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This 51-minute documentary reveals the life and work of Van Gogh through a survey of his paintings and archival photographs. Based on an exhibition of 70 paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., on loan while the Van Gogh Museum in Holland was undergoing a major expansion, this program provides insights into Van Gogh's tumultuous life and extraordinarily prolific career. The number and quality of paintings in the last five years of his short life point to his obsession with experimentation, and his ability to absorb and move beyond the works of his contemporaries, notably in Paris. His contact with impressionist painters such as Paul Gauguin proved to be both inspiring and then painful, when Gauguin argued against Van Gogh's penchant for painting directly from nature. This program describes Van Gogh's prior obsession with God, as the son of a Calvinist minister, and his close friendship with his brother Theo. Comments by the directors of both museums illuminate the artist's work; we learn, for example, that "yellow is his color." Quotes from Van Gogh's writings spoken in accented English provide much delight and insights such as his desire to portray people "with a touch of the eternal" or "the importance of exaggerating color" and, in studying color, observing the "mysterious vibration of related tone." The original music is reminiscent of Debussy. The artist's interest in prostitutes is only mentioned. Ending with his suicide, this lucid and well-filmed program is definitely worth viewing.
--Anne Barclay Morgan
