World Art Day & Spirituality

                                          The Starry Night -- June 1889 --- Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is Unesco World Art Day, which intrigues me. Humans have created art for thousands of years and cave paintings in locations around the planet convey a spiritual presence which those who've seen them describe as akin to stepping into a cathedral. 

Some of you will know that my undergraduate degree was in art history and that as soon as I had the capability to share art images in worship, including as sermon illustrations, I did so. I realize that my first use of visual images was nearly 30 years ago using an overhead projector like those used in school classrooms at that time. Sometimes I showed depictions of the biblical stories, both historical and contemporary. I also shared images which would evoke emotions and spiritual responses even though they were not overtly religious. 

As serendipity or providence would have it, I came upon an article today in the New York Times about Johanna Bonger, the woman who married Theo van Gogh, brother of the renowned Vincent van Gogh It's common knowledge that the brothers were close, despite the life-long emotional challenges Vincent experienced. Theo was several years younger and a successful art dealer who supported the penniless Vincent for a decade before his death. Theo rushed to Vincent's side when he was dying of what may or may not have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Vincent was only 37, but a few months later Theo died at age 33 leaving behind his young wife, Jo, and an infant child they had name Vincent. 

As much as I've read about Vincent Van Gogh and Theo I was not aware that it was Jo who set out to nurture the artistic legacy of her brother-in-law, who had no success while he was alive. Despite her grief and no training as an art critic or dealer she determinedly brought Vincent's work before critics. She fell heir to hundreds of his paintings, and she also curated his correspondence with Theo to help create the persona of the imaginative and emotionally tortured artist. Jo had actually admired Vincent's The Starry Night painting when Theo felt that it was a disturbing reminder of his brother's descent into mental illness.Initially critics dismissed what may be his best recognized painting as well. 

An aspect of Jo's determination may have been her affinity with Vincent's spirituality and sense of social justice. Vincent had first studied for the ministry and worked with impoverished miners and farmers. As a churchgoer Jo developed her own sense of social responsibility which is reflected in Vincent's early work. Despite lots of resistance Jo persisted with critics and carefully shepherded Vincent's legacy. All the more remarkable given that she and Theo were married only 21 months. 

I appreciate the article, The Woman Who Made van Gogh, by Russell Shorto. The insights fascinate me, especially today. 

                                    The Potato Eaters -- April 1885 -- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam