Looking at a van Gogh for the First Time!!!

I am amazingly drawn to van Gogh the man and the artist. His tortured life is a testament to tenacity in the face of odds not only stacked against him but smothering him to near death. I’m officially on a quest to see as many van Gogh works in my lifetime as possible. The quest began last week when I attended “The Art of the Flower” exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. I cried, I must admit, when I entered the room where the van Gogh works were on display. Of course, there was a line of people in which I waited patiently  to stand in awe of his work that was sneered at and overlooked during his lifetime. 

Now worth millions, the art of Vincent van Gogh will leave you speechless. I looked, watched, studied, inhaled, and truly experienced each of the four paintings. I wanted to continue my mental escape unencumbered, but the room was packed and people were yapping about things they didn’t understand. There was one young lady who roamed to and fro between the paintings stating that she loved one the most. She compared (aloud) the variations between the works based upon the aesthetics and dates. Her favorite was one he completed while in a better mental state than the other that she cringed at the sharp contrasting broad strokes including black outlines around wavy almost swirling attempts to express flowers.  I wish I had had an hour alone in the room to really enjoy the experience, but my short time becoming metaphysically one with van Gogh--his eyes saw and painted a painting that my eyes were able to see uninhibited by the page of a glossy book--was well worth it. I saw the painterly qualities, the impasto in person, and felt the wildness/calmness that was van Gogh! Next stop: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vase of Flowers (1890)