In his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh captured quite a few beaten down pairs of workers style shoes in his paintings. It has always been questioned why and several psychological reasons have been proposed. To Van Gogh they must have represented the harsh life and conditions of a simple workerman's life, a subject he preferred and thought of as picturesque. According to others these shoes represent the life of the artist himself. The worn leather, that has been all sorts of places and the tired soles that felt the struggle of the owner, resembles the rough life story of Van Gogh.
Image: The Harvard Art Museums
At the time a fellow student of Vincent in Paris reported that he bought a pair of worn boots at a local flea market to use in one of his still-lifes. Yet, he believed the boots were still too decent and so he wore them himself on a long and rainy walk. Only then were they in the proper worn-out and lived condition to be a matter of subject for his paintings. Take a look at these marvelous paintings of worker's boots by Vincent van Gogh, all painted between 1886 and 1888. And don't forget to visit the newly re-opened Vincent van Gogh Museum when you're in Amsterdam, next to paying a visit to the Red Wing Shoes store of course.
Image: The Harvard Art Museums
At the time a fellow student of Vincent in Paris reported that he bought a pair of worn boots at a local flea market to use in one of his still-lifes. Yet, he believed the boots were still too decent and so he wore them himself on a long and rainy walk. Only then were they in the proper worn-out and lived condition to be a matter of subject for his paintings. Take a look at these marvelous paintings of worker's boots by Vincent van Gogh, all painted between 1886 and 1888. And don't forget to visit the newly re-opened Vincent van Gogh Museum when you're in Amsterdam, next to paying a visit to the Red Wing Shoes store of course.
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
