“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, 1888
Vincent van Gogh; a passionate and eccentric individual in his time, and a well-known and beloved artist today, was born on this day, 30th March, in 1853. The date of his birth seems so fitting; it’s the time of the year when pink and white blossoms of cherry, pear and apple trees grace the landscape and invite us to dream, it’s the moment of the year when nature shows its strength by winning a battle against winter, the sun shines on the frozen soil, melts the snow and invites the little snowdrops and primroses to bloom, the birds are returning from foreign lands…
Vincent, I know you were not appreciated in your time, but I look at your paintings with ardour, I feel them; I feel rapture from those intoxicating yellows and playful blues, I love your mischievous cypresses, starry nights, blossoming trees, and lonely wheat fields, I love your letters – the windows to your soul, and above all, I love the “lust for life” energy that emerges from the canvases and speaks to my heart and soul, and to many and many hearts out there. Thank you for existing and painting, even if it was such a short time, but aren’t we all here on earth for such a short time, compared to eternity?
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the beauty that Vincent has created in his short life; gaze at his paintings, read his letters, daydream about his starry skies and trees in bloom, feel the ecstasy that he has created in those vibrant colours and think of him because his soul is the prettiest star!
Happy birthday, Vincent van Gogh!
Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, repetition of the 4th version (yellow background), August 1889
Vincent, you are not forgotten!
Byron's Muse 
I never really got the”pretty colours” interpretation of Van Gogh. I preferred the later near bad trip,psychedelic stuff. Cornfield with Crows”etc. “The Centre cannot hold.Mere anarchy is loosed upon the World” Artaud’s writing on Van Gogh is the best I ever saw.
What music you listening to these days? Moi, Wagner,bits of Rocky Erickson,and Spacemen3. From your posts it sounds like you’ve been wandering around in the countryside.Best A.
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I agree with both interpretations; I do think his art is esctatic and psychedelic but I also think that those vibrant yellows and blues on paintings such as the wheat field with crows that you mentioned are ‘pretty’, though maybe that’s not the right word to use. What am I listening to at the moment? Mostly Debussy (I love Prelude to the afternoon of a faun), and also Stone Roses and Blondie. I have indeed been wandering the meadows, woods and old graveyards, and having lots of fun doing it! Cheers.
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