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PENCIL DRAWING
16-09-2024 At Eternity's Gate in Pencil (Old Man in Sorrow) - 1890
This work by Van Gogh strikes me deeply,
even though this painting does not clash at all with the subjects he usually
chose for his works. He was very attracted to the downtrodden, the exhausted,
the miserable... Here it is an "old man" of that time, a war veteran (Adrianus
Jacobus Zuyderland), slumped on a chair, despairing by the crackling fireplace.
Created in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, it is based on an earlier lithograph. The
veteran depicted here had met Vincent in a hospice where the painter had found
himself passing through. An elderly and weakened character, it is clear from the
depiction that he is now incapable of reacting to his own emotions.
I chose to reinterpret this work of the great artist because I liked the title,
which was also reused in the film starring Willem Dafoe in 2018. It will be one
of my works featured in the Van Gogh in Pencil exhibition.
CONTEXT
It is interesting to note how the genius of a person can make immortal
individuals who have done nothing to become so! In the case of this ex-soldier,
Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland, an ordinary person like many others... In the end,
the life of this 'Adrianus' did not change at all after meeting Van Gogh and he
lived his life invisibly. However, the genius of one is enough to immortalize a
great number of people, places, and events. Certainly, these people never asked
to become eternal and certainly never expected that someone, probably considered
by them to be crazy and inconclusive, would one day give his subjects an endless
echo that knows no age!
Art undoubtedly allows one to grant eternity not only to the author himself but
also to everything contained in his works. I think it is something to reflect on
a lot.