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The Shoes of Van Gogh: A Spiritual and Artistic Journey to the Ordinary

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"The Shoes of Van Gogh" presents a clear picture of the spiritual path taken by Vincent van Gogh as reflected through his art. This book confronts the popular view of Vincent as a madman who committed self-mutilation and suicide and makes the case that Vincent was a whole, sane seeker of God throughout the duration of his short life. His art was the means to that end - the realization of God or the eternal - by opening up new levels of awareness for himself and others through expression and appreciation of the ordinary in life.

The book conveys this message in two ways. First, the reader is taken on a chronological tour of the major phases in Vincent's adult life and is shown examples of work representative of his spiritual growth at each phase. Then, by means of this linear trek through time, the reader ironically is brought back to the beginning and shown the endless cycle of seasonal transformation which shaped Vincent's philosophy and art. Simultaneously, the reader is brought full circle to the opening theme of the book, that being the capacity of van Gogh's work to transcend itself and open new levels of reality within and without both painter and viewer.

Vincent's continual spiritual metamorphosis unfolds with each chapter in chronological fashion. Like all spiritual heroes, Vincent's progression takes off when he lifts the veil and sees through the facade of the social order in which he has been existing. He sheds the entrenched religious conventions and turns to art in an effort to continue ministering to his suffering compatriots on the pilgrim's path. From that point forward, he uses art as a mode of self-expression and as a means to reach others:
* In the Hague, recognizing the holy moments of creation made manifest in new life, in "Child in Cradle with Kneeling Girl" and later reinforced in "La Berceuse";
* In Nuenen, reconciling himself with his father's death, his father's beliefs and his own childhood religion and acknowledging the value and worth of contemporary works;
* In Paris, illustrating a powerful message of the laborer's empty boots;
* In Arles, the time of great, personal blossoming both spiritually and professionally -- the metamorphosis into a great painter and spiritual hero as represented by the bent, flowering pear tree and the butterfly;
* In Arles, "The Bedroom," showing peace, gratitude and spiritual repose;
* In Saint-Remy, his ecstatic vision of the infinite in "Starry Night" and the return from that realm to the ordinary world of everyday events, as seen in the first steps of a young child; and
* In Auvers, in "Wheatfield with Crows," recognizing the perfect symmetry of the birth-death round and the seasonal transformation of all living things.

Having traversed Vincent's adult life through to his death, the reader is brought full circle to the point of beginning. The divine symmetry present in the cycles of the seasons is also present in the body of work this artist left to the world. The eye with which Vincent viewed the ordinary objects and events of creation is the same eye through which God related to Vincent and, so too, those who contemplate his work today.

The Shoes of Van Gogh took me on a journey; I was like a ghost sitting next to Cliff Edwards as he explored Van Gogh's life, loves, and passion. Edward's does not make the mistake, like many, to describe Vincent as a deranged painter, but as a person with a passion for life, who was a deeply sensitive and spiritual person. Dr Edward's explorations of nine paintings help the reader discover this part of Van Gogh, something which is deeply rooted in all of us; the need for meaning in this world of shadows. Vincent was able to produce paintings, which act as a conduit from us to the greater mystery, or the ultimate concern of everyone. Dr Edward's has done an excellent job in describing this to the reader and has done justice to the work of Van Gogh.

At the very outset of Cliff Edwards' newest book, he states that paintings are like windows, making visible both the inside and outside world. When Vincent Van Gogh painted a picture, he (as all artists do) opened his soul to that painting. Through that aperture, God was able to illuminate the artist. In this brief volume, Edwards acts as our guide, examining nine Van Gogh paintings, and bringing us (the reader) along with him as he discovers and explains Vincent's spirituality. How is God revealed through Van Gogh's art? This book will inform you, but best of all, it has that unique ability to comfort you as well.

I found the shoes of Van Gogh to be poetic, in particular in contrast to the author's other book Van Gogh and God, which began as very thick and theoretical. Shoes of Van Gogh painted a certain portrait of Van Gogh as a person instead of an abstract. The characterization was given with more empathy and less of the analytical bend that biographers sometimes give their subject. The empathy that the book created with Vincent comes from the closeness that the author felt for Vincent himself as was evident in the introduction and first chapters that talked about his search and discovery for the artist. This is an empathy I actually did not feel while reading the letters, perhaps because the letters offer a view of Vincent that supposes prior knowledge (that of Theo) where this book draws on the larger base of knowledge already compiled.

The book is not strict biography, but a view of Vincent through his paintings told almost like a story. The paintings chosen could have been any of Vincent's paintings but these particular ones provided a good survey by which to understand Vincent as a person rather than Vincent's body of work as a whole. The paintings were more landmarks, both for Vincent and the author, of important events in their lives. One thing mentioned in particular struck me. On page 133 the author talked about locals putting stalks of wheat on Vincent's gravesite. I cannot think of a single more fitting tribute for Vincent, more than flowers or wreaths, than to put his beloved wheat as he rest.

Not only do we get an insight into the artist and his paintings, but we get a personal journy of the author as Edwards describes how he followed in the footsteps of van Gogh in his explorations in researching the letters, traveling to the places that the artist lived, etc. The book is a beautiful journal into the exploration of the artist, his life and his paintings. Upon closing the book, the reader gets the sense that this book was truly a labor of love for the author. Edwards takes us a on spiritual journey through the process of van Gogh's life and works that touches our own lives in way that is transformative. This book is a must read.

Dr.Edwards is amazing. I am taking his Van Gogh and Religion class at Virginia Commonwealth University and the way he talks about Van Gogh is so clear. This book is almost like his lectures...only shortened. We had to read it for class but after the first chapter I was hooked. The way he weaves the letters that Vincent wrote with the paintings is amazing. It gives a clear idea of Vincent must have been going through. This book will help anyone have a better understand of Vincent and his magnificent paintings.