Steven Naifeh: "Van Gogh: The Life"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-10-24/steven-naifeh-van-gogh-life
![Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Field With Crows. - From Steven Naifeh and Gregory White's "Van Gogh: The Life." Courtesy of Random House.](http://thedianerehmshow.org/sites/thedianerehmshow.org/files/imagecache/620xH/images/headline/64.-wheat-field-with-crows_0.jpg "Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Field With Crows. - From Steven Naifeh and Gregory White's "Van Gogh: The Life." Courtesy of Random House.")
Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Field With Crows.
From Steven Naifeh and Gregory White's "Van Gogh: The Life." Courtesy of Random House.
The great 19th-century painter Vincent van Gogh is known for sunflowers and cypress trees, self-portraits and starry nights. He was also known for his tormented soul. He suffered from mental illness. He never sold a painting during his life. And his death at age 37 is long thought to have been suicide. Now, in the first major biography of the Dutch artist in years, one of the author offer compelling evidence the gunshot wound that killed van Gogh was not self-inflicted. A discussion of the mystery of van Gogh's death and the magic of his art.
Guests
Steven Naifeh
co-author of "Van Gogh: The Life" and "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga," which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography; he has a master's in art history from Harvard University.
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Semi interesting comment on Van Gogh's name:
My grandmother had a child who she named Ian before my father was born. He lived a year, and then died (I don't know what the cause was). When my father was born, my grandmother tried to name him Ian, but the hospital wouldn't let her. She named him Clive (no middle name), but she called him Ian and he went by Ian his entire life. I think this happened because she loved the name, but it is certainly a complicated and interesting thing that does occasionally happen.
I am an artist, and I developed Temporal Lobe Epilepsy at age 26. I do not think that there is another artist out there that shares the surreal beauty of seizure with the world. Partial complex seizures feel more like a magical experience to me, a window into another part of the universe. I know it is medical, but in the moment it is an epiphany. They are frightening, isolating, and life changing. I would think that Van Gogh experienced partial complex seizure as well as Grand Mal seizures, as often seizure grows in strength. He is truly amazing to be able to concentrate and produce such amazing works in a time when seizure was untreatable. What an amazing and brave person.
Regarding van Gogh in films/tv.. Doctor Who had an episode last year called 'Vincent and the Doctor' last year that had, apart from monsters, aliens and suchlike, a long and very sympathetic speech on van Gogh delievered by the ever reliable Bill Nighy. Just tossing that out there..
I am aware of a piece of unpublished research by Anne Wylie (wife of the social historian Larry Wylie) that argued pretty persuasively that the colors in Van Gogh's painting accurately represented how he saw colors. Have the authors touched on this or seen this research?
Just wanted to thank you for your show about Vincent Van Gogh and mention a piece in American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore that reminds me deeply of Van Gogh's struggles.
"Recovery" by an unknown sculptor in their perm. collection resonates with the alienation, struggle and pain of an artist who shortly after completing the piece committed suicide.
Thank you.
Sincerely
J Gavin Heck
Baltimore, MD
http://www.avam.org/permanent-collection/recovery.shtml
Absolutely a good episode! Very rare to see a modern real human portrayal of VVG.
Any truth to the piece in the Telegraph a few years ago that Gaugin cut off Van Gogh's ear in a swordfight?
Van Gogh is my favorite painter. I'm glad to think he didn't kill himself. THanks for having this author on. He was a genius especially with colors. This book sounds good, I had no idea of the trouble he had with mother. It seems that many truly great artists have a lot of pain in their lives, maybe it makes them try harder. It's seeing, he seemed to see beyond what an ordinary person sees.
I'm so glad that he lived and painted.
I got to have a once in a lifetime trip to Holland and to see his paintings, right there in the museum was a profound experience.
I wish he had lived a longer life, imagine what he would have accomplished.
of many educational ordeals our favorite was a class held in Amsterdam(thank you Sam) in the basement of the Van Gogh Museum...
believe ALL art(ists) 'crazy' BUT some works truly universally marvelous and empathic.
bit like governments and other peoples too.
Any discussion of Vincent must include his Calvinist roots and his emulation of Christ. His life parallels a "Suffering Messiah" and it seems that he would never have killed himself.
PLEASE do not assume that, if Van Gogh had been treated for his mental illness, his artwork would have looked different. People who believe so usually also assume that it would be WORSE. How do we know it would not have been better? And that he would have produced much more, and lived longer?
LOL just found old thesis for VG class WISH we could have had access to hear show...
added to burn pile... Halloween supposed to be 'bright' this year
for sale old amsterdammaged souveniours/ books(US hate having to burn books)
any discussion of brother or potato eaters?
His paintings are so amazing I'm surprised that no one bought them.
basically if birds were pigs with wings SOME still could not fly?
I'm concerned about the comments made regarding whether or not Vincent would still have been as creative had he been medicated. The beautiful thing about medicine and how far it's evolved, the medication for the mentally ill does not change who they are, it's quite the opposite, it serves to bring out the person who they truly are. If medication had been available to Vincent, it would have helped him in SO many ways: 1) he would have gotten along with people, 2) he would have lived longer, and thereby creating more work for us to enjoy.
no, sorry, not all artists are crazy; most are not; their work is more visible than the work of other groups of people; so you "see" or "hear," etc., it more often.
This is a fascinating show and interview! Mr Neifeh's research is so interesting and sounds to be carefully done; I wonder how long it took him to complete it? The slide show of Van Gogh's painting was very enjoyable. Diane, your shows always make me want to jump in my car and drive from Howard County, Maryland to D.C. to meet you! Thanks again for a great show.
Dr. Trina Ruth
emulation of Christ? by those glasses US emulating... which explains the bleeding palm- left hand WEIRD
he was poor, ill, and desperate to survive...
GOOD NEWS US about to under go MAJOR art in US !!!
(Sorry only valuable until after US dead)
I'm very, very tired of what might be called the Lust for Life version of Van Gogh. It's become a form of art-historical pornography in which the severed ear and the suicide stand for the romantic myth of misunderstood and unappreciated artistic genius. The book in question adds absolutely nothing to historical or aesthetic understanding of the artist or of the historical contexts in which he worked. Diane Rehm panders to her audience's worst instincts when she insists that Steven Naifeh "talk about the ear."
imperfections of (hu)mans allows the creation of perfection
and- WTF- bluebox just crushed US flowers outback SO need to chase off the interlopers... he IS going to need a doctor !
talk about the ear... easy tastes like chicken/ soylent green.
WOW- LASTly VG actually did sell paintings OR those nice curator/ instructors at VGM lied and supplied false evidence... his brother handled most sales AND taxes(the REAL reason for ear loss in which case got off easy)
The recent publicity spree attending the book "Vincent van Gogh: the life" by Naifeh and Smith is remarkable. From what we have heard from the popular media, their book seems to be full of "rediscoveries." In particular, the rumor that two young boys shot Vincent van Gogh has been around for decades. See for example "Vincent van Gogh: Chemicals, Crises, and Creativity" by Wilfred N. Arnold, published in 1992. As described on page 259, the rumor was first recounted to Arnold by Professor John Rewald, -- both of us professed no belief in its accuracy. There was nothing substantive to support the rumor then, and Naifeh and Smith offer nothing now. The publicity campaign by Random House, Naifeh, and Smith needs to be judged against the scholarship of others.
Traveling on a train through Brittany to La Chaussee Manoir to Langon, I looked out of the window and saw the wheat fields flowing in the wind just as Van Gogh painted--billowing orchre and yellow wave after wave, the same wheat he painted a hundred times, the same twenty paintings I saw at the DMA in Dallas, these paintings solely focused on wheat, repetition after repetition, from his dream-state, the same dream-state from which Robert Olen Butler would teach me to write. Following the journey through France on the train, meeting Napali classical musicians on the train, the monks I lived near in Thailand in the 60s, the Buddhist chanting in Viet-Nam in the 70s, as I watched the Van Gogh wheat fields flow past, I was learning to write from my dream-state about an incident from my childhood, freed by the Van Gogh orchre and yellow waves blowing in the wind in the French countryside.
I was not a fan of Van Gogh until I went to the opening show of his work at the SAM (Seattle Art Museum). His work was magical. The thick strokes of paint gave each canvas a 3-D effect, as if the canvas could not contain the images. While Da Vinci's subject, Mona Lisa, seems alive by following you with her eyes, Van Gogh's paintings themselves seem alive, organic, the strokes dance and swirl over the canvas. I left the SAM feeling that I had witnessed more than genius--it was as if as if the paintings had been done by the hand of a god.
You note that in the Van Gogh family, the name "Vincent" was mandatory for a first born son, and that if that son dies, the next-born son necessarily received the name Vincent, and that indeed the painter was so named when the family's firstborn son died in infancy.
In my grandfather's family, the name "Dora" was customary for a first born daughter, and indeed the firstborn daughter was named Dora, but she died at the age of two.
I suppose that my grandmother had the right to choose the next name, who (although a girl) was NOT named Dora, but the next child must have been my grandfather's turn again, and she WAS named Dora.
I did not know of the existence of the first Dora until 2001, long after my beloved Aunt Dora had died. I also encountered, for the first time, a distant cousin of my grandfather, from whom I learned of the family "Dora" tradition.
I still wonder why such a tradition arose. There must have been a sterling "Dora" at some point. After all, it is a Greek name. It means "gift". There are other names in many languages that mean "gift".
(Consider Nathan Hale. Words for "gift" also occur as an element in other male and female names. Dorothy and Theodore both mean, "Gift of God," and so do Jonathan and Nathaniel.)
I fell in love with van Gogh's work's of art in college when I took art appreciation; and indeed felt an affinity toward him. The reason is because I was an Abnormal Psychology Major, and I appreciate the complexities of mental illness - stigma - and, some folk's ability to be able to express it articulately in art form.
Thank you Diane for a wonderful show and a very interesting guest; I will no doubt go out and buy the biography ASAP! :)
Salvador Dali was given the same name as his brother who died very young. Perhaps this common tradition affects the personality of the second child. Dali, too, was an artist of extraordinary ability and vision.
The new book Van Gogh: The Life by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Steven Naifeh and Greg Smith and its revelations about Vincent van Gogh has provoked a great deal of interest worldwide, and for good reason. Van Gogh is one of the most beloved artists in history, yet the circumstances surrounding his death have served to cast a shadow on this remarkable man’s character and life. The possibility that he did not commit suicide in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890, as history has hitherto related, but was shot in an unfortunate accident warrants serious consideration; the idea is certainly more consistent with his underlying love for life itself. In fact, Van Gogh's own writings are filled with reflections and cautions against the taking of one’s own life...
This review may be downloaded in full at:
http://www.phenomenonquarterly.com/art/VanGoghArticle.pdf
William J. Havlicek, Ph.D. Author of "Van Gogh's Untold Journey" ISBN 978-0-9824872-1-1
I enjoyed the show. I am somewhat new to the history of VVG. With this new knowledge I will look at his painting with an even greater appreciation. So many of the struggles he experienced are reflected in his works. I leave you with a few lines from Don McLean's Starry, Starry Night:
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.