Toward Auvers Period: Evolution of van Gogh's Style

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the evolution of van Gogh's style toward the Auvers final period using informational measures. We will try to answer the following questions: Was van Gogh exploring new ways toward changing his style? Can informational measures support the claim of critics on the evolution of his palette and composition? How "far" was van Gogh's last period from the previous ones, can we find out an evolutionary trend? We will extend here the measures defined in our previous work with novel measures taking into account spatial information and will present a visual tool to examine the palette. Our results confirm the usefulness of an approach rooted in information theory for the aesthetic study of the work of a painter.