Getting to Know Van Gogh
You're probably already familiar with this artwork and the artist who created it. For the sake of formality, I introduce you to Vincent Van Gogh. A Dutch painter born in 1853. Also known as the famous creator of the painting The Starry Night. Like most of us, I never knew much about him until recently when I started seeing his work often featured in ads, products, and even as an experience. Since getting to know a person does not have to be that hard in this day and age, I decided to embark on an online journey to get to know the tortured artist behind the canvas.
According to my research, Van Gogh is one of the few struggling painters of his time, becoming one of the greatest in post-impressionism, an art style of impressionism but rejecting its strict limitations. The striking colors and distinct brushwork greatly influenced the current state of modern art. Hence, his career as a productive artist only lasted for a decade. It consisted of him admitting himself into an asylum after spending much of his time in poverty-stricken areas doing missionary work.
Withdrawing from everyone, Van Gogh could only ever dream of what life was on the outside so he started drawing back in landscapes and subjects. Soon, his creations became inspired by the others before him. It took him eight years, in 1888, when he mastered his style of brushwork. Most of which we can see in The Starry Night and his self-portraits.
By 1889, he began losing touch with reality coupled with loneliness. Even so, he managed to form friendships with other artists like Gauguin who cut off his ear using a sword due to a disagreement (now this is new to me). This was concluded according to police reports and their correspondence. By then, Gauguin left for Paris, and Van Gogh took the blame and was hospitalized.
Fearing for his mind, Van Gogh temporarily admitted himself again to an asylum called Saint-Rémy-de-Provence as a way to for medical observation. As time progressed, his works became more dynamic and bolder in color. The paintings centered on still life and nature paintings that 'seemed to be moving'. Even so, he became dependent on his brother which caused a lot of problems. In despair, Van Gogh shot himself but he didn't die just yet. He was quoted to have said: “I shot myself.… I only hope I haven’t botched it.”. It was then that two days passed, and Vincent Van Gogh died after succumbing to his (suic*de) wounds and illness.
If there's something I need to learn from this, the similarities between Van Gogh and me are somewhat alarming. For a time, I have set unrealistic expectations of myself because, at the back of my mind, I know this is all I can ever be. Still, I am good enough to have conformed to society's minimum standards. But what happens when I start contending for something greater than myself? Time will tell. Until then, I will keep on working on how to improve rather than proving myself.
References:
- 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘛. 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 (2023, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 26). 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘨𝘩. 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢.𝘤𝘰𝘮/𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺/𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘷𝘢𝘯-𝘎𝘰𝘨𝘩
- 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘦: 𝘝𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘨𝘩 - 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 - 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.𝘫𝘱𝘨. (𝘯.𝘥.). 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴.𝘸𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢.𝘰𝘳𝘨/𝘸𝘪𝘬𝘪/𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘦:𝘝𝘢𝘯_𝘎𝘰𝘨𝘩_-_𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺_𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵_-_𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘦_𝘈𝘳𝘵_𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.𝘫𝘱𝘨
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