This paper focuses on Vincent Van Gogh and how his art was an expression of authenticity. Authenticity in literature refers to the different ways of considering work or creativity as authentic. In most cases, authenticity entails how close a piece of art conforms to the intention of the artist. At the same time, authenticity in the art can refer to how much an artist’s work possesses originality, sincerity or genuineness of expression. An artist can express authenticity through form and design, use and function as well as the internal and external factors. In this paper, the main focus will be The Potato Eaters, an 1885 painting that is the most ambitious masterpieces by Van Gogh that focuses on the theme of peasant life ( Vellekoop, 2013) . It is an unframed painting with a figurative subject with the artist using naturalism to make the art authentic. Van Gogh was a unique artist in the 19th century who worked with a sense of urgency to express emotions and add a feeling of movement
The Potato Eaters is a portrayal of poverty among peasants based on the themes of ugly models, coarse clothing, a small and dank living quarter as well as a bright lamp. The artist chose to use such arguments to help push his idea of the proletariat. He was connected to the rural idea and painted with the purpose of depicting rural farmers as they are. The themes of this painting include manual labor, working under the sun and dirt and tilling the meal to eat after that. The Potato Eaters represents the poor peasant families in Dutch in the 19th century, including the way of life and how they produced their food. The characters appear to be sharing an evening meal after a long day’s work and having lunch they earned ( Vellekoop, 2013) . This was a painting of the peasants and for the peasants, seeking to depict the atmosphere of problematic peasant life. This depiction of fundamental peasant nature made the drawing at home of the peasant family and allowed the artist to reveal his admiration of their lives.
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Poverty was a majority theme in the painting that went hand in hand with frustration, shame, and despair. Van Gogh sought to show the world about peasant life and the honesty of peasant’s earning their meal. He used a realistic and non-exaggerated representation of peasants with scenes of their ordinary daily lives and in their natural habitats. The tertiary and earthly colors aimed at representing the time when of painting and the miserable life of peasants, creating the mood of poverty. In this painting, the artist used coarse and ugly models to represent the natural and authentic life of peasant families ( Vellekoop, 2013) . This would echo their drab living conditions as the artist showed the harsh impact that manual labor can have on peasants. For example, the models had flat faces, low foreheads and thick lips which would represent prototypical slave lives of peasants. Van Gogh presented the peasants with protruding ears and flat brows to create an image similar to grotesque caricatures
Naturalism is present in this painting, which refers to depicting natural settings and realistic objects in art. Van Gogh used naturalization through his representation of people, objects and places without any deliberate idealization or stylization ( van Gogh et al., 2003). The naturalism helped the artist to achieve authenticity in the painting and made it a masterpiece. It requires an artist to pay close attention to precise details of an object and create a clear and natural representation. In the painting, naturalism helped Van Gogh to bring out true and accurate portrait that represented the ordinary lives of peasants in southern Dutch including their living conditions. For example, the artist portrayed shiny faces of figures in the picture revealing a mixture of inner emotions that helped brighten the gloomy background ( Vellekoop, 2013) . There was a bond between individuals in the art who seemed comfortable despite the difficult life of manual labor. At the same time, the facial expressions displayed an identity of people who are tired from toiling hard.
Authenticity was achieved when the artist was driven into creating a realistic subject matter that would appeal to the lives of many people. Therefore, instead of painting the image to be clear and defined, Van Gogh presented a natural picture without exaggeration to achieve his intended effect. The artist used natural tones in the painting to resemble the sunburnt faces o figures and display their condition ( Vellekoop, 2013) . For example, he used brown and black colors that represent the earth and ensure the images are in their natural form while symbolizing how peasants depend on their land for survival. At the same time, the use of dark, somber tone in the painting helped reflect the humble existence of peasants.
Another aspect of authenticity in this painting came in how the artist used organic and three-dimensional shapes to present objects around the models. 3D expression of the objects could create a natural feeling of the image similar to the appearance of the eye. For example, Van Gogh created an aura of smoke in attempting to portray the dark environment of the room where the models sat ( van Gogh et al., 2003) . Therefore, Van Gogh showed an essence of authenticity by emphasizing the wild nature of peasants in their ordinary lives and not in a manner that would insult them but to display the primitive living conditions. He showed the traditional conditions and cultures of peasants in Southern Dutch and how they go about their daily lives while living in harmony with the natural environment.
In conclusion, Van Gogh was an authentic artist who was resembled in a majority of his artworks. The Potato Eaters was a masterpiece by Van Gogh which he used to synthesize his ideas about art and society. The artist used authen5icity to produce a mature figure piece by applying a combination of color contrast to reveal the theme of the peasantry. The use of naturalism in the painting was an essential way of achieving authenticity and present the best end product that tells the intended message. The artist admired and adored how the people interacted with the environment without spoiling it and their simple way of life and used the painting to capture a moment of intimacy and warmth, pushing away any form of uneasiness and depicting the real life of peasants.
References
van Gogh, V., ten Berge, J., van Kooten, T., & Rijnders, M. (Eds.). (2003). The paintings of Vincent van Gogh in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum (Vol. 2003). Kröller-Müller Museum.
Vellekoop, M. (2013). Van Gogh at work . Mercatorfonds. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2013. Print.
