Ever Yours, Vincent
15.5 x 15.25 x 5.25”
My husband and I spent two weeks in the little village of St. Remy in southern France near the asylum where Van Gogh stayed for close to a year. Every evening during our stay we read from a book of Vincent's letters to his brother Theo. We became immersed in his passionate artistic and personal struggles and felt much empathy for his plight.
On one occasion we toured the asylum of St.Paul (still a functioning mental hospital) and were shown a room close to Vincent's original quarters. It was set up to look the same as it did in 1889. The view from the barred window was nearly identical to the view Vincent painted several times. In this piece I wanted to re-create that confining, lonely space as if he were still there. I used photos from the period, Van Gogh’s own drawings of his room and his detailed, written descriptions as guides. In the locked drawer are files documenting Van Gogh's time in Arles, at St. Paul's asylum and his last days in Auvers-sur-Oise.
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