Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum

The quick facts:

An intensely religious Van Gogh first came to Amsterdam from his home in the southern Netherlands in 1877 to study theology. Unfortunately though, after failing his entrance exam, failing a shorter course at a Protestant school, failing to impress the priesthood by his missionary work (he tried to share in the squalid conditions of his parish, but the other priest's just found it disgraceful), and struggling to live in Brussels for a time, he finally returned home to his parents in 1879.

He didn't have the best relationship with his parents, but his brother Theo was always very supportive. 

In 1881, Van Gogh fell for his widowed cousin and eventually proposed. She responded "niet, nooit, nimmer" (no, never, never), and her family spent the next year or so fending off his relentless attempts to see her. At one point, he held his arm over a lamp flame demanding that he be allowed to see her for as long as he could keep his arm there.

He hung out with Gauguin for a period of time, but the relationship was shaky- Gauguin was pushy, domineering, and had a streak of elitism. Van Gogh never got the respect he wanted while alive.

The "ear" incident did in fact involve him cutting off the entire thing (not just the lobe). It did not involve some girl he'd been in love with though- really, it seemed he'd been so lonely he just hung out with prostitutes as often as he could afford. When he cut off his ear, he wrapped it in newspaper and handed it to one of the prostitutes.

In 1889, thanks to a petition of some 30 townspeople, Van Gogh the "redheaded madman" was kicked out of his house and committed himself to a mental institute. Here he stayed and painted for about a year. In 1890, he walked out into a field and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He managed to walk back and live for two more days, finally dying with his loving brother at his side.

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Van Gogh has been one of my favorite artists for some time, so getting to see some of his most iconic paintings in person was really exciting. If you were ever going to do what the best modern poetry does in the form of a painting- that would be Van Gogh. We talk about work being "expressive," but really I don't know how many other artists we can say really accomplish what Van Gogh does in terms of this. I suspect part of this might have something to do with his being almost entirely self-taught... his paintings often mix mediums, and do not suffer from the limitations an artistic education might have imposed. They experiment in style, of course, but more than anything else they seem almost entirely pure expressions of his own feelings and methods of seeing the world around him.

"The Potato Eaters" 1885

Van Gogh was especially proud of this painting. It reflected his love of the peasant life, as he imagined it to be: honest, hard-working, food being earned through their own labour. Though this often shared envisioning of these people might have been damaging socially (ie: "they're happy working out there, they don't need any help"), his paintings are nonetheless an earthy, warm representation of his vivid imagination.

Van Gogh's paintings also just have a very simple, straightforward "look at me" quality. There are many great painters whose work I think requires effort on my part; I have to really concentrate to stand still and look at their paintings pensively.  Van Gogh's works though are so brilliant to look at- I could sit in front of some of them for hours, just taking notes on how it makes me feel, on his style and colors and lines. His style is infinitely entertaining even on just the surface level.

"The Bedroom" 1888

His painting of the bedroom has a relaxing note about it- despite the oddly tilting walls, the distorted perception, and even the fiercely contrasting colors, it seems to me like a view from a trance-like state. The eye is drawn to the bed, and around it the rest of the room is technically very simple.

As Van Gogh continued experimenting, he started to really play with pointillism, adding his own unique style to the concept. To really get a sense of this, you have got to CLICK HERE (website for the museum) and then click on "show enlargement." This was something of a breakthrough in his style, but looking at his older paintings, it almost seems like a natural progression to me- why stop at expressing in color, line, and subject matter? Why not push painting expression into the realms of texture and movement as well? This dashed style seems to express a shivering, often intense motion even in paintings of otherwise still subjects. 

"Self-Portrait with Felt Hat" 1888

One of the absurdly famous series of five sunflower paintings was in the Amsterdam Museum as well. Van Gogh actually painted them because Gauguin was coming to visit, and he had previously complimented one of Van Gogh's other sunflower paintings. Van Gogh used them to decorate the room in which Gauguin would stay. The special challenge with this one was using almost only the color yellow, while still trying to create something visually meaningful.

"Sunflowers" 1889

"Tree Roots" 1890

Although we can't be sure, it is often guessed that one of these two were the last painting Van Gogh ever did; it is certain at least that both were completed in the last weeks of his life. The tree roots seem violent, a messy jumble that cannot be navigated or ordered; he has also lopped off the tops of the trees themselves. In the wheat field, the path stretching through is blatantly cut short, and the sky swirls into a black mass.

"Wheat Field with Crows" 1890

Again, I'm honored to have gotten to see these paintings. Selfishly, I wish I could have gotten my photo taken in front of some of them (no cameras allowed)! However, not having that constant clicking and shot-dodging going on made the experience that much better.