A True Masterpiece

I first learned of the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit when it was still in France, long before I knew it was coming to the United States. I posted something about it on social media with a wishful sigh of amazement. When I learned it was coming to Chicago, I bought myself and a few friends the experience for my birthday.

I have been a fan of Vincent Van Gogh since 1973 when my older siblings received the game Masterpiece for Christmas. I was 5, too young to play, but I clearly remember the cards of the classic paintings.

There was money involved in the game, like Monopoly with art instead of property. It soon got buried by more popular games and I would have to search under Mouse Trap, Sorry, and Battleship, to pull out the cards from the box. They were bigger than a playing deck and were thick and heavy in my small hands. I would flip through the paintings, studying them like flashcards. I was a weird kid.

Years later, I heard Don McClean's, Starry Starry night for the first time in the car with my dad. I heard him sing how the flowers "reflect in Vincent's eyes of China Blue," and knew what he meant having held one of his self portraits years before.

My father had been singing along with the song but stopped. I looked to see why and saw tears streaming down his cheeks, which seemed to bother me more than they did him. At a stoplight, he explained the lyric, "You took your life as lover's often do," and what it meant about Van Gogh and his mental illness. Listening, I noticed how my fathers eyes had turned from grey to turquoise from his tears, the same as mine did when I cried.

Despite having produced over a thousand pieces of art,it is said that Vincent only sold one painting in his lifetime shown here, The Red Vineyard.

Vincent's complicated inner life is recorded not only on canvas but in the hundreds of letters written to his family, friends and fellow artists.

“I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.”

In 2017, the first ever fully painted animated feature film was released about his life, Loving Vincent. Created by 125 artists, the 65,000 hand painted frames that compose this film is a historical creation. It is a remarkable work of collaborative art that should not be missed.

A year later, William Defoe played the artist in, "At Eternity's Edge."

We continue to be hungry for his story as if we don't know how it ends. His isolated suffering seems to touch something in all of us.

From his writings we can hear Vincent was lucid in describing his internal struggle, the contradiction between his simple ideals of love and faith and the expectations of society, his father and himself. The awareness of the pull to produce and exist by a different measure of success was more than he could reconcile at times.

"I'm such a nobody.”-

I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed.”

Vincents fragile mind sometimes required more than the long distance support of his brother or the few friends who stood by him through his maladies. His struggles escalated to the infamous ear severing wherein he later admitted himself to the asylum at St. Remy. The year of rest and healing in the hospital allowed Vincent to produce two of his most famous works, Starry Night and Iris' among the almost 200 paintings created during his prolific stay.

After being released, Vincent delivered Blossoming Almond Tree to his nephew and went on to stay with a doctor in the north of France. During another even more frenzied season of productivity wherein Vincent produced at least 70 paintings in 70 days, his letters grew more worrisome and his decline was rapid. In October of 1890 Vincent gave in to the sadness and shot himself, dying 2 days later.

Recently I heard a global study that found while suicide worldwide had decreased between 2000 and 2019, in The Americas suicide rates actually INCREASED by 17%.

Worse still, today I read on the CDC website that emergency room visits from suspected suicide attempts was up 50% between 2019 -2021 for teenage girls in the United States.

It's hard to believe with all of the progress we have made there is still much stigma that keeps the topic hushed.

I think Vincent can be a bridge. Who in the world doesn't recognize the genius of Van Gogh? Who doesn't respect his talent? Who wouldn't think he and his condition are worthy of consideration?

It's not very often that you might get the majority of the population, 74%, to consider what it's like for the 26% whose brains work differently. I think they may give ear to the matters as it relates to the famous artist.

What if anxiety and depression were understood to be a natural response to the heightened state of sensitivity an artist lives in? What if it wasn't considered a disability, but evidence of a gift that should be be protected and nurtured?

Of course, it's not possible that the entire increase of suicidal ideation among teenage girls is because they are all artists.

What might be possible though, is by really seeing others, understanding their worth, recognizing the masterpiece they are, maybe it would be just enough to quiet their heart and mind until they can see it for themselves. It's certainly worth a try.

'If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning' - Vincent Van Gogh

Studies show that our overall sense of wellness is improved when we behold works for art, the gifts of nature. The Immersive Van Gogh exhibit is a masterpiece created from Vincents masterpiece's. Below is a taste. Be patient and listen for the Iris's to emerge. I found the sound used to emote the feeling of wrestling through the earth straining to my ears, until, the blue and yellow blooms shot up the wall with appropriate meandering music. I hope you take the time to experience a couple of minutes of it here - and to go see it if it comes to your city.

To most people, Vincent's life was a mess. He was by no means a success by this world's standards. His life echos the continuing need for non-judgement and tolerance for each other.

Who can say whether that person you call "crazy" is an unknown Van Gogh?

Who can say the effort they offer isn't the best they have despite our expectations?

Who can say what might happen if we were to look at one another with the cock of a head out of curiosity to understand instead of a shake of the head in disapproval.

Who can say today, what might be considered a masterpiece tomorrow?