Vincent Van Gogh: "A Pair of Boots"

In this painting Van Gogh takes an ordinary object most people would never think twice about and focuses in on it turning it into something to be looked at. The painting is of a brown pair of boots untied with the right boot upright and the left boot laying on its side. Rugged and well worn, the boots resemble work boots that would have been put through rough conditions. They sit on a blue floor with a brown wall meeting in the back of the painting, but without a defined horizontal line. The lack of definition between the wall and the floor is due to Van Gogh's painting stlye. He uses large defined brush strokes that are visible and without rigidity causing an almost blurry effect so as not to give the object a defined shape. A post impressionist painting, the painting is more concerned with conveying the mood of the picture and color rather than the realistic shape of the object. The fact that Van Gogh chose a pair of work boots over nice dress shoes gives an entirely different mood to the painting. It appears almost tired and lonely and gives an impression that the person who wears them might even live a modest hardworking life. The subject therefore becomes very important in conveying the mood and giving the painting a meaning.