Van Gogh: Painted with Words

Usually, I have never looked into the life of great artists. I never saw the point. All one needs to see is the work of the man/woman. Why is there the need to see into their lives? The art curriculum never emphasised it during my school days either. Of course if I was interested I could have researched them myself. But I never did. Why would I?

When you look at an artwork what do you see? Say it is an oil painting. You see the size, the colour, the subject, the technique... You attach the title of the work and a name to it. And in you're mind you see the face attached to that name if you've been fortunate to have witnessed portraits of the artist. But either with or without the knowledge of what this creator looks like you form an impression of them in your mind. A silent impression. The kind of person you think they were in the evidence of their work. Most of the time that impression is... "huh, talented guy".

You marvel at the work. You either like it or not at all. And with that you have an objective opinion, solely of your own. This is my lame excuse for ignorance. Though the life of an artist is fascinating I would much like to keep myself in the dark. Maybe this will change in the future and yesterday may be the beginning.

Van Gogh: Painted with Words, opened my mind to the life of the artist Vincent Van Gogh. One of the most celebrated artists of the post-impressionist movement, known for not only painting what he saw but how he felt. This was all that I knew and associated with the man behind the well known works such as 'Sunflowers', 'Starry Night' and the many self portraits of the man himself; aside from a little backdrop knowledge that he never sold many of his works during his life, suffered from mental illness, seizures and the infamous incident of cutting off his ear and presenting it to a girlfriend (actually a prostitute). So I knew a little more than I put forword. But, what I failed to recognise was the passion and love for the world this man had in his heart and devoted in his paintings. He was enthusiastic and instantly consumed by ideas of things he loved and spoke of them with such delicacy and depth, letting them consume his world for the better but also for the worst. 

Van Gogh: Painted with Words, a brilliantly well title docudrama, paints the artist with the actual words taken from the man's letters to his brother Theo. I enjoyed it.