Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Letters to his Brother Theo*

So I just recently found out that van Gogh only painted for 10 years before he committed suicide. 10 years of painting & drawing and he’s one of history’s most renowned artists! {granted he was an art dealer earlier in life, but he was also a preacher and you didn't see him becoming a prophet!} I don’t know, I mean yeah 10 years is a long time overall, but what do most people accomplish in that kind of time? I know that art isn’t just a practice, but that talent is a big part of it, too. What could we accomplish if we just set ourselves to it with all of our heart and talent like that? Seriously. What would I have accomplished in college if I hadn’t let anxiety hold me back the past couple years? It doesn’t really matter, what’s about to be past is just that, but it’s interesting to think about what we could do if we just DID it. Most of the time it comes down to just that after all, having a goal, and actively pursuing it with the entirety of our being. I think therein lies the key, the entirety part.

Wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889. oil on canvas.**

Just as an aside, I had the opportunity to see this painting in person,

and it's so much more incredible in reality than this image presents it.

Listen to what van Gogh writes to his brother: “I think so often that the peasants are a world in themselves, in many respects so much better than the civilized world. Not in all respects, because what do they know about art and other such things?” Part of me thinks damn Vince is condescending, but part of me remembers exclaiming a few entries ago how I can’t imagine life without art, so… Go figure. Artists tend to be a bit pretentious anyways. But how often do I think “Oh, if only life were simpler!” I have some friends who have visited Cambodia and have talked of such things- how the people there have so little, but seem so happy. Do we even have a choice to simplify things? To some degree, but it would be difficult to function normally in American society. Who cares though, if it meant being more content with life? I feel like I’m back at the life choices thing- I am the one who hides inside fear, I am the one who subscribes to all the useless garbage American middle-class society offers me. Who’s at fault when we turn around and look at the state of our lives? WE ARE. How do we make the changes? Where do I begin? Sometimes I feel like I've not learned a thing since I was 16...

*Ysseling, Hester. De brieven van Vincent van Gogh, The Hague: SDU Uitgeverij, 1990.
** Image source: Impessionist Art Gallery