Van Gogh's Life

Author: Zhou Shifeng (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-02-12
Features:
Preface: In the Chinese reading community, there have been numerous biographies of Van Gogh and his painting albums published, but combining his paintings with his biography, as in this Van Gogh's Life in Paint, has never been done before. Generally speaking, it is natural to publish a painter's life story alongside his works, but for Van Gogh, such a combination holds special significance. Up to the period of his life, few painters were as dedicated, conscious, and consistent as he in letting painting construct his own living environment, making it an integral part of his life, an extension of space in the real world, and a confirmation of reality. In his lifetime, he strove to extend every corner of his life into his paintings—painting the streets he walked, the parks he strolled in, the rooms he stayed in, the chairs he sat on, the shoes he wore, the pipes he smoked, and also the women he loved, the sunflowers and cypress trees, wheat fields and gardens he poured immense passion into. Because he sketched under the scorching sun and in the rain, he shared the experience of life's labor with the farmers in the fields. What he shared with the world was not just his feelings of hard work but also passion, happiness, hope, anxiety, loneliness, melancholy, despair, and struggle. In this way, he not only gave meaning to life in his paintings but also allowed his paintings to shine in life, illuminating the world with colors as pure as gold, letting sunlight rain down like colorful droplets on every barren land. At the same time, he also painfully painted gnarled tree trunks, like iron fences, that separated him from the beauty, as well as twisted branches and swirling clouds that seemed to distort due to pain. He was naturally compassionate, and in his eyes, objects were humanized, and people were characterized. He would say, "A row of willow trees with their tops cut off sometimes look like people waiting in line for alms in front of an orphanage; newly grown corn, with an indescribable tenderness, gives the impression of a sleeping baby; a frost-covered cabbage, frozen as if planted in the ground, reminds me of a group of thinly dressed women standing by a coffee stall in the morning." Drawn by such a gaze, in his paintings, the distinction between object and person became irrelevant, and the traditional term "still life" lost its unique sense of stillness, being infused and activated by a vibrant energy. The objective, real boundaries between objects became ambiguous, sometimes completely erased, as they gained the same nature and depth through their connection to humanity. In Paris, his act of sketching an apple and a pair of muddy shoes together once made his fellow artists uncomfortable. To Van Gogh, such feelings were so artificial and insensitive! When painting portraits, he had more confidence and arrogance than when painting landscapes. In a letter to his dear brother Theo, he deliberately compared himself to Monet and hinted that while Monet had established his position in landscape painting, he would rival him in portraiture. His portraits were characterized and also rooted in the common people's lives, reflecting the various troubles and emotions brought by modern life. He not only let his brush touch the inner world of his subjects but also draped his own emotions like a halo over them, filled with too much sympathy, pity, respect, and joy. Of course, his diverse self-portraits also occupied a unique place in his distinctive world of portraiture. He painted people to explore humanity, and he painted himself to explore himself. In his paintings, his strange gaze, his eyes always wide open, became a challenge to every viewer—a challenge to dare to face oneself and to dare to open one's heart to others. In his short (about ten years) of creative career, although we can consider his time in Paris as a turning point and divide his work into several phases, and view his time in Provence as a full bloom of creativity, his passion for life and painting remained consistent, like a burning sun rolling across the sky. He devoted himself entirely to painting but with a touch of despair. He sorrowfully told Theo, "The neglect of painting is a common state in our time." Under such circumstances, he had to say, "A piece of cloth painted on a canvas is always more valuable than a plain white cloth. I have finally found a good reason for painting." As his emotionally charged brush swept everything around, the diverse objects in his paintings extended, metaphorized, and illuminated each other, completing a grand symphony of color and form in the artist's unified world. In The Potato Eaters, the skin of the figures and the potatoes were painted in the same tone, and the shape of the head seemed like a potato without its skin. In Portrait of Roland, the head of the figure looked like a shining new star in the sky. In Young Woman in a Field with a Straw Hat, the healthy and strong body was as upright as the corn stalks in the background. Just as the objects in the paintings complemented and elevated each other, the biographical text, in its interaction and response with the surrounding and interwoven images, established a new harmony and order, opening a deep channel for readers' understanding. However, the relationship between text and images was not merely complementary and interwoven but also involved direct collisions. This effect was achieved through the captions. As we read the biographical text, we experienced a continuous flow, but when reading the captions, we paused and focused. Van Gogh was not only a master of painting but also a master of words. His profound understanding of a figurative art allowed him to grasp the abstract qualities of language from another perspective. He understood the boundaries between painting and text, so he could appreciate the sweetness and mysteries of language expression. In his view, describing with words was also an art, and sometimes it could reveal a sleeping potential, just as a gray cloud in a blue sky suggests a wildfire in a thicket. Therefore, when we read the captions excerpted from his letters, we can see brilliant sparks of thought flickering, hear the flapping of imagination, feel the moistness of emotion and the sharpness of observation. Faced with a painting that seems fully revealed, his few words lift a mysterious corner, allowing us to hear the meaningful voice-over and subtext. But this does not hinder us from thinking and feeling directly in the gaps between the images and the captions. Looking at his paintings and reading his words and those about him, our thoughts are not light, and our emotions are not calm, but his life story will deeply attract you, along with his paintings, his heartfelt pain and sorrow. All of this will make your heart more sensitive and your emotions richer, and ultimately lead us to establish a belief in life, a solemnity in sorrow, and a love in pain! March 21, 2002
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