Vincent Van Gogh's birthday
Published March 30, 2004
Vincent Van Gogh was born 151 years ago today, on March 30, 1853.
I won't even pretend to know enough about paintings to say anything about his techniques or style, but I know what I like. I know the swirling chaos of the Starry Night simultaneously exhilirates and sobers me.
I also know that the spiritual emptiness of the Crows over the Wheatfield is about enough to make me shoot myself, as Van Gogh did in that wheatfield a few days after the painting. It's a special kind of cold.
It being springtime, however, let's conclude with a lesser known watercolour painting of bright Flowering Shrubs.
There are lots more good Van Gogh images at The Vincent Van Gogh Gallery.
- Vincent Van Gogh's birthday
- Published: March 30, 2004
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- Section: Culture
- Writer: Al Barger
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Back in the days when I had a job and money [winky] -- I flew to LA specifically to see the big Van Gogh show at LACMA.
It was breathtaking: to stand before so many pictures that I'd seen all my life in small photos or color plates in art books -- truly a transcendental experience. By the time I made it to the exit (where the 'wheatfield' was displayed), I was almost in tears. Few artists have that kind of power.
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Ah yes, Don Mclean sang it right. We did not know how to listen and perhaps we never will, but this world was definitely not meant for one as beautiful as Vincent Van Gogh.