"A Place for Learning"

The movie, Loving Vincent, that we saw on Monday at The Avalon reminded me of some things about Vincent Van Gogh.  Here are some of his famous paintings that the movie brought to life along with some interesting facts:

1. Did you know that Van Gogh didn’t start painting until he was 27 years old?  Maybe that gives hope to all of us late bloomers out there.
2. Did you know that he produced his most famous painting while in an asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France. He painted Starry Night while in this mental hospital.  (You can paint Starry Night with us on Friday.  Click here to register.)
3. In just the ten years that he painted he produced about 900 oil paintings….some the most famous paintings in the world today.
4. Some say none but other references say he sold just one painting in his lifetime.  It was called “The Red Vineyard”.
5. His brother, Theo, supported him in his art providing supplies and encouragement was with Vincent when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. (Some sources say that he was shot by a village boy.) Theo reported that Vincent’s last words were  “the sadness will last forever.”

It’s hard to believe such a tortured soul produced so many beautiful works of art.  He painted flowers and landscapes like no other and mainly because he was so poor he couldn’t afford to pay models to sit for him.  We’re lucky he chose to paint.