How Van Gogh Nearly Killed Me!
On a work trip to the Netherlands, I had an extra day and decided to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It was a good decision. As I ended my tour, I came across the work, Almond Blossom; that Van Gogh painted to celebrate the birth of his nephew. The beauty, newness and optimism that came from the hand of a person struggling with depression and suicide was staggering. The white blossoms set against unique blue spoke to me so elegantly of the possibility of new life. I later learned that the museum was made possible by the contributions of that very same nephew. Teary eyed, I slowly walked out of the museum. Beauty, suffering, a new life, a fulfilled legacy, the circle of life stirred my thoughts as I was walking to my hotel. I was so involved with Van Gogh that for the first time during my visit to the city, I walked into a bike lane and was nearly run over! I received a well-deserved series of looks from the Dutch cyclist, who was undoubtedly weary of dodging tourists. My life was deeply enriched and then nearly taken away during my very special morning with Vincent.
A number of years later, my wife and I attended the multi-media presentation of Van Gogh’s life, Lume, at our local museum. We enjoyed being immersed in the artist’s world, meeting his people, walking through his villages, and gazing at nature through his eyes. The exhibition was in a number of large rooms through which you were engulfed by Van Gogh’s works on walls that measured 3 to 5 metres high and 8 metres long. The vibrant tones used to depict nature together with the more subdued hues of his portraits, encircled us from ceiling to floor.
There were two significant media sequences that displayed Van Gogh’s people; we were surrounded by the faces of his community and then his self-portraits. We saw faces and felt souls. In many of the portraits, the pain of reality etched on the faces, while the beauty of personal nobility overwhelmed. His sensitivity to humanity, while struggling with his own, conveyed hope. Within the difficulty of life, there was something more.
On the way home from the experience, I asked my wife why she thought Van Gogh’s life and art continues to have such broad appeal. It had been difficult to get a ticket for this exhibition; there are many other remarkable artists that could be the subject of such a presentation! Why Van Gogh? We wondered whether it is the accessibility and attractiveness of his work for the general public. More profoundly, perhaps his life’s story; wonderful creations birthed amid pain and loss which touches our human condition. As people, we connect with the artist’s suffering, yet are moved to sense there is hope. The beauty of his art, whether we are immersed in a virtual presentation or standing before a traditionally framed painting, lifts us out of ourselves. We understood for a brief moment that there is more in this life than what can be touched …
How have you experienced Van Gogh; his life and work?
Craig, Nov 2021
*Image posted for educational purposes in recommendation of the Van Gogh Museum
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Thanks, Craig, for your personal, beautiful reflections on van Gogh and on his wide appeal. It made me think of all the films that have been made on the life and works of Van Gogh, arguably more than on any other painter. Of the ones I’ve seen three stood out for me: Maurice Pialat’s 1992 film Van Gogh on the last sixty-seven days of Van Gogh’s life, Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate from 2018 about Van Gogh’s years in Arles, France and Vincente Minelli’s 1954 film Lust for Life, starting with Van Gogh’s life in the coal-mining district in Belgium, the Borinage. And yes, they all pay tribute to his tragic life and to the rich colorfulness and beauty of his art.