Why are Van Goghs paintings so popular?

Question:They were a radical diversion from the art of the day - bright, bold and largely of the peasantry or mundane items, rather than portraits of nobility or countryside scenes to decorate the parlours of the nobility. Van Gogh's work was so amazing that it has been much copied and has influenced many artists, so that people looking at his work today do not see it in its first bloom of originality and may well wonder what all the fuss is about. Not me though; I'm still amazed.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: They were a radical diversion from the art of the day - bright, bold and largely of the peasantry or mundane items, rather than portraits of nobility or countryside scenes to decorate the parlours of the nobility. Van Gogh's work was so amazing that it has been much copied and has influenced many artists, so that people looking at his work today do not see it in its first bloom of originality and may well wonder what all the fuss is about. Not me though; I'm still amazed.

For one, they're beautiful. Van Gogh is my favorite artist b/c I think that his paintings are gorgeous to look at. Another reason is the amount of work that he put into those pieces. Before he began painting he would paint the entire canvas a certain color, depending on the painting. In his more lively paintings he used a bright pink background so that the color would shine through. And his brushstrokes! So meticulous.

Most famous painters in the period that they actually painted, usually lived in poverty and obscurity..till the day the died, Vincent was no exception, and his illness was psychotic, but it was his 'energy' and 'explosive feelings', and his total madness put into his paintings, that attracted people to his canvasses, it was different from the norm, away from the 'landscape,or portrait painters of the day.

I love art, but do find Van Gogh to be too 'in-depth' for me and depressive.. but it's the unusual that attracts I suppose, and boy would I LOVE to own one of his original paintings (even the ones that he discarded as being 'no good !!!' and threw away ...............

Caramac x

i think people feel an emotional connection to the turbulence and the emotion that he shows through mainly through color.