My recent visit to the "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" exhibition left me inspired and in awe of this legendary artist. Not only did I get to step into Vincent Van Gogh's masterpieces, but through the exhibition, I also learned more about the artist and how each art piece was created.
Never too late to learn and never give up
Van Gogh only started painting at the age of 27 without any formal training, peers around his age would have already been pretty established. But that did not stop him from his passion for painting, through his life (though short span) he painted more than 900 paintings over a span of 10 years, which worked out to 36 hours per piece on average.
Talented aside, he truly put in a lot of effort to observe and create his artworks. His life is a testament to the importance of following our dreams, despite the numerous setbacks, he never stopped or gave up. This is an incredibly important lesson that we can all take away.
Selfies are not just for vanity
If Van Gogh lived in this era, he might just be a selfie king. Out of his 900+ paintings, 36 were his self-portraits. Not only do these paintings document how he looked, but they also reveal a lot of the environment, and his emotions through the brush strokes, giving us a little insight to observe Van Gogh’s progress through his lifetime.
My favourite piece has got to be "Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890), Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, January 1889". You can spot so many details in just one painting, you can see despite a wound, he still carried on his passion to paint, always ready to create another masterpiece with an empty canvas on an easel in the back. Alongside a pretty detailed Japanese painting on the wall that shows how much he loved Japanese art and where he got his inspiration to create his infamous Post-Impressionism style.
Practice makes perfect
Did you know the infamous Van Gogh's painting - Sunflowers is not just one painting but a series of 11 paintings? They're all painted with different perspectives of the flowers, different stages of flower growth (in bloom, wilting, or even with seeds ready to harvest), and different settings. And not just only sunflowers, he also did a series of irises and roses in vases too! His persistence in refining his art by studying the subjects is definitely something we can all learn from.
Cut out the noises
Van Gogh was discouraged by many in his life to give it up given that he only sold one painting in his life, but he stayed committed to his art form. He did not change who he was or his style in order to stay with the trend, instead, he found his own inspiration and developed all these masterpieces that we see today. Things might get tough at times but perseverance does pay off.
Embracing other cultures
Van Gogh's Post-Impressionism style is very much influenced by Japanese woodwork art. Being able to appreciate others' culture and art, and develop his own style from there is very impressive. In this modern day where there's talk of bias and discrimination, I must say he was pretty forward-thinking for his time. Maybe we should learn from him, see beyond boundaries and create even more beautiful things?
Having once seen Van Gogh's painting back when I was visiting Paris and now being able to have an even more immersive experience through this exhibition has really made me appreciate his works more.
Oh! Before leaving the experience, don't forget to leave your "masterpiece" too! Pick your favourite Van Gogh painting, fill it up with your own creative colours and upload it to show it off on the wall of fame screen.
After the walk, take a break, chat about the experience, get yourself a souvenir, or enjoy the delicious confectionaries created by our local chocolatier Janice Wong at the cafe space, enjoy a little "Café Terrace at Night" moment.
Tickets to "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" are now available for purchase at S$24 onwards for adults and S$15 onwards for children, visit www.vangoghexpo.com/singapore for more information. Enjoy ~~~
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