In the context of this artwork, explain the Artistic style of the Interpretations.
Critics have noted that in this work van Gogh "celebrated the landscape in its own language, echoing the action of rain and wind, growth and decay, rather than observing the refined conventions of the Western painting tradition", revealing the artist's tendency to distort reality to create a more expressive representation of his personal feelings. Characteristically for his Auvers period, Landscape at Auvers in the Rain has a richly saturated palette of brilliant yellows and purples and a boldly abbreviated form, abstracting the important elements of the landscape. This simplification of form connects to the broader composition of the work, which emphasises the natural and emotional aura of the landscape over exact replication. However, his briefness is also indicative of the artist's "obsessive desire to produce" that came during his Auvers period, which is likely to have come from his newfound sense of freedom and autonomy after his institutionalisation. In a letter to his brother, van Gogh expressed how his move to Auvers impacted his stylistic choices, stating that "I already feel that it did me good to go south, the better to see the north. It is as I thought, I see more violet hues wherever they are." Purples are particularly apparent in the shadowed areas of Landscape at Auvers in the Rain, where they "add a moving resonance to the landscapes and enhance the brilliance of the greens, yellows, and blues", as well as in the sky. These colouristic choices and bold brushstrokes are characteristic of the Post-Impressionist style, as this movement rejected the "concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and color in favor of an emphasis on abstract qualities or symbolic content". Therefore, van Gogh's bold choices in colour and brushwork are indicative of his evolving technique as an increasingly innovative, original artist.
Stylistically, van Gogh also emulated the Japonisme movement, or the European imitation of traditional Japanese art, in Landscape at Auvers in the Rain. Japanese art was known to appear decorative and stylised. Through Landscape at Auvers in the Rain's striking bird's-eye perspective, patterned areas of colour, and rhythmic brushstrokes, van Gogh created this decorative effect. In his depiction of the wheatfields in the painting, van Gogh uses abstraction and linear patterns rather than a naturalistic treatment of the earth, evoking the Japanese prints that he and Theo collected. Furthermore, Japanese prints typically emphasise contour and lack of perspective, emphasising the patterned elements of an image, which corresponds to van Gogh's choice to create a rhythmic portrayal of rain droplets, piercing the image. Notably, van Gogh took direct inspiration for this patterned conception of a storm from a print by Utagawa Hiroshige titled Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake. Hiroshige used vertical lines to create "a device which represents falling rain as multiple diagonal lines superimposed in the landscape". Using this highly stylised representation of a downpour, van Gogh integrated concepts of Japonisme with French landscape traditions. To critics, Landscape at Auvers in the Rain has a "startling effect, which links [van Gogh] to his own past, to his passion for Japan, and to his continuing engagement with the brute elements''.
Japonisme F Hiroshige Utagawa Hiroshige Impressionist Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake Post-Impressionist