Van Gogh 2.0

SushmitaA threeday event on various artists interpretation of Dutch artist Vincent van Goghs letters to his brother Theo concluded last Sunday in Pune The event organised by Art Lane a Punebased art group showcased breathtaking pieces of art and performances including sand art and a classical dance Through his lifetime Van Gogh wrote 651 letters to Theo These letters have become the guiding light into how Gogh became an artist Theo apart from being Goghs artistic adviser was his confidant discussing with him matters of love life family other artists and more Their correspondence is known to have marked a joint struggle for the art of the futureAn artwork used a combination of cloth patchwork sequined embroidery and Kantha stitch to bring to life some of Goghrsquos most famous paintingsrsquo motifs the Sunflower Starry Night Moving Skies and Almond BlossomsHeld in the Poona Western Club Bhugaon the hall displayed several installations and mixed media works One of the first works was a unique combination of cloth patchwork sequined embroidery and Kantha stitchmdasha type of embroidery particularly popular in Bangladesh West Bengal and Odishamdashthat brought to life some of Goghs most famous paintings motifs the Sunflower Starry Night Moving Skies and Almond BlossomsArtist Raju Sutar one of the pioneers of modern art as it exists today wrote to Van Gogh in multicoloured postcards in bold colours while Artlane Kalagoshthis cofounder Smita Rajes installation allowed people to write to Van Gogh in picturepostcards made of the photographs she has clicked over yearsArtlane Kalagoshthirsquos cofounder Smita Rajes installation allowed people to write to Van Gogh in picturepostcards made of the photographs she has clicked over yearsArtist Zereh Laljis miniature version of Van Goghs bedroom based on his famous painting Bedroom in Arles took the onlookers breath away with every small detail from the room in the painting brought into 3D motion in tiny fragments of her pieceA painting in Braille seemed like a good step towards inclusion but it was unclear how a person with visual disability would perceive it or what it would have meant to themWhile most of the artworks did a fabulous job of bringing to life Van Goghs use of bold and vibrant coloursmdashthe emerald greens and deep bluesmdashhis motifs his techniques and the movement in his paintings there seemed to be some lack of attempt at reinterpreting Van Goghs essence of painting those paintingsArtist Raju Sutar wrote to Van Gogh in multicoloured postcards in bold coloursOver the years particularly since the time his letters to Theo became public giving an insight into Van Goghs mind certain aspects of his life have become overly romanticised like his mental condition However as artist Anil Awchat said in the opening talk of the exhibition the point of a painting is to paint which is what Van Gogh sought out to do every day of his adult life till the moment of his death Closer to the day before he killed himself he had averaged one painting a day Awchat contrasted this with todays situation in which art has become synonymous to exhibitionismNot art for arts sake The works of Jean Francois Millet Jules Breton and others gave birth to the peasant genre of the Realism movement that began in the 1840s Millet had a significant influence on the works of Van Gogh He described the works of Millet and Breton as having religious significance something on high Millets paintings with their unprecedented depictions of peasants and their labours mark a turning point in 19thcentury art Before Millet peasant figures were just one of many elements in picturesque or nostalgic scenes notes the Van Gogh museum located in AmsterdamIn Millets work working men and women had taken the centre stage and became more real Millet was the only major artist of the Barbizon School who was not interested in pure landscape paintingBedroom in Arles by Zereh LaljiThis influence on Van Goghs work too can be seen whether it was the modest supper at Nuenen Netherlands depicted in his painting Potato Eaters or the Peasant Character in which he studied the daily life of the working people around him One must undertake with confidence with a certain assurance that one is doing a reasonable thing like the farmer who drives his plow one who drags the harrow behind himself If one hasnt a horse one is ones own horse Van Gogh had notedVan Goghs own life had a deep resemblance or likeness to the ones he was trying to paint he would labour hard in blazing sun or blowing winds for long hours enduring frost and snow in winter living moderately Van Goghs frustration with traditionalists who were focused more on technique than on the people they were painting is apparent in his letter to Theo in the year 1885 in July from Nuenen Van Gogh expresses his distaste for artists painting solely on the basis of technique As far as I know not a single academy exists in which one can learn to draw and paint a digger a sower a woman hanging a pot over the fire or a seamstress Van Gogh had said In the same letter Van Gogh pointed out that he didnt want his figures to be good or academically correct and calls Millet and Lhermitte as true artists because they didnt paint in a dry analytical manner but because they painted things as they felt them to beAny project that takes up the responsibility of reinterpreting Van Goghs life has the moral responsibility of not evading what is evident in his paintings It has the responsibility of in John Bergers words not indulging into mystification of the work of the artistSushmita is a researcher working on forest rights issues She has keen interest in contemporary and modern arts She can be reached out at sushmitav1Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates