Word: goghs
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...important time in the artist's life - the Van Gogh Museum devotes almost half a gallery to van Gogh's work there, mostly paintings of the countryside in deep purples and dark greens. Images of death resonate in his depictions of reapers and harvests. While the intention of Face to Face is to focus on the portrait, one of his two final self-portraits is lost in the room's attempt to embrace a very intense period. This self-portrait caused van Gogh to allude to his own death, describing himself on the day he painted it as 'thin...
Similarly, Dr. Gachet, a crucial person in the life of van Gogh and other artists, including Pissaro, so important that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York devoted an exhibit to him a few years ago, is noted only by the inclusion of some etchings. Gachet nurtured van Gogh in his final days, but this is somehow overlooked by Face to Face, an exhibit that otherwise does an excellent job of connecting van Gogh's portraits to his personal life...
...last paintings in the exhibit - 'Adeline Ravoux' (1890), a girl with blond hair painted against a black background, and 'Portrait of a Girl' (1890), a girl with black hair painted against a white background - strangely summarize van Gogh's career as an artist and his emotional maturation. He could appreciate color, but in the end, the contrast between color and darkness, or his madness, was too much for him. As his brother Theo wrote, 'Life was such a burden to him, but now, as often happens, everyone is full of praise for his talents...
...intrigue and beauty of van Gogh's portraits are immortal because they present a person and an artist. Seeing all of these portraits together is a phenomenal opportunity to learn about dignity, humanity and intellectual curiosity as seen through the eyes of an artist. Although the artist wrote, They say -and I am very willing to believe it - that it is difficult to know oneself - but it isn't easy to paint oneself either,' his portraits do reveal himself - not just the self-portraits, but all of his work - and to miss this chance to appreciate the genius...
...Gogh: Face to Face is on view through Sunday at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston...