there's a reason why "vincent and the doctor" means so much to me.
(©)
Most of you are probably aware of my feelings re: Vincent Van Gogh. So I shan't prattle on too much tonight. It's just that... No other artist means as much to me as Van Gogh. I admire Waterhouse, and I enjoy Mucha. But I love Van Gogh. Looking at just one -- at any one -- of his paintings gives me a tidal wave of feelings. Joy, sadness, love, awe. I look at a Van Gogh, and my heart aches from it all. I cry at the thought of him and his ecstatic wonder at the universe; and weep at the depths of his depression and madness.
I am not an artist. I understand very little about composition or form or balance or technique. All I know is that Van Gogh's paintings take me out of myself and into the vastness of natural beauty and human suffering. His swirls and jabs and layers of paint inspire, and move, and overwhelm. I can almost hear the music in them.
Today marks the 122nd anniversary of Van Gogh's death. He spent the last two days of his life following the gunshot in terrible pain. His beloved brother Theo was at his side, but no one else really cared. And his last words were, "The sadness will last forever."
He spoke nothing but the truth.
To close, have my two favourite Van Gogh quotes:
"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."
• • •
"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."
Tonight, I hope I dream of stars and haystacks and sunflowers -- and that ginger madman at his easel capturing it all.