“I am working as one possessed” - Vincent van Gogh

Vincen van Gogh, Tree-Roots, Auvers-sur-Oise, July 1890.  Oil on canvas, 50 x 100 cm.

As this week is Thanksgiving, I thought it would only be appropriate to write about something I am thankful for – my run in with Vincent van Gogh. A few weeks ago I wrote about van Gogh and briefly mentioned my adoration of him. Let me expand on that: As I mentioned, it was during a family trip to Amsterdam the summer before my Junior year of high school that I fell in love. We had visited many museums, but it was the Van Gogh Museum which made me fall in love with art; and it was this museum coupled with the Anne Frank Museum which spurred my love for museums. I cannot recall what exactly it was about van Gogh which hooked me; but his subjects, color, and paint application mesmerized me and I stared at the artwork for hours. Even in his earlier work, van Gogh's choppy, thick brushstrokes manage to bring so much life and movement into his paintings. Later, his painting style coupled with his use of color really makes for amazing, interesting to look at paintings that treat the eye with their surprises.

Van Gogh's story is also so interesting. He shared his name with his older brother who died in infancy before our Vincent was born which seems somewhat of an ominous start. Van Gogh was subject to fits of passions – he threw himself in to becoming an art dealer, become wildly religious and left the art company he was working for to become a clergyman. This, too, failed, and on the advice of his brother, Theo, he began to paint. (Thank you, Theo!)

I shall confess that my dream job (however far out of my reach it might seem) would be to work at the Van Gogh Museum in some capacity. It would be heaven to be surrounded by his beautiful creations every day. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Foto Week DC

Last Friday I visited the Edison Place Gallery, which is a stones throw away from the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The gallery was participating in Foto Week DC sponsored by National Geographic and featured works by two amazing photographers – J. Baylor Roberts and B. Anthony Stewart. Their work was displayed in one large room in the gallery but separated by a small wall in the middle. The handful of their work displayed was in black and white and from the first half of the 20^th century.

J. Baylor Roberts was a photographer in the marines during World War I and then became involved with National Geographic. Three photographs of his really stud out for me. The first was A Date Night at the Drive-In, Route 1, Alexandria, Virginia from 1941. It is a beautiful picture with a scene of a football game playing on the screen in the background and a dozen or so sleek, identical black cars in the foreground. The second, Looking Through a Lens, Japan (c. 1950), shows a really neat and 'new' perspective; in the photograph a woman holds up a small magnifying lens which blocks her face, but in the actual magnifying glass one can see her whole face. The last photograph to stand out for me was Electro-Chemical Plant Furnace, Portland, Oregon (1942), this was not because I found it a breathtakingly amazing picture but because it was so underwhelming and not aesthetically pleasing or interesting. To make matters worse, it was given the position of the main photograph!

In contrast to this less-than-awe-some photograph, the main picture for B. Anthony Stewart's section was really cool. It was entitled Coal Miner, Omar, West Virginia (1938) and featured a full-on close-up shot of a man who had just come out of the mine. The miner was still wearing his hard hat with the lantern attached and was absolutely covered in coal dust; so much so that it had settled into every wrinkle of his face and highlighted his graying beard. His eyes, which are staring fully at the camera (and thus at the viewer) watery and full of emotion. This photograph is definitely the most amazing picture the gallery had of Stewart's and it more than deserved its place in the spotlight.

B. Anthony Stewart, Coal Miner, Omar, West Virginia (1938)

Both of these men have works from all over, which demonstrate that a photojournalist (like all types of journalists) must be willing to follow the story where ever it may be. The simple, no frills layout of the exhibition really allowed for the photographs themselves to speak and be admired for the great works that they are.  

The Story of Virginia at the Virginia Historical Society

On my way to see the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's Mocha Dick exhibit this past weekend I walked past the Virginia Historical Society, which is located right next door to the VMFA, and said “Oh, why not?”

Due to its position right next to the more inviting building of the VMFA, I was honestly pleasantly surprised at the amount of visitors the VHS had. I thought that if, after all my many trip to Richmond, it had taken me more than a year to visit the VHS, the museum would be devoid of people. Not only were there a lot of visitors, but they also spanned a wide range of ages and all seemed interested and happy to be there.

After a lackluster reception (read: the person sitting at the front desk did not even acknowledge my existence...) I decided to tour the Story of Virginia, an American Experience exhibit, which spanned history from the earliest human settlers in the region up to the present day – about 16,000 years of history! The exhibition was broken into four different chronological sections: Early Virginia to 1775, 1775 to 1860, 1861 to 1900, and 1900 to present day.

The exhibition found ways to include visitor of all ages with interesting wall texts, individual peoples' accounts of events, and really neat artifacts – from an original log cabin and animal fur pelts one was able to stroke in the Early Virginia to 1775 section, to a Conestoga Wagon, dress-up clothes, and period furniture pieces in the 1775 to 1869 section, to Civil War relics, daguerreotypes, a real late 19^th century streetcar, and a copper liquor still in the 1861 to 1900 section, to a lunch counter (to represent the lunch counter sit-ins in the 1960's), a Klu Klux Klan outfit, and a wall full of Time Magazine covers with famous Virginians on the cover. There were also countless videos and interactive screens and peppered throughout the exhibition one could find plaques which asked questions (such as “True or False: George Washington had wooden teeth?”) which one could then flip the over to find the answer to the question (“False: they were made from gold, ivory, lead, and human and animal teeth.”).

I noticed that the exhibition did not really make a big deal about the few pieces of artwork in its possession. I figured that this was because the museum was about history and not at all about art. This was made clear when I spotted a painting of Pocahontas in the first section of the exhibition. “Now, this painting looks very familiar,” I thought. And then it dawned on me: it is a copy of the very painting that, upon visiting the National Portrait Gallery, we were shown and told that it was the first acquisition of the NPG! More than that, there was another modern day copy of the same painting in which Pocahontas was rendered in (perhaps) a more accurate likeness – darker hair, tanner skin, etc.

It follows then, that while art museums desire authentic and original artwork, historical museums or societies are just as happy with a likeness of a piece; such as the Pocahontas painting, or the mock lunch counter from a sit-in (the Greensboro Lunch Counter is on display at the National Natural History Museum). This, I feel, is just; one does not go to the National Gallery of Art expecting to see Dorothy's ruby red slippers, no, one goes to the National Natural History Museum; where, likewise, one does not expect to see a beautiful original van Gogh.

The Virginia Historical Society should definitely expect another visit from me.  It fed my love of history and conveyed its complex story through personal stories of Virginians throughout time and amazing, intriguing artifacts.

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream." - Vincent Van Gogh

Starry Night

June 1889, Oil on Canvas, 28 3/8 x 36 1/8 in.

                I fully realized my passion for art during a family trip to Europe.  While in Amsterdam we visited The Van Gogh Museum; I walked through the doors and BOOM! I was head-over-heels in love.  It is only right, then, that I mention two articles I read recently pertaining to my favorite artist. 

Self-Portrait

September 1889, Oil on Canvas, 25 5/8 x 21 3/8 in.

                The first article, “The Stranger,” from Time Magazine is a short review of a new biographical book of Vincent van Gogh by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith called The Life.  My interest in this article led me to another book review from The New York Times entitled “The Persona and the Palette.”  Both articles mention that the book brings to light a new theory about his death; perhaps it was not suicide but an accidental shooting by a boy in town who owned a faulty gun and liked to tease van Gogh; why else would the doctor say van Gogh was shot from a distance?  Why would van Gogh tell the police “Don’t accuse anyone else.”  However, the book does not center on this theory but rather deals with tumultuous van Gogh’s life and art.  During the writing of their book the authors gathered a plethora of information; more than they were able to fit into the book.  The left out information was still interesting and pertinent so they created a companion website (http://vangoghbiography.com/mission) which includes notes, sources, biographies of people mentioned in the book, photographs, family trees, artwork, etc.  This situation (the book with the companion website) reminds me of an exhibition and an exhibition catalogue – where, no matter how much information and artwork, a curator must decide what artwork works the best to create a cohesive exhibition and the curator can then include other extraneous information in the catalogue.  I also see a link between the book with its website and the Luce Center at SAAM – where all kinds of artwork is on display and if you want to know more about a particular piece there are computers scattered around the space which can provide you with more information.

Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers

January 1889, Oil on Canvas, 36 5/8 x 28 3/4 in.

                The second article (found tacked to the bulletin board outside of the Luce Conservation Center), “Why van Gogh is Entering his Brown Period” by The Independent discusses the reasons why the yellows in van Gogh’s paintings are gradually turning brown.  After sample analysis was performed on both samples from van Gogh's paintings and samples from historic paint tubes it was discovered that the chrome yellow pigment van Gogh used to make his sunflowers vibrant is affected by sunlight; which gradually turns brown over time.   Scientists believe that van Gogh’s technique of mixing white paint with his chrome yellow may have acted as a catalyst to the paint changing color.  This finding, I believe, must affect curatorial practices on the exhibition of paintings by van Gogh with this chrome yellow pigment.  Hopefully scientists will be able to find a way to reverse the pigment’s reaction or at least stop the process from going any further.  If not, how will exhibition techniques for these paintings change?  How will curators react?