Vincent (2024)
See full artwork here: Vincent. Pencil, 2024.
I remember the first time I ever saw one of Van Gogh’s paintings. It was at art camp and I was probably around 8 years old. The teacher had passed around copies of famous paintings, and I ended up with one of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
I was struck by the shades of yellow and green, the jubilant flowers, and the oddly endearing signature along the belly of the vase (“Vincent”). I copied it enthusiastically, and that marked the beginning of my lifelong fascination with this great artist…
Van Gogh’s paintings are colorful and vibrant, and no matter if he painted flowers, landscapes, portraits, or cafes (see Café Terrace at Night, above), they are relatable to one and all (including 8-year old me). But his works have emotional depth too, and this is something I’ve grown to appreciate immensely ever since that art camp.
Van Gogh didn’t just paint what he saw, but also what he felt. Each painting is a glimpse into his inner state at the time that he painted it, which in a way functions as a window into his soul (see The Night Café, below).
Brilliant colors and impasto brushstrokes convey the happiness he felt when admiring sunflowers in a vase or when he saw clouds swirling over a wheat field (see Wheat Field with Cypresses, below).
Some of his paintings are whimsical (see Portrait of Joseph Roulin, above); others, like his Starry Night Over the Rhône (below), are tranquil and wondrous. In all cases, he had a deep capacity to appreciate the beauty in the everyday–and capture it with his brush.
Yet, a tinge of melancholy abides throughout all of his work.
Van Gogh was mentally unwell and deeply lonely, and he ultimately died at age 37 (widely believed to be by suicide). I sense his pain in his art. Someone who would fill so many hearts with joy carried immeasurable despair inside of his own. Tupac Shakur alluded to this in a poem that he dedicated to Van Gogh, called Starry Night:
A creative heart, obsessed with satisfying
this dormant and uncaring society
you have given them the stars at night
and u have given them
Bountiful Bouquets of Sunflowers
but 4 u there is only contempt
and though u pour yourself into that frame
and present it so proudly this world
could not accept your masterpieces
from the heart.
So on that starry night u gave 2 us
and u took away from us
the one thing we never acknowledged
your life.
In a strange way, I feel indebted to Vincent for all that he’s given me: hope, appreciation, and even sadness.
Since his Sunflowers were passed to me all those years ago, Vincent Van Gogh has helped me feel more deeply what it means to be a human. I wanted to acknowledge him for that, so I made this drawing:
