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Many years ago, a decade prior to becoming the Scottish Medium,
I was watching one of my favourite Televisions shows Doctor Who. The episode was called “Vincent and the Doctor”. Basically, the Dr and his companion have an adventure with Van Gogh.
Fortunately, I am reviewing the artwork of Van Gogh and not the science fiction works of the British Broadcasting Corporation which makes Doctor Who as he standard of the program in recent years has diminished dramatically.
At the time my enthusiasm knew no bounds. I am not a great fan of the artwork of Van Gogh, but I allowed my enthusiasm for the program to get my wife to arrange for my wife to arrange of one of the paintings shown in the episodes called the Church at Auvers, a Gothic Church.
(My painting not the original!)
Now that of course leads into what were the religious belief of the great man called Van Gough? He certainly did believe in life after death. However, he did not prove that there is life after death, just had faith to that effect. Well, more on that in a moment.
The reason I am talking about this is because Scotland, or at least the capital Edinburgh has gone mega Van Gough. With my wife I attended yesterday, called the Edinburgh Van Gogh Live exhibition:
I was impressed with the tech for the exhibition and found myself getting into a very meditative state. Classical Music played as you stand or sit in a very large hall with multiple huge screens playing animations of Van Gogh’s artwork. There were a few added attractions where you can post and have your pictures taken.
Was Van Gogh Spiritual then? In fact, he wanted to be a preacher like his father, but was rejected by the Church and he made himself poor through this experience and discovered his ability and vocation as an artist.
In 1878 he trained as an evangelist in Brussels. Failing to get an appointment after three months, he left to do missionary work in Borinage,. There, in the winter of 1879–80, he experienced the first spiritual crisis. He gave away all his worldly goods when he was then dismissed by church authorities for a too-literal interpretation of Christian teaching. “They think I’m a madman,” he told an acquaintance, “… because I wanted to be a true Christian. They turned me out like a dog, saying that I was causing a scandal.”
It was then that van Gogh began to draw seriously, thereby discovering in 1880 his true vocation as an artist.
Now it might just be coincidence that It is Easter, and it was our day off and thus I am writing this passage, or is this another example of synchronicity?
We enjoyed the experience very much. We did however also manage to fit in Saint Giles Cathedral, walk around the town centre and I did a trip to the cinema in the evening. The only real criticism I have about the experience is the total lack of chairs. I counted four benches for a venue that was accommodating as many as a hundred people for each showing.
In the end I will let you make your own mind up about the exhibition, that is just a few shots of it.
Am I coming to any conclusion or message? In fact, yes.
We are all driven to be people and things without realising it. Van Gogh wanted a life of religious employment. He was driven to insanity at times and despite a fictional encounter with a time traveller in a police box, had no idea how he would be remembered by posterity. And yet look at him now in history?
Of course, I am sure his spirit is now laughing at all of this!