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The paint itself ranges from thick impasto to thin washes that can presage those of Color Field paintings.

Was it possible that van Gogh had deliberately added handfuls of sand and pebbles to his paint to thicken his impasto and give it a grittier texture?

But the artist’s representational pictures retained elements of his abstractions, including their loose brushwork, thick impasto and a palette heavy on pink, red and black.

“Rail,” which is thick with black impasto and bright colors fighting to be seen, has been cut apart and stitched back together.

It’s here where he starts moving on from the more conservative palette of his earlier work to the vivid colors — and the beginnings of his signature thick brushstrokes, or “impasto” — of his most famous works.