Van Gogh

Author: Li Yanru
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Vincent van Gogh's life and his creations are so closely intertwined that his works cannot be understood without knowing his life. His life has become a legend due to being frequently told. Van Gogh, as an outsider in his own environment, was misunderstood, thus becoming an embodiment of the suffering martyrdom of modern art. Van Gogh's life had a significant early impact on people's evaluation of his works and played a decisive role. An article about him was published in the January 1890 issue of La Revue Fran?aise, written by Albert Oriol, who had contact with Van Gogh's friend émile Bernard and learned details about Van Gogh's condition. Van Gogh was at the time hospitalized in a psychiatric asylum near Saint-Rémy, where he had had part of his right ear amputated a year earlier. In his critique of Van Gogh's works, Oriol used terms such as persistent passion and obsessive focus, revealing his understanding of the painter's mental state. In his view, Van Gogh was a genius who often showed brilliance, sometimes absurdity, and was always on the verge of madness. He believed Van Gogh was the Messiah, a messenger of truth, who would bring rebirth to our declining art, or even to our foolish industrialist society.