Double-squares and Squares
Encyclopedia
Double-square paintings have uncommonly large canvases, for example such as those Vincent van Gogh
used exclusively during the final weeks of his life in Auvers, in June and July 1890. To arrive at this size, Van Gogh simply had to combine the legs of two standard sizes: the 50 cm leg from a size 12 and the 100 cm leg of a size 40 stretcher. The result was a double-square of 50 x 100 cm, and from this size easily the square could be derived by using two 50 cm legs.
Other artists prior to Van Gogh and admired by him, like Charles-François Daubigny
and Puvis de Chavannes, had used canvases of similar proportions, and Van Gogh was aware of this. But his choice of this size points into another direction. His double-squares can easily be combined with size 30 canvases to more elaborated décorations, and his squares extend these possibilities.
One dimension of a double-square canvas is twice the size of the other. In other words, the canvas is the shape of two adjoining squares. The overall effect of this is stability, and the compositional challenge is to avoid monotony.
worked primarily in double-squares at certain periods in his career.
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
used exclusively during the final weeks of his life in Auvers, in June and July 1890. To arrive at this size, Van Gogh simply had to combine the legs of two standard sizes: the 50 cm leg from a size 12 and the 100 cm leg of a size 40 stretcher. The result was a double-square of 50 x 100 cm, and from this size easily the square could be derived by using two 50 cm legs.
Other artists prior to Van Gogh and admired by him, like Charles-François Daubigny
Charles-François Daubigny
Charles-François Daubigny was one of the painters of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of Impressionism....
and Puvis de Chavannes, had used canvases of similar proportions, and Van Gogh was aware of this. But his choice of this size points into another direction. His double-squares can easily be combined with size 30 canvases to more elaborated décorations, and his squares extend these possibilities.
One dimension of a double-square canvas is twice the size of the other. In other words, the canvas is the shape of two adjoining squares. The overall effect of this is stability, and the compositional challenge is to avoid monotony.
Subsequent uses of the dimensions
Ivon HitchensIvon Hitchens
Ivon Hitchens was an English painter who started exhibiting during the 1920s. He became part of the 'London Group' of artists and exhibited with them during the 1930s. His house was bombed in 1940 during World War II, at which point he moved to a caravan on a patch of woodland near Petworth in...
worked primarily in double-squares at certain periods in his career.