A tribute to Vincent van Gogh on the anniversary of his deathby Maria Concepcion Panlilio
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“Death is like a journey to the stars;
to die peacefully is like going there on foot.”
- - - - - Vincent van Gogh
(about his love for starry nights)
VINCENT WILLEM VAN GOGH
Post-Impressionist Painter
| (1853 - 1890) |
Tears come easily to my eyes when I tell the story of Vincent van Gogh.
It is the saddest story about a man and his art that's ever been told.
His was a tragic life filled with mental demons and artistic disappointments.
Being misunderstood, scorned, rejected, and plagued by mysterious illnesses
ultimately became too much to bear.
One day, he took a gun and pointed it to his head.
He died believing he was a failure.
ultimately became too much to bear.
One day, he took a gun and pointed it to his head.
He died believing he was a failure.
Vincent van Gogh died at the age of 37 bringing his career as a painter to an end,
but beginning his legacy as the great painter of the future who inspired the world.
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| Vincent van Gogh |
This is my favorite self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh. He looks less tormented, totally at peace and focused with his work. But if you would look closely, you'll see the sad eyes that project the soul of a human being struggling to be recognized and respected as a man and as an artist.
About Vincent Van Gogh’s legacy as a great artist, his brother Theo wrote to his sister Elizabeth these prophetic words: “In the last letter which he wrote me and which dates from some four days before his death, it says, “I try to do as well as certain painters whom I have greatly loved and admired.” People should realize that he was a great artist, something which often coincides with being a great human being. In the course of time this will surely be acknowledged, and many will regret his early death.”
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| Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam |
Van Gogh's Museum topped my Amsterdam experiences, and one of the highlights of my entire European travels . . . certainly one that I will never forget for the rest of my life. I am not a Van Gogh scholar, but I've been fascinated by his life story since I was a young girl. Now I want to pay tribute to him through this blog. I hope I could heighten your appreciation of his artistic genius and what he went through in life that led to his suicide.
| THE VAN GOGH MUSEUM |
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| Fascinating Amsterdam and its famous canals |
(MORE ON THE VAN GOGH MUSEUM AT THE END OF THIS DOCU-BLOG)
THE LIFE OF VINCENT WILLEM VAN GOGH
IN DEATH, HE LIVES
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Van Gogh described this self-portrait as almost colourless, in ashen tones against a background of pale veronese green. In his letter to his brother, Theo, on September 16, 1888, he dedicated this portrait to Paul Gauguin-- his best friend and fellow artist. |
His employment with an art dealer at The Hague in London--a job he acquired through an uncle--would mark the happiest time in Van Gogh's life. He loved his job and was very good at it, making more money at 20 years old than his father. But when his father and his uncle sent him to Paris to work in another art dealership, he became resentful at how art was treated as a commodity--an attitude that became apparent to customers, so he was terminated from his employment. This would mark his first major disappointment in establishing a career for himself.
In the matters of the heart, he was associated with three women, one of whom was an alcoholic prostitute who committed suicide. He first fell in love with a landlady's daughter who rejected him, stating that she was already secretly engaged with another man. Distraught, he became increasingly isolated and fervent about religion. His parents sent him to Amsterdam in 1877 to study theology, but failed to pass the exams. He took a temporary missionary job for the destitute people in the coal-mining district of Borinage in Belgium. There he slept on straw in a small hut where he was heard sobbing all night. The church authorities were appalled at the squalid living conditions he chose for himself and dismissed him for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood." This would begin a conflict between Vincent and his father who considered having his son committed to a lunatic asylum. His brother, Theo, urged him to study under the prominent Dutch artist Willem Roelofs, who persuaded Vincent to attend the Academie Royale des Beaus-Arts in Brussels. Thus began Vincent's career in art.
Vincent did not begin painting until his late twenties, but he managed to produce more than 2,000 artworks, consisting of around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches. His work included self-portraits, landscapes, portraits and paintings of cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers. Most of his best-known works were created during his last two years. Although he died virtually unknown, his vibrant colors and emotional impact would influence 20th century art.
Because he was too poor to afford a model, Van Gogh practiced on himself and painted about 30 self-portraits during his lifetime. Here are some of the many self-portraits I've collected via the Internet, and from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which I visited in 2009. The museum was one of the major highlights of my European tours that went on for several months.
THE MANY MELANCHOLIC FACES
OF THE TROUBLED ARTIST
Vincent van Gogh used a mirror (as artists often do) to paint his self portraits.
Hence, the mirror image where his right side is actually the left side of his face.
(This is a collage of his self-portraits that I've put together.
There are many more self-portraits that I did not include here.)
This painting was Van Gogh's last self-portrait
(This is a collage of his self-portraits that I've put together.
There are many more self-portraits that I did not include here.)
(ca.1889) (Note the beardless face).
He gave this portrait to his mother as a birthday gift.
* * * * *
* * * * *
Before becoming an artist, Van Gogh worked for a firm of art dealers where he traveled between England and Paris. He was also a teacher, but his true aspirations was to become a pastor. In 1879 he worked as a missionary in Belgium where he began to sketch people from the community. A few years later, he painted his first major work, the dark and somber "Potato Eaters", which lacked the vividness and bright coloration that would later identify his artistic style. He discovered the French Impressionists when he moved to south of France in 1886. Taken by the brilliant sunlight there, his work grew brighter in color, and he developed the unique and distinguished Van Gogh style that we readily recognize today.
Misunderstood and often distressed, Vincent van Gogh lived a tumultuous life of a mysterious illness, which scientists would many years later determine to be a case of bipolarity with schizophrenic tendencies. Emotionally. He also suffered from epilepsy, syphilis, gonorrhea, and depression. Mentally exhausted, he decided to end it all on July 29, 1890. In the midst of an ocean of golden wheat that had been his favorite setting to paint outside the Saint Paul-de-Mausole, he took his gun and shot himself in the head. He died two days later at 37 believing his life was a total failure. A failure in life? Only if we measure it by his failure to sell but one painting in his life. In 1990, the world was stunned when one of his auctioned paintings was sold for 30 million dollars. To this day, his paintings sell for record-breaking amounts. Certainly, he was not a failure in death; and from my perspective, he was also a success alive if we consider success by the legacy he left us. Just look at all these coveted art masterpieces that immortalize him forever.
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| "STARRY NIGHT" |
Vincent van Gogh preferred to paint outdoors (as we artists would rather do),
but he painted “Starry Night” from memory inside the Saint Remy's mental
institution where he would spend the most difficult period and
but he painted “Starry Night” from memory inside the Saint Remy's mental
institution where he would spend the most difficult period and
the last days of his life. Still, he managed to create 130 paintings there
before taking a gun and killing himself.
before taking a gun and killing himself.
This painting is considered one of his most mysterious and intriguing compositions.
(The painting is now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.)
(The painting is now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.)
Van Gogh inspired musicians and writers to honor his legacy in songs and books, the most popular of which is Don McLean's "Vincent". Please click (or cut and paste it in the URL bar) the link below and enjoy the song and lyrics to"Vincent" - a tribute to Van Gogh's art and tragic life by Don McLean. A slide show of some of the artist's paintings is also included in the video. McLean is one of the world's most enduring singer-songwriters who will forever be associated with this song. He wrote the song in 1970 after reading a book about Van Gogh. As you listen to the music, you will clearly feel and appreciate the musician's innermost admiration for Van Gogh. A recent version of the song is also sung by Josh Groban. (Watch Groban's music video below--after McLean's original recording.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTHrTOzfqhg
"VINCENT"
(By Don McLean)Starry, starry night
paint your palette blue and grey
look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the
darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.
Starry, starry night
flaming flo'rs that brightly blaze
swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in
Vincent's eyes of China blue.
Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain
weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath the artist's
loving hand.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
perhaps they'll listen now.
For they could not love you
but still your love was true
and when no hope was left in sight on that starry,
starry night.
You took your life
as lovers often do;
But I could have told you
Vincent
this world was never meant for one
as beautiful as you.
Starry, starry night
portraits hung in empty halls
frameless heads on nameless walls
with eyes
that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the stranger that you've met
the ragged men in ragged clothes
the silver thorn of bloddy rose
lie crushed and broken
on the virgin snow.
And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they're not list'ning still
perhaps they never will.
paint your palette blue and grey
look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the
darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.
Starry, starry night
flaming flo'rs that brightly blaze
swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in
Vincent's eyes of China blue.
Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain
weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath the artist's
loving hand.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
perhaps they'll listen now.
For they could not love you
but still your love was true
and when no hope was left in sight on that starry,
starry night.
You took your life
as lovers often do;
But I could have told you
Vincent
this world was never meant for one
as beautiful as you.
Starry, starry night
portraits hung in empty halls
frameless heads on nameless walls
with eyes
that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the stranger that you've met
the ragged men in ragged clothes
the silver thorn of bloddy rose
lie crushed and broken
on the virgin snow.
And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they're not list'ning still
perhaps they never will.
*****
(Following is Josh Groban's rendition of "Vincent")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI8fsi_aJ3c&feature=autoplay&list=FL_hw_qIDF6hg&index=3&playnext=2
*****
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| "The Red Vineyard" The only Van Gogh painting that was sold while he was alive The Red Vineyard was sold during an exhibition in Brussels in 1890 for 400 Francs (equal to about $1,000 today) to another impressionist painter, Anna Boch. It was later acquired by the famous Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. When the Bolsheviks nationalized Russia, all of his collection became property of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. |
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| Saint Paul-de-Mausole Asylum in Saint-Remy, France |
Van Gogh voluntarily checked himself in at this mental institution
after the infamous episode where he'd severed left ear. He told Theo
that it was just a piece of his earlobe and not the entire ear.
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| Vincent van Gogh's room at Saint Paul-de-Mausole Asylum THE MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTING IN THE WORLD IN 1990 WAS SOLD AT $82.5 MILLION TODAY IT HAS A VALUE OF $116 MILLION |
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| Portrait of Dr. Paul Gachet of Auvers-sur-Oise |
Van Gogh referred to the doctor's sensitive and melancholy face as
"the heartbroken expression of our time".
Dr. Gachet is one of Van Gogh's most revered paintings. It depicts Dr. Gatchet who took care of him during the final months of his life. It was the only portrait painted by van Gogh during his stay at the doctor's home in Auvers-sur-Oise outside Paris from May to July 1890. In 1990, it fetched a then-record price of $82.5 million at an auction at Christie's New York to Ryoei Saito, a75-year old Japanese businessman. He caused a scandal when he said that upon his death, he would have the painting cremated with him. Saito has died, and the painting cannot be located. | |
| "White House at Night" (1890) |
Collection: Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
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| "At Eternity's Gate" (1890) |
Collection: Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo
The painting was done a few days before the Van Gogh shot himself. It shows a man burying his face in his hands, alluding to feelings of depression and hopelessness, reflecting the artist's mindset at the time.
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| Van Gogh's artistic expression of the amber field outside Saint Remy's asylum. |
PAUL GAUGUIN
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| "Vincent van Gogh--Painter of Sunflowers" by Paul Gaugin |
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| Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin - 1988 - A Self Portrait |
Gauguin and Van Gogh shared not only their passion for Impressionism, but also a traumatic friendship due to collective bouts of depression with suicidal tendencies. In 1888, the two spent nine weeks together, painting in Van Gogh's Yellow House in Arles, where his series of sunflower paintings were created. During this time, Gauguin became increasingly disillusioned with Impressionism, and the two quarreled. On the evening of December 23, 1888, frustrated and ill, Van Gogh confronted Gauguin with a razor blade. In a panic, Van Gogh fled to a local brothel. While there, he cut off the lower part of his left ear lobe. He wrapped the severed tissue in newspaper and handed it to a prostitute named Rachel, asking her to "keep this object carefully."
Recent controversy has arisen about the severing of Van Gogh's ear. Is it just the lower part of the earlobe or the entire ear? Did Gauguin actually do the slicing instead of Van Gogh? We'll discuss this later in this article. Van Gogh checked himself in a hospital for his injury; Gauguin left Arles, and they never saw each other again, but they continued to correspond.
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| The Bandaged Ear |
Gauguin is most well-known for his Primitive art, which is characterized by exaggerated body proportions, animal totems, geometric designs and stark contrasts. His bold, colorful and design oriented paintings significantly influenced Modern art, inspiring artists like Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
"The Seed of the Areoi"
Ca. 1892 -- The Museum of Modern Art
Ca. 1892 -- The Museum of Modern Art
Gauguin lived the rest of his life in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands where he created many paintings depicting an exoticized view of the inhabitants of Polynesia as in the above painting. He was known to have had trysts with several prepubescent native girls, some of whom appear as subjects of his paintings. In French Polynesia, toward the end of his life, he suffered from syphilis and poverty. He also got in legal trouble for taking the natives' side against French colonialists. He died in May 1903 from an overdose of morphine and possibly heart attack. If offered for sale, a Gauguin's painting would be priced at around $30 million.
THEO VAN GOGH
(The Brother and Most Loyal Friend)
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| Theo van Gogh Ca. 1887 - by Vincent van Gogh Until this portrait was rediscovered this year (2011), it was thought of to be another self-portrait painted by Vincent van Gogh. After reassessing the portrait, the experts now say it's actually that of Vincent's brother, Theo van Gogh. |
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| Theodorus "Theo" van Gogh ( 1857 – 1891) |
Theo was born on May 1, 1857, and is the younger brother of Vincent. A successful art dealer, Theo became Vincent's most ardent and dedicated supporter, financially and emotionally. His unfailing financial support allowed Vincent to devote himself entirely to painting.
Although Theo was instrumental in the popularity of Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, he failed to accomplish the same thing for his brother. It was he who introduced Vincent to Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rosseau, Camille Pissaro and Georges Seurat; and in 1888, he persuaded Gauguin to join Vincent, who had moved to Arles in the meantime.
Theo admired Vincent all his life, and is probably the only true friend Vincent ever had. Their extraordinary friendship is well documented in nearly a thousand letters they exchanged between each other, over three fourths of which were from Vincent to Theo, including his first and his last letters. An analysis of Vincent's letters to Theo reveals the artist's mind and nature. Theo was often concerned about Vincent's mental condition and he was amongst the very few who understood his brother. His last letter was never mailed because he wrote it just before he shot himself. They found the blood-stained letter on his body. Vincent died in his brother's arms.
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| Vincent van Gogh's last letter to his brother, Theo, written just moments before he shot himself.  SOME OF THE LETTERS      
(At the end of this article you will find one of Vincent's letters to Theo that has been translated in English) Unable to come to terms with Vincent's death, Theo died six months after Vincent's death. Even in death, the two brothers' special bond could not be broken.  Vincent and Theo van Gogh's graves |
Unfortunately, only Vincent's letters survived in the hands of Theo, while Vincent was not quite as organized and most of Theo's letters to him were lost. Johanna--Theo's widow--published the letters in a book after the brothers' deaths. The book as well as Vincent van Gogh's art exhibits from his estate helped spread the compelling mystique of Vincent. World War I was ending, while Vincent van Gogh's posthumous fame was finally beginning, and to this day it seems it will never end.
In death, Vincent van Gogh lives.
The relationship between the two brothers was the subject of a 1990 movie "Vincent & Theo".
The relationship between the two brothers was the subject of a 1990 movie "Vincent & Theo".
(Unlike their father who predeceased Vincent and Theo, their mother survived the brothers
and she witnessed Vincent's posthumous fame.)
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THE VAN GOGH MUSEUM
Amsterdam
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| The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam |
The Van Gogh Museum opened in 1973.
It houses the largest collection of Vincent van Gogh artwork in the world.
A time capsule with Van Gogh’s paint brushes and a copy of the sheet music
for “Vincent" is buried there. The museum plays the song for visitors each day.
It houses the largest collection of Vincent van Gogh artwork in the world.
A time capsule with Van Gogh’s paint brushes and a copy of the sheet music
for “Vincent" is buried there. The museum plays the song for visitors each day.
Okay, I admit, it was hard to take pictures of the paintings when there are people blocking the view. But...what can I do? First of all, we're not even allowed to take pictures of the paintings, (Shhhh! I was using a secret agent miniature camera clipped to my hair.) Well, all right, I confess, I got an insider special privilege; and that's all I'm going to tell you. :-)
This is closing time, so the crowd is almost gone.
I stayed and lingered, and lingered, till I was the only one left.
I didn't want to leave. Finally, the security had to escort me out the door.
And my aim in my life is to make pictures and drawings,
as many and as well as I can; then, at the end of my life,
I hope to pass away, looking back with love and tender regret,
and thinking, 'Oh, the pictures I might have made!'"
- - - - -Vincent van GoghNovember 19, 1883
Vincent van Gogh bequeathed the world a rich tapestry of his creative genius. Many of these paintings are displayed at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which I've had the privilege to view and enjoy in person.
Because the name Van Gogh was often misspelled and mispronounced during his early years as an artist, Vincent decided to sign his artworks with just "Vincent"
As time permits, I will return to this article for editing. I will continue to add more images and historical facts about each painting. (These are not in any particular order at this time, but I hope to organize them chronologically later.)
Please enjoy the art exhibit as much as I've enjoyed putting it together.
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"The Potato Eater" (1885) |
Considered in the artist community today as his 'first masterpiece', Van Gogh failed to achieve the recognition he aspired for when he created this painting in 1885. First perceived in 1883, he created several sketches and lithographs of the artwork before finalizing it as shown above. It is clearly a very dark and dreary style that changed as soon as he moved to the brighter and sunnier France and met and inspired by the new impressionist movement at the time.
The painting depicts four peasant women and one man sitting around a table eating potatoes. The piece is laced in darkness, the figures are so intense that one can nearly hear the conversations being spoken around the table. Note the following details: a picture frame hung on a darkened wall; the large platter of potatoes, and the boney fingers stretched out to obtain them; the woman pouring a brew similar to coffee.
Location: Musee d'Orsay, Paris
In Vincent's letter to his sister Wil, he described the above painting in part: ". . . .I have a larger picture of the village church — an effect in which the building appears to be violet-hued against a sky of simple deep blue colour, pure cobalt; the stained-glass windows appear as ultramarine blotches, the roof is violet and partly orange. In the foreground some green plants in bloom, and sand with the pink flow of sunshine in it."
Collection: Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
In Vincent's letter to Theo in August, 1888, he said: "Today I am probably going to begin on the interior of the café where I have a room, by gas light, in the evening. It is what they call here a “café de nuit” (they are fairly frequent here), staying open all night. “Night prowlers” can take refuge there when they have no money to pay for a lodging, or are too drunk to be taken in."
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| "Starry Night Over The Rhone" (1888) |
This is one of Vincent's paintings of Arles at night, painted at a spot on the banks of river which was only a minute or two's walk from the "Yellow House" on the Place Lamartine which Van Gogh was renting at the time. In his letter to Theo in September 1888, he described the painting partly this way: ". . . .The starry sky painted by night, actually under a gas jet. The sky is aquamarine, the water is royal blue, the ground is mauve. The town is blue and purple. The gas is yellow and the reflections are russet gold descending down to green-bronze. On the aquamarine field of the sky the Great Bear is a sparkling green and pink, whose discreet paleness contrasts with the brutal gold of the gas. Two colourful figurines of lovers in the foreground."
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| (This is the actual photo over the Rhone taken in 2008) |
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| "The Yellow House" (1888) |
The title refers to the right wing of the building, 2, Place Lamartine, Arles, France, the house where, on May 1, 1888, Van Gogh rented four rooms, two large ones on the ground floor to serve as atelier and kitchen, and, on the first floor, two smaller ones facing Place Lamartine. The window on the first floor near the corner with both shutters open is that of Van Gogh's guest room, where Paul Gauguin lived for nine weeks from late October, 1888. Behind the next window, with one shutter closed, is Van Gogh's bedroom It was run by Widow Venissac, who was also Van Gogh's landlady, and who owned several of the other buildings depicted. The building destroyed in a bombing raid by the Allies on June 25, 1944,
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| Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin (1887) |
Agostina owned the café that Van Gogh knew intimately. It was a gathering spot for Parisian artists, a place where their work was exhibited. Van Gogh, unable to pay in cash for his meals, exchanged paintings for meals. The paintings then adorned the restaurant. He held a special exhibit of his Japanese prints in the café as well. His connection with Agostina and the cafe came to a sad end when she went bankrupt and Van Gogh's paintings were confiscated by creditors. This painting, however, demonstrates an artistic discovery that culminated in his unique, creative style not quite on the brink of being understood and revered.
"Sometimes moods of indescribable anguish,
sometimes moments when the veil of time and fatality of circumstances
seemed to be torn apart for an instant."
- - - - - Vincent van Gogh
From his letter to Theo about his condition at the St. Paul Asylum
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| "Portrait of Pere Tanguy" (1887) |
Collection: Musee Rodin, Paris
This is one of Van Gogh's three paintings of Julien Tanguy. The three works demonstrate a progression in Van Gogh's artistic style after his arrival in Paris. The first is somber, and formed from a simple composition. This is the last one and it depicts a more advanced in style, skill and color. It integrates other influences on the Parisian artist community. This painting conveys a sense of serenity that Van Gogh seeks for himself. Julien Tanguy was a an art supply store owner and a paint grinder, as well as an art dealer. He was one of the first to offer Van Gogh's paintings for sale. His jovial demeanor and enthusiasm for artistry and artists made his shop one of the most favored art supply shops in Paris, and he was nicknamed Père ("Father") Tanguy. Maurer calls Tanguy a father figure who shared his food and money with artists and showed their paintings with pride. He took paintings as payment for paints, which made entering his shop in full of Impressionist paintings, like "visiting a museum".
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| "Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy" (1889) |
Following the ear-severing incident with Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh voluntarily entered the Saint-Paul mental hospital from May 1889 until May 1890 where he was confined to the grounds of the asylum. This hospital was near Saint-Remy in the Provence region of southern France where he would be admitted later. He painted the garden, the wheat fields, practically everything he could see outside his window.
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| "A Corner of Saint-Paul Hospital and the Garden with a Heavy, Sawed-Off Tree" (1889) |
Collection:Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
In a letter to Theo, Vincent described the above painting this way: "A view of the garden of the asylum where I am, on the right a gray terrace, a section the house, some rosebushes that have lost their flowers; on the left, the earth of the garden – red ochre – earth burnt by the sun, covered in fallen pine twigs. This edge of the garden is planted with large pines with red ochre trunks and branches, with green foliage saddened by a mixture of black. These tall trees stand out against an evening sky streaked with violet against a yellow background. High up, the yellow turns to pink, turns to green. A wall – red ocher again – blocks the view, and there’s nothing above it but a violet and yellow ochre hill. Now, the first tree is an enormous trunk, but struck by lightening and sawn off. A side branch, thrusts up very high, however, and falls down again in an avalanche of dark green twigs. This dark giant – like a proud man brought low – contrasts, when seen as the character of a living being, with the pale smile of the last rose on the bush, which is fading in front of him. Under the trees, empty stone benches, dark box. The sky is reflected yellow in a puddle after the rain. A ray of sun - the last glimmer - exalts the dark ocher to orange - small dark figures prowl here and there between the trunks. You’ll understand that this combination of red ochre, of green saddened with grey, of black lines that define the outlines, this gives rise a little to the feeling of anxiety from which some of my companions in misfortune often suffer, and which is called 'seeing red. And what’s more, the motif of the great tree struck by lightning, the sickly pink and green smile of the last flower of autumn, confirms this idea."
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| "Garden of the Hospital in Arles" (1889) |
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| "Corridor of St. Paul Asylum" (1889) |
Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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| "Ward in the Hospital in Arles" (1889) |
Works of the interior of the hospital convey the isolation and sadness that he felt. From the window of his cell he saw an enclosed wheat field, the subject of many paintings that Van Gogh made from his room in Saint-Rémy. He was able to make but a few portraits while at Saint-Paul.
In a letter to Theo in May, 1889 Vincent writes about the sounds that travel through the quiet-seeming halls. "There is someone here who has been shouting and talking like me all the time for a fortnight. He thinks he hears voices and words in the echoes of the corridors, probably because the auditory nerve is diseased and over-sensitive, and in my case it was both sight and hearing at the same time, which is usual at the onset of epilepsy, according to what Dr. Félix Rey said one day.
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| "Bedroom in Arles" (1888) |
Collection: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
The painting depicts Van Gogh's bedroom at 2, Place Lamartine in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhone, France, known as his "Yellow House".
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| "Cafe Terrace at Night" (1888) |
Collection: Kroller-Muller Museum
This is the first painting in which Van Gogh used starry backgrounds. He would go on to paint more artworks with star-studded skies. Vincent describes the setting in his letter to Theo in part: "On the terrace there are small figures of people drinking. An immense yellow lantern illuminates the terrace, the facade, the side walk and even casts light on the paving stones of the road which take a pinkish violet tone. The gables of the houses, like a fading road below a blue sky studded with stars, are dark blue or violet with a green tree. Here you have a night painting without black, with nothing but beautiful blue and violet and green and in this surrounding the illuminated area colours itself sulfur pale yellow and citron green. It amuses me enormously to paint the night right on the spot. Normally, one draws and paints the painting during the daytime after the sketch. But I like to paint the thing immediately. It is true that in the darkness I can take a blue for a green, a blue lilac for a pink lilac, since it is hard to distinguish the quality of the tone. But it is the only way to get away from our conventional night with poor pale whitish light, while even a simple candle already provides us with the richest of yellows and oranges."
Note: The cafe still exists today and has undergone several name changes; today it is named "Café Van Gogh". (Excellent commercial move by the owner; nevertheless, an appropriate tribute, in my opinion.)
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"Arles: View from the Wheat Fields" (1888) |
Collection: Musee Rodin, France
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EDITING WILL RESUME HERE
- Saint-Rémy-de-Provence was the birthplace of Nostradamus, a 16th century author of prophecies..
- The painter Vincent van Gogh was treated here in the psychiatric center at Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole (1889–1890).
Shortly before Vincent van Gogh's death, he and his works started to be noticed andgain acceptance in the art communinities. His Starry Night over the Rhone and The Irises were exhibited at the Société des Artistes Indépendants on September 3, 1889, and in January, 1890 six of his works were exhibited at the seventh exhibition of Les XX in Brussels. Ironically, just as Van Gogh's work was gaining interest in the artistic community, he was not well enough to fully enjoy it.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
The following link is a tribute to Vincent van Gogh,
which contains a slide show of some of the artist's works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XemweIAvi8Q
The following link is a preview of the award-winning movie about Vincent van Gogh's:
"Lust For Life".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdM5ovvamD8
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Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh The Hague, 8 or 9 June 1882 |
| Municipal Hospital (4 class ward No. 9) Dear Theo, If you come here towards the end of June, you will find me at work again, I hope; for the time being I am in the hospital, where I shall stay only a fortnight, however. For three weeks I have been suffering from insomnia and low fever, and passing water was painful. And now it seems that I really have what they call the “clap,” but only a mild case. So now I have to stay quietly in bed here, swallow many quinine pills, and also have injections now and then, either of pure water or of alum water, so it is as harmless as can be. Therefore you need not worry at all about it. But you know, one must not neglect such things, and should have them attended to at once, because neglect only aggravates it. Witness Breitner, who is still here, though in another ward, and perhaps he will leave soon; he doesn't know I'm here. You will do me a favour by not talking about it, for people sometimes exaggerate so, and gossip makes things seem worse. You're the only one I'm telling exactly what it is; you needn't keep it a secret if anyone should ask you directly, and at all events you needn't get alarmed about it. Of course I had to pay a fortnight in advance, 10.50 guilders for all expenses. There is no difference as to food or treatment between the persons who are free patients and those who pay 10.50 guilders; there are ten patients in a ward, and I can only say that the treatment is very good in all respects. I do not feel bored at all, and the rest and the thoroughly practical, intensive medical treatment do me good. If it is convenient, be so kind as to send 50 fr. about June 20 to the above-mentioned address, but not by registered mail. You know that I received 100 fr. on June 1. So then I shall be safe no matter what happens. If I have to stay longer, I will pay extra and stay on, and if not, I shall have the money to start work again. Of course I should prefer to start working in a fortnight, and within a fortnight I shall certainly be longing for a walk in the dunes. Sien comes to see me on visiting days and keeps an eye on the studio. Now you should know that the day before I came here, I received a letter from C. M. in which he wrote a whole lot about the “interest” he has in me, and which he says Mr. Tersteeg has also shown me, but he did not approve of my having been so ungrateful to Tersteeg for his marks of sympathy. It may be so. I am lying here calmly and quietly enough, but I can tell you, Theo, that I should certainly lose my temper if some person or other came to see me again with the kind of interest Tersteeg has shown me on certain occasions. And when I think how he pushed his interest so far as to have the nerve to compare me with an opium smoker, then I am still astonished that for my part I did not show him my interest in the form of a “go to hell.” Speaking of smoking opium - the comfort and the luxury, the kind of glory in which H. G. T. moves, and a reasonably strong dose of flattery people in general administer to him, these are the things which drug his Honour more than he himself is conscious of. In short, notwithstanding the superficial elegance of his behaviour, notwithstanding his superficially refined manners, his nice clothes, etc., etc., when thinking them over, and also recalling them to my mind, I find something “false” in his Honour's character. I wish it were otherwise, but I cannot speak differently. Without doubting for a moment that his Honour is a clever man, another question is important to my respecting him. Is he a good man? That is to say, a man who does not nurture hatred, grudges, chicanery, sarcasm in his mind merely on principle. That is the question. I did not answer C. M.'s last letter, nor shall I. However, I appreciate his saying that sometime he will buy from me again out of interest, especially if he means it, which remains to be seen. Of course a letter from you would make me very happy these days. Sien is getting ready to go to Leyden. I often think of her - I am expecting her now - I hope she will pull through safely. I have fought against being ill as long as I could, and continued working, but at last I felt it was urgent to consult a doctor. But this morning he again told me that I would soon be better. I am the less sorry to be lying quietly here for a few days, seeing that in case I should need to, I should be able to get an official statement from the doctor here to the effect that I am not the person to be sent to Gheel or to be put under guardianship. And if this should not be enough, another one, if I were to take the trouble, from the Medical Director of the Lying-in Hospital at Leyden, a professor. But perhaps those people who might possibly feel the urge to declare that it would be such a great advantage to society or to the family if someone like me were declared insane or put under guardianship are such awfully big bugs that they know much more about those things than, for instance, the doctor here. Enfin. Did you receive the two little drawings? Adieu, a handshake, and wishing you as much prosperity as a man can stand, Yours, Vincent I feel obliged to tell you again that in case they want to attempt something like putting me under guardianship on physical grounds, the precedent of the Gheel affair would make it awkward for the family suddenly to take a different stand, and base their action no longer on physical but on financial grounds. Such things don't cut any ice. But I repeat, I hope things will not be pushed as far as that. But please write soon, for I am anxiously looking forward to a letter from you. You understand, Theo, that I don't talk about family matters with either the physician here or the professor at Leyden - only seeing that I am being treated by the former and Sien, by the latter, if I needed it, one word would get me a statement from these gentlemen, contradicting a possible differing statement by some persons you spoke of. At this time, Vincent was 29 year old Source: Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written 8 or 9 June 1882 in The Hague. Translated by Mrs. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, edited by Robert Harrison, number 206. URL: http://webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/11/206.htm. REFERENCES TO PORTRAYALS OF VINCENT VAN GOGH
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