Van Gogh saw air currents. Scientists have found hidden meaning in Van Gogh's paintings

Like many geniuses, the great Van Gogh was, to put it mildly, strange. It is a known fact that in a moment of mental crisis he cut off his ear. However, all this was not the usual mind-blowing.
“A study of the mathematical model of the paintings of the great Dutch artist showed that some of his paintings depict turbulent vortex flows invisible to the eye that arise during the rapid flow of liquid or gas, for example, when gas flows out of a jet engine nozzle,” Victor Kozlov, a professor at the Moscow Aviation Institute, told us. - The artist’s peculiar, seemingly chaotically looped style of painting, as it turned out, is nothing more than a distribution of brightness corresponding to the mathematical description of a turbulent flow.
The foundations of the modern theory of turbulence were laid by the great mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov in the 1940s of the 20th century. However, there is still no exact description of it. Now the situation may change.
According to the researchers, many of Vincent van Gogh's paintings (such as Starry Night, painted in 1889) contain characteristic "statistical fingerprints" of turbulence. As scientists note, “turbulent” works were created by the artist in those moments when his psyche was unstable. At this time, the painter suffered from hallucinations and was tormented by depression. The visions that haunted Van Gogh resulted in uneven, as if nervously twisted spirals on his canvases. He more than once admitted to friends that after making another sketch, he calmed down for a while, as if he had completed some important mission.
“Apparently, Van Gogh had a unique ability to see and capture turbulence, and this happened to him precisely during periods of mental disorder,” says Professor Kozlov. - At the same time, the artist has paintings where “traces of turbulence” are invisible. Among them is the famous “Self-Portrait with a Pipe and a Bandaged Ear” (1888). Van Gogh, having injured himself, was under the influence of sedatives, in particular bromine, and, in his own words, was in a state of “complete rest.”
“Van Gogh’s gift is unique,” ​​says our interlocutor. - Researchers have digitized his works and calculated them mathematically. Apparently, he is the only artist who knew how to paint turbulence. Paintings by other painters, even similar in painting style, do not contain a correspondence to Kolmogorov’s theory. For this reason, it is Van Gogh’s work that can become a turning point for modern science. With its help, scientists are going to develop a theory of turbulence and finally explain this phenomenon. Solving it will help, for example, solve this problem in aviation: after all, today the cause of many air disasters is turbulence.
Who knows, maybe Van Gogh’s “mission”, “destination”, which he told his friends about, was also the salvation of distant descendants? In this case, are doctors always right when they provide their patients with “complete rest”?

“When I meet God, I will ask him to explain two phenomena: the theory of relativity and turbulence.

I firmly believe that he will explain the first thing.”

Werner Heisenberg, theoretical physicist.

A paradoxical discovery was recently made by Russian and European mathematicians. They literally figured out the unique gift of the great Dutch painter. It turns out that he saw something that mere mortals cannot see - turbulent air flows. Van Gogh, without knowing it, can save humanity from plane crashes, scientists believe. After all, previously scientists could not describe the phenomenon of turbulence, invisible to the naked eye.

My beloved Vincent van Gogh, in some of his paintings, depicted the swirling fluid with such realism that these paintings can be called “the fingerprint of a turbulent flow.” And the artist’s idea of ​​turbulent motion is comparable to the scientific method by which a mathematical model characterizes this phenomenon - the 1941 theory of the outstanding Soviet mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov A.

Dr. Jose-Luis Aragon from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and three colleagues report this discovery in a new paper.

The statistical imprint of turbulence, according to the researchers, is clearly present in the paintings “The Starry Night” of 1889, “Road with Cypress and Star” and “Crows over a Wheat Field” (Wheat Field with Crows). ) 1890. These works were created shortly before his suicide, when van Gogh was mentally ill and hallucinating.

Scientists believe that it was during this difficult period that the artist’s unique ability to depict the turbulence of a liquid manifested itself. Paintings painted by the artist in a state of “absolute calm” do not show any signs of turbulence.

Mexican researchers took digital images of paintings and calculated the probability that two pixels located at a certain distance from each other have the same brightness (or luminosity). In several of van Gogh's works, luminosity was distributed exactly this way, according to Kolmogorov - this can be seen in whirlpools of various sizes.

A study of the mathematical model of the paintings of the great Dutch artist showed that some of his paintings depict turbulent vortex flows invisible to the eye that arise during the rapid flow of liquid or gas, for example, when gas flows out of a jet engine nozzle,” Professor of the Moscow Aviation Institute Viktor Kozlov told us. - The artist’s peculiar, seemingly chaotically looped style of painting, as it turned out, is nothing more than a distribution of brightness corresponding to the mathematical description of a turbulent flow.

The foundations of the modern theory of turbulence were laid by the great mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov in the 1940s of the 20th century. However, there is still no exact description of it. Now the situation may change.

According to the researchers, many of Vincent van Gogh's paintings (such as Starry Night, painted in 1889) contain characteristic "statistical fingerprints" of turbulence. As scientists note, “turbulent” works were created by the artist in those moments when his psyche was unstable. At this time, the painter suffered from hallucinations and was tormented by depression. The visions that haunted Van Gogh resulted in uneven, as if nervously twisted spirals on his canvases. He more than once admitted to friends that after making another sketch, he calmed down for a while, as if he had completed some important mission.

Apparently, Van Gogh had a unique ability to see and capture turbulence, and this happened to him precisely during periods of mental disorder, argues Professor Kozlov. - At the same time, the artist has paintings where “traces of turbulence” are invisible. Among them is the famous “Self-Portrait with a Pipe and a Bandaged Ear” (1888). Van Gogh, having injured himself, was under the influence of sedatives, in particular bromine, and, in his own words, was in a state of “complete rest.”

Van Gogh's gift is unique, says our interlocutor. - Researchers have digitized his works and calculated them mathematically. Apparently, he is the only artist who knew how to paint turbulence. Paintings by other painters, even similar in painting style, do not contain a correspondence to Kolmogorov’s theory. For this reason, it is Van Gogh’s work that can become a turning point for modern science. With its help, scientists are going to develop a theory of turbulence and finally explain this phenomenon. Solving it will help, for example, solve this problem in aviation: after all, today the cause of many air disasters is turbulence.

Who knows, maybe Van Gogh’s “mission”, “destination”, which he told his friends about, was also the salvation of distant descendants? In this case, are doctors always right when they provide their patients with “complete rest”?

A propos.

Without turbulence (restlessness, shocks) there is no life.

In times of general turbulence, there is only one universal piece of advice - to get into the stream of energies that will lead somewhere positive.

A study of the mathematical model of the paintings of the great Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh (van Gogh) (1853 - 1890) showed that some of his paintings depict real turbulent (vortex) flows invisible to the eye that arise during the rapid flow of liquid or gas, for example, when gas flows out of jet engine nozzles.

Physicist Jose Lois Aragon of Mexico's National Autonomous University of Mexico and his co-authors discovered a brightness distribution in Van Gogh's paintings that corresponds to the mathematical description of turbulent flow.

According to the researchers, many of Vincent van Gogh's paintings (such as Starry Night, painted in 1889) contain characteristic "statistical fingerprints" of turbulence. As scientists note, “turbulent” works were created by the artist in those moments when his psyche was unstable. Van Gogh suffered from hallucinations and depression. José Luis Aragon said: "We think that Van Gogh had a unique ability to see and capture turbulence, and this happened to him precisely during periods of mental disorder."

The artist has paintings where “traces of turbulence” are invisible. Among them is the famous “Self-Portrait with a Pipe and a Bandaged Ear” (1888). Van Gogh, having injured himself, was under the influence of sedatives (bromine) and, in his own words, was in a state of “complete rest.”

A comprehensive mathematical model of turbulence has not yet been created. The foundations of modern theory were laid by the great mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov in the 40s of the 20th century. His work, in particular, made it possible to obtain equations that describe the difference in velocities between any two points of a fluid in a turbulent flow.

The researchers digitized Van Gogh's works and calculated the probability that two pixels located at a certain distance would have the same brightness. In their opinion, the eye is most sensitive to brightness indicators and it contains the main information of the picture. Some of Van Gogh's works turned out to be clearly subordinated to the mathematical laws identified by Kolmogorov when describing turbulence, if instead of the velocities of points in the flow we consider the distribution of brightness.

José Luis Aragon notes that Van Gogh is the only artist who knew how to paint turbulence: “We studied other “chaotic” paintings by several artists and did not find any correspondence with Kolmogorov’s theory. For example, in Edvard Munch's (1863 - 1944) painting "The Scream", which looks very similar to Van Gogh's vortices, the brightness distribution does not correspond to the theory of turbulence."

Scientists note that the style of some other artists can be described by mathematical formalism. For example, in the “dripping” style of painting by Jackson Pollock (Pollock) (1912 - 1956), fractal structures are clearly visible.

Fatal duality haunted the artist throughout his short life. It really seemed like two people were living in it. He dreamed of a family home and children, calling it “real life.” However, he devoted himself entirely to art. He wanted to become a priest, like his father, and he himself, breaking all the rules, began to live with “one of those women whom priests curse from the pulpit.” He suffered from severe attacks of insanity, especially in recent years, but the rest of the time he reasoned very soberly. Van Gogh idolized Paul Gauguin, whom he invited to live in his studio. And he also made an attempt on Gauguin’s life during another attack.

Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, exactly one year after his older brother, having lived only 6 weeks. Having replaced the parents of the deceased first-born, Vincent inherited his name. Vincent had mental problems since childhood: he was gloomy and taciturn, quarrelsome and hot-tempered. So much so that the father had to take his son out of school, and only at the age of 13 sent him to a boarding school for 3 years.

Van Gogh made his final decision to become an artist at the age of 27. Three years of titanic work went into understanding the secrets of mastery. The period of his own creativity was a short 7 years, interrupted in the last 1.5 years by attacks of illness. And at 37, the artist committed suicide. By the way, there is still no clear answer to the question of what he was sick with.

During his lifetime, it was mainly about epilepsy. In the twentieth century, the opinions of scientists were divided. Modern psychiatrists found signs of schizophrenia in the artist, which was not yet known during Van Gogh’s lifetime. This disease was first described only in 1911. There were also those who believed that the artist’s mental illness was a consequence of neurosyphilis or meningoencephalitis. Others continue to claim that Van Gogh suffered from epilepsy.

Vincent's whole life was filled with mysteries, but the biggest mysteries were discovered by scientists already in the twentieth century. Having created and studied a mathematical model of Van Gogh's paintings, physicist José Luis Aragon, from the Mexican National Autonomous University, discovered invisible turbulent (vortex) flows that arise in nature during the rapid flow of liquid or gas.

Mathematical turbulence was first described by the great mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov in the 40s of the 20th century. At present, it has not yet been fully studied. Moreover, it is incomprehensible how Vincent, without any special knowledge, could capture it so accurately.

Many of Vincent van Gogh's paintings (such as Starry Night) contain characteristic "statistical fingerprints" of turbulence. As scientists note, the “turbulent” works were created by the artist precisely at those moments when Van Gogh suffered from hallucinations and depression. José Luis Aragon believes that: “Van Gogh had a unique ability to see and capture turbulence, and this happened to him precisely during periods of mental disorder.”

But there are paintings where “traces of turbulence” are invisible at first glance. Among them is the famous “Self-Portrait with a Pipe and a Bandaged Ear,” which Van Gogh painted after self-mutilation. He was then under the influence of sedatives (bromine) and, in his own words, was in a state of “unearthly peace.”

José Luis Aragon notes that Van Gogh is the only artist who knew how to paint turbulence: “We studied other “chaotic” paintings by impressionist artists and did not find any correspondence with Kolmogorov’s theory. For example, in Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream,” which looks very similar to Van Gogh's vortices, the brightness distribution does not correspond to the theory of turbulence."

According to Vincent Van Gogh, when he had to leave the house at night to paint the sky and stars, he felt an urgent need for religiosity: “I have a very urgent need, dare I say it?, of religion.” Perhaps his early spiritual experience had an impact here, he was preparing to take the rank of priest, and heredity - both his father and grandfather were shepherds. And at such moments he fell into a kind of religious ecstasy, and a cosmic consciousness was revealed to him, being in which he painted his fantastic paintings.

Another mystery was recently solved by American astronomer Donald Olson. Van Gogh has a painting known as Moonrise. But many researchers of his work believe that it would be more accurate to call it “Sunset.” The crimson monster peeking out from behind the top of the mountain may actually be both luminaries. The situation is complicated by the fact that no one knew the exact date of painting. Until Olson named her - July 12, 1889.

According to Olson, Van Gogh, who often allowed himself an exorbitant riot of colors, distortions of perspective, and unsteadiness of forms, never allowed himself to distort reality - he just saw it that way. Van Gogh's paintings of the night sky are stunning in their astronomical accuracy.

He proved this a couple of years ago and determined with an accuracy of an hour the time of painting another Van Gogh painting, “White House at Night.” He found this house and identified Venus in the fierce star hanging in Van Gogh’s painting, and from here he found the day and hour of creation of the masterpiece. According to astronomical calculations, Venus really shone especially brightly that day.

Convinced that the great Vincent had not deviated from nature in the case of Moonrise, Olson went to France last summer. All he knew was that in September 1889, Van Gogh sent his brother Theo a parcel containing two paintings - Moonrise and the much more famous Starry Night. He also knew that in May of the same year Van Gogh went to treat his psyche in a monastery shelter in San Remy. There Olson found out that Van Gogh painted the painting while looking out of the window of his chamber, that it was definitely the Moon, and that determining the time of painting with an error of plus or minus one minute was a matter of technology for the astronomer.

There remains, however, one more mystery associated with this picture - the shadow under the mountain. The Moon could not leave her, and the Sun did not rise quite there. According to Olson, this discrepancy has a very simple explanation. Simply, Van Gogh painted the picture in two stages - he started in the evening and finished in the morning. So, in fact, we see on the canvas the Moon rising in the evening - with the shadows cast by the Sun rising in the morning.

Surprisingly, it was these almost dying paintings, sent to his brother in one parcel, that became the object of the closest attention of scientists. Some time ago, it was “Starry Night” with its swirling stars that led doctors to unravel another mystery of the artist - his addiction to the blinding yellow color. Van Gogh, as you know, had much more illnesses than money, but many attributed the yellow tones of his paintings to the effects of absinthe. Back then, the drug santonin was added to this popular liqueur, which sometimes caused children to see everything yellow. However, recent studies have shown that for an adult, the world will turn yellow only after he drinks about 200 quarts (228 liters) of absinthe at a time.

According to scientists, Van Gogh's yellow palette owes its existence to his epilepsy. Since 1890, he was treated for it according to the prescriptions of Dr. Paul-Ferdinand Gachet and, in accordance with them, drank digitalis. This medicine was then very popular as a remedy for epilepsy. But chronic digitalis poisoning can in some cases make the world yellow for the patient, and, in particular, he will see yellow circles around the stars - exactly the same as we see in Van Gogh’s famous painting “Starry Night”.

Astronomers are still haunted by the way, for example, in the painting “Road with Cypresses and Stars,” Vincent depicted a thin crescent moon. This is how he was on April 20, 1890 at about 7 p.m., and on the left side of the picture two more star-shaped objects are depicted. This is exactly how the planets Venus and Mercury were located at that time. More precisely, not quite like that: for some reason Van Gogh painted these planets as mirror images, but did not “invert” the Moon itself. It turns out that this incident with Van Gogh’s inverted sky is not the only one.

His famous painting “Starry Night” depicts a mysterious star spiral in the center. It is very similar to the 19th century sketch of the Whirlpool galaxy in Canes Venatici. This sketch was published several times, and Van Gogh could see it in Camille Flammarion’s book “Stars”. But she is also captured in a mirror image. And in the painting "Starry Night on the Rhine" the Big Dipper's scoop is also turned in the other direction... It is unlikely that we will be able to find out what all this meant for Van Gogh.

English biologists have recently become interested in the unusual properties of Van Gogh's paintings. They found that Van Gogh's Sunflowers attracted laboratory bees more than other paintings, including Paul Gauguin's Vase of Flowers.

“Behavioral ecologist” from University College London studied the behavior of bees who had never seen real flowers. They were shown four paintings: “Sunflowers” ​​by Van Gogh and “Vase” by Gauguin, as well as “Still Life with a Beer Mug” by the French cubist Fernand Léger and “Pots” by Patrick Cofield, an English pop art artist. Biologists recorded how many times the bees flew up to each painting and how many times they landed on them. It turned out that 20th-century artists were less interested in bees than 19th-century post-impressionists. Insects landed on the paintings of Léger and Cofield only four times each. Bees visited Van Gogh 146 times and landed 15 times. According to one of the scientists, Professor Lars Citka, bees have an innate attraction to flowers, and Van Gogh managed to capture their very essence.

Another sensational discovery associated with the name of Van Gogh was recently made by French scientists. When examining the paintings, restorers of the Paris museum discovered another layer of paint under the main layer of paint, which had partially come off due to age. Using high-precision technology, specialists removed the top layer and were horrified. The canvas depicted a typical nuclear “mushroom” in every detail. There is no doubt among experts that it was painted by Vincent; this is evidenced by the signature in the corner... Moreover, the area depicted on the canvas surrounding the epicenter of the thermonuclear explosion bore a clear imprint of the effects of radiation. It was a poisonous, lifeless desert, more reminiscent of an alien landscape or our earth, or rather, what it could become if people do not stop nuclear experiments.

How could Van Gogh, who died long before the first atomic tests, learn about the mechanism and consequences of a radioactive explosion? This will remain another mystery of his, which is impossible to solve, and perhaps not necessary. After all, we have the most important thing - paintings that capture Van Gogh’s cosmic revelations.