I wanted to create a blog dedicated to one of the greatest artists who ever lived. It seems as though he is often criticised, and this appears to be increasing all of the time. We live in a world where artists are either working abstract, or surreal, or they are so heavily involved in realism, that their work quite franky resembles a good photograph. I don't really know where I want to go with this blog, but I do obviously want to take it somewhere.
Vincent Van Gogh has been the greatest inspiration to me personally as an artist, over the past ten years. Prior to that, I was more focused on other work, and paid very little attention to him. I can hardly imagine now, how I used to walk right past his paintings, at the Toledo Museum of Art. They have one of the finest Wheatfields, I have ever seen. About 10 years ago, a friend traded a book pertaining to the life of Vincent, for one of my paintings. I wasn't really happy with the trade, but have come to view Vincent as an inspiration. I don't paint like him, and probably never will, but I don't think that is important. What is important is his work, and its effect on artists, and non-artists alike. Even with all of the criticism, every book store has books about this man and his art. For museums, they have really arrived when they can add one of his pieces to their permanent collection.
In studying his work, there is a freedom, seldomly seen in any other artist. Yet there was a cost. The cost that he paid for his work is not respected by many. Even recently another artist I know referred to him in a deragatory manner. I don't care what negatives others have to say. All that I know is that I find myself asking the question how would Vincent do this, or that? Would he like this painting? How was he able to place a well delineated line there, and make it work? How come the sun in his painting is the same value as the grass? Can I pull that off?
In a world where artists frequently eat each other alive, Vincent remains a guide, in his beliefs regarding a proper manner for artists to relate. In most discussions, this is the point in time when we are all reminded of how he was seen walking toward Gaugain with a straight razor. That is not what I mean. Rather, the spirit of cooperation that existed. While Gaugain lived with him, he listened, and learned from Gaugain, and even painted like him for a while. However, he had to remain true to himself, and was not long distracted.
The thing that I find most important about Vincent was his deep belief in God. I am of the belief that without God there is no art, or anything at all. In reading his theories on color, I have seen these very things presented by God in the world around us. God juxtaposes compliments. Go for a drive on a fall day, and view the oranges of the mature leaves, as they appear under the blue sky. Or the reds in the trees, as they relate to the remaining greens, both in the trees, and on the ground. Go past a wheat field ready for harvest, and view those little purple flowers, that are scattered around. This world is a painting. An ever moving painting, with a perfect composition, and God is an artist. We live on the canvas, and Vincent was able to capture just a little of this.
