VISIONS OF VAN GOGH

[Wheat Field with Crows]

Back in the early to mid-1970s I heard a song on the radio that deeply touched me and brought tears to my eyes. It still does to this day … “Vincent” by Don McLean, written and recorded in 1971.

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey;
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry, starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,
Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

Starry, starry night.
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless head on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the strangers that you've met,
The ragged men in the ragged clothes,
The silver thorn of bloody rose,
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will.....

“Vincent” is one of those songs that fascinated and haunted my early teens. Back before the Internet it wasn’t easy finding out information. Well, it wasn’t for this teen that lived in Westchester County. All I knew about this beautiful, sad song was a painter who’d suffered in many ways. Finally, during my Art History class in high school, I learned Vincent’s true identity, as well as viewed photos of his work. I fell in love with his paintings and all its amazing brush work, detail, wonderful use of color and outlook on his surrounding environment. It exploded my senses and sent them on fire with an intense passion. Not many painters had that effect on me.

After moving to NYC in the early 1980s, I obtained precious tickets to see two separate showings of Van Gogh’s work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue. These showings were held in the mid to late-1980s and were the hot tickets of the day. Let me say that seeing a photo of a Van Gogh painting doesn’t compare to the actual painting. Not even close! My senses were in for a wonderfully delightful treat in seeing his works of art, 100 years after Vincent painted them, up close and personal. OMG! Breathtaking!

Your probably wondering why I only have “Wheat Field with Crows” on display here. In the late-1980s, during a second showing of Van Gogh’s paintings, this particular painting was in the last gallery with 8 other pieces. Up close it’s a wonderful work of art and the brush detail is visually tantalizing, yet simple. I went with a friend to see this exhibit at the museum and had finished before she did, so I stood by the door and waited. I looked at all the paintings in that one gallery and my vision was continually arrested by this one … “Wheat Field with Crows”. From where I stood it was across the gallery from me and as I gazed at it, well, it felt like I was being sucked into the scene. Sound in the room seemed to dim and people were like faint shadows. It was just me and that amazing wheat field. I was filled with sadness and gloom, but also glimmers of hope and sunlight. Then reality crashed in with a dull thud when my friend interrupted my “meditation”. To this day, 20 years later, I still remember that “feeling” with such clarity. How it captured part of me that day.

If you ever get the chance to see a Van Gogh exhibit in person, I highly recommend going with an open mind, heart and soul. His work will arrest your senses like it did mine.