Double-squares and Squares
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Double-squares and Squares are terms which point to the uncommon sizes of canvas Vincent van Gogh used exclusively during the final weeks of his life in Auvers, in June and July 1890.[1] To arrive at this size, Van Gogh simply had to combine the legs of two standard sizes: the 50cm-leg from a size 12 and the 100 cm-leg of a size 40 stretcher. The result was a double-square of 50 x 100 cm, and from this size easily the square could be derived by using two 50 cm-legs.
Other artists prior to Van Gogh and admired by him, like Charles-François Daubigny and Puvis de Chavannes,[2] had used canvases of similar proportions, and Van Gogh was aware of this. But his choice of this size points into another direction. His double-squares can easily be combined with size 30 canvases to more elaborated décorations, and his squares extend these possibilities.
One dimension of a double-square canvas is twice the size of the other. In other words, the canvas is the shape of two adjoining squares. The overall effect of this is stability, and the compositional challenge is to avoid monotony.
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[edit] Van Gogh's Double-square canvases
 Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna |
 Kunstmuseum Basel |
 Cincinnati Museum of Art |
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_-_Wheat_Field_with_Crows_(1890).jpg/120px-Vincent_van_Gogh_(1853-1890)_-_Wheat_Field_with_Crows_(1890).jpg) Wheat Field with Crows. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam |
 Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam |
 Daubigny's Garden, Hiroshima |
[edit] Subsequent uses of the dimensions
Ivon Hitchens worked primarily in double-squares at certain periods in his career.
[edit] Resources
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ These terms were coined by Ronald Pickvance, one of the leading experts in Van Gogh-research.
- ^ Hammacher, A. M. The Ten Creative Years of Vincent van Gogh, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1968. page 175
[edit] References
- Pickvance, Ronald:
- Zemel, Carol:
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