It's been a while since I wrote a post in my Favourite Paintings series here on my blog, so I thought it would be nice to share with you today a painting that I find incredibly special; that is Vincent Van Gogh's Wheatfield With Crows. This painting holds a particular significance to me, because it was the first painting I ever looked at and really LOVED! I remember clearly the experience of being in Amsterdam and visiting the Van Gogh museum with my parents - I must have been about 11 or 12 years old. Before then I had never particularly enjoyed visiting art galleries or museums, like most pre-teens, but I tagged along with my parents and I think I surprised everyone by my reaction to Van Gogh! I just remember seeing this one painting and feeling overwhelmed by it, feeling how important it was and realising how much a painting like this could affect you. My parents even bought me the poster of this painting which is still hanging, either at the house of my mom or my dad, I can't remember now which one.
I find Wheatfield With Crows absolutely beautiful. I love the dark blue of the stormy sky and the golden yellow of the wheat. I love the unanswered questions of the painting; where are the birds flying? Where is the path going? In fact the birds have no direction and the path seems to just go nowhere, which leaves me feeling isolated, lonely and very uncertain, but I find such sad beauty in this!
This was certainly one of Van Gogh's last paintings, although no one really knows if it was absolutely his final piece. He painted a few canvases, including this one, in the last days of his life in July of 1890, just before he committed suicide. Perhaps, then, we can see here some of his most inner thoughts and struggles with life and death and the unknown of what was to come after death, represented by the directionless birds and the path that leads nowhere. Maybe the clouds in the sky and the impending storm tell us about how difficult he found it to be alive in the world. The crows, which he used many times in his work, could symbolise reincarnation.
On 10th July 1890, Van Gogh wrote a letter to his brother, Theo, about his last paintings. He said that in these works he wanted overall to express his "extreme loneliness". This makes me wonder, were these paintings a cry for help? Could he have been saved, if only someone had looked more deeply into his work and seen his loneliness and pain?
In any piece of art, whether it be a painting, a piece of music, a poem or a dance, when we are given a small glimpse into the mind of the artist, I find this to be a really touching and astonishing moment. To be able to look past what is in front of us and see more, this is what gives life and art so much meaning and what is truly important. It's something that I will always strive to search for.
Follow my blog with BloglovinLabels: Culture
