Inspiration: Visiting Van Gogh - Up Close

“I dream my paintings and then I paint my dream.”
~Vincent Van Gogh

As March 30^th marks 159 years since the birth of Vincent Van Gogh I felt it was fitting to write about the current exhibition of his works on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Van Gogh- Up Close which runs through May 6, 2012.

For those that feel they know Vincent and his work (and I certainly count myself among them) I can’t stress enough that experiencing these paintings in person is a revelation. Color plates in a book fail to do his efforts justice. When you view these works at eye level the canvas is alive with swirls and slashes, dots and dashes; energetic strokes that convey Van Gogh’s sense of immediacy, his desire to capture his vision of the natural world.

We see Van Gogh’s work today and are drawn to the familiar vibrant colors and the tactile brushwork we have come to associate with his genius, yet it was considered garish and crude, the work of a madman, while he lived. He sold but one painting in his lifetime but we now recognize that he was nothing short of a revolutionary.

The displayed works cover a time span of roughly the last four years of Van Gogh’s life- a period of exuberance, intensity and great productivity also marked by bouts of illness and despair. Beginning in Paris in 1886, then to Arles in Southern France, then the St Remy mental institution and finally ending in the countryside of Auvers in the north where Vincent was buried in 1890.

Also included are Japanese prints which influenced these later works evidenced in his use of black contours, contrasting colors and cropped compositions.

“If we study Japanese art, then we see a man undoubtedly wise and a philosopher and intelligent…he studies a single blade of grass, But this blade of grass leads him to draw all the plants - then the seasons, the broad features of landscapes, finally animals and the human figure.”

You will not find animals or human figures in this exhibit but you will find iconic works like the glowing Sunflowers which garner instant recognition alongside lesser known pieces of quiet contemplation such as Underqrowth. All embody the paradox of his frenetic yet thoughtful sensibility- the seemingly random marks that evolve into details of flowers and butterflies, trees and wheat sheaves. He was both enervated and calmed by nature and wished to convey the beauty that he espied there.

“I’d like to paint in such a way that if it comes to it,” Van Gogh once wrote, “everyone who has eyes could understand it.”

Standing in the hushed galleries of the museum gazing at these glorious works I can honestly say I think we finally understand.

If you go:

Tickets are timed and it is recommended they be purchased in advance. 
Go to Philadelphia Museum of Art  to purchase

Parking is available in front of the musum in the circle (I easily found a spot before noon on a Saturday for $12) and behind the museum. 
Further information is avaialble here Parking