Rarely Seen Van Gogh Painting on Display in Washington

Can you get to Washington, D.C.?  If you can, give yourself a big treat and check out the National Gallery.  In particular, you want to look for a painting that hasn't been seen in public since 1966 -- Vincent Van Gogh's “Green Wheat Fields, Auvers,” (1890.)  The Gallery also has eight other Van Goghs and lots of other visual goodies as well.

Although a calmer, less "busy" work than Van Gogh's best known paintings, this is still a subtly complex and pleasingly bright work.  Although some critics say that it reflected Van Gogh's more calmer state of mind, I have to disagree.  Although the fields of young wheat are happy and lively, the clouds above are not.  They are in the same swirling, turbulent patterns as seen in works like "The Starry Night."

So, where was this painting from 1966? In the home of superrich snob Paul Mellon.  Mellon died in 1980 and his wife in 1999, but his family clung onto the painting since then.  Hung over the fireplace.  The Mellons owned it since 1955 and loaned it to a museum once in 1966.  Before that, it was last shown in 1912 in Cologne, Germany.  The painting will now have a permanent new home where it belongs -- for the public to appreciate.  The chances of the painting being loaned to other museums around the world is possible, but no plans have been announced.

Van Gogh: Artistic Brilliancs Vs Insanity

How many times have you heard of someone being described as having an artistic personality or an artistic temperament? This is often spoken as a backhanded compliment, implying that although a person may be gifted, they are also somehow insane. The artist that most personifies the artistic personality is Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890.)

But what just is the artistic personality? Psychologists describe it as having certain elements of having a contrary nature often at war with itself. For example, they are both introverted and extroverted; intelligent and yet naïve about practical manners like handling money; is both humble and yet extremely proud – even boastful – about their art.  Van Gogh had all of these qualities.

Van Gogh's Mental Illness

There have been many papers, books and magazine articles debating what mental illness Van Gogh had. Today's diagnostic tools and awareness of the different types of mental illness was not available in Van Gogh's time. Back then, mental illness was viewed as character flaws or offshoots from other illnesses such as syphilis. Van Gogh did suffer from syphilis, according to Van Gogh: The Life (Random House; 2011.) He also drank excessively.

Sadly, we do not know exactly what kind of mental illness Van Gogh suffered from. He was definitely mentally ill. His hundreds of surviving letters exhibit unfounded paranoia and grandiose schemes not based on reality. Surviving letters from Van Gogh's family members and acquaintances often complain about how difficult and bizarre he was.

Studies on the Creative Brain

Recent studies have shown that many creative people are mentally ill. One 2010 study showed that dopamine is processed differently in the brains of creative people than non-creative people. This is because the brains of creative people have fewer dopamine receptors, which helps loosen up or eliminate social filters or that inner voice that says "you can't do that."

Although this lack of filtering is great for new and radical thinking, it doesn't make you popular with the neighbors. Van Gogh tried getting art instructions at least twice in his life, but within a month or two had so incensed his teachers that he was kicked out. He also had furious arguments with fellow art students or customers who frequented the art supply shops that Van Gogh used.

In Conclusion

Even if modern medicine and therapy had been available in Van Gogh's day, he still would have been creative. Whether he would have produced the vast number of brilliantly intense works is a matter of debate. Unfortunately, the very qualities that make Van Gogh's work so admirable made him a social outcast, a pauper dependent on his brother's charity and in the eyes of many and absolute failure.

Happy Halloween From Why Van Gogh Matters

Halloween was not celebrated during Vincent Van Gogh's lifetime.  It's more of a modern phenomenon.  However, if it was, I think that he'd really have gotten into it.  His Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (1886) displays the macabre side of his sense of humor.

Van Gogh might also be amazed by the Halloween costume sported by Damon Lucas (I think that's who this is.  If I'm wrong, feel free to connect me.) Huffington Post proclaimed this costume of Van Gogh with Starry Night-like swirls as "officially wins Halloween."

I almost wish I was a redhead (and a hell of a lot thinner) in order to pull of a somewhat convincing Van Gogh costume.  Check out this one praised by MSN Now for Halloween 2012.

I'd like to put a bandage over one ear, though, to really get into the Van Gogh vibe.  I suppose I could suck on a candy cigarette, too or sip a green liquid out of a bottle labeled ABSINTHE.  Let's see if anyone figures that out.

No matter what you do for Halloween, have a good one!

Painting Focus: Portrait of Patience Escalier (1888)

One of Vincent Van Gogh's best-loved portraits is that of an old gardener named Patience Escalier.  There are at least three versions (one drawing and two paintings) but the image on the left is the best known version.

In the summer of 1888, struggling artist Vincent Van Gogh dreamt of starting an artist’s colony where he lived in Arles, France. He’d managed to persuade one artist, Paul Gauguin, to join him. However, Gauguin had yet to arrive. In order to help entice artists to the area, Van Gogh painted many portraits of the inspiring local people he came across. Because of his poverty and strange ways, it was very difficult for him to get a hold of models...

Please read the rest of my article at Helium.  Thanks!
(Link has now been fixed.)

Other paintings in my Painting Focus series include:

• Pieta (After Delacroix)
• Siesta or Rest at Noon
• Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin

New Van Gogh Painting Discovered (Sorta)

Earlier this month, art experts from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam announced that a painting stored in an attic for 80 years is a genuine Van Gogh.  80 years ago, a Norwegian collector bought it thinking that it was genuine and was bitterly disappointed when it was declared a fake.  When it was bought a few years ago by an anonymous family, they had the painting reassessed.  They waited two years for a final report.

Why is it now considered genuine?  Because researchers unearthed two newspaper articles that article mentioned this painting, "Sunset at Montmajour"   The first article was a review of an Amsterdam art exhibit from 1892.  The second was a review from an art exhibit in the Netherlands in 1901.  It was then that the painting disappeared.

Another reason is that we can do something that we couldn't do 80 years ago -- we can chemically analyze pigments from one painting to see if it matches another.  Pigments from "Sunset at Montmajour" were a match to many other known Van Gogh paintings at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.  Experts can also X-ray the canvas to see if it matched other Van Gogh canvases.

The painting is not a masterpiece by a long stretch.  When I first saw it, I promptly forgot what it looked like ten minutes later.  That may be more of a criticism of my memory than this particular Van Gogh painting, but even the art critic of the Guardian was not impressed, who wrote that "even great artists have bad days." (Owie.)

Some Doctor Who fans love it because the buildings in the top left corner look remarkably like the good Doctor's TARDIS.

There are numerous artworks by Van Gogh that are missing.  There are also artworks mentioned in his letters that do not seem to match the works known to exist or has existed.  "Sunset at Montmajour" was such a painting.  According to a letter from Van Gogh to his long-suffering brother Theo, he painted this on July 4, 1888.

YouTube Video: Vincent's Final Moments

The most famous mentally ill artist in history was arguably Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890.) At the age of 37, Vincent staggered into the hotel he was staying over a café with a bullet wound in his abdomen. He was examined by a doctor.  The bullet could not  be removed without killing Vincent.  He lingered for two days and died. He claimed he harmed himself and urged no one other than himself to be blamed for his death.  It is possible that he was shot by a teenaged boy, but Vincent apparently wanted to die anyway.

Although the historical details in this very short independent film are debatable, I'm not highlighting it here for it's accuracy.  It is a very good portrayal of someone who has decided to die.  If you or someone you know has trouble understanding why anyone would want to kill themselves or want to die while relatively young, watch this.  It gives a good view of why suicide can seem like a perfect solution and why preventing suicide can be so difficult.

(Because of a technical problem in Blogger, I cannot place the YouTube video directly into this blog post. Sorry!)

Some more videos on YouTube about Vincent Van Gogh include:

• Art Eyes: The Eyes of Vincent Van Gogh
• Documentary: Vincent Van Gogh at the Borinage
• Documentary: In Search of Vincent Van Gogh

New Van Gogh Movie in the Works

As Sherlock Holmes once said in A Study in Scarlet, "There's nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before." 

Another bio-pic of Vincent Van Gogh is currently in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Filming is set to begin in 2014 with a tentative release date of 2015.  Rutger Hauer (best known for playing a homicidal replicant in Blade Runner) has reportedly signed on as executive producer.  The tentative title is Vincent.  It is planned to be an English-language film.  It's planned to be shot in several European locations including France, the Netherlands and England.

Despite a proliferation of stage shows, documentaries (like the one pictured) and telemovies, there have been few English language films to hit the screen.  The last I can think of is Vincent and Theo (1990) directed by Robert Altman.  That movie focused on the last five years or so of his life, while this movie is apparently going to cover Vincent's entire life.

The movie is to tie in with the 125th anniversary of Vincent's tragic death in 1890.  So far, an estimated five years has gone into researching the movie.

Now that we've read the plans for the movie, let's see what the final result turns out to be.

Our Vincent would have loved that his life generated so many movies.  He was so constantly viewed as a failure that anyone highlighting his life would have boggled his mind (but in a good way.)  Then again, motion pictures as we know them -- even silent films -- first appeared after Vincent's death.  The only "films" were on phenakistoscope discs that Vincent probably never got to see because that would have cost money.