Vincent At Eternity's Gate

 Vincent Van Gogh's The Sower 1888

 Starry night 1889

Vincent Van Gogh, so reviled in his short life but revered by posterity, continues to fascinate. There was a splendid film about him [Loving Vincent. My blog, Jan 3^rd 2018] which I remember especially for its artistry and the large number of artists involved in its production. The current film, At Eternity's Gate by Julian Schnabel, about Vincent's last years, is also stunningly artistic, the photography often consciously mimicking the artist's brush as Vincent strides through fields of grass and corn and crops, with sustained close-ups of his feet scything through the blades of green with a rich array of colours tumbling and juggling together in a brightly-hued kaleidoscope of shapes and shades.  His long gazes to the sun and the clouds dazzle the screen as he searches for meaning and shape.

Irises

Vincent's near-perpetual state of emotional and artistic upheaval and exhaustion is readily conveyed by the narrative and by Willem Dafoe's depiction of the artist; he seems to be frightened and inept or over-confident and aggressive, socially, but hugely involved artistically in surveying landscapes to translate them into vivid hues and curving shapes on canvas or paper. He wrestles intellectually with the fleeting nature of life; man, flowers, leaves, trees, clouds, and tries to capture representations of them in his highly individual style to keep them forever blooming, forever fresh, in his giant sketchbook.

 The Yellow House in Arles.   1888

He finds a yellow house in Arles but quickly manages to create ill feelings with the locals and with a party of children and their teacher on a field project, the latter teacher reporting the confrontation with him to angry parents and town officials. His saviour is always his beloved brother Theo who lives in Paris but who frequently dashes to Arles to rescue his brother from his self-inflicted misery. Theo arranges for Paul Gauguin to live with Vincent to Vincent’s exhilarated delight but the situation soon sours due to the emotional and psychological incompatibility of the pair. Gauguin soon departs in spite of Vincent’s brutal self-mutilation when he severs part of his ear as a desperate token of friendship. The severed, bloody earlobe is then given by Vincent to a local girl who is so horrified that she reports on him to the authorities and he is sent to a mental hospital in nearby St Remy-de-Provence and banned forever from living in Arles. When he is eventually released he goes to live nearer to Paris in Auvers-sur-Oise where he spends the final, troubled days of his life in a frenzy of drawing and painting.

 Gauguin's painting of Van Gogh at work

The film ends with his death from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, possibly from an accidental shot from a rifle used by two teenagers playing at Cowboys and Indians, and teasing Vincent. He dies less than two days later telling the police that his injury was self-inflicted. I had never heard this murder theory before and it could be true but, whatever happened, one comes away from the viewing with immense pity and sadness for Van Gogh and huge admiration for his single-minded devotion to his art in the face of unrelenting derision, dismissal and contempt. He may well have been bipolar and epileptic; he may well have been accidentally murdered; he may well have harmed his health with his over-indulgence in absinthe, but today he is worshipped for his innovative, ground-breaking, highly individual use of line and colour. His Post-Impressionistic style is copied by thousands and has inspired millions to become active in art. Indeed, there is a whole school of Impressionistic painters who are inspired by the Impressionists and who consciously mimic Van Gogh’s style and colours. It is ironic that this supreme artist, who only ever sold one painting, now has auctions realising huge sums of money for his canvases.

 Van Gogh's self portrait with his bandaged ear.

The actor, Willem Dafoe, gives a flawless performance as Vincent; he learned to paint for the film to help him emulate Van Gogh’s intense involvement and febrile imagination. He becomes Vincent in his exhilaration and depression; in his joy as he watches the sun rise and his despair at the setbacks of life. We feel Vincent’s total love for, and dependence on, his brother Theo through Dafoe’s intense portrayal of Van Gogh’s inner demons and desperate need for love. A mesmerising performance.

Modern paintings consciously echoing Vincent's style.
Lee Tillor

 Willem Dafoe
He learned to paint quickly, like Van Gogh, and to
almost stab the canvas with the brush.