02 February, 2007

Van Gogh and I Hold Forth


"You and I share some similarities, Vincent," I says to the apparition of the artist.
"Ja? Vhat?" says he, in a somewhat disapproving grunt.
I shift in my cafe chair. "I was born and raised under a cloud. The gray-skied region of coastal Washington, in the U.S. You were born in the low regions, with the same marine environment."
"I started out drawing with the humble pencil, and it was well suited to the gray, sunless motif," I continue. He puffs on his pipe, knowingly. "You seem to have started out with the dull colors and the grays of your homeland, and when you migrated to the sunny south, the results were flowering colorism. The same happened with my own humble art. When I migrated inland, the bright sunshine renewed my color sense. I decided on colorism as my oeuvre."
"Your French sucks, Casey. Better not to even try it," notes the great Dutchman. "And your pronunciation of my own name is appaling. You must say:'Vincent van Gogh', like that."
"So, you say!" is my reply.
I continue, not daunted, "So you see, your pioneering work in color has been a great influence in the future. What drives me up a wall is the way that so called art critics keep missing this. They look for faces in bushes and pigs in haystacks, while remaining ignorant of your emphasis on color over meaning."
Van Gogh puffs on his pipe, thinking...



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting! :) I go back and forth myself...from the use of color,therapy/sketches,landscapes to Abstracts. With me, ya never know what your gonna get. That's the only difference with me and Vincent Van Gogh. He always used OUTSTANDING color! If I had a talk with Vincent I don't know what I would say because I'd be overwhelmed in the his being there! Great to read your conversations with him!

Casey Klahn said...

It occurs to me that VG usually assumed a "one down" posture, as he was the ultimate outsider. He had an okay stipend from Theo, but he also experienced some pretty bad times of impoverishment.
Then, there was his whole persona, which was off-putting to people.
I am acting just like you say-a little intimidated, but also a little put off.
Bottom line, though, is that I love the booger. His art transcends much of the bad things we think about concerning his behavior and such.
Looks like a VG project is appearing in cyber space. Will you participate, Angela? I hope so.

Anonymous said...

In what way?

Casey Klahn said...

The best way to do a VG project, for starters, will be to look at the fine line artists and what they did with the John Singer Sargent project in January.
One way to look in is via Katherine's Making a Mark blog.

Robyn Sinclair said...

I am relishing your relationship with Van Gogh, Casey. Be careful though, he is inclined to get upset when his friends move on. I did hear he was looking for someone to share a studio.

Casey Klahn said...

Yeah, I know it! Try sitting across the table from this guy, feeling like your head will be the target of his next glass of Absinthe!

Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism