Paris shows van Gogh's last creative frenzy

Vincent van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise. There he painted a wealth of his most beautiful and enigmatic pictures at breathtaking speed. Most of them can be seen in a sensational Parisian exhibition - but not for much longer.

The Auvers-sur-Oise cemetery is located on the edge of the small town, with the fields starting just behind it. The simple graves of Vincent and Theo van Gogh are located right next to the cemetery wall. In Auvers, around 50 kilometers from Paris, the painter shot himself in the chest on 27 July 1890 and died two days later in the presence of his brother. Vincent van Gogh considered his attempt to lead a successful life as an artist to be a failure. A few days before his suicide, he wrote to Theo: "The prospects are getting darker and darker, I no longer see a happy future at all."

Just over two months before his death, Vincent van Gogh had broken off a conflict-ridden visit to his brother in Paris because his hopes of a secure income from the sale of his paintings had once again been dashed. The heated argument with Paul Gauguin in Arles and his stay in the mental hospital in Saint-Rémy had left their mark and van Gogh decided to move: He wanted to live in the country and yet close to his brother. Theo, who still firmly believed in him, continued to support Vincent financially: "You can't let him down when he works so hard and so well."

As soon as he arrived, van Gogh noted: "Auvers is very beautiful, really beautiful through and through." The hamlet was not an artists' village like Pont-Aven in Brittany. The fact that important painters kept coming to Auvers nevertheless had to do with the art-loving doctor Paul Gachet, whose specialty was "melancholy", i.e. depression. Van Gogh also hoped for relief from his mental anguish through the doctor's treatment, but soon believed that the two right people had found each other, as he told Theo: "I don't think we can count on Dr. Gachet. Firstly, he's sicker than I am, I think, or let's say just as sick, and that's that." After all: "If a blind man leads another blind man, won't they both fall into the ditch?"

Creative intoxication without equal

Nevertheless - or perhaps precisely because of this: for van Gogh, the 70 days in Auvers were the pinnacle of his artistic creativity. He painted from his soul what he had to say to the world that did not understand him, experienced an unparalleled creative frenzy, created 74 paintings, 57 drawings and his only known etching. Never before has an exhibition been dedicated to these two months. Which is not surprising: It took two top-class artists to come together to fill the gap: The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, which also has an important collection of the Dutchman's work, organized the spectacle together.

The show, which has already been on display in Amsterdam and is now making a stop in Paris, tops all Van Gogh exhibitions of recent years, if not decades. No fewer than 45 paintings and 23 drawings from Auvers are on display - a curatorial and scientific tour de force that only museums of this importance can achieve. However, if you still want to see the masterpieces, you'll have to hurry. The Happening officially ends on February 4.

Those who do make it will be richly rewarded: the paintings include iconic images such as one of the two versions of Gachet's portrait, "The Church of Auvers" and "Wheatfield with Crows". The latter is one of the works that form the highlight of the exhibition: the series of horizontal formats measuring fifty by one hundred centimeters, which were possibly intended as a cycle. Only one of the 13 paintings is missing from the exhibition.

Excitement to the point of fainting

The horizontal formats in particular provide a deep insight into van Gogh's inner life as a person and artist. They explain his relationship to landscape and civilization, tradition and modernity, as well as the field of tension that arose for the painter from the associated - visible and perceived - contrasts. In Auvers, van Gogh created the paintings in which he captured for all eternity the "passionate" or "pain-filled expression" that still captivates us today. "The excitement that seizes me in the face of nature increases to the point of fainting," he wrote in one of his many letters.

Although Auvers must have been quite full of harvest workers in summer, the landscape formats are virtually deserted. A deep sense of loneliness, sorrow and abandonment is evident here, stemming from the belief that he remained misunderstood and that his actions were "pointless", as van Gogh actually put it before he took his own life. Only in "Undergrowth with Walking Couple", which was contributed by the Cincinnati Art Museum, can people be seen in silhouette. Van Gogh recorded: "Undergrowth, purple trunks of poplars crossing the landscape vertically like columns."

The two people - lovers? - are not mentioned by the artist. In the picture, they appear lost and constricted, almost crushed by their surroundings. Despair and hope are the main themes in the horizontal formats. "Wheatfield with Crows" appears downright threatening to the viewer. The dark sky with its black birds contrasts with the bright yellow stalks of wheat waving in the wind. The three paths allow no escape.

The painter on his condition: "I feel exhausted. So much for me - I feel that this is the fate that I accept and that will not change." And: "I feel I have failed all along the line." Throughout his short life, Van Gogh had a good sense of himself and his abilities. However, he was wrong in his self-assessment at the end of his life. If you want to see this for yourself, take a quick trip to Paris.

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The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, both known for their significant collections of Van Gogh's work, have collaborated to showcase his final creative frenzy in Auvers-sur-Oise. This unprecedented exhibition, currently on display in Paris, highlights over 45 paintings and 23 drawings from this period, providing a unique insight into Van Gogh's artistic journey.

This exceptional show, scheduled to end on February 4, brings to light some of Van Gogh's most iconic works from Auvers-sur-Oise, including portraits, landscapes, and the series of horizontal formats. Being in Paris to witness this tribute to Van Gogh's international art legacy could offer a never-before-seen appreciation of the depth of his creativity and emotions.

Source: www.ntv.de