INSPIRE ME! Artist, Vincent Van Gogh

I am still far from being what I want to be, 

but with God's help I shall succeed.

~ VAN GOGH

By TAHLIB

Do you know Vincent Van Gogh? Did you know he painted the bible above? Did you know he was a Methodist minister before becoming a full-time artist? In a letter dated 1876 to his brother Theo, he wrote that God has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor. After a few years, he found his true calling, to paint the road to spiritual salvation. I have found Van Gogh's paintings to be moral-religious drama even when depicting the spiritual solitude within nature. When he left the organized ministry, he left angry and wrote, "Oh, I am no friend of the present Christianity, though its founder was sublime" and he described Jesus as "the supreme artist.", more of an artist than all others, disdaining marble and clay and color, working in the living flesh." Van Gogh the minister might be an artist you've never met, A&O is honored to introduce you to Rev. Vincent Van Gogh, INSPIRE ME! Artist of Month:

"Self Portrait"

1. What is your faith tradition, and where did you develop into an artist who explores religion? I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed.

"The Pieta" (After Delacroix)

2. How do you describe your art? What style or genre is it? For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

"The Open Bible"

3. Have you ever had to defend exploring religious themes? I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.

"The Starry Night"

4. What do your collectors say about your work? One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever came to sit by it. Passers-by see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on their way.

"Resurrection of Lazarus" (After Rembrandt)

5. Many have called your style of painting odd. Why do you paint the way you do? What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

"Pollard Willows"

6. What aspect of the world, or beyond has most influenced your style? I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.

"The Angel"

7. What final thing should A&O readers know about your outlook on life? Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence.

How can you find out more about Vincent Van Gogh as a minister of God who choose painting as his sermons? Born March 30, 1853, the son of a Dutch-Reformed Minister, he shot himself on July 27, 1890 in the chest in a wheat field; and died two days later. His artistic & spiritual legacy is preserved in the paintings and drawings he left behind, as well as in his letters, primarily with Theo, which lays bare his spiritual challenges and artistic intentions, and serves as a reminder of his brother's pivotal role as a mainstay of support throughout his career.