Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait
Speaking of self-taught Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh from my earlier post, I want to take a moment to discuss how he has inspired me in my own work as an artist. Anyone who follows my work knows I am a big fan of the great Rennaissance master Michelangelo (and illustrator Howard Pyle and his student N. C. Wyeth – more on these chaps in another post). But I am also inspired by other artists for their true grit in facing adversity. Vincent van Gogh is definitely one of those artists for me.
Whenever I am going through the doldrums and want to quit working because I feel my work is not getting the attention it deserves, I remind myself that van Gogh only sold one of his paintings in his lifetime. By that calculation, I haven’t done too bad for myself. But the important thing to realize is that someone of his caliber was ignored in his own time, and yet he kept working on his craft.
If you consider his life, van Gogh could easily be categorized as a major failure. Let’s see, he failed at classroom instruction, failed at missionary school, failed to become a pastor, failed at art school, failed at proposing marriage, failed at friendships, failed at being able to provide for himself financially, and failed at maintaining physical and mental stability. It wasn’t just his contemporaries who felt he was a failure, but van Gogh himself thought so and believed his was a “sadness that will never end.” It did one day, unfortunately, in a very bad way.
But van Gogh continues to inspire me because despite his own melancholy sentiments about himself, he produced a series of works that have given millions of people joy, hope, happiness, and inspiration. Isn’t that what making art is all about? If so, van Gogh is a master artist, not a major failure. If only he knew the legacy he had left behind for other artists who followed him since his demise. So, while I can see the beauty in every van Gogh brushstroke, I am deeply inspired by his tenacity to keep painting, despite his many, many, many challenges.
Which artist inspires you the most? And why?
Source: Vincent van Gogh self-portrait - Public Domain. Wikipedia.
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