Everything is publicised on social media these days, isn't it? That's how we found out about events in our area. There's certainly a lot of truth in that statement. But old-fashioned print newspapers can still be a valuable source. I buy the Times every Saturday and I was leafing through the arts supplement when I noticed an article about current London exhibitions. The National Gallery is hosting Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, a selection of the Dutchman's spectacular paintings. The writer recommended that those unable to travel to London should try and catch the cinema broadcast of the exhibition. I discovered online that a single screening was scheduled at the Dunfermline Oden in three days time.
I'm well aware of the trend to show major stage productions in picture houses nationwide. And why not? The technology is available and we might as well use it to transport culture beyond the host city. But this was the first time I'd encountered the prospect of an exhibition on screen. I surmised the paintings would be shown, along with commentary by experts, and perhaps interspersing elements of the artist's life story. Which was pretty much bang on the money! The National Gallery extravaganza is Britain's biggest ever gathering of Vincent Van Gogh artworks, described as a once in a century experience. The man is one of the most beloved artists of all time, but often misunderstood. His paintings sell for tens (or even hundreds) of millions of dollars, yet he achieved only modest success during his lifetime. There are many tales of mental illness, alcoholism and, of course, the infamous incident where he cut off part of his ear. He took his own life aged just 37, yet produced a vast body of (later highly acclaimed) work in his final few years. Poets and Lovers focusses on Van Gogh's time in Arles, a town in southern France. He moved there from Paris in 1888 and embarked upon a highly productive spell in his new surroundings. My mum fancied coming along and I decided to buy tickets on the night as I could see on the website that just a handful of seats had been sold. That turned out to be a mistake as it cost an extra £2.50 from the self-service machine in the cinema foyer, compared to booking online. Lesson learned. In truth, I couldn't actually remember the last time I'd been to the Odeon. For me, it's an activity that fell away after the pandemic. After a quick coffee at Costa, wandered into the auditorium and could basically take our pick. I counted 12 people in attendance by the time the film started. A shame that an event like this can't attract more people but as Mum rightly pointed out, it's a niche market. Well, I now understood by only one showing had been scheduled. Across two years in the south of France, Van Gogh revolutionised his style in a symphony of colour and texture. He was inspired by poets, writers and artists. His desire to tell stories produced a landscape of creative imagination and romantic love on an ambitious scale. The artist turned the world around him into vibrant, idealised spaces and symbolic characters. Among the works featured in the exhibition are Starry Night over the Rhône’(on loan from the Musée d’Orsay), Yellow House’ (Van Gogh Museum, pictured below) and the National Gallery's own Sunflowers from 1888. The film was made in close collaboration with the exhibition curators and contained extensive contributions from those who had helped put the show together. I enjoyed the input from Scottish artist and TV presenter Lachlan Goudie, who pointed out that even a master craftsman such as Van Gogh was weak in certain areas, and obviously very strong in others. However, I couldn't figure out why one expert, who sounded as if she might be from Germany or the Low Countries, continually pronounced Van Gogh's surname to rhyme with bread dough. I thought it was only Americans who did that.
Obviously a movie theatre can never truly replicate the experience of absorbing iconic artwork in person. Had the exhibition been running during the summer months, I would surely have seen it during the course of my annual London trip. The cinema version gave me a flavour of the master's work, for less than twenty quid. It was nice to hear a breadth of opinion from the commentators and I learned a lot about Van Gogh's Arles period and his painting skills in general. Naturally the narrative delved into his personal life and excerpts from several letters to younger brother Theo (an art dealer) were read out. Hundreds of these paper documents survive and are in the custody of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Many were written in French and he often annotated the pages with simple pen sketches or, occasionally, detailed coloured drawings. Vincent also sent formal artwork to Theo. The brothers had agreed that in exchange for providing Vincent with a monthly allowance, Theo would receive the creative output and attempt to sell it. A key message of the film was that Van Gogh was far from the frenzied wildman of popular lore, daubing paint everywhere. He was instead a thoughtful figure who gave his work maximum attention. Born in Zundert in 1853, the young Vincent had a fairly comfortable upbringing. His father didn't earn a great deal as a minister but the church provided a staffed house for the family. Through spells living and working in the UK and Belgium, Van Gogh became fluent in English and French. As a budding artist, he was based in Antwerp and Paris before the move to Arles. By 1890, his mental health had taken a turn for the worse and he was admitted to an asylum for a while. Van Gogh remained creative until he died the same year from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Theo passed away a few months afterwards.
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