To Be or Not To Be: The Artist and The Preacher

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them:

To die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished.

To die to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life.

 

Reference: From Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1: Shakespeare

Photo courtesy - Wikimedia Commons

One of Van Gogh's last completed works before committing his self-inflicted fatal injury was At Eternities Gate (Jul 1890).  The title alone reflects his state of mind in the final days of his earthly treadpath revealed here as perhaps he wrestles with "shuffling off his mortal coil" and crossing the one-way threshold into eternity to meet his Maker. From the subject's perspective in the painting, he would see darkness, feel tension in the clenched hands, hear the crackling of the fire, and feel the posture of sitting in the chair.  Only the subject, not the viewer, would ever fully know his internal state of mind.

From the viewer's perspective, there are only three objects of note in the location, the subject, the chair and the fire. I sense anguish and fatigue and indecision in the subject's posture as he wilfully shuts out the light of day by covering his eyes with his own clenched hands as if in a feeble attempt to stop observation of all things, to not look at the viewer, and to stop time. Only from his autobiographical letters are we made aware of his recurring efforts to still the demons of internal mental illness and anguish.  Many of those bouts were incapacitating for his artistic endeavors for longer and longer periods of time creating further anxiety and frustration in direct conflict with his creative pursuit. Because of his theological studies early in life, can we surmise that he may even be in a posture of prayer conversing with and wrestling with his Maker? Earlier in Van Gogh's Still Life with Open Bible (1885), the book is opened to the suffering servant depiction in Isaiah 53:3-5. Is the natural man wrestling with the spiritual man? With thoughts of suicide, the consequences of the irretrievable act in the flesh might be daunting for a Christian believer with an eternity to consider for the final disposition of the human spirit. Heaven or hell? For the natural man, the fire is burning bright in his artistic productions despite his limitations and provides warmth in its proximity but may diminish to embers in the future or die out to dark coals without fuel to continue. But for the spiritual man? Is that a crackling of a symbolic hellfire we hear in the otherwise quiet stillness of the contemplative room?

To Be or Not to Be? THAT IS THE QUESTION. No doubt in my mind. Every moment of every day. And, there is Calamity in so long a life as apportioned to us in fleeting moments. I can respect these things.... along with the diversity of thought from folks who propose that some artist other than Shakespeare created those lines. As Artists, we hope we can change the world amidst its Calamity with our unique hand. Let's create Order from Chaos. Let's create Something Humble or Magnaminous from Nothing. Lets paint. And.....Lord.....please have mercy on us poor sinners and help us all with abundant grace and overflowing mercies. I need more than my talent. Thank you Van Gogh.  ;o)

Future Influence: Can We Start Where Others Have Left Off?

Once upon a time (all great stories start this way).... there was a Dutch artist named Vincent Van Gogh (30 Mar 1853-29 Jul 1890) who eventually became a famous post-Impressionist and was recognized as a leader in what was to become the Modern art movement since many artists were influenced by his style.
Although the Van Gogh WikiBiography provides much fun, I note a few salient points for today:

• Early in his career, Vincent was a theology student in preparation for preaching and church work (1877-1880)
• Vincent was known for his signature bright blue and yellow depictions of paint-heavy expressive brushstrokes
• His life of trials and tribulation as an artist is uniquely well-documented since he maintained a robust correspondence with his younger brother Theo, an art dealer
• He was regarded generally as a loner afflicted with mental illness 
• Brother Theo was a close confidant and Vincent's primary means of financial support
• Vincent cut off his own ear during an argument with the artist Gauguin (1888)
• Vincent's artistic breakthrough occurred in Arles France (1888-1889). With worsening bouts of mental anguish, eventually he was admitted to an insane asylum in Saint-Remy de Provence and was released to work in Auvers-sur-Oise (1890) but he created some his most notable and colorful works during this time 
• Vincent was a proverbial starving artist having made only one sale in his lifetime for a mere pittance
• He allegedly shot himself in the chest in a wheatfield and crawled back to his boarding room
• He died at age 37 in the arms of his brother Theo who arrived from Paris two days after the incident
• According to some art historians, Van Gogh's last executed work left on the easel was Crows in a Wheatfield (Jul 1890)

Photo courtesy - Wikimedia Commons

The sky is a bold turbulent blue and the wheatfields are a golden yellow perhaps whipped by the wind. The roads are brown and green....partly barren and partly verdant. Uncharacteristically, there are two celestial bodies lit on the horizon-a greater and a lesser light. Traversing the rolling hills, I see three roads and possible paths emerging from the viewer's perspective. One is centrally located and approaches the greater light at the distance horizon. It seems to command the viewer's perspective and selection. The remaining two paths surround the golden wheatfields that are ready for harvest. Marauding crows intent upon the harvest are either entering or leaving the field of view in the central portion and upper right hand corner of the landscape....the flock receding to the distant horizon.

In 1996, 106 years after Van Gogh's death, my wife and I had the good fortune during a business trip to Amsterdam to enjoy many of his works now held in the Amsterdam Van Gogh museum.

In 2009, I visited a local high school art show and was inspired by the creative execution of the young artists under the tutelage of the local art teacher. I recall a number of students creating new innovative art work and noted with pleasant surprise that some had also depicted some works of the well-known Impressionists, i.e., Van Gogh and Monet in particular. One young female student had painted Vincent Van Gogh's Crows in a Wheat Field.  I was most impressed with this souvenir of his alleged last painting and I inquired whether I could purchase it but it was not for sale.

It took me about a year of further wanderlust but I was eventually inspired partially by the effort of these local high school artists to renew my artistic endeavors from my own early years. I did not intend to exactly copy the original piece but rather to allow it to influence how I approached my souvenir of the masterpiece. I began my new artistic journey by rendering Crows in a Wheat Field (souvenir 2009). I researched the piece in the literature and with images from the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum and one sunny, summer day, I set up the easel outdoors and completed the work to my own satisfaction.  The result is then a memory and recollection of what I saw in the original and how I feel about Van Gogh and the meaning of his life's journey and work.

Opinion: What does the Van Gogh painting Crows in a Wheatfield mean to me? It is a somber, sober and foreboding piece. Based on his biography, I sense Vincent's battle between spiritual and worldy imperatives perhaps denoted by the depiction of a greater and lesser light at a distant horizon yet to be reached. As the moon reflects the emitted light of the sun, so the lesser light on the horizon depicts the imperatives of the more worldy human spirit reflecting the greater divine light that is emitted from its source.  The practical demands of choosing an occupation and making his way in the world financially was always at war with his human spirit for a noble and pure life and his spiritual outlook for the divine which included his occupational selections of either artist or Christian preacher. There is more than one perceived path to be taken. One leads to the greater light in the distance. All paths are bathed in the glow of the greater light. All paths include proximity to the potential harvest in the walk-through of financially viable work product or paintings in the field along the way to the horizon. Each path however is both a barren brown and a verdant green denoting some unproductive and also productive work along the trodden path in the earthy soil. Vincent was never economically successful at either of his selected occupational roles although his resultant artistic works are prolific and eventually became known as rare and valuable masterpieces after his death.

In painting one of his last works, he represents that the seeds of his artistic endeavors have been planted in the world, the crop is golden and mature and his life's work and oeuvre were in the hands of his brother Theo, and the portfolio is therefore ready for harvest at some future time. Oddly, there is no human in the painting representing a farmer trodding the path nor reaping the harvest but rather we have a flock of maurauding crows from the world at large that steal at the ripe kernels of the finished paintings at the peak of the harvest. Vincent left his works to Theo.  His last words spoken according to Theo were...."The sadness will last forever". Theo died six months after his brother. It was Theo's wife who would later consolidate and process the collection of paintings and letters for posterity.

Conclusion: The sources for artistic influence of one's own work can be on a global and local level. The influence may come from historical sources and one's daily life journey. We are connected to others across time and space. We have the opportunity to influence others in the future with our own works. We can paint our future today with our daily occupational, avocational, or recreational work effort.