The real Van Gogh

by Nana Amoakoh

For many, Van Gogh is associated with sunflowers, ear removal and cringe-worthy American pronounciation.

The Royal Academy’s depiction of the artist in “The Real Van Gogh – the artist and his letters” attempts to dispel the popular image of the Dutch painter as an erratic genius.

Presenting his surviving correspondence to portray a self-taught, meticulous and reflective individual with a wide variety of influences - it doesn’t fail to deliver this promise.

Van Gogh decided to become an artist at 27, having dabbled in an eclectic range of other vocations, including persuing a childhood aspiration to preach the gospel.

His art and captions from the letters received by Theo (his brother, the main recipient of his letters) and other contemporaries including Paul Gauguin highlight the personal importance of perfecting his art.

Evident development

Over his ten-year career, a development in his work is evident.

Having mastered sketching, Van Gogh would devote himself to capturing the fluidity of human movement using the most underappreciated members of society as his subjects.

In a letter to his sister in 1887, van Gogh said of The Potato Eaters (considered one of his most accomplished pieces): "I wanted to convey the idea that the people eating potatoes by the light of an oil lamp using the same hands with which they take food from the plate to work the land, that they have toiled with their hands—that they have earned their food by honest means."

Accepting criticism as a painful but necessary part of the process, once achieving the heroic perspective he craved in this period of his work, Van Gogh moved onto the notion of colour.

His preoccupation is most clearly depicted in the numerous still lifes he produced, following in the footsteps of the Dutch masters of the 17th Century, with flowers and fruit at the helm of identification and colour remaining an important characteristic.

Japanese influences

Though it is argued that his greatest influence was Japanese art, highly fashionable in Paris during the periods he would go to visit his brother in the city.

“All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art”, he would write in 1886.

His more famous pieces, such as Self-portrait of an Artist (1888) and Van Gogh’s chair (November 1888 – January 1889) are oil on canvas, but this vast collection reveals the experimental nature of his work.

Pieces such as Road in Etten (October 1881) and Nursery of Schenkweg (April – May 1882) demonstrate intricate continuation using a range of mediums including chalk, graphite, ink, pastel and watercolours.

I had hoped that at least one of the memorable Sunflower stills (1887 - 9) would have made an appearance, and there is no Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889).

Van Gogh will be universally remembered as a genius with a tortured mind, standing alongside similar legends Kahlo, Munch and Basquiat, and this should not be disguised nor forgotten.

The modern greats like Banksy and Hirst have more business acumen than the forlorn story tellers of the past.

In his lifetime recognition of Van Gogh’s talent was limited to his brother who was the only person to buy his work.

Though very moving I could not help feeling as though some inspiration had evaded me.

I would argue that this is more an exhibit for the fan than the Van Gogh novice.