In Search of Van Gogh

   

“There is something infinite in painting—I cannot explain it to you so well […]. Tomorrow I hope to go and work in the open air again.” Vincent Van Gogh (The Hague, August 26, 1882. To Theo.)

  When you think you have read everything about Vincent Van Gogh, a book release proves you wrong. “In Search of Van Gogh” invites you to trace the artist's steps, and to visit the mental and physical spaces that he inhabited. Art historian Gloria Fossi put together Van Gogh’s musings and reflections on life experiences, relationships, art and books, along with relevant photographs, adding new revelations about the artist.

  

Historians used to believe that the remarkable vortex in his painting “The Starry Night” was the product of his hallucinations. However, a number of American astrophysicists now agree that it may be “a reference or a memory of one of the most fascinating nebulae ever discovered: the Whirlpool Galaxy in the Canes Venatici constellation”. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1773. Vincent Van Gogh was an avid reader and had a special interest in the sky.

  Now we know that the stars in his paintings were not placed randomly. Researchers agree that Vincent carefully studied the sky, and his artworks reflected them with a certain precision, helping scientists to deduce, for example, that “The Starry Night over the Rhone” was painted in Arles at about 10:30 p.m. between September 20 and 30, 1888.

  During his time in Arles, Vincent Van Gogh wrote: “I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly colored than the day, having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens.” (Arles, between September 9 and 14, 1888).

   Vincent Van Gogh did not mind the rain or the wind as he worked in the study of nature.  He portrayed rural life in the memorable images of peasants working, sharing a meal or simply chilling out.  Guided by his intuitive wisdom, Vincent Van Gogh persevered through every obstacle, bolstering the fire of his indomitable creativity; his ardent curiosity; and his love for nature and people.

  There are various amazing facts about Van Gogh in “In Search of Van Gogh”.  Did you know that Vincent descended 700 meters underground to explore the suffering, discomfort and ordeals that miners faced every day? Gas explosions were frequent in those days, and Vincent  helped to treat the wounded in one of the Borinage mines.

 

  In 1990 photographers Danilo De Marco and Mario Dondero traveled to all the places where Van Gogh had lived and worked. Their artistic black-and- white photos were carefully arranged to be integrated deftly into this book, which was published last year for the first time. Unfortunately, Mario Dondero passed away in 2015, and “In Search of Van Gogh” is dedicated to him.

 “In Search of Van Gogh” offers the opportunity to get to know Vincent Van Gogh as a person and an artist, washing away prejudices and myths that cloud the understanding of his artworks.

  Van Gogh’s art continues to touch the hearts of millions of people across the world because his oeuvre transcends time and space. The freshness of his works infuses vitality in the viewers. His drawings and paintings showcase more than what any words can convey. His brushstrokes spark passion for life; the masterpieces he created are fearless depictions of his soul and those of his models. 

    The essence of Vincent Van Gogh’s empathic nature is captured with exquisite grace by Gloria Fossi’s book, and the photographs included complete a vibrant journey into his life and art.

    You can continue learning about Vincent Van Gogh by checking the full collection of letters to his family and friends. Reading those letters is a trip of poetry and inspiration. The literary value of his writing is finally gaining momentum and getting the recognition it deserves.

    Vincent Van Gogh’s full collection of letters, including critical annotations and illustrations, is the result of fifteen years of research by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in collaboration with the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands in The Hague. The collection is online here:

www.vangoghletters.org

  

 

Enjoy more of his works here:

 

Van Gogh's letters

 “And men are often faced with the impossibility of doing anything, imprisoned in some kind of horrible cage. There is also, I know, deliverance, eventual deliverance. A reputation ruined rightly or wrongly, embarrassment, circumstance, misfortune, all these make people prisoners. You can’t say what it is that shuts you up, what walls you in, what seems to bury you alive, but you still feel some kind of bars, some kind of cage, some kind of walls.

Do you know what makes the prison disappear? It is every deep, genuine affection. To be friends, brothers, to love, that opens the prison by its sovereign power, its powerful charm. Someone who does not have that remains bereft of life.

But where sympathy is reborn, life is reborn.

Sometimes the prison is called prejudice, misunderstanding, fatal ignorance of this or that, distrust, false shame.”

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh’s words are rooted in a timeless universal truth. 
Reading his letters seems to make time come to a halt. It throws me into a deep meditative state of serenity. And it is also akin to the effects of connecting with a sincere friend.

 (I am not going to focus on his death here, but I want to clarify that van Gogh did NOT commit suicide. He was shot to death by another person. )

 I believe every person who endeavors to take an artistic discipline seriously will benefit from reading Vincent van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo. There are various reasons why his deep insights and wisdom are of much relevance today.

  His letters reveal his self-taught journey in drawing and painting. The drawings and paintings that he enclosed in the letters are shown; they correlate with his musings, reflections and life anecdotes (some of them are funny!).

 Van Gogh shares his learning process with painstaking details. He also describes nature and people with great care, and from his unique interactions with them we learn about his exquisite sensitivity and intelligence. Being a keen observer of his surroundings was vital to his artworks.

 “The doctor is just as I would like him to be, he looks rather like some of the heads by Rembrandt: a magnificent forehead and a very sympathetic expression, I hope I have learned something from him, in the sense that I hope I will be able to deal with my models more or less in the same way he deals with his patients, that is, to be firm with them and to put them in the required position without further ado. It is marvelous with how much patience this man treats his patients himself by massaging, applying ointments, and handling them in all kinds of ways, infinitely more firmly than an attendant, and how he has the knack of removing the scruples and getting people in the position he needs them to be. There is an old man who would be superb as a St. Jerome: a thin, tall, wiry, brown and wrinkled body, with joints so fabulously clear and expressive that it makes me melancholy not to have him as a model.”

Through his delightful prose and images we witness how his work progressed over time; we can appreciate the skills that accrued as a result of his persistent dedication and passion. (Yes, he was talented, but talent alone wouldn't have been enough to accomplish what he accomplished). 
 Every time I contemplate his masterpieces I immerse myself in those places as if I were a real visitor. Not only do I see the settings he portrays but I also absorb their moods; I become a part of them.

  Last but not least, I admire his humility. The thoughts and feelings he expresses are humble and genuine. His letters unravel his soul and regale us with his deep introspection and friendly voice.

 I will share some of his quotes and I hope that the energy of his words spreads and becomes contagious.
Thank you, Vincent.

“How enormously pedantic it is really, how absurd, a man who thinks that he knows it all and that it will be as he thinks, as if there were not always in all things in life a je ne sais quoi of great good, and also an element of bad, from which we feel that there is something infinite above us, infinitely greater, mightier than we are.”

“A man who does not feel himself small, who does not realize that he is just a speck, how wrong he is basically.”
“Art demands a tenacious effort, an effort in spite of everything, and continuous observation. By tenacious effort I mean in the first place constant labor, but also not abandoning your views at someone else’s say-so.”
"In my view I am often immensely rich, not in money, but (although just now perhaps not all the time) rich because I have found my metier, something I can devote myself to heart and soul and that gives inspiration and meaning to my life."
"My moods vary, of course, but nevertheless I have on average acquired a certain serenity. I have a strong belief in art, a certain faith that it is a powerful current that carries a man to haven, although he himself has to put in an effort too. I think it is such a blessing when a man has found his metier, that I don't count myself among the unfortunates."