Artist
Interview with Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin
To Vincent van Gogh: Why did you cut off your ear; what was going through your head? Do you blame the absinthe?
Vincent van Gogh: As some of my biographers have indicated, I had emotional and psychological problems since I was a child. I was, for example, "highly emotional and lacked self-confidence," ("Vincent van Gogh: Biography"). Therefore, it should really come as no surprise that I exhibited signs of mental illness as an adult. And besides, what do you care? My greatest works of art exist because I was crazy. As one biographer states of my work: "all of it produced during a period of only 10 years, hauntingly conveys through its striking colour, coarse brushwork, and contoured forms the anguish of a mental illness that eventually resulted in suicide," (Pioch). It sometimes takes mental anguish and spiritual pain to generate creative energy. Charles calls me a "mad genius," and I believe that if I had not cut off my ear, I may not have been as famous as I am now. At the time, however, I cut off my ear because I was insane. My friend Paul Gauguin here can testify as to my mental state at the time. One night, for a reason no one, not even me, can understand, I went to Gauguin's bed and stared at him while he slept. My staring woke him up (Charles). Gauguin was by that time so used to my raving madness that it did not even startle him very much when he saw me rushing towards him with a razor blade. The next morning was when I sliced off my ear....
Intereview to Famous Artists, Sculptors, Musicians Blues Rock was an impressive form of rock that experienced its apogee during the mid to late 1960s. Janis Joplin and Lynyrd Skynyrd are certainly artists who made themselves known during the era and who influenced numerous individuals to turn their attention toward the genre. Their daring and passionate singing made them different from other notable singers of the era, taking into account that the
Mock Interview Hello, Mr. Bosch. Thank you for meeting with me today. Please tell me how and why you decided to become a painter. Becoming a painter was a natural choice for someone whose father was also a painter. The real question for me was, what kind of painter do I become? What is the best way to improve my skills and earn a living from my work? In 's-Hertogenbosch, it was
" (Hogwood 7) if there is one term that can describe my work it must be "secular," religion was not the source of my art. Bach: Well, religion is a major theme in my work. It could be because I did not travel as extensively as Mr. Handel and was not exposed to the different types of music, or it could be because I was a truly religious person at heart,
Portraits: Talking With Artists at the Met, The Modern, The Louvre, And Elsewhere Attempting to put art into words can be like trying to put that proverbial lightning in a bottle: art often seems to defy description, much as art critics attempt to do so. Even artists themselves often struggle with articulating the concepts behind their works. Various attempts over the years have been made to make art, particularly abstract modern
artists be given free rein in the producing and displaying of works that are offensive, objectionable, or disparaging of certain people's beliefs and values? What responsibilities do artists have to their society? What responsibilities does the society have to its artists? The job of artists is to hold up a mirror to society and comment on both the beauty and ugliness that exists in the real world. It is easy
My letters to my brother Theo often touch upon this theme." Q: What was your relationship like in Arles? Gaugin: "I would say that Vincent definitely needed me more than I needed him. Vincent was always looking for a friend, you know -- a kindred spirit. His brother Theo was sympathetic but separate from him. In me he found someone who shared his passion for art and who understood what he
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