A Visit to Museum Mesdag, Den Haag - Amsterdam

By Cyn Rene’ Whitfield

Early this December, I had the opportunity to visit the van Gogh Museum in Amersterdam (Museum Mesdag, Den Haag). It seemed only appropriate that the Netherlands pay homage to their most famous Dutch artist in a museum hosting the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh. Over 200 paintings, including many very famous masterpieces like the famous “Sunflowers” (1889) from his Parisian period are displayed throughout four floors in chronological order show casing his development as an artist. All of the works displayed in this museum were produced in the 10 year period of his art “career”. In that time, van Gogh made well over 800 paintings, more than 1000 drawings as well as sketches and watercolors. Van Gogh was a master of renewal and experimentation and this collection provides a moving account of his artistic revolution.

In 1880, Vincent van Gogh decided to become an artist. He was 27 years old at the time and had already been employed in a variety of professions, as a lay preacher, a schoolmaster and like his brother, Theo, an art dealer, none of which had proved a great success. He was searching for a marketable niche which is documented in many letters to Theo and friends. Through his search he allowed influence and interpretation from other known artists like Georges Michel’s “Landscape with Windmills” and Jacob Maris “Mill” then expressed in van Gogh’s work “The Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quary” . The three pieces, the two inspirations and the van Gogh interpretation, hang side by side for comparison. It is a unique study which allows you to visibly observe the inspiration. Landscapes were van Gogh’s first attempt at carving an artistic niche. When that proved unsuccessful, in his mind, he moved to painting people in life. He wanted to represent the caretakers of the land; farmers, peasant subjects and the like. This also allowed him to incorporate his landscape techniques without abandonment. His inspiration came from his much admired famous French predecessor, Jean-Francois Millet. Van Gogh’s study of his subjects resulted in more than 40 portraits during the winter of 1884-1885, trying to capture characteristic features of the faces and heads of farmers and their wives. This series was the preparation for his first large figure piece, “The Potato Eaters” (April 1885). His hope was that his portrayal be perceived as realistic without glamorizing thus bringing him the creditability and integrity he had be striving for. Instead, it only yielded criticism.

According to Jones and Ferrill in their publication, “The Seven Layers of Integrity” (2006), being an innovator is a matter of how one portrays themselves. If you break the rules of the industry do it in a way that creates new opportunity for the industry as a whole. Break the rules in other ways and you create enemies instead of admirers. I believe this is why van Gough struggled. It wasn’t until he stopped imitating others and started breaking the rules of the artists perception did he become successful. Like many unrecognized talents in their day, success came after he took his own life at the age of 37. “Starry Night” (1889) has become one of the most well known images in modern culture. Ironically, given van Gogh evolution through duplication it is also one of the most replicated and sought after prints. To add to the irony, the oil on canvas was inspired looking out his sanatorium room window at night in Saint-Remy and does not even belong as a permanent piece in the Museum Mesdag, Den Haag. Since 1941, it has been part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City which gives the illusion that even in death, van Gogh has yet to be collectively embraced by the Dutch as an accomplished artist rather than an evolving one.

Sources:

Jones, George P. and Ferrill, June, (2006), The Seven Layers of Integrity, Authorhouse, IN

Vincent van Gogh Gallery retrieved December 9, 2010 from http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/