At Eternity's Gate [Paperback]

Mrs. Kathleen Powers Erickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 1998

Most scholars have argued that van Gogh was insane and that his religious life was a product of this madness - and was something he happily abandoned when he left the Christian ministry to pursue a career as an artist. This biography by Kathleen Powers Erickson is the first to demonstrate the falsehood of such assumptions and to argue that van Gogh's spiritual life was essential to the unfolding of his unique artistic vision. Basing her study on solid biographical evidence, van Gogh's personal correspondence, and informed insight into the painter's artistic imagery, Erickson clearly traces van Gogh's pilgrimage of faith, from his early religious training, through his evangelical missionary period, to his struggle with religion and modern thought, and finally to the synthesis of traditional Christian beliefs with the modern world-view that he achieved in both his life and his art. Unique to this study is Erickson's in-depth examination of van Gogh's mental illness, culminating in her convincing argument that van Gogh's "insanity," long assumed - indeed mythologically contrived - to be schizophrenia, was in fact a psychological disorder resulting from a form of epilepsy. Erickson shows that this famous facet of van Gogh's life, too, was not without a spiritual dimension. In addition, the volume includes five black-and-white pictures of van Gogh and members of his family and a collection of nineteen black-and-white illustrations that reproduce important pieces of van Gogh's artwork.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Few images in modern art have so captured the attention of the public as Van Gogh's Starry Night, a painting that reveals all the light and glory hidden in an ordinary evening sky. In this very readable study of Van Gogh, essentially a spiritual biography, Kathleen Erickson explores the intense spirituality of the painter, from his early religious training and evangelical missionary work to the crisis that occurred when the church rejected his more radical way of following Christ. Erickson argues (against many Van Gogh scholars) that the artist's mature work reflects not a rejection of Christ so much as a rejection of a dogmatic church, seeing instead in the famous images of his art a profound connection to Christian symbols. Throughout, she helps us to discover the source of the power in Van Gogh's stars and sunflowers. --Doug Thorpe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Erickson's account of the spiritual dimensions of van Gogh's work is an important corrective to two widespread assumptions: first, that his background was theologically Calvinist; second, that he abandoned religion when he began his professional career as an artist. Drawing extensively on van Gogh's correspondence, Erickson argues convincingly that the so-called Groningen school?more Arminian than Calvinist?was the foundation for van Gogh's religious outlook and that his abandonment of institutional Christianity (precipitated by disillusionment with his uncle and theological mentor, Johannes Paulus Stricker) was not so much an abandonment of religion as a move to synthesize Christianity and modernity via mysticism. Her discussion of van Gogh's late work is particularly compelling in this regard. Erickson's diagnostic discussion of van Gogh's mental illness is intriguing, though such extended discussion of whether he was epileptic, bipolar, schizophrenic or a combination is more of a distraction than a contribution to artistic or religious appreciation of his work. This work is a lucid and accessible contribution to understanding the religious character of van Gogh's artistic vision.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (September 18, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802849784
• ISBN-13: 978-0802849786
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,716,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a rich understanding of suffering, faith, and creativity, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent Van Gogh (Hardcover)

Erickson does van Gogh a considerable service by returning to the voluminous letters he wrote, in order to help the reader see the roots and meaning of his devotion. She views van Gogh as essentially a mystic inspired by the Gospels and by the writings of John Bunyan and Thomas a Kempis. Their words and images were internalized and remained with the artist in spite of his break with organized Christianity. . . . Erickson provides yet another corrective by carefully reconstructing the etiology of van Gogh's mental disturbances that resulted in an extended hospitalization after the celebrated event in which he severed a part of his own ear and presented it to a local prostitute. By returning to van Gogh's letters and utilizing a finely tuned clinical understanding, Erickson plausibly concludes that the artist suffered from epileptiform illness with attendant depression. She thus provides an alternative view to the varied and sometimes poorly researched conclusions that have led previous scholars and clinicians to arrive at a wide variety of diagnostic hypotheses. . . . Erickson offers a portrait of van Gogh as a visionary struggling to find the means to express his felt spiritual experience. In so doing, she provides us with an enlarged and richly nuanced understanding of the interdependence of suffering, faith, and the act of creation.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We can now see van Gogh's art as he intended, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent Van Gogh (Hardcover)

The conventional view of Vincent van Gogh is that he was a great painter who lost his faith and, finally, lost his sanity as well. . . . But now, thanks to Kathleen Powers Erickson, such interpretations are no longer tenable. Erickson has performed an invaluable service to the disciplines of art history and spiritual Vincent van Gogh corrects numerous misconceptions about this complex man and clarifies the nature of his artistic calling. . . . By illuminating van Gogh's life, Erickson has allowed it, in turn, to illuminate his canvases. Paintings which were formerly "works of art" now seem more like icons; Erickson has enabled us to see beyond their painterly surfaces and glimpse the spiritual forces that inspired them. The paintings become, in a sense, windows that are transparent to the divine reality behind them. More than just a series of magnificent paintings, the works of Vincent van Gogh, after Erickson, now appear as the artist had intended - a visual record of the human soul trying to understand its Creator, while struggling with its afflictions along the earthly road of trials, and making its way, at last, through eternity's gate and into the Celestial City. It is a magnificent trip, and Erickson is a worthy guide along its path

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must in understandiing the real influences in Van Gogh, June 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent Van Gogh (Hardcover)

An absolutely outstanding work by Kathleen Erickson. This is a must read that sets aside the smoke and mirrors by other acclaimed historians. I was also fortunate to attend her talk at one of her book signings. The years of extensive research involved in bringing this new evidence to us is invaluable. Although the first chapter is a little tricky to follow, it sets the foundation for the rest of the book and is the appropriate passageway into it. This book should be added to college art history as well as theological courses so tomorrow's public is not mislead by past fables.