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Art 2012 – Vincent Van Gogh
When I was at high school I bought a cassette by an Ozzy Christian band I’d never heard of before (or since) called Chase the Kangaroo. It was surprisingly good, and on it was a song called “A sad face is good for the heart.”
I know I’ve told this story before, but up until then I always thought that God wanted us to be happy and smiley and beautiful all the time. This song, in contrast, had lines like “go on, cry, it can be a cruel world” which really surprised me.
The lyrics on the inside cover had a verse reference to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 7. I was intrigued, I looked it up, and lo! There it was! In the Bible, Eccl 7:3, “Sorrow is better than laughter because a sad face is good for the heart.”
Amazing…
Being of a more melancholy disposition, I thought that was so cool that I memorised the whole chapter!
Eccl 7 is an amazing piece of writing with many great sayings for a rainy day, but the one I want us to start with today is from verses 15-18…
15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. 16 Do not be over-righteous, neither be over-wise—why destroy yourself? 17 Do not be over-wicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time? 18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.
Has anyone ever heard anyone preach on that before?
Turn to your neighbour, 2 minutes, what on earth does that mean?
Feedback…
Today, I’m 100% sure what those verses mean, and I don’t actually want to focus on them. Instead: Today is the first of our art and music services for 2012, so what I want to talk about is the tortured life of Vincent Van Gogh. But… As I read about Van Gogh’s life, work and faith, those were the verses that surprisingly came to mind (Eccl 7:15-18). And what they speak to me in relation to this artist, is the need for balance and boundaries! Balance in all areas of our life.
- Most people know that Vincent Van Gogh was Dutch, and he did pretty paintings – often about himself, often about peasant scenes, and often about flowers.
- Some may know that two of his flower paintings set records for prices paid at auction for artworks. In March 1987, one of his sunflower paintings sold for just under US$40 million shattering the previous record price of US$12 million; and in Nov of the same year that record price was again broken when one of his Iris paintings sold for US$54 million.
- Van Gogh also pretty famous for cutting off his ear.
- And it’s also reasonably well-known that he battled with depression and eventually shot himself aged just 37. A tragic end to a tragic, struggle with life.
In the late 90’s I went on an OE, and spent time in Eastern Europe. There I found myself lodged in very a depressing, industrial, communist-era apartment block. So, to brighten it up I bought an art calendar of Van Gogh prints which I tore out and put up around the walls – because although I thought that some of them were pretty weird, many of them were profoundly beautiful.
And my favourite of them all was this one – The Starry Night.
I told some mates about this great painting on my wall, and one of them told me – “oh yeah, there’s a church in it somewhere that’s all dark – and that’s supposed to be significant for some reason.” Initially, when I got home, I thought the big dark thing at the front was the church, but I soon realised it was actually a tree (indicating my prowess at understanding art). I just had to look a bit closer, and there, surrounded by houses there is indeed a church.
And interestingly, yes, most of the houses have lights on while the church however is dark…
This painting, as with most of the best of his work, was done near the end of Vincent’s life when he was in what they cheerfully called an insane asylum: a time of his life when he told people he had a “terrible need for religion.” He painted another church at this time too, The Church at Auvers. And again: this church has no lights on, it’s a sunny day yet the church sits in shadow, and this church has no door.
At a time of deep spiritual longing, Van Gogh is definitely the outsider looking in on Church. There is no way to get in, and there doesn’t seem to be anything worth getting in for! What was going on in his life?
First! A bit of background.
Vincent Van Gogh was the oldest of six children, and by many accounts had a fiery, rebellious temperament as a child. He was born into a family that seemed to pursue two main careers – theology and art. Many men in the family became painters, sculptors and art dealers; while most others became theology lecturers or parish ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church – that country’s Calvinist equivalent of the Presbyterian Church.
They must have been reasonably open minded, because Calvinist Christians at that time were usually quite suspicious of art – but his upbringing was still very strict.
Van Gogh’s father was a church minister, and in his youthful zeal Vincent wanted to become one too. However, he failed his entrance exams and wasn’t allowed to train. So instead, he began to train as a church mission worker. But again, he failed the course and had to leave. He did however find a position as a missionary to a poor coal mining town in Holland where he was deeply affected by the poverty of the people. I presume that it was in seeking to follow the example of Christ, but, he felt that he needed to identify with his new neighbours in their life situation.
And so he rented a small, cold shed; he didn’t buy a bed, he just slept on straw on the ground; and he gave away many of his possessions including most of his clothes. His land-lady would go out at night to fetch water or coal, and reported hearing him sobbing himself to sleep, alone in the dark.
He obviously didn’t enjoy this lifestyle very much. But! This was his calling and he was fervently committed to it! He felt that he was taking Christianity to its logical conclusion by trying to walk alongside those he was ministering to, by trying to live like them – something I really admire – but, it seems he just wasn’t prepared for it.
Hence I was drawn to Eccl 7:
16 Do not be over-righteous, neither be over-wise—why destroy yourself? 17 Do not be over-wicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time?
Admirable though his zeal was, there is evidence here of a lack of boundaries and a lack of balance. He might have been heading in the right direction, but he wasn’t wise in the way he went about this mission. He forgot about self-care: he didn’t eat properly, he didn’t look after himself; he was isolated, lonely and depressed…
In his zeal he went too far, too fast.
When the church authorities heard how he was living they were appalled – though their concern seems to have been more for the dignity of the priesthood rather than a concern for Vincent’s well-being – and so his position was terminated.
This mission experience did disillusion him about Church hierarchies, and it may have caused him some kind of emotional break-down, but it also lead him to become a painter. Instead of proclaiming the gospel in words, he henceforth decided to become an artist in God’s service, proclaiming God’s truth through images.
His desire for God remained.
This experience wasn’t a one-off, his lack of balance and boundaries was evident in many areas of Van Gogh’s life.
1) E.G.: He didn’t have a good relationship with his parents and so he craved companionship and intimacy with others. This led him to come on too strong with people, putting them off. It also led him to become infatuated with several women, pursuing them inappropriately.
2) He didn’t look after himself. Once he had neglected his health in the pursuit of his evangelistic mission, now he did it in the pursuit of his art. He spent most of his money on art materials rather than food, so he was often sick or undernourished.
3) And he also looked too strongly to alcohol to get him through the emotional roller-coaster of his struggles with depression and loneliness. He was probably an alcoholic.
Despite all this though, some Christians have moved beyond just feeling pity for the way his life unfolded, and have come to feel a deep compassion for this man. Some even feel stirred and inspired by him…
- by the beauty and love he painted
- by the honesty with which he confronted his emotions,
- and by his continued attempts to reach out to God through his art…
All in the midst of his depression and his seeming inability to create balance and sensible boundaries around his life.
I was looking up one of these books on the spiritual value of Van Gogh’s work to see if it was still in print, when I inadvertently stumbled on a Christian website actually damning the book.
It said this…
While I do think that some of Van Gogh’s art was interesting, I cannot see how a so called spiritual leader could ever be ‘inspired’ by his life...
Van Gogh is almost as famous for his mental instability as for his vivid paintings. At one stage of his life he moved in with, and considered marrying, a pregnant prostitute… He suffered from various types of epilepsy, psychotic attacks, and delusions, once committing himself to an asylum... [He] once cutt[ing] off his own ear and taking it to a brothel, where he asked for a prostitute named Rachel… handed the ear to her, asking her to keep it carefully. At the age of 37, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest and died two days later….
What exactly in this sordid tale is there to find inspiration in? He had a ministry? What ministry?[1]
Good questions one must say, this was indeed a confused and broken life. If Van Gogh showed up at our church, he would make life very difficult for us.
- I’m sure he would offend at least one of us each week;
- he would say and do some incredibly inappropriate things with reasonable regularity, and might ask half the single women here to marry him.
- his lifestyle would not be a role model for our young people;
- he was very intelligent, having made his own attempts at translating the Bible into French, English and German – and so would probably find my sermons woefully inadequate (and let me know about it!);
- and I imagine he would take up most of my pastoral time as the minister.
But, he was a seeker after God! He confessed this, and there are signposts to this in his art. And this reality drew me to our first reading today form Isaiah 42 as it speaks of the character of God’s coming Messiah.
1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.
Van Gogh was a good example of a smouldering wick.
His faith was damaged but it had not gone out - and Jesus does not reject people in that situation. The author of the website I found was however basically judging him, finding his life unworthy of any good, and stomping him into the dirt.
Rejecting him in his illness and his brokenness, and doing it in the name of our compassionate and gracious Lord Jesus Christ!
And this seems to be the attitude Van Gogh encountered in the churches around him – rejection and spiritual death. Hence when he painted churches they are dark, uninviting, and inaccessible. There was no way for him to get in, and there was no reason for him to want to get in.
And so, there are two thoughts I want to leave you with in relation to the life and art of this brilliant, passionate, but deeply sad and broken man.
1) The first is the need for balance and boundaries.
16 Do not be over-righteous, neither be over-wise—why destroy yourself? 17 Do not be over-wicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time?
Yes, have a vision, have a dream, get passionate about this life God has given you, and pursue it! Get involved with something greater than yourself! For we are created by God and for God, our very being was made to live for something greater than ourselves.
BUT! It would be nice to be able to enjoy the fullness of life. To enjoy life for the long hall. Don’t destroy your life through sin and folly – but in your holy love for God and your neighbour, also remember to love yourself. Be wise and be balanced. Take time for yourself, establish sensible boundaries in your life.
Vincent Van Gogh had struggles I can’t begin to comprehend, yet he achieved so much despite them. He was passionate about God, passionate about beauty, and committed to his neighbour, but, he just didn’t seem able to love himself so well.
2) And the second point is a reminder about the compassion of the Jesus we claim to follow.
2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.
Vincent Van Gogh was a difficult man. Either because of his illness or a personal blindness… he didn’t live a balanced and healthy life, he did act very inappropriately, he was very hard to get on with.
But still he yearned for God, and when he looked at the Church as a place to help fulfil that yearning and reconnect with his Creator, the lights were all out and there were no doors.
So, is our church community open to the broken? Are the lights on here? In the name of our compassionate Christ, would we attempt to make a space for someone like Van Gogh, even though we might not succeed?