable rn like a lot of women dress like dads and stuff and dye their hair grandma gray it’s cool

[@daviddalby9699]

A great artist

[@culturabuzios3000]

Thanks !

[@huahindan]

Thanks for this.

[@squarz]

Thanks, more more more videos :D

[@KpxUrz5745]

I sometimes like to apply tinted glazes to my paintings, so my question on these Monticelli's would be: how are we so sure that the artist did not deliberately desire some of these effects? Perhaps he did not intend the pure bright colors seen after substantial cleaning. My personal belief is that many great masterpieces have been overcleaned and therefore robbed of some of the beauties of their muted colors.

[@michellebyrom6551]

Fair point to raise. I suppose an assessment of the effect would be needed. Comments from either the artist, or contemporaries seeing the work in its original state, would also help. Van Gogh seems to have appreciated the bright colours as much as the texture of impasto. That tells us as much as written language. Another artist may wish to subdue the colour slightly to bring attention to the subject, or another textural technique. Takes a lot of research with an open mind. On this piece I feel they're on the right track.

[@quynhklaus802]

Which OCT Scanner did you use? Thanks for the information! 💡

[@henrycastle1]

❤️

[@ninamo3523]

Wondering if a final layer of varnish will be applied after all the cleaning is completed.

[@georgefrench1907]

Well presented. Thanks. (But the intrusive music detracts from the interesting narrative.)

[@marccountry]

WELL TASTE! TASTE is a word that became compromised during the 19th century. It was in good standing in the 18th, when a philosopher like Kant, and English philosophers of aesthetics took for granted that that's the faculty you exerted in experiencing art and experiencing anything aesthetically. And then in the 19th century it wore down into something that had to do with food, clothes, furniture, decoration, and so forth, and became very much compromised. Now I think it's a much handier word than aesthetic judgement or faculty of taste, faculty, and that it should be rehabilitated, if only because, while we can't define it, we recognize it. And it's got a nice old-fashioned flavor to it that I particularly like. And one other thing, taste is intuitive and nobody yet knows what goes on in intuition. The psychologists haven't been able to take intuition apart, nor have the philosophers. Well, by the same token, nobody yet has been able to take apart art or aesthetic experience. Well, there is talk, especially nowadays, about swings of taste, turns of taste, and so forth. True taste doesn't swing, doesn't veer. The very notion of taste swinging is anomalous. True taste, genuine taste, develops, expands, grows. It changes only insofar as it corrects itself, true taste. And it doesn't do that temperamentally, but as part of the process of its growth. Growth means increasing openness, catholicity, inclusion more than exclusion. As you go along, get older and look at more and more art you find yourself liking more and more art, without having to lower your standards. Taste refines itself; it's true. It discriminates more as it develops, and yet at the same time, paradoxically, it becomes opener. Open in this way: that you look at Hindu sculpture, say, in the same way, by and large, as you look at contemporary art or the art of the old masters or any other kind of art. And you look, it's hoped, with the same honesty. -Clement Greenberg

[@chizhang5006]

Could someone tell me the title of the background music??Appreciated

[@sabihatanveer8494]

OCT learned some thing 👍😏

[@theripper7675]

what kind of wood did he paint on? thank you.

[@우정-q5p]

Thank you,,, also could you please explain us about William Tuner???? BTS RM admire his drawings omg please💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@nationalgallery]

Hi there! 💜 We have many videos about Turner's beautiful paintings. Here are some links to our videos explaining some of his most famous art. 'Rain, Steam and Speed': kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGnQl2yva9-cjqM 'The Evening Star': kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKurqJ-ee6d-ZpY 'The Fighting Temeraire': kzbin.info/www/bejne/boCQl6GXba2ljdk We hope you enjoy them!

[@우정-q5p]

@@nationalgallery Thank you very much💜💜💜💜💜💜💜!! I'm korean😁 one day when the world get back to normal, I really want to visit there🤗 Takecare 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@lifecycle4367]

Monticelli is a most accomplished colorist. He said he was painting for people 300 years from now.

[@marge117]

What is the music on this video?

[@daviddalby9699]

Theres one in york N

[@nazimerkaya]

oscar wilde owned a few monticellis. he lost them when he went bankrupt.

[@halfabee]

Adolphe Monticelli painting does not appear to suffer the same fate as Van Gogh painting. Van Gogh Sunflowers has faded.

[@bio-plasmictoad5311]

I'd think this has still faded, even if only slightly.

[@squarz]

Van Gogh used chrome yellow for his sunflowers (not only in those paintings), it turned brown in some parts.

[@Divertedflight]

There was a lot of problem with yellow pigments at that time. Both the chrome yellows and the cadmium yellows were unstable, both prone to browning and fading. On top of this, the secret flux required in making bright Naples yellows, instead of ocherish ones, was lost to most pigment makers. (As was the production of renaissance lead-tin yellow.) Nowadays the cadmiums are baked in absence of oxygen to stabilize them, and the chrome yellows (where available) are coated in silica to slow down reactions.

[@Divertedflight]

@@bio-plasmictoad5311 Yes I wouldn't be surprised if the pinks and violets have faded a little. In fact I be more surprised if they hadn't.

[@stevebarlow3154]

Van Gogh was too poor to be able to afford the best quality paints. Unfortunately some of the paints he did use, in particular the yellows, were not particularly lightfast. His various paintings of sunflowers were originally much more vibrant.

[@ratanafashih7930]

You're allowed to pronounce the end-g in "van Gogh". This pronouciation does not really exist in the Anglo-Saxon languages, but try to listen to this Dutch lady: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZbSaHhnh5xrr9E

[@stevebarlow3154]

Please! The artist's name was not "van Go", that is a horrid Americanism. The pronunciation of his surname is something like 'van Gock', though I believe the Dutch pronounce it even more gutturally.

[@Divertedflight]

Yes I wonder if someone in the past said you don't pronounce it with with a "th" and that listener thought. oh so it's just "Go." Without adding vocal sounds unused in English "Gock" is the closest I think. Like the Austrian made hand firearm Glock, as pronounced on American crime shows, but removing the 'L'.

[@KpxUrz5745]

As a lifelong admirer of Van Gogh, having seen a great many of his works in multiple museums, and having read the full 1600 page 3-volume set of his letters, I am also an American and therefore perfectly happy with her pronunciation of his name here. I find it pretentious to attempt the affectation of gutteral sounds not spoken in english. Even the artist himself realized the difficulty others would have with his name.

[@michel_dutch]

The actual pronunciation does contain sounds that are not present in English, but who cares? If you love his paintings or actually work in the art business, the least you can do is look up the correct pronunciation (/vɑŋ ˈɣɔx/), and give it shot. 'Van Go' (or 'Van Guff' in British English) is just pure laziness, if not ignorance.