"That Strange Wild Man": Vincent Van Gogh

 Tony Curran as Vincent van Gogh, compared to a self-potrait by the artist, in "Vincent and the Doctor"

I have just finished watching an episode of the wildly popular and long-running British series Doctor Who entitled "Vincent and the Doctor" (Series 5, Episode 10).  In this episode, everyone's favorite time-traveling humanoid alien notices a strange creature in Vincent van Gogh's The Church at Auvers at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.  What could the Doctor do but go back in time to team up with Vincent to fight a violent alien?  (If you mind spoilers, skip to the next paragraph.  If not, one epic phrase sums this episode up perfectly: Vincent van Gogh vs. a giant, merciless, bloodthirsty, invisible space chicken.)

This episode fascinated me for its portrayal of the depressed artist.  While my mental health major friend noticed the way the episode depicted van Gogh's depression (though without his aural self-mutilation), I was entranced by the description of the artist's worldview.  I don't know how accurate it is, but I'm planning to read his letters to help find out.  

My favorite scene in the episode (which I could not find a clip of on-line, no matter how hard I could try: there are only music videos to a Don McLean song instead) involves the Doctor, his companion (kind of a strange term, but it's the one they use) Amy, and Vincent van Gogh staring up at the night sky as the artist explains his worldview.  While I can't find a clip, here is Vincent's brief soliloquy and a series of pictures showing how the sky transforms into van Gogh's The Starry Night during the scene:

"Try to see what I see.  We're so lucky we're still alive to see this beautiful world.  Look at the sky.  It's not dark and black and without character.  The black is in fact deep blue.  And over there!  Lighter blue.  And blowing through the blueness and blackness, the winds swirling through the air.  And there shining, burning, bursting through, the stars!  Can you see how they roll their light?  Everywhere we look, complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."

I had never really thought much about Vincent van Gogh, "that strange wild man," as the curator of the Musée d'Orsay calls him in the episode, but he fascinates me now.  There is no big reason for this post besides spreading knowledge about this wonderful episode and explaining why I might have more posts on Vincent van Gogh in the future.  The faith of this man may not be laudable (he seems to agree with Gandhi's quote, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians": his version is "I am no friend of present-day Christianity, though its Founder was sublime"), but I think there are some seeds of truth hidden in his worldview.  For now, I will end up some quotes of his that seem beautifully indicative of his artistic worldview:

"Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it."

"Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me.  I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners.  And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum."

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

Let us end by saying a prayer for the repose of the soul of Vincent van Gogh, who in the struggle with his depression took his own life: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the soul of Vincent van Gogh and on the souls of all the departed, and, if they so desire, bring them to Your home, where there is no suffering, sighing, or grief, but ever-lasting life.  Eternal memory, eternal memory: blessed repose grant to Your servants, O Lord Jesus Christ, and eternal memory.

  Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night (1889)

Nota Bene: The quote from the Doctor Who episode is found on Wikiquote's page for Vincent van Gogh, as are most of the quotes by him.  The quote by Gandhi was found here, and the last quote by van Gogh was found here.