Van Gogh and Da Vinci: The last thing you should know about their multimedia experiences.

In 2020, a year of pandemic, was not the best time for the global cultural scene. For many months, most of the museums were closed in almost all countries, not to mention the concerts and other events that involve interpersonal closeness related to any creative event. In spite of this, and years away, the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci continue to be talked about.

However, this does not mean that most people have moved away from art, because access to this type of content through the internet has grown. Recently, and in connection with this, the British portal Art Supplies published some figures about the most Google artists in every part of the world during these months.

The results of the research were quite predictable, because in the most sought after painters on Google are: Leonardo da Vinci, who is the most sought after in 82 countries and Van Gogh in 24.

There is no doubt that the mysteries behind works such as La Monalisa and The Last Supper, enhanced by fictions such as The Da Vinci Code, have made the prolific Florentine universally acclaimed five centuries after his death.

But who was Leonardo Da Vinci?

Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most important men of the Renaissance and one of the most recognized polygamous in history. Da Vinci managed to develop as a painter, sculptor, scientist, inventor and botanist, to mention some of his professions. We can say that among the most outstanding works of Da Vinci are the painting of The Last Supper, The Man of Vitruvius, The Virgin of the Rocks and of course his world-famous work La Gioconda, more famously known as Mona Lisa.

Leonardo Da Vinci was born on 15 April 1452 in Vinci, a town in Florence, Italy. Illegitimate son of Piero Fruosino di Antonio, Florentine lawyer, nobleman and ambassador of the Republic of Florence; his mother, for her part, was a young peasant named Caterina di Meo Lippi. Although Leonardo Da Vinci was never recognized as the son of Piero Fruosino, who married 4 times and had 12 children, he grew up in his father’s house and was raised as his brothers.

Piero Fruosino asked Andrea del Verrocchio for her opinion on Leonardo’s work and asked if it was possible for her son to devote himself to art. In 1469, Da Vinci managed to enter as an apprentice to the Verrocchio workshop where he acquired knowledge of drawing techniques, painting, bases of chemistry, as well as different techniques of engraving and sculpture; It is believed that Da Vinci also learned about anatomy in Verrocchio’s workshop, however, this has not been proved.

What was Leonardo da Vinci’s artistic career like? What you should know.

Leonardo Da Vinci spent six years working as an apprentice in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, which gave rise to his first known painting: The Virgin of the Carnation of 1476. Two years later Da Vinci managed to become an independent painter and moved to Milan in 1482. In Milan, Da Vinci managed to remain a member of the court of Duke Ludovico Sforza and in 1490 he opened his own school in town to share his knowledge.

By 1494, the convent of Santa Maria dalle Grazie invited Leonardo da Vinci to paint a mural, which would be recognized as one of the most important works of Da Vinci: The Last Supper (1498). Shortly after, Leonardo moved to Venice where he worked as a military engineer creating defense systems for the protection of the city before the Turkish attacks.

Already by 1500, Da Vinci returns to Florence where he managed to position himself as one of the most important artists of his country and where he painted one of his greatest works for which he would be known worldwide: La Gioconda. Between 1506 and 1513 Da Vinci returned to Milan and then moved to Rome where he failed to stand out as the great influence fell on Raphael and Michelangelo.

By 1516, Leonardo Da Vinci moved to France where he spent the last years of his life. In 1519, Leonardo Da Vinci died at the age of 67, after a long spell of illness.

Who was Vincent Van Gogh? What you should know about him.

On the other hand, we have Vincent Van Gogh and although now his works are collector’s pieces and we see reproductions of his paintings in cups, notebooks, umbrellas and even socks, at the time Van Gogh was very little valued and recognized.

It is said that nobody liked his paintings, because they were very opposed to what people were used to seeing. In fact, he died without thinking that it would be internationally recognized and that it would pass into the history of art.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was Dutch, the son of a Protestant father, although he led a very unorthodox life. Van Gogh’s life was strange, he lived off the money his brother Theo gave him, who was an art dealer.

Vincent Van Gogh went to live in Provence where he lived with the great artist Paul Gauguin, who was the main reason why he cut his ear, since they had a discussion (apart from the psychic problem he had).

As for his art, he is known for being postimpressionist, both he and Gauguin are known for painting as the Impressionists but they did some different or innovative things. Focusing on Van Gogh you can highlight that it has no drawing line, the brushstrokes are thick and wavy. Its characteristic colours were blue and yellow, above all. As for the perspective, Van Gogh deformed it completely.

In fact, when we think of the work of Van Gogh, bright colors like yellow come to mind. But among the data of Van Gogh this curiosity appears: at the beginning Van Gogh painted with dark colors.

This painter began sending his works to his brother Theo in 1884 for sale in Paris while he lived in the Netherlands. However, it is said that nobody bought them because in France the tendency was towards colorful works and Van Gogh’s work at that time was characterized by using dark tones.

In 1886 Van Gogh moved to Paris where his brother Theo was responsible for introducing him to the world of modern art. He met new artists, such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Emile Bernard, who quickly influenced his work. So the dark tones quickly gave way to brilliant paintings.

The combination of blue and yellow or red and green causes a dramatic emotional impact on the painting. If we put together the game of color combination, with the energetic and thick brushstrokes formed by Van Gogh, we get the masterpieces he composed.

Historians say that Vincent van Gogh only sold one painting while he was alive. Something that seems quite surprising, since it is one of the greatest painters that has offered us the world art.

Currently, there are art exhibitions that allow us to enjoy these paintings through different perspectives. Don’t miss any of them, live art like never before, dare to live the multimedia art of these two artistic geniuses.