Forever Vincent

By Nicole Bittar

There is innate fear and trepidation in approaching something so dear to one's heart, so lifelong and therefore ingrained in one's soul and psyche.

With this in mind, I attempt to explore why the artistic struggle and posthumous triumph of Vincent Van Gogh still resonate so strongly with such a wide-ranging audience, and whether the fine line between genius and madness is a driving and infinitely relatable force in the matter.

Also taking into account that even though my artistic passion feels all-inclusive and singular between myself and the incomparable Dutch post impressionist, I am not the only one "Loving Vincent".

The term is even the title of the first fully painted feature film, encapsulating the breathtaking repertoire of his artistic collection and lifelong struggles (March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890); a portrait of a vivid primal palette meets wild and ultimately non death-defying madness.

 “Loving Vincent” focuses on the delivery of a letter from Vincent to his brother, Theodore, following the artist’s last tragic days.

The film was a sellout at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year and at its June world premiere in Annecy, France, “Variety” reports that it received a 10-minute standing ovation.

British filmmaker Hugh Welchman and Polish painter Dorota Kobiela feature more than 62,000 oil paintings, recreated in the Dutch master’s style by 125 artists, in the 95-minute animation.

Rudyard Kipling's moving, oft-quoted line from his landmark poem, "If": "if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same" seems coined specifically for Vincent's journey, although the intrinsic element of disaster disproportionately outweighed critical or commercial success in his relatively short and sad lifetime.

He is widely believed to have died at age 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

But thankfully there were moments of pure brilliance, prodigious work and heartfelt beauty in his world.

With countless like minds in hot pursuit of his enchanting artistic trail in Arles, South of France, I have been moved to tears at the sight of the Night Cafe, Garden of the Hospital, site of the yellow house he briefly but tumultuously shared with Paul Gauguin in late 1888, even though the humble domicile no longer remains.

I have sat quietly blubbering like a love-struck fool at the immensity of his genius at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam amid its aura of meditative calm, overwhelmed by the reflection that Van Gogh's true gift to the art world lies in his ability to make the viewer feel that the masterpieces one stands in awe before were deftly, hurriedly, erratically created solely for them. And the millions like them who are also loving or, more likely, adoring Vincent.

On June 19 this year, the Van Gogh Museum received its one-millionth visitor, more than a fortnight earlier than the previous year, when a record 2.1 million devotees traipsed its hallowed halls. These increasing figures place the museum in the world's top five most visited art institutions.

Exhibition on Screen’s “Van Gogh: A New Way Of Seeing” is an informative documentary about the representation of the Van Gogh Museum and the artist’s legacy.

The opening sequence quotes a line from one of Vincent’s hundreds of letters to his brother and benefactor, Theo: “What most makes me the human being? I, an artist, I want to live life to the full. I want to live without ulterior motive: na?ve as a child. No, not as a child, as an artist. With goodwill. Just as life unfolds. So, I’ll find something in it. So, I’ll do my best in it.”  

Van Gogh Museum director Axel Ruger believes Vincent's lasting legacy is partly due to the fact that he lived and worked within the context of a network of other artists. He was inspired by earlier generations and subsequent generations were inspired by him.

What he may have lacked in natural talent, he more than made up for in expressionism and output. In a decade of painting, he produced more than 2100 works, including 860 oils, most of them in the last two years of his life.

His violent mood swings and well-documented battle with depression humanise the madness of Van Gogh’s misunderstood genius.

Following a wild altercation between the artist and Gauguin, Vincent infamously sliced off part of his earlobe in the bedroom of the yellow house. Understandably, the incident marked the demise of their once fruitful living arrangement.

Career failure as an art dealer, teacher, avid evangelist and his tempestuous personal relationships further incite sympathy and unite a common thread among his millions of fans: past, present and future.  

The enormously popular “Van Gogh and the Seasons” exhibition broke records this year at the NGV International.

Gaining entry to view major oils and sketches on loan from the world's leading museums and private collections proved inordinately time consuming, even with a pre-purchased ticket.

With visitor numbers exceeding 420,000 in its three-month tenure, “Van Gogh and the Seasons” became the most successful ticketed exhibition in the NGV's 156-year history.

Vincent would be turning in his grave with either incredulity or quiet knowing at his posthumous impact.

He poured heart and soul onto the canvas and it sings of hope in a hopeless world. It speaks deliriously of madness and passion entwined and it both decimates us with its vivid desperation and remains deeply ingrained with its promise of intensely wild beauty and paradise found.

Whether art loving or otherwise, these qualities unite the human spirit in this increasingly troubled and challenging era, those that precede and will no doubt follow it.

His impasto-rich masterworks continue to define episodes of our personal and objective history, from the palpable poverty of The Potato Eaters, to the sheer brilliance of Sunflowers (which were feverishly created to grace the walls of the yellow house), to the confronting series of self portraits, and this is not only universally relatable, but a poignant big-picture view we all share with the inimitable Vincent Van Gogh.

His dying words to beloved brother Theo were believed to be: "the sadness will last forever". But Vincent was wrong. The breathtaking, raw beauty of his artistic legacy continues to inspire awe and elicit exhilaration in countless generations.

“Loving Vincent” is on national release throughout Australia from November 2 (Madman Films).