Vincent van Gogh: Mad Artist Myth No Longer Holds
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| The Sower (1888) |
When you say the name Vincent van Gogh, you invariably invoke a legend, the legend of a wild, purely creative genius, out of sync with the stilted, repressive atmosphere of Victorian Europe; who exploded in passionate art and self-destructive disregard of the banal perimeters of everyday life; who followed his muse unswervingly, like a moth to a flame; whose madness was the flip side, and possibly the cause, of his uncompromising genius. To those of us saddled with responsibilities and borne down by petty rules, this is an immensely attractive legend.
It is also the legend that is driving Tokyo's art lovers from their homes, cafes, and petit galleries, in their hordes, to the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MoMAT) to see an exhibition that, perversely, seeks to destroy the crowd-pulling legend.
"Van Gogh is thought of as genius or a madman," curator Kenjiro Hosaka complains. "That is a just a story, a legend. It makes it difficult to get to the real information on him. It gets in the way of his social and historical background. Most audiences like legends. They need legends to get a grip on the art, but we want to look around the legend. We want to break the legend."
Van Gogh in Context, with about 30 oil paintings by van Gogh and an equal number of works by other artists, attempts to make several points: (1) Van Gogh wasn't the tortured, isolated, and insane artist of cliché; (2) his art wasn't just a geyser of pure, wild creativity shooting out of nowhere as is often thought; and (3) what he was as a man and an artist was firmly rooted in the race and culture from which he sprang. In other words, he didn't just fall from the sky.
One of the first paintings greeting you as you enter is Still Life with Open Bible (1885), painted in drab somber browns and grays. This is hardly a promising subject for the painter of Sunflowers (which is not on display here), but it serves to highlight the powerful influence on van Gogh of Dutch Calvinism. Indeed, his father was a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. Although van Gogh later made nature and art his religion, he always retained the fervor, as well as the methodical and disciplined habits of this faith.
Calvinism, with its emphasis on the sanctity of honest labor, infuses a painting like The Sower (1888), in which the sun creates a golden canopy over the humble laborer at his work. This painting, with three crows eating ‘the seeds that fall by the wayside,’ also evokes the Biblical Parable of the Sower, one that had a particularly strong resonance with Calvinists.
This painting, especially in the figure of the sower, owes a clear debt to an eponymous painting of 1850 by Jean-Francois Millet, an earlier artist who delighted in scenes of the working poor. This ties in with one of the main themes of the exhibition, the influence that van Gogh received from his contemporaries and predecessors. To make this point there are even several Japanese woodblock prints, including Keisai Eisen's Courtesan (c. 1830 – 46), alongside van Gogh's own surreal version.
By highlighting the many influences on van Gogh's art, the exhibition goes a long way to dismantling the myth of pure creativity that has surrounded him in the public's mind. Instead of a half insane visionary impulse to paint, a picture emerges of a painter who carefully looked at other painters and diligently learned his craft from them. Almost all the elements of van Gogh's art are reflected in the context with which this exhibition surrounds his art.
Cezanne's Road Leading to a Lake (c. 1885) shows the cross hatching painting technique that van Gogh adopted and used with greater vigor, while his technique of setting dots, flecks, or strokes of unmixed colors next to each other to create potent vibrations, is referenced to the experiments of the pointillists, represented here by Paul Signac's The Lighthouse at Portrieux (1888). Both these influences emerge strongly in Road with Cypress and Star (1890), a painting that seems to writhe with artistic energy.
Although the artistic influence of other artists is apparent, the tendency remains to view van Gogh as an emotionally isolated figure. While this may be true for part of the period he spent in Arles towards the end of his life (1888-90), it is certainly not true of his time in Paris (1886-88).
"Van Gogh organized exhibitions with other artists, like Signac, Gauguin, and Toulouse-Lautrec, who were outside the mainstream," Hosaka points out. "He called this group the 'Petit Boulevard,' and he was well known in artistic circles."
It was this experience that led Van Gogh to believe he could found a utopian art colony in Arles in the South of France. This is the time and place central to his legend, as this was his most productive period and also where he started suffering fits of madness that finally led him to shoot himself in 1890.
The Yellow House (1888), shows the famous building where van Gogh lived at this time. The pale yellow hues under a heavy cobalt sky create an almost oppressive feeling, hinting at the mental trauma van Gogh was to suffer there. Indeed, it is always possible to see something of the half-insane genius of legend in the strong distortions of form and color, and the powerful brushstrokes so characteristic of his art, almost as if he were painting in a hallucinatory frenzy. However, van Gogh's madness occurred in short episodes between long periods of lucidity.
"When he was ill he didn't paint," Hosaka informs. "So I don't think his art comes from his craziness."
By emphasizing his painting technique, influences, and background, this thought-provoking exhibition manages to successfully attack the cliché of the tortured, totally original genius. But, by dismantling the legend, isn't there a danger of destroying the appeal that van Gogh has for so many people?
"I don’t think we can entirely stop making the legend," Hosaka ponders. "But if we make the legend, we should at least try to make the real legend. I want to move the legend closer to the paintings and to the real self of van Gogh."
C.B.Liddell
The Japan Times
4th May, 2005
It is also the legend that is driving Tokyo's art lovers from their homes, cafes, and petit galleries, in their hordes, to the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MoMAT) to see an exhibition that, perversely, seeks to destroy the crowd-pulling legend.
"Van Gogh is thought of as genius or a madman," curator Kenjiro Hosaka complains. "That is a just a story, a legend. It makes it difficult to get to the real information on him. It gets in the way of his social and historical background. Most audiences like legends. They need legends to get a grip on the art, but we want to look around the legend. We want to break the legend."
Van Gogh in Context, with about 30 oil paintings by van Gogh and an equal number of works by other artists, attempts to make several points: (1) Van Gogh wasn't the tortured, isolated, and insane artist of cliché; (2) his art wasn't just a geyser of pure, wild creativity shooting out of nowhere as is often thought; and (3) what he was as a man and an artist was firmly rooted in the race and culture from which he sprang. In other words, he didn't just fall from the sky.
 |
| Still Life with Open Bible (1885) |
Calvinism, with its emphasis on the sanctity of honest labor, infuses a painting like The Sower (1888), in which the sun creates a golden canopy over the humble laborer at his work. This painting, with three crows eating ‘the seeds that fall by the wayside,’ also evokes the Biblical Parable of the Sower, one that had a particularly strong resonance with Calvinists.
This painting, especially in the figure of the sower, owes a clear debt to an eponymous painting of 1850 by Jean-Francois Millet, an earlier artist who delighted in scenes of the working poor. This ties in with one of the main themes of the exhibition, the influence that van Gogh received from his contemporaries and predecessors. To make this point there are even several Japanese woodblock prints, including Keisai Eisen's Courtesan (c. 1830 – 46), alongside van Gogh's own surreal version.
By highlighting the many influences on van Gogh's art, the exhibition goes a long way to dismantling the myth of pure creativity that has surrounded him in the public's mind. Instead of a half insane visionary impulse to paint, a picture emerges of a painter who carefully looked at other painters and diligently learned his craft from them. Almost all the elements of van Gogh's art are reflected in the context with which this exhibition surrounds his art.
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| Road with Cypress and Star (1890) |
Although the artistic influence of other artists is apparent, the tendency remains to view van Gogh as an emotionally isolated figure. While this may be true for part of the period he spent in Arles towards the end of his life (1888-90), it is certainly not true of his time in Paris (1886-88).
"Van Gogh organized exhibitions with other artists, like Signac, Gauguin, and Toulouse-Lautrec, who were outside the mainstream," Hosaka points out. "He called this group the 'Petit Boulevard,' and he was well known in artistic circles."
It was this experience that led Van Gogh to believe he could found a utopian art colony in Arles in the South of France. This is the time and place central to his legend, as this was his most productive period and also where he started suffering fits of madness that finally led him to shoot himself in 1890.
The Yellow House (1888), shows the famous building where van Gogh lived at this time. The pale yellow hues under a heavy cobalt sky create an almost oppressive feeling, hinting at the mental trauma van Gogh was to suffer there. Indeed, it is always possible to see something of the half-insane genius of legend in the strong distortions of form and color, and the powerful brushstrokes so characteristic of his art, almost as if he were painting in a hallucinatory frenzy. However, van Gogh's madness occurred in short episodes between long periods of lucidity.
"When he was ill he didn't paint," Hosaka informs. "So I don't think his art comes from his craziness."
 |
| The Yellow House (1888) |
"I don’t think we can entirely stop making the legend," Hosaka ponders. "But if we make the legend, we should at least try to make the real legend. I want to move the legend closer to the paintings and to the real self of van Gogh."
C.B.Liddell
The Japan Times
4th May, 2005
Thanks for this. The only original painting I ever saw of his and now I cannot remember the title just blew me away. It was as if it was bursting out of the canvas because he had put texture upon texture and the painting was almost a sculpture of a scene, I knew I was in the presence of genius and not madness. The rest of the paintings in this exhibit were nothing. .
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