TAKE NOTE - Family Day and Van Gogh’s Art of Loving People
British Columbia is one of the provinces in Canada that now observes Family Day. It was, I assume, invented due to the bleakness of the Canadian February, however, the premise of setting a day aside to spend time with your family is a very good one. This year the holiday happened to coincide with me reading up on the 50th anniversary of the Van Gogh Museum and I was pleasantly surprised with how the theme of “family” dovetailed together that day.
The first exhibit now open for the VG Museum’s half-century celebration is called “Choosing Vincent” and is Van Gogh’s life story as he interacted with his family. There were well over a thousand letters sent from Vincent to his family with the majority of them addressed to Theo, his younger brother. It’s easy to see from these records the love and support they had for each other.
Unfortunately, Theo died not long after Vincent which meant Vincent’s vast art collection was left to his sister-in-law Jo, Theo’s widow. If it wasn’t for Jo’s tenacity in raising awareness of Vincent’s talent, his work may never have reached the level of fame that it has. After her husband’s death, Jo moved to a town known for attracting artists and opened a guest house. She learned from those artists how to navigate the art world and through exhibition loans to museums all over, publishing Vincent’s letters to Theo and other strategies, she worked hard to let the world know what an outstanding artist Vincent was. Theo and Jo’s son, Vincent Willem, founded the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1973 and continued the family culture of advocating for this important painter. The fact that Theo and Jo named their son after Vincent with the wish that their child be as determined and courageous as his uncle affirms their deep love for their brother.
Vincent was profoundly touched by this gesture and painted “Almond Blossom” as a gift for his new nephew. He was always fond of nature and at the time he was living in southern France where blossoming trees were one of his favourite subjects. As well, he was incorporating a Japanese influence into his paintings with the theme of serenity to calm his mind. This beautiful painting became a gift that was greatly cherished by Jo, her son Vincent and future generations, giving them reason to never sell this particular work.
Here are a few lines from Van Gogh’s later letters to Theo:
“Sincere thanks for your kind letters which gave me a great deal of pleasure…I often think of you both and would very much like to see you again.”
“I read your kind letters, then the letters from home as well, and that did me an enormous amount of good in giving me back a little energy, or rather the desire to climb back up again from the dejected state I’m in.”
“Dear brother and sister,
Jo’s letter was really like a gospel for me, a deliverance from anguish...”
Oh, how lovely and soothing an encouraging word from home was for Vincent. And truly isn’t it for any of us? The supportive assurance of loved ones, related or not, can absolutely help us through difficult times. Vincent has also been quoted as saying “there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people” (and he knew artistic).
Dear Mom…