London History & Culture: Experience London/Britain/Europe!

Vincent Van Gogh: The Portraits - Art History Program Hosted by Robert Kelleman

Let’s explore the many friends and acquaintances painted by Vincent Van Gogh. Who were these people, how did they know Vincent, why did they pose for him, and what do these portraits tell us about Vincent and his artwork?
During and after the program you’ll have the opportunity to discuss the art with your fellow participants via Zoom.

Vincent van Gogh lived during the Impressionist era, and painted portraits throughout his career from 1881 through 1890. With the development of photography, painters and artists turned to conveying the feeling and ideas behind people, places, and things rather than trying to imitate their physical forms. Impressionist artists did this by emphasizing certain hues, using vigorous brushstrokes, and paying attention to highlighting. Vincent van Gogh implemented this ideology to pursue his goal of depicting his own feelings toward and involvement with his subjects. Van Gogh's portraiture focuses on color and brushstrokes to demonstrate their inner qualities and Van Gogh's own relationship with them.

Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was only beginning to gain critical attention before his death from suicide at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.
Van Gogh's early works consist of mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers. In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he met members of the artistic avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were seeking new paths beyond Impressionism. Frustrated in Paris and inspired by a growing spirit of artistic change and collaboration, in February 1888 Van Gogh moved to Arles in southern France to establish an artistic retreat and commune. Once there, his paintings grew brighter and he turned his attention to the natural world, depicting local olive groves, wheat fields and sunflowers. Van Gogh invited Gauguin to join him in Arles and eagerly anticipated Gauguin's arrival in late 1888.
Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions. He worried about his mental stability, and often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly and drank heavily. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor when, in a rage, he mutilated his left ear. Van Gogh spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, he came under the care of the homeopathic doctor Paul Gachet. His depression persisted, and on 29 July 1890 Van Gogh died from his injuries after shooting himself in the chest with a revolver.

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Zoom Connection Link
Click (or Copy and Paste) and Follow the Instructions:
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Meeting ID: 879 7076 8403
Passcode: 053792
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• +1 646 931 3860 US
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Connecting a few minutes early is recommended.
If you experience any technical issues please restart your Zoom session and/or your device.
When all else fails please follow the directions.

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Your host for this programme is Robert Kelleman, the founder/director of the non-profit community organisations London History & Culture and Washington, DC History & Culture.

London History & Culture
A non-profit community organisation
Experience the history and culture of London - and the world!

YouTube Previously Recorded Programmes
http://www.Youtube.com/c/WashingtonDCHistoryCulture

Donations Support Our Non-Profit Community Programmes - Thank You!
PayPal: DCHistoryAndCulture@gmail.com
Venmo: @DCHistoryAndCulture
GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/d29491c0

We look forward to seeing you. Thanks!

Robert Kelleman
rkelleman@yahoo.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertkelleman/

David Bowie - Music History Livestream - Hosted by Robert Kelleman

It’s Saturday night, let's remember David Bowie on the tenth anniversary of his passing, January 10, 2016 (has in really been that long?).

Music History Livestreams present noteworthy songs from featured artists along with the historical and cultural context of their music.
During and after our program you'll have the opportunity to discuss the music with your fellow participants via Zoom.

David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as among the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie received particular acclaim for his work in the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft have had a great impact on popular music.
Bowie studied art, music and design before embarking on a music career in 1963. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and a self-titled solo album (1967) before achieving his first top-five entry on the UK singles chart with "Space Oddity" (1969). After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The single "Starman" and its album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted towards a sound he characterised as "plastic soul", initially alienating many of his UK fans but garnering his first major US crossover success with the number-one single "Fame" and the album Young Americans (1975). In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. In 1977, he again changed direction with the electronic-inflected album Low, the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the Berlin Trilogy. "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top-five and received critical praise.
After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had three number-one hits: the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", its album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and "Under Pressure" (a 1981 collaboration with Queen). He achieved his greatest commercial success in the 1980s with Let's Dance (1983). Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. He also continued acting; his films included Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Labyrinth (1986), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Basquiat (1996), and The Prestige (2006). He retired from touring in 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. He returned from a decade-long recording hiatus in 2013 with The Next Day. His death in 2016 came two days after the release of his final studio album, Blackstar.
During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million worldwide, made him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Grammy Awards and four Brit Awards. Often dubbed the "chameleon of rock" due to his continual musical reinventions, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest singers, songwriters and artists of all time.

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Zoom Connection Link
Click (or Copy and Paste) and Follow the Instructions:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81764605670?pwd=NmxDYThSSDh6QzdkUXJjZTBzelBaQT09
Meeting ID: 817 6460 5670
Passcode: 482534
Dial by your location
• +1 253 205 0468 US

Connecting a few minutes early is recommended.
If you experience any technical issues please restart your Zoom session and/or your device.
When all else fails please follow the directions.

***

Your host for this programme is Robert Kelleman, the founder/director of the non-profit community organisations London History & Culture and Washington, DC History & Culture.

London History & Culture
A non-profit community organisation
Experience the history and culture of London - and the world!

YouTube Previously Recorded Programmes
http://www.Youtube.com/c/WashingtonDCHistoryCulture

Donations Support Our Non-Profit Community Programmes - Thank You!
PayPal: DCHistoryAndCulture@gmail.com
Venmo: @DCHistoryAndCulture
GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/d29491c0

We look forward to seeing you. Thanks!

Robert Kelleman
rkelleman@yahoo.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertkelleman/