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The main exhibition at Infinity des Lumiѐres brings to life the world of Vincent Van Gogh, through 163 images, moving ingeniously across the expansive space, while vibrant colors and delicate shapes waltz and swirl to 15 mesmerizing music compositions, The exhibition traces the evolution of his art from dark tones and somber themes in his native Netherlands, to bright, vibrant colors in Paris, inspiring scenes of country life and vividly beautiful nature in Provence, showcasing the profound influence of Japanese art on the artist.

 

The story of Vincent Van Gogh is an incredible journey of discovery, a discovery of oneself, one's passions, one's skills, a profound love for nature, for people, and a unique perspective on the world, and on life itself. We trace here some of the most important elements for understanding this iconic artist and the artwork that is animated through innovation and technology in our immersive digital art exhibition dedicated to this ingenious artist.

 

Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands,

on March 30th, 1853, in the Brabant village of Zundert, in the Netherlands, as the son of a pastor. He grew up believing his true calling was to preach, like his father.

 

He tried his hand, unsuccessfully, at many different jobs.

The Van Gogh family was famous as reputable and competent art dealers, in fact they were considered one of the greatest picture dealers in Europe. So, young Vincent first worked as an art dealer, in the Hague, London and Paris. He was groomed to be the successor of his successful uncles, a powerful and wealthy man, respected and admired by everyone, the owner of the most important string of art galleries in Europe. However, he decided that working with his uncles and cousins was not for him, that this was not his path, and went to be a schoolmaster in England. After that he tried being a bookseller near Rotterdam, and finished as a theology student in Amsterdam.

 

As a lay preacher, he was sent to a very poor and dreary mining district,

the Borinage, in Belgium.

There he lived among the miners, sharing their extreme poverty, their way of life, and giving away all his possessions. He fed the miners and their families, nursed them, gave them all his support, energy and money. His zealousness earned him the nickname "The Christ of the Coal Mine". But after a while he became disillusioned, as he saw that faith could not feed or clothe, heal or protect these people that he cared for dearly. He suffered because he could not alleviate their daily, interminable, generational suffering. Vincent became depressed, and was also suffering from extreme and prolonged starvation. In the midst of this anguish, he discovered a keen interest in drawing. He started sketching the tortured faces and emaciated bodies of the miners, their wives and children. He then sent these sketches and drawings to Theo, including them in the letters he wrote. To pull him out of his depression, and to pull him away from apaling and difficult living conditions, Theo advised him to turn to art, and dedicate himself to learning how to draw and paint.

 

So at the age of 27, in 1880, following his brother's advice,

Vincent decided to become an artist.

As he was not an educated and trained artist his drawing skills were quite crude at first. Thus, with his usual passion and energy, Vincent threw himself into improving his creative and artistic skills, copying the work of artists he admired, going to courses in Brussels, and taking lessons from his uncle in The Hague, the famous artist Anton Mauve. Practicing his hand and improving his skills day and night, Van Gogh struggled for a long time; despite his great efforts and complete dedication, almost all of the artists and mentors around him thought his style was not good enough, that the subject matter he was depicting was not beautiful, and many of them told him, bluntly and repeatedly, that he was not meant to be an artist; they spurred him to give up, and find something different to do in life, something that would allow him to earn money, and not be supported indefinitely by his brother. Vincent's parents also voiced these concerns and criticisms, particularly his father. These doubts and questions would continue to plague Vincent throughout his life. The only one who never expressed such criticism or doubt was his brother Theo.

 

Theo continuously encouraged Vincent,

supporting him financially

and with an unwavering belief that Vincent was an incredible artist.

This support would continue until the end of Vincent's life.

 Thus, with Theo's help, in the face of much criticism and self-criticism, as well as constant pressure to give up art, Vincent managed to persevere, and continued to dedicate each ounce of energy to his art - he found in art the lasting, constant satisfaction nothing else could give. He kept pushing himself to be better every day, always trying to improve himself. He was drawn to scenes from everyday life, the hardships and the trials of poor, humble, simple people. He drew peasants, farmers, weavers, fishermen, miners, sowers, ploughers. He felt he had to draw them continually, to observe and record everything that belonged to country life.

 

He found ordinary life and ordinary people beautiful, full of life, vibrant.

And he desperately wanted to transfer that vibrancy to his canvases.

He spent hours and hours observing, drawing, sketching, trying to capture the true, the real spirit of the people he was fascinated with. He considered man and nature as one, pouring into each other, the forms of the same matter. He never drew distinct lines between the two, believing them to be indistinguishable in essence.

 

His work in this period is distinctly dark in tone,

with depictions of harsh peasant life,

influenced by social realism.

Sharply lit portraits fuse with gloomy interiors and somber nature. The most famous work from this period is the "The Potato Eaters" - Vincent painted it shortly after his father died, in March 1885. It took him days and days of sitting with the family of peasants, sketching, drawing, while they were having their dinner, then working in oil, to finally finish this famous artwork - at that time considered too brutal and ugly to be displayed in any art gallery. 

 

After repeated invitations from Theo to extricate himself from the atmosphere in the Netherlands, and to join him in Paris, Vincent finally moved in with his brother in 1886, in search of inspiration and a change of scenery.

 

In Paris, Vincent discovered a whole new world,

the world of impressionists.

For the first time Vincent encountered art that was filled with light, with air, and throbbing with vivacity. He met and became friends with the great artists of the time - Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne, Seurat, Rousseau. He was thrilled and exhilarated, he was inspired, and he was accepted, finally, by his peers. His friends and fellow artists recognized Vincent as a budding genius, and gave him the tenacity and courage to continue with his art. Under their influence he started developing his iconic style.

 

In Paris Vincent started experimenting

with bright colors and short brush strokes.

From 1886 to 1888 he painted bustling cafes, wide boulevards, the colorful countryside along the Seine, delicate flowers and a number of self-portraits. His life was full - he has security, friendship and the love of his brother.

Together with Theo he began collecting Japanese woodcuts and prints - this fascination with the style, and subject matter, of the 19th century Ukiyo-e art movement would profoundly influence his work, as well as that of other renowned European artists of the time. It would also bear on his decision to move from Paris, to Provence.

In 1888, inspired by the simplicity of nature and everyday life portrayed in Japanese art, he decided to leave hectic city life behind.

 

Vincent moved to Provence,

to find bright sunlight, so intense it would set his palette on fire.

He moved south, to Arles, in the heart of Provence, where he stayed until the summer of 1890. Even though it was a difficult period for him, during which he became ill, cut off his ear and was hospitalized in an asylum, Van Gogh created his most famous and memorable masterpieces over the course of these two years spent in Provence. 

 

Van Gogh sought in Provence what he admired in Japanese prints.

Peace, vibrant colors, a joyful atmosphere, stunning landscapes and a simpler life. He was inspired and energized, he was mesmerized by the brilliance and luminosity of the sun - he felt it was hotter and purer than anywhere else in the world, and illuminated with such color the pristine nature, the poetic landscapes. He felt the sun gave everything a sheer, Japanese, clarity. He considered it a painter's paradise - the colors bewildering, the sky so intensely blue, so profoundly blue; the green of the fields the essence of the color green; the burning lemon-yellow of the sun, the blood-red of the soil, the pure whiteness of a lone cloud.

 

Influenced by Japanese visual invention, Vincent modernized his work.

He started introducing new elements and ways of looking at the world: large areas of color and color contrasts, bold lines, unusual spatial effects, such as zooming in on foreground details, and cropping. He dedicated himself fully to painting expressively orchards in blossom, workers gathering the harvest, boats on the coast. He worked day and night, tirelessly re-creating the nature he saw as infinitely beautiful, through the prism of his colors and canvas.

 

In Provence, Vincent created his most famous masterpieces.

The artist's most renowned paintings from this period - "Cafe Terrace at Night", "The Place du Forum", and "The Yellow House" - fill the main exhibition space of Infinity des Lumières, with the warmth and restorative power of the glorious Provence sunlight. In "The Sower at Sunset" we see a wonderful sense of freedom, as Van Gogh paints the wheat field in various shades of blue and violet, climbing toward the horizon; a sower in blue and white; and a dazzling yellow sky. Vincent used to say that in Provence he was drunk with color, struck blind with the sun, so much so that he could not distinguish the color of the fields from the color of the sky. Yet he felt that his canvases were glowing, brilliant transcriptions of nature. He used color arbitrarily to express himself with greater force, not just reproducing exactly what he has before his eyes.

 

"The Bedroom at Arles" highlights Van Gogh's love of contrasts, especially between complementary colors - red and green, orange and blue, sulfur and lilac. As the artist explained in a letter to his brother, the unique combination of colors is designed to create a peaceful effect, resting the mind and the imagination. In this famous painting, the use of perspective is also unusual and reminiscent of Japanese style prints, through the absence of shadows and the use of flat areas of color.

Vincent painted his iconic "Sunflowers" as a series of color experiments,

which went on to become synonymous with the artist.

Between 1888 and 1889 Van Gogh iconic "Sunflowers" were created, as a series of 7 still lifes - variations on a vibrant explosion of yellow hues. At the time sunflowers were considered coarse and unrefined, and other artists did not paint them. But Van Gogh gave them the lead role in many of his paintings, attracted precisely by their rustic, earthy quality. The color yellow was also unusual - it has not been used in European painting since the Renaissance, but Vincent loved it. His canvases were masses of yellow, in all its glorious shades and hues.

The series was a result of Van Gogh's habit of painting "repetitions" of certain artwork. He created two with the idea of combining them with "Woman Rocking the Cradle" his homage to motherhood, in a triptych that was to symbolize gratitude.

 

Several "Sunflowers", a symphony of blue and yellow,

were created to decorate Paul Gauguin's room.

When he was preparing for Paul Gauguin's visit to Arles, to welcome the older artist and express admiration, Vincent decorated the guest bedroom with several of his "Sunflowers". Previously, in Paris, Gauguin had been so impressed with Vincent's sunflowers that he painted Vincent as he was creating his unusual flowers.

 

Vincent intended to create an artist's colony in his beloved "Yellow House"

He was enamored with his Yellow House, and thought it would be a permanent studio, for generations to come. Gauguin came to Arles following Van Gogh's invitation, and quite a lot of cajoling. He was the first and only artist to join him. For a while the two artists worked side by side, painting and discussing art, but they almost always disagreed, on every last approach to their art, vehemently. In a letter to Theo, Vincent described their debates as "excessively electric".

 

The "ear incident" followed a ferocious fight

between Van Gogh and Gauguin.

As tensions between the two continued to rise, Van Gogh became increasingly agitated.  Gauguin threatened to leave and in turn Van Gogh threatened him with a razor. Later in the evening he used the razor to slice off his own ear. After that Gauguin returned to Paris, and Vincent's dream of a shared studio ended. 

In the months following "the ear incident" Van Gogh's mental health was plagued with recurring episodes of illness. Admitting that he needed help, and that it is better to be in a place where he can be cared for, he had himself admitted to an asylum in Saint-Remy.

 

"Vincent stayed one year in the asylum,"

"where he was exceptionally productive, completing 150 paintings."

While at the asylum Vincent painted several of his most iconic works, such as the delicate and poetic "Almond Blossom" - a gift for his newborn nephew, Vincent Willem, whom Theo and his wife Jo named after the beloved uncle. In this painting Van Gogh's poignant focus on the profound beauty of nature demonstrates his emulation of Japanese printmaking.

 At the asylum,

Vincent created one of the most famous paintings in the world,

"Starry Night". 

In 1889 he painted one of the most famous paintings in the world - an enchanting dreamlike masterpiece - entirely from his imagination. This was a significant divergence from his usual style of painting - he painted only what he observed in reality. In fact, he disagreed most vehemently with Gauguin precisely on this point - Van Gogh believed in painting only what he could see, not what he could imagine; he believed in trying to transfer the spirit of what was in front of him, painstakingly, onto the canvas. In "Starry Night" an ominously beautiful atmosphere is reflected in myriad shades of blue, with a nocturnal sky ablaze with thousands of stars.

The beauty of this painting is like nature itself - mesmerizing, timeless and universal.

 

As his mental condition got worse, and as his thoughts became ever darker, Van Gogh started changing his style, communicating a sense of fear and disappointment.

To express existential anxiety

Vincent used more energetic brush strokes

and darker, more intense colors.

In 1889 he created the "Cypress trees" series, inspired by the story of Christ in the olive grove. Cypresses, olive trees and rocky landscape exemplify the dichotomy of peace and turmoil in nature, as well as the turmoil he felt within himself, within his life, and within his commitment to art.

 

Vincent's tormented world comes to light in a series of self-portraits.

The artist's haunting stare and vigorous brushstrokes express a turbulent emotional state. Since he started drawing, in the mining villages of Belgium, he always paid ordinary people to pose for him. He continued this practice throughout his career, but even though he wasn't paying much, he was always in such dire straits that he often couldn't afford to eat, let alone afford models. He always chose to continue working, saving all the money Theo was sending him to buy art supplies instead of food, clothing, or any other comforts. He lived most of his life content with the bare minimum, even less at times, but never renouncing his commitment to art. He also lived this part of his life without the desire to succeed - he painted because he had to, because he had the power and the ability to create.

 

Van Gogh created many self-portraits,

mainly because he couldn't always afford models,

yet wanted to hone his skills as an artist and a portraitist.

He stood before a mirror, and did his own portrait, over and over. Thus, despite only one good photo of Vincent, we are very familiar with his intense green eyes, powerful expression, red beard, and blue workman's smock, as his portraits went from being simple exercises to some of the most prized paintings in the world.

 

Vincent spent the final two months of his life

in a peaceful village near Paris.

The exhibition draws to a close featuring the summer of 1890, at Auvers-sur-Oise. Vincent moved there because Theo wanted him to be closer, as his time in the asylum did little to fully improve his mental health. In the village he befriended a doctor, an amateur painter and avid art collector, Paul Gachet. Following the doctor's advice, Vincent devoted himself fully to art, producing almost a painting a day, exalting the landscape and the wonders of nature.

 

In the days before his death, Vincent feverishly painted wheatfields and tormented skies.

Pervaded by sadness and loneliness, and presaging his death, in Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh painted mostly immense stretches of wheatfields under tempestuous skies. The "Wheat Field with Crows", long considered his last painting, shows an ominous, stormy sky, in sharp contrast to the golden hues of the field, where dark crows take flight, flooding the canvas, until the sky is completely obscured.

The great artist shot himself, in a wheatfield, on July 27, 1890.

He died of his wounds 2 days later, at the age of 37, feeling overwhelmed by years of mental illness and financial insecurity, exhausted by constant work, and viewing himself as a failure.

Immediately after his death, Theo organized a memorial exhibition of Vincent's artwork - his first ever exhibition.

In 10 years of prolific work,

Vincent created more than 850 paintings and almost 1,300 works on paper.

 

Correspondence with his beloved and always supportive brother Theo provides a unique and profound insight into the art, life, and genius of Vincent Van Gogh.

 

Heartfelt letters between the brothers feature

alongside sketches that Vincent included in his post.

Theo died only a few months after his brother, in 1891. The brothers are buried alongside each other - united in death as they were in life - a relationship that was profoundly loving and supportive to the extreme, and which allowed Vincent to pursue his passion for art, his relentless quest to capture the beauty of nature and life through his painting, and his unrelenting dedication to his work. 

 

Vincent went from death to eternal glory,

thanks to Jo van Gogh-Bonger - Theo's widow.

After Theo's death, Vincent's vast opus came under the care of Theo's widow - Jo van Gogh-Bonger. She worked tirelessly and astutely to raise public awareness about Vincent's work, through sales exhibitions, strategic sales to collections accessible to the public around the world, and publishing the correspondence between the two brothers. It is mainly thanks to her that Vincent Van Gogh is now regarded as one of most ingenious artists, and his artwork is displayed, admired and revered as imaginative, impressive and remarkable, all around the world.

At the end of the exhibition,

we are reminded of the transformative, restorative, timeless quality of art,

as Van Gogh's moving self-portraits pervade the space,

amidst delicate and beautiful almond tree blossoms.