This coffee or tea mug is "Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds" (1890), by Vincent Van Gogh. It emphasizes the landscape by the use of two horizontal planes. He told his brother that his paintings expressed the grandeur of nature that his words could not. Impressionists were the Bohemians of the time, breaking conventional rules to create new ones. Van Gogh’s self-taught style lead the post-impressionist movement.
Born in the Netherlands, Van Gogh began his career as a lay preacher in Belgium with intent to become a pastor. Being fired called for a career change, so he switched to painting. Without any actual formal training, he began by copying Japanese woodblock prints in his own style.
Over a period of just 10 years, on average he produced one painting every 36 hours, so over 900 paintings! He was also a great letter writer, often including sketches of his works in his almost 900 (again) communiques.
Some of these letters were to his artist friends, and they intended to form an artist’s colony in the South of France. Can you imagine Van Gogh, Paul Gaugin, and others hanging out together? Those plans lead to their exchanging what became famous self-portraits of each other. Because he couldn’t sell his paintings, he couldn’t afford models or new canvases, so many of his portraits were self-portraits over his original works.
So what about that famous ear? One story is that Paul Gaugin actually cut it off during a fight they had at the Yellow House (now a museum), and they concocted the story so Gaugin would escape jail.
His seeming failure lead to bouts with depression, and he eventually was hospitalized, but still painting. When he checked out of the psychiatric hospital, (where he painted the famous “Starry Night”) he moved to a small village outside of Paris to be closer to his brother. “Wheatfields Under Thunderclouds” was one of his last works. Still depressed, he ended up shooting himself in the chest. He died two days later, with his last words to his brother being “This sadness will never end.”
FREE SHIPPING in the USA, plus the Bonus of a Carbon Offset on all shipping! As we don't make this, individually (with love), until you order it, please allow 2-10 business days for arrival.
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11 ounces. A standard American Coffee size is 8 ounces (slightly higher in Europe), while the general consensus of the Tea community is that a cup of Tea is only 6 ounces. So you have room for cream, sugar, a spoon, or a teabag.
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Microwave Safe and
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Dishwasher Safe for easy cleanup. Remember, dishwashers use less water than handwashing.
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White High-Gloss Ceramic, with colored interior and handle. The high gloss brings out the colors better.
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C-handle for a comfortable, easy grip
- We used eye-catching colors.
