‘Humans, as a rule, don’t like mad people unless they are good at painting, and only then once they are dead’, Matt Haig

I recently finished reading Matt Haig’s The Humans and the above quote instantly prompted me to book tickets to Van Gogh at Tate Britain (and to Edvard Munch at British Museum).

Now Good Friday has arrived and it is time for me to make my way to Tate Britain. Except… Extensive climate demonstrations are disrupting traffic across central London and there are no busses to Tate Britain. I end up jumping into a cab. Apologies to all of you activists out there. I know that was hardly the intended consequence of your actions, but in this case Van Gogh had to take priority. 

Vincent Van Gogh was Dutch and his most famous paintings were made in France. However, he spent three years of his youth in London working for the international art dealer Goupil & Cie and that was all the excuse Tate Britain needed to arrange a British themed Van Gogh exhibition. 

‘My whole life is aimed at making the things from everyday life that Dickens describes’, Vincent Van Gogh

The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the inspiration Van Gogh found whilst in London. In particular he was an admirer of Victorian novels for their ‘reality more real than reality’. Charles Dickens was a favourite and Christmas Stories features in Van Gogh’s painting L’Arlésienne. Other British writers found on Van Gogh’s shelves include George Eliot, William Shakespeare, John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe and Charlotte Brontë.

Besides from literature Van Gogh was also inspired by the London galleries, scenes he noticed when walking around in the city and black & white prints.  

‘I often felt low in England … but the Black and White and Dickens, are things that make up for it all’, Vincent van Gogh 

The Prison Courtyard is Van Gogh’s version of Gustave Doré’s black and white illustration of Newgate Prison, which Van Gogh saw in the UK and later acquired a copy of. The prison also features in several Dickens novels. Van Gogh painted The Prison Courtyard while hospitalised in Saint-Remy suffering from mental illness. He described his life there as a prison which was crushing him. Looking at the painting I feel desperation, hopelessness, claustrophobia and more. Truly art can express meanings beyond words.

I have been looking forward to see Starry Night over the Rhone. The painting is less emotional, less disturbing than Starry Night, which was painted during Van Gogh’s Saint-Remy hospital stay. But it is beautiful and filled with atmosphere. Usually when gazing at the night sky, I get a sense of perspective (being a small part of an endless universe), wonder, hope, possibilities. With the tiny couple in the foreground setting the amazing night scene into perspective and the human-made gaslights mirroring the stars above, Van Gogh’s picture captures all that. It is truly mesmerising and I go back for another glance later.

Second half of the exhibition focuses on Van Gogh’s influence on British painters. I find this part less interesting. 

One room is dedicated to Sunflowers although it is difficult to see properly for all the people who insist on taking selfies in front of it. Anyway, we Londoners can normally just pop over to National Gallery where Sunflowers is part of the permanent collection, so I have seen it many times before.

The rest of this room show flower motives from British artists who may or may not have been influenced by Van Gogh. It is tough to be shown side by side with one of the most iconic flower paintings ever and the British artists fall short in this connection. I quite like a couple of paintings from Samuel Peploe though. 

Van Gogh’s Self Portrait in vivid colours is another painting which really stands out. Even after having left Tate Britain, I can still feel these piercing, uneasy, and very blue eyes following me. 

Van Gogh and Britain is the first dedicated Van Gogh exhibition I see and as such I would have preferred it to be Van Gogh only. I like the British angle although some of the links appear a bit vague and I am not sure about the structure of the exhibition. Van Gogh’s paintings never fail to make a huge and lasting impression and overall I have a very enjoyable afternoon.

I walk home from Tate Britain in the late afternoon sun and give the climate activists camping in front of Houses of Parliament a little wave when I pass them.

Van Gogh and Britain is shown until 11 August 2019 at Tate Britain.