Final answer:
Vincent van Gogh used color to express strong emotions in his art, with yellow often representing warmth or light, while dark tones conveyed melancholy. He believed that colors like these could evoke the 'terrible passions of human nature.'
Step-by-step explanation:
The Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh is known for expressing intense emotions through his use of color. In his quest to capture "the terrible passions of human nature," van Gogh often employed colors that he believed evoked strong feelings. For instance, in some of his letters, he articulated that shades of yellow could arouse feelings of surprise in the viewer, and he frequently used vibrant yellows in his paintings to evoke sensations such as warmth and vitality or to represent light itself. Moreover, van Gogh's use of dark tones and swirling brushstrokes in works like 'Wheatfield with Crows' conveys a profound sense of desolation and melancholy. The emotional potential of color in his work aligns with that of other Post-Impressionists like Gauguin, who also explored color's ability to elicit psychological responses.