Technique 1

When Vincent started oil painting in 1882, the first years he was experimenting and searching for his own technique.
This is illustrated in the letter from September 17, 1883:

"I had already heard something about Liebermann, but your description, especially of his technique, gives me a better idea of him. His colour must be infinitely better than Henkes's (you express it very well "slate colour dissolving into greyish-brown"). I understand it perfectly.
That way of painting is delightful if one has mastered it. And the reason I want to paint a great deal is just because I should like to have a certain firmness and system in my technique (though I have heard many people say you must not have a system)."

Unfortunately I am not in the position to analyse the technique in which "Cottage with sticks" is painted in a professional manner.
What can be done though, is to have a closer look at the paint and see whether specific characteristics can be found.
At first glance the painting can be divided in three separate areas, these are:

- the light sky
- the dark cottage and the flatlands
- the figures



The light sky

The paint of the sky seems to be in a pretty good condition. There are bursts in the paint, but this is normal as I have learned. What draws attention is the thick layer with which the sky is painted. This can be seen where the sky touches the roof of the cottage.

A typical aspect which can be seen in this foto is the change of flatness of the surface from top to bottom. At the upper part the surface is pretty flat, the brushstrokes and lines of the hairs of the brush can be clearly seen. When going down the paint seems to get thicker and also the surface becomes distorted, sort of wavy.
In this lower area which is distorted the brushstrokes are not properly visible anymore.

Here another part of the sky is seen. The second foto depicting the sky of the well known Drenthe painting "Farm with stacks of peat".
I don't have detail fotos of "Farm with stacks of peat", so I can't 'zoom in' enough to show things like brush strokes and traces of brush hairs. Also keep in mind that "Farm with stacks of peat" is twice the size of "Cottage with sticks".

The way the sky is painted at the left side of the roof is typical. While the color of the sky changes, following a gradient in the vertical direction, the contour of the roof is painted following the direction of the roof. This resulting in a mismatch of the color of the sky.
This seems to be an amateurish aspect of the painting.
On close examination of the two paintings from Drenthe showing cottages ("Farm with stacks of peat" & "Cottages") we can see the same 'fault'!
In the case of "Farm with stacks of peat" it's even visible on the low resolution pictures. (Although one has to see the paintings in real to see the effect very clear).

The dark the cottage and the flatlands

As mentioned above the surface of the paint is distorted, especially in the lower half of the painting. On a small scale the paint surface has very many small 'craters'. This effect is depicted in this photo of the roof.

This distortion of the paint surface makes it (at least for me) impossible to see aspects of the technique with the naked eye.

Only after observing the painting with a magnifier items like brushstrokes and colors became visible. This subject in treated in the section "Technique 2".

When seen from a distance the wall of the cottage shows a lot of impasto. This can't be seen properly in a detail photo like this one.

The figures

In the painting "Cottage with sticks" two figures are depicted, a woman and a child.
Whether these are painted in the style of Van Gogh is shown in these pictures.
The right picture being a detail of the painting "Peat boat with two figures".

Cottage with sticks & Vincent van Gogh - by Carl & Ans 2003-2005.

Max Liebermann
1847-1935

Cottage with sticks

With pictures of paintings often details like impasto (thickness of the paint) and brushstrokes are not visible anymore.
As I have to work with very low resolution pictures of the known paintings it is almost impossible to show impasto and brushstrokes. In those cases where I thought something usefull was visible on the lowres pictures I used them.
To better indicate the impasto and brushstrokes I've changed the brightness and contrast of some of the detail photos of "Cottage with sticks".
Please keep this in mind when making comparisions.

Cottage with sticks

Cottage with sticks

Farm with stacks of peat

Cottage with sticks

Mrs. A. Hoogendoorn (ex-RKD) explains in the newspaper "Het Parool" of Nov 22 2003, Van Goghs working method when painting a farm:
"Also the working order of the painting is typically Van Gogh. First he painted the farm...", "After this with long brushstrokes the sky behind the farm, working cautiously around the contour of the farm".

Farm with stacks of peat

Huisje met hopen turf

The reason for the distortion of the paint surface in mainly the darker parts is unknown.
Perhaps the combination of thick paint and untreated sucking underground is the cause.

When sending the first 3 studies to Theo, Vincent wrote: "The paint on the smallest one especially has sunk in a lot".

Cottage with sticks

Cottage with sticks

The thickness and structure of the paint is often hardly, or not, visible in reproductions.
More

Cottage with sticks


Peat boat with two figures