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(birds chirping)
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(dramatic orchestral)
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[Narrator] Van Gogh desired love,
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but he lived and died alone.
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He searched for infinity,
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where the sky meets the fields of wheat.
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And one Sunday at the end of July,
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overcome, as he himself wrote,
by never ending sadness,
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he killed himself with a revolver.
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It happened here, in Auvers-sur-Oise,
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just a few weeks before he
had painted this church,
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a painting that together
with him and his life's work,
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could have simply been forgotten.
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But something happened.
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(inquisitive music)
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A woman managed to give Vincent something
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he had never had when he was alive.
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Affection, recognition,
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respect.
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Someone recognized themselves,
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in what had been called his madness,
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but which was nothing more
than a search for the absolute,
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in all its raw truth.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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Her name was Helene Kröller-Müller.
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She was one of the richest
women in the Netherlands
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and she devoted her
life to Van Gogh's art,
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like a wife, or novice taking her vows.
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(gentle music)
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She was one of the first to understand
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how important his work was
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and she helped make it live forever.
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This story brings together
the lives of two people
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who never met,
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but who are now united forever,
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in the rooms of the museum that Helene
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wanted to build for Vincent.
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Helene Kröller-Müller
saw something of herself
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in Vincent's tormented life.
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Like him, she wrote hundreds of letters
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about spiritual anxiety
and the need to believe
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in the most absolute way.
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Both wanted much more from religion,
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than just it's rituals.
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In 1881, Van Gogh talking
about the church wrote,
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"No wonder one becomes
hardened and numb there.
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"I know that from my own experience.
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"Look, I find the clergyman's God,
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"as dead as a doornail.
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"But does that make me an atheist?"
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And this is what Helene said,
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referring to Van Gogh.
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"Like him, I couldn't believe in the God
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"that people expected me to believe in.
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"He was a sham God. "
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Two souls looking for an
absolute kind of faith,
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that couldn't possibly exist in real life.
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(dramatic orchestral)
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Helene began buying paintings
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and drawings by Van Gogh in 1909.
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About 20 years after the painter died,
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in 1890.
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(dramatic music)
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Her collection grew to such an extent,
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that the idea of building a museum,
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appealed to her, more and more.
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Kröller-Müller Museum first
opened up its doors in 1938.
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And it was a dream come true
for Helene Kröller-Müller,
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its founders, who had been
collecting since 1906,
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1907 and brought together
a marvelous collection
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of modern artworks and Vincent Van Gogh
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was her absolute favorite.
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To her he was the best artist ever.
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[Narrator] It was a
spiritual dimension of
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Van Gogh's paintings
that caught her interest.
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They both shared an empathy for the meek,
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for those suffering,
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and she wanted others to
be able to take comfort
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and find inner peace from Vincent's works.
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Just like she did.
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And so she built the
Kroller-Mueller Museum,
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in Otterlo in the Netherlands.
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And it is here that the
art historian Marco Goldin,
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began mulling over an
exhibition on Van Gogh
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for the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza.
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(sweeping orchestral)
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When the paintings arrive in
the city in the Veneto region,
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the curator, technician,
restorers and fitters,
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all work on creating a
setting for the life,
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the work and the world of Van Gogh,
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who to this day is still one
of the best loved artists,
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and one of the most
valued in the art market.
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A most unusual destiny for a
man who died in a small room,
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rented for three and a half franks a day.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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Looking back over the life of Van Gogh,
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means tracing the suffering
of a man who always struggled
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with mental illness
and a sense of failure.
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In his work he failed as an art dealer,
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as a man of the cloth
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and finally as a painter,
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during his own lifetime at least.
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And romantically, he was
rejected by a cousin,
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he had fallen in love with,
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and then had just one
relationship with a prostitute,
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an unmarried mother who he left,
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when pressured by his family.
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His wretchedness and his greatness
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are reflected in his letters,
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as well as in his extraordinary paintings
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and are told through the words of those
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who have studied him for a long time,
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like Leo Jansen who edited his letters.
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It's very difficult to
say why Vincent Van Gogh
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was such an important and great artist,
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because he obviously was.
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What really contributed
to art and art history
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is that he was a very radical person.
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He would never give in.
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He had his own thoughts and ideas,
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and he would go for them
in a very absolute way,
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which means, that he went to the extreme
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to make his paintings.
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And, he went further than
anybody else did at the time.
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(dramatic music)
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One of the most important ingredients
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in Van Gogh work is expression.
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He wanted to, to give an
expression to the subjects
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that he painted and he did
that by means of lively color,
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strong color, strong color contrast,
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and very vivid brushstroke.
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And what he aimed at, was moving people.
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(upbeat orchestral)
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Van Gogh saw everyday life as difficult,
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people have problems and
art and literature was there
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to give them something beautiful,
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to give them a moment of rest,
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to give them peace of mind.
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And it was a very important
ingredient of his art.
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(melancholic music)
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[Narrator] Before he began painting,
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Van Gogh wrote.
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Here he accounts what in a few years time
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will be part of his work.
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First would come the drawings
and then the oil paintings,
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the harvesters, the
forest, the plowed land,
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the churches, the seasons.
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From the autumn of 1872,
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he sent more than 900 letters,
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many addressed his brother Theo,
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letters that today give us
an insight into his thoughts
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on life and on painting.
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From the Hague, July 21st 1882,
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he wrote.
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"What I want and set as
my goal is damn difficult,
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"and yet I don't believe
I'm aiming too high,
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"whether in figures, or in landscapes,
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"I would like to express not something
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"sentimentally melancholic,
but deep sorrow"
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(sweeping orchestral)
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[Van Gogh] In short, I
want to reach the point where
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people say of my work.
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"That man feels deeply,
and that man feels subtly"
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Despite my so-called coarseness,
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perhaps precisely because of it.
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What am I in the eyes of most people?
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A non-entity, or an oddity,
or a disagreeable person,
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someone who has and will
have, no position in society.
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In short, a little lower than the lowest.
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Very well, assuming that
everything is indeed like that.
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Then through my work, I'd
like to show what there is
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in the heart of such an
oddity and such a nobody.
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(dramatic orchestral)
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(upbeat music)
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(birds chirping)
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[Narrator] An infinite
ocean of plant life,
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which takes us back to
the origins of time.
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A time before man.
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In the large Hoge Veluwe Park,
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in the green heart of the Netherlands,
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Helene Kroller-Mueller spent her days
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meditating on life and on art.
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Marco Goldin, the exhibition's curator,
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has filtered the world of Van Gogh,
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through Helene's eyes.
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(dramatic music)
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Many of Vincent's most beautiful paintings
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are found here, in the sun spoiled oasis.
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Between walls of trees
and expanses of sand
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far from the city.
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Vincent would undoubtedly
have loved this place.
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Its wild nature, the leaves, the light.
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He might perhaps have seen God there,
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as he was always looking for
him, in every sight he saw.
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In the middle of the forest
is the Kröller-Müller Museum,
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almost hidden behind the
peace and quiet of the trees.
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An understated building
made of simple bricks
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and transparent corridors.
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In the center, there are the rooms
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that Helene dedicated to
the painter she loved.
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A total of 88 paintings and 180 drawings,
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from all the stages in
Van Gogh's life an artist,
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a period of only 10
years from 1880, to 1890.
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Helene saw the museum as
a temple, a sanctuary,
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a place to worship Vincent.
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And it is here that Goldin
begins to reveal the artist
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through some of his masterpieces,
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the most fragile ones that cannot travel,
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as they must be preserved for safekeeping
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in these Dutch rooms.
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Starting with a night time
image of the Place du Forum,
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the Café Terrace at Night.
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(dramatic music)
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[Marco] Vincent was
particularly interested
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in rendering a nighttime setting.
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And when he wrote to his sister
on the 16th of September,
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1888, talking to her about this painting,
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he mentions the fact that painters,
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usually try to avoid night time settings,
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because the colors change,
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they become something different,
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but he very much wanted to capture
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the night mood in a painting,
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just like in this wonderful picture.
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In the same letter to his sister,
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Vincent speaks of his happiness
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in painting, on the spot at night
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and also relates how depicting the night
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in a painting like this,
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can also lead to mistakes,
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because the colors are
different from daytime colors.
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But it could be said that
by painting a mistake,
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Van Gogh also paints the truth.
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The truth of his vision that is.
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Of course, a vision completely transformed
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through the light of the soul
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and not merely the light of the eyes.
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(dramatic music)
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[Narrator] Darkness is one
of Van Gogh's favorite themes.
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He explores it also in
depicting the reality
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and the dignity of the life of the poor.
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Represented in the
painting, the potato eaters.
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An image that he wanted to
paint with the same colors,
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as those of the earth.
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[Marco] In April, 1885,
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after are painting subjects in Nuenen
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for about a year and a
half, such as landscapes,
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weavers, and the heads of
peasants, both men and women,
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Vincent Van Gogh decided
that the time had come
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to paint a large painting,
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whose main theme would be
the life of the farmer.
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(gentle music)
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It was to be the Groot Van Roy family,
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and there he sat close
to the men and women
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around this dish of potatoes.
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He must also make another
fundamental decision
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for this painting,
whether to paint the image
260
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,350
as if in daylight, in natural light,
261
00:13:29,350 --> 00:13:30,500
or in artificial light.
262
00:13:32,050 --> 00:13:34,060
In the end, the choice
is the one we can see
263
00:13:34,060 --> 00:13:36,640
in the famous painting
with the potato eaters.
264
00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:38,600
What he created is a
painting that gave him
265
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,320
a great deal of satisfaction.
266
00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,780
He had effectively painted a Tableau,
267
00:13:42,780 --> 00:13:44,050
a complex painting.
268
00:13:44,050 --> 00:13:45,780
The one that in Van Gogh's mind
269
00:13:45,780 --> 00:13:48,650
would make him important
in academic circles too.
270
00:13:50,060 --> 00:13:53,090
(gentle music)
271
00:13:53,090 --> 00:13:56,000
[Narrator] In 1890, Van Gogh
painted one final painting
272
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,590
in the asylum in St. Remy in Provence,
273
00:13:59,590 --> 00:14:02,970
where he was hospitalized
for his nervous breakdowns.
274
00:14:02,970 --> 00:14:05,840
The title is "Country
Road in Provence by Night"
275
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,840
with nighttime giving way
to the colors of dawn.
276
00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,090
Shortly after, he returned to the north
277
00:14:11,090 --> 00:14:13,210
for the final weeks of his life.
278
00:14:13,210 --> 00:14:15,420
For many scholars, the work conveys
279
00:14:15,420 --> 00:14:16,990
a sense of imminent death.
280
00:14:20,100 --> 00:14:23,110
[Marco] On the evening
of the 20th of April 1890,
281
00:14:23,110 --> 00:14:25,410
Mercury and Venus were in conjunction
282
00:14:25,410 --> 00:14:26,670
with the crescent moon.
283
00:14:28,460 --> 00:14:32,160
Van Gogh kept this image in
mind and just one month later,
284
00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,980
he painted it, however, in a mirror image.
285
00:14:36,810 --> 00:14:39,290
This painting contains all
the elements of Van Gogh's
286
00:14:39,290 --> 00:14:42,600
stay in Provence, like
a kind of grand summary,
287
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,070
starting with the central crucial element,
288
00:14:45,070 --> 00:14:48,310
this beautiful Cypress
like an Egyptian obelisk,
289
00:14:48,310 --> 00:14:50,710
as Vincent wrote in one of his letters.
290
00:14:50,710 --> 00:14:53,080
It is all about the
relationship between the earth
291
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,960
and the sky, in an almost funerial way,
292
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:57,500
thanks to the Cypress.
293
00:14:57,500 --> 00:15:00,680
And then there's the wheat
field here on the left side,
294
00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:02,370
with this very fragmented,
295
00:15:02,370 --> 00:15:06,480
very jagged painting, as if
it were a kind of vast sea,
296
00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,590
that opens up in an interplay of waves.
297
00:15:09,590 --> 00:15:11,720
The carriage, and these two figures
298
00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,400
we know from a letter
to Gauguin from Auvers,
299
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,760
where Van Gogh spent the
last 70 days of his life,
300
00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,040
how these figures are
actually very much smaller,
301
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,570
because in the end, what must endure,
302
00:15:23,570 --> 00:15:26,290
what must remain is the absoluteness.
303
00:15:26,290 --> 00:15:30,300
The dimension of the landscape,
in its sense of infinity.
304
00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,160
(gentle piano music)
305
00:15:36,730 --> 00:15:39,320
(bright music)
306
00:15:42,950 --> 00:15:44,810
[Narrator] Helene too
would drift off into infinity
307
00:15:44,810 --> 00:15:46,760
when she was alone with her Van Gogh's.
308
00:15:48,350 --> 00:15:50,210
She would look at still life with lemons
309
00:15:50,210 --> 00:15:51,790
for hours and hours.
310
00:15:51,790 --> 00:15:53,170
She wrote that in this painting,
311
00:15:53,170 --> 00:15:55,380
she saw the perfection of all things.
312
00:15:56,230 --> 00:15:59,340
The presence of a divine
principle in the world.
313
00:15:59,340 --> 00:16:01,420
Among her favorites was La Berceuse,
314
00:16:02,290 --> 00:16:04,330
which she had bought in Paris.
315
00:16:04,330 --> 00:16:07,220
In reality, the lady was
the wife of a postman,
316
00:16:07,220 --> 00:16:10,120
Monsieur Roulin, one of
Van Gogh's few friends
317
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:11,510
during his stay in Arles.
318
00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,080
Helene imagined La Berceuse
as a comforting woman,
319
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,840
that melancholic sailors
would dream of at night.
320
00:16:22,060 --> 00:16:25,160
(soft music)
321
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:26,300
Helene's art collection,
322
00:16:26,300 --> 00:16:29,770
which took her 30 years to
bring together, is immense.
323
00:16:29,770 --> 00:16:31,420
Besides her favorite Van Gogh,
324
00:16:31,420 --> 00:16:33,850
there are works by Piet Mondrian, Picasso,
325
00:16:33,850 --> 00:16:35,590
Leggett and many others.
326
00:16:37,390 --> 00:16:39,960
Anton Kröller, the husband of Helene
327
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,090
and Helene bought this area for Anton,
328
00:16:42,090 --> 00:16:44,300
to have a nice hunting ground.
329
00:16:44,300 --> 00:16:46,940
And in the end, Helene
decided that she wanted
330
00:16:46,940 --> 00:16:48,880
to have her museum there.
331
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,380
And, the main reason for
this remarkable choice
332
00:16:52,380 --> 00:16:55,890
was that she was convinced
that she could much better
333
00:16:55,890 --> 00:17:00,000
enjoy art, in the seclusion
and silence of nature,
334
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,930
much better in the turmoil of the city.
335
00:17:02,930 --> 00:17:05,350
(soft music)
336
00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:13,860
[Narrator] Helene
Kroller-Muller was a rich woman.
337
00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:16,690
She came from a family
of German industrialists.
338
00:17:16,690 --> 00:17:18,420
Her husband Anton Kroller,
339
00:17:18,420 --> 00:17:21,560
became a business partner
to Helene's father
340
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,020
and together they moved
to the Netherlands,
341
00:17:24,020 --> 00:17:25,510
where they had four children.
342
00:17:26,690 --> 00:17:29,300
Helene loved literature and philosophy.
343
00:17:29,300 --> 00:17:31,820
She came across art by chance.
344
00:17:31,820 --> 00:17:35,880
She was 36 years old during
lessons with her daughter,
345
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,010
held by professor Henk Bremmer.
346
00:17:39,210 --> 00:17:41,990
She discovered what
would become her passion
347
00:17:41,990 --> 00:17:45,070
and also her comfort,
Van Gogh's paintings.
348
00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,320
(gentle bright music)
349
00:17:57,870 --> 00:18:01,510
Helene wrote a lot of
letters during her lifetime,
350
00:18:01,510 --> 00:18:03,550
more than 3000 letters.
351
00:18:03,550 --> 00:18:05,300
So she was an avid letter writer,
352
00:18:05,300 --> 00:18:07,280
just like Vincent van Gogh.
353
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:08,450
And the letters are beautiful.
354
00:18:08,450 --> 00:18:12,540
She describes why she loves art, what it,
355
00:18:12,540 --> 00:18:14,410
how it comforts her.
356
00:18:14,410 --> 00:18:16,450
For instance, she writes.
357
00:18:16,450 --> 00:18:18,780
(speaking in a foreign language)
358
00:18:18,780 --> 00:18:19,830
[Narrator] People will
be talking about Van Gogh
359
00:18:19,830 --> 00:18:21,030
for a long time.
360
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,790
I'm just starting to discover him.
361
00:18:23,790 --> 00:18:27,770
Van Gogh is the key and
the antithesis to so much.
362
00:18:27,770 --> 00:18:30,250
There will be two main movements in art.
363
00:18:30,250 --> 00:18:32,730
One, that is based on Van Gogh
364
00:18:32,730 --> 00:18:34,280
and one that follows tradition.
365
00:18:35,930 --> 00:18:37,550
(speaking in a foreign language)
366
00:18:37,550 --> 00:18:41,070
Van Gogh's importance
is his ability to let us
367
00:18:41,070 --> 00:18:44,670
and future generations feel
what it is to be human.
368
00:18:44,670 --> 00:18:46,810
He was capable of this because,
369
00:18:46,810 --> 00:18:51,110
he was human first and only
subsequently a painter.
370
00:18:51,110 --> 00:18:53,870
His relevance does not
consist of his works,
371
00:18:53,870 --> 00:18:55,720
which may be of pleasure to people.
372
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,710
No, his relevance lies in
touching the innermost reaches
373
00:18:59,710 --> 00:19:01,260
of the human soul.
374
00:19:01,260 --> 00:19:03,470
Something we may have felt unknowingly,
375
00:19:03,470 --> 00:19:06,160
but of which we were
never consciously aware.
376
00:19:11,390 --> 00:19:14,140
(dramatic music)
377
00:19:20,050 --> 00:19:22,500
Guiding us through the
archive of Helene's letters,
378
00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:24,880
is the writer Eva Rovers.
379
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:26,270
Like many Dutch people,
380
00:19:26,270 --> 00:19:29,790
she visited the Kroler-
Mueller Museum as a child.
381
00:19:29,790 --> 00:19:32,810
At the time, her imagination
was struck by the fact
382
00:19:32,810 --> 00:19:34,640
that it was founded by a woman.
383
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:37,840
So after graduation,
384
00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:39,740
when she was studying for her doctorate,
385
00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:42,030
she chose to research her history.
386
00:19:42,030 --> 00:19:44,670
She spent four years with all these papers
387
00:19:44,670 --> 00:19:47,580
and eventually published a
biography of the collector,
388
00:19:47,580 --> 00:19:49,130
that many people had forgotten.
389
00:19:53,050 --> 00:19:54,640
Helene found a lot of comfort
390
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,110
in the paintings of Vincent van Gogh.
391
00:19:58,110 --> 00:19:59,490
For instance, when she traveled,
392
00:19:59,490 --> 00:20:02,180
she always took some
reproductions of his work,
393
00:20:02,180 --> 00:20:06,630
so she could enjoy them
while she was not at home.
394
00:20:06,630 --> 00:20:08,180
And they were so important to her,
395
00:20:08,180 --> 00:20:09,380
that when she died,
396
00:20:10,860 --> 00:20:12,620
they put her coffin,
397
00:20:14,380 --> 00:20:18,950
just in front of her favorite
paintings by Vincent van Gogh,
398
00:20:18,950 --> 00:20:23,500
so, she could still be in his
presence even after her death.
399
00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:25,620
And she wrote a lot about his letters.
400
00:20:25,620 --> 00:20:27,530
She found a lot of
comfort in his paintings,
401
00:20:27,530 --> 00:20:29,180
but also in his letters.
402
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,890
She writes,
403
00:20:32,890 --> 00:20:34,700
(speaking in a foreign language)
404
00:20:34,700 --> 00:20:36,180
[Narrator] Despite all the sadness,
405
00:20:36,180 --> 00:20:38,560
I greatly enjoy Van Gogh's letters.
406
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,930
They convey such beautiful human things.
407
00:20:42,930 --> 00:20:45,410
What a modern person Van Gogh was
408
00:20:45,410 --> 00:20:48,260
and how much misery he
had to suffer from uncles
409
00:20:48,260 --> 00:20:49,850
and the people around him.
410
00:20:51,090 --> 00:20:54,090
(melancholic music)
411
00:21:04,330 --> 00:21:06,910
[Narrator] But who were all
these letters addressed to?
412
00:21:06,910 --> 00:21:08,060
Conveying as they do much more than
413
00:21:08,060 --> 00:21:09,450
a simple passion for art.
414
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,960
Helene's correspondence
is stored in an old trunk,
415
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,610
kept in the museum's archive.
416
00:21:16,610 --> 00:21:19,670
The recipient was a man
20 years younger than her,
417
00:21:19,670 --> 00:21:24,030
Sam van Devente with whom
Helene maintained an enduring,
418
00:21:24,030 --> 00:21:26,990
but probably only platonic relationship
419
00:21:26,990 --> 00:21:28,090
throughout their life.
420
00:21:29,340 --> 00:21:32,740
He was a school friend of
one of Helene's daughters.
421
00:21:32,740 --> 00:21:34,840
In the best romantic tradition,
422
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,540
as if an annulled by Gerter,
423
00:21:37,510 --> 00:21:40,610
art perhaps helped her
sublimate that impossible love.
424
00:21:43,450 --> 00:21:45,670
(ducks quacking)
425
00:21:45,670 --> 00:21:48,250
(gentle piano)
426
00:21:57,370 --> 00:21:59,960
Eva Rovers often went for walks to Helene
427
00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:02,300
and her husband Anton's hunting lodge.
428
00:22:03,470 --> 00:22:05,130
It's not far from the museum.
429
00:22:06,170 --> 00:22:08,840
I think that anyone writing autobiography,
430
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,050
has to play the part of
an actress in her work.
431
00:22:12,050 --> 00:22:14,010
She must try to get as close as possible
432
00:22:14,010 --> 00:22:16,760
to the life of the person
she wants to write about.
433
00:22:17,670 --> 00:22:19,800
This was where Helene
probably sought peace
434
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,050
in life's most difficult moments.
435
00:22:23,450 --> 00:22:25,580
Perhaps she was struggling
not to give in to,
436
00:22:25,580 --> 00:22:27,980
the embraces of Sam van Deventer,
437
00:22:29,130 --> 00:22:31,770
or perhaps she was looking
for answers to the questions
438
00:22:31,770 --> 00:22:33,740
about religion that had tormented her,
439
00:22:33,740 --> 00:22:35,700
since she was a little child.
440
00:22:35,700 --> 00:22:39,130
Do I, or don't I believe in God?
441
00:22:39,130 --> 00:22:40,230
Will I find faith?
442
00:22:41,250 --> 00:22:43,550
What is the meaning of
what I'm going through?
443
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,660
This hunting lodge was
designed by H. P Berlage
444
00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:52,250
and commissioned by
Helene Kroller-Mueller.
445
00:22:52,250 --> 00:22:53,920
Helena thought it was very important
446
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:55,640
that people could see this lake,
447
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,180
but also have the nature communicate
448
00:22:59,180 --> 00:23:03,270
with all the architecture
here in the room.
449
00:23:03,270 --> 00:23:07,560
The most important place
in this room was her desk.
450
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,070
This is where she wrote
her many, many letters,
451
00:23:11,070 --> 00:23:13,190
thinking about the artwork she bought,
452
00:23:13,190 --> 00:23:16,240
about Van Gogh, relating to his life
453
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:21,070
and reflecting all her
inner thoughts on the paper.
454
00:23:24,470 --> 00:23:27,300
And also very interesting
is this very tiny,
455
00:23:27,300 --> 00:23:29,840
very modest bedroom.
456
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:31,120
This is where Helene slept,
457
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:32,460
when she was in the hunting lodge,
458
00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:35,320
as you can see a very small bed,
459
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:37,790
even for Helene Kroller-Mueller,
who was very small,
460
00:23:37,790 --> 00:23:41,210
but she always sat a little bit upright,
461
00:23:41,210 --> 00:23:42,650
when she was sleeping.
462
00:23:42,650 --> 00:23:45,490
And when you see this very modest bedroom,
463
00:23:45,490 --> 00:23:47,540
you might think it's very strange,
464
00:23:47,540 --> 00:23:51,680
for one of the richest women
in Holland to live like this.
465
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,020
But I think in a way she was much inspired
466
00:23:54,020 --> 00:23:57,990
by Vincent van Gogh and his
very modest way of living.
467
00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:06,990
[Narrator] Helene was
not content to sleep
468
00:24:06,990 --> 00:24:09,800
in an uncomfortable bed,
to be like Van Gogh.
469
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,720
She tried to live in
his image and likeness.
470
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,480
She cared for the wounded
on the battlefront,
471
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:15,850
during the first world war,
472
00:24:17,020 --> 00:24:20,300
just as Van Gogh had spread the
gospel among Belgian miners,
473
00:24:21,450 --> 00:24:23,620
both wanted to make their mark.
474
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:26,320
Van Gogh drew life.
475
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,240
Helene traveled far and
wide before realizing
476
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,970
that her duty, was to make
Vincent's work eternal
477
00:24:33,850 --> 00:24:36,170
and find a home for his masterpieces.
478
00:24:37,060 --> 00:24:39,470
(soft music)
479
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,000
In 1911, Helene Kroller-Muller
become seriously ill,
480
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,710
very dangerous and she
has to undergo a surgery,
481
00:24:48,710 --> 00:24:49,980
which is life threatening.
482
00:24:49,980 --> 00:24:52,560
So, she decides at that point,
483
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,150
that should she survive this surgery,
484
00:24:55,150 --> 00:24:57,370
that she will dedicate her life to art
485
00:24:57,370 --> 00:24:59,040
and to building a museum.
486
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,180
And afterwards, when she survives
487
00:25:03,030 --> 00:25:04,980
and she gets better and stronger,
488
00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:07,100
she takes two trips to Italy
489
00:25:07,100 --> 00:25:10,300
and in Italy, she sees what this museum
490
00:25:10,300 --> 00:25:12,440
that she wants to leave
behind should look like.
491
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:16,680
She gets inspired by the
building she sees in Rome
492
00:25:17,670 --> 00:25:19,170
and in Florence and in Milano.
493
00:25:24,660 --> 00:25:26,380
[Narrator] Milan.
494
00:25:26,380 --> 00:25:28,770
We saw small churches
that impressed me more
495
00:25:28,770 --> 00:25:30,620
than the greatest cathedrals.
496
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,190
Everything is such an affirmation.
497
00:25:35,190 --> 00:25:36,440
A great amen.
498
00:25:39,710 --> 00:25:43,330
Also, I saw Raphael again in a church
499
00:25:43,330 --> 00:25:45,240
and the form of the paintings building
500
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,040
reminded me of Romante.
501
00:25:49,740 --> 00:25:52,640
I sat in front of his
Sposalizio for half an hour
502
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,840
without talking, but with my
heart, I quietly said, yes.
503
00:25:59,670 --> 00:26:02,250
If I could describe
everything I experienced,
504
00:26:02,250 --> 00:26:04,830
there would be no end to this letter.
505
00:26:04,830 --> 00:26:06,580
That's impossible.
506
00:26:06,580 --> 00:26:09,370
It is so much and all such a great wonder.
507
00:26:10,500 --> 00:26:13,250
(romantic music)
508
00:26:18,270 --> 00:26:20,760
March 24th, 1913.
509
00:26:23,260 --> 00:26:25,560
Florence exceeds my expectations.
510
00:26:26,630 --> 00:26:29,470
I can't walk five steps without
seeing something beautiful.
511
00:26:30,820 --> 00:26:33,160
This morning, we visited the Santa Croce,
512
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,120
the only church I've seen that conveys
513
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:37,480
a distinct Gothic influence.
514
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,480
It was worth it, as it is
a very beautiful church.
515
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,290
Many great Florentines are buried here,
516
00:26:44,290 --> 00:26:46,570
or when their bodies have been lost,
517
00:26:46,570 --> 00:26:50,190
are honored with a
statue, just a few names.
518
00:26:50,190 --> 00:26:52,660
Michelangelo, Donatello,
519
00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:55,300
Galileo, Dante.
520
00:26:55,300 --> 00:26:57,860
You will understand that
I felt a deep reverence,
521
00:26:57,860 --> 00:26:59,910
when I stood in front of these monuments.
522
00:27:01,820 --> 00:27:04,290
Giotto painted in this church.
523
00:27:04,290 --> 00:27:08,400
Donatello sculpted, a
beautiful annunciation
524
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,880
and Ghiberti designed the colored windows.
525
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,770
There are so many
masterpieces to be seen here.
526
00:27:17,750 --> 00:27:21,150
Yesterday, when I stood in
front of Michael Angelo's tomb
527
00:27:21,150 --> 00:27:22,360
and saw his bust,
528
00:27:23,750 --> 00:27:26,570
it seemed as if I looked at
the vivid face of Van Gogh,
529
00:27:27,460 --> 00:27:29,610
although a bit more restrained,
530
00:27:29,610 --> 00:27:32,190
as well as his works,
which I recently studied.
531
00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:38,020
I felt him to be great and
humanly tender, nonetheless.
532
00:27:38,020 --> 00:27:41,280
I felt tears and wished
I could shake his hand,
533
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,110
because that human aspect
is what binds us all.
534
00:27:47,950 --> 00:27:49,340
One of the buildings in Florence,
535
00:27:49,340 --> 00:27:50,520
that strike her the most,
536
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,720
is the Palazzo Vecchio.
537
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,570
She writes about this
Palazzo to her husband.
538
00:27:57,770 --> 00:27:59,120
(speaking in a foreign language)
539
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:00,570
[Narrator] I'm sending
you this postcard,
540
00:28:00,570 --> 00:28:01,900
because it shows a building,
541
00:28:01,900 --> 00:28:03,940
that gave me a lot to think about.
542
00:28:03,940 --> 00:28:06,670
Do you recognize the kinship
with the (indistinct)?
543
00:28:06,670 --> 00:28:08,800
It is one of the most
beautiful buildings I've seen,
544
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,040
in a long time built
by the Vecchio family.
545
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,140
And this is a little bit
funny because she thinks,
546
00:28:15,140 --> 00:28:18,990
at this time that the Plazzo
Vecchio is built by the family,
547
00:28:18,990 --> 00:28:22,880
Vecchio, but still this
mistake is very important,
548
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,800
because it makes her
decide that she wants to be
549
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:27,570
like the family Vecchio.
550
00:28:28,700 --> 00:28:31,750
[Narrator] The tower rises
like a crown above Florence.
551
00:28:31,750 --> 00:28:33,870
Everywhere you go, you see it.
552
00:28:33,870 --> 00:28:36,580
Here, you find the desire to build again.
553
00:28:38,530 --> 00:28:41,030
And now I have to tell you
about the great wonder.
554
00:28:41,940 --> 00:28:44,970
I will build a new house
and it will be a museum,
555
00:28:44,970 --> 00:28:47,270
which in the future will
belong to the public.
556
00:28:48,410 --> 00:28:50,100
In a 100 years time,
557
00:28:50,100 --> 00:28:53,040
it should become an
interesting cultural monument,
558
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,310
a great lesson, showing
how far a merchant's family
559
00:28:56,310 --> 00:28:59,930
could go in terms of inner refinement,
560
00:28:59,930 --> 00:29:01,870
at the beginning of the century.
561
00:29:01,870 --> 00:29:04,580
It will be a museum as
authentic and alive,
562
00:29:04,580 --> 00:29:05,830
as no museum ever before.
563
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,390
(dramatic music)
564
00:29:14,410 --> 00:29:18,490
Helene called on several famous
names to design her museum,
565
00:29:18,490 --> 00:29:20,190
Even Ludwig Mies van der Rohe,
566
00:29:21,220 --> 00:29:24,650
one of the founding fathers
of modern architecture.
567
00:29:24,650 --> 00:29:26,170
She had made drawings made.
568
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,340
She dreamed of constructing
a monumental building,
569
00:29:29,340 --> 00:29:31,620
with Van Gogh's rooms in the center,
570
00:29:31,620 --> 00:29:33,820
but bad luck was lurking
around the corner.
571
00:29:34,930 --> 00:29:36,940
Towards the end of the first world war,
572
00:29:36,940 --> 00:29:39,940
her husband Anton had
made some bad investments,
573
00:29:39,940 --> 00:29:41,680
in Chilean mines.
574
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,640
The Kröller-Müller's finances nose dived
575
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,880
and in 1922, the museum
building sites had to close
576
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,470
due to lack of funds.
577
00:29:51,530 --> 00:29:54,700
In the following years,
Helene was often depressed,
578
00:29:54,700 --> 00:29:57,180
but she never gave up on her dream.
579
00:29:57,180 --> 00:30:00,240
In the end, the museum was
built on a more modest scale,
580
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,370
by the Dutch state.
581
00:30:02,370 --> 00:30:05,570
Based on a project by a Belgian architect,
582
00:30:05,570 --> 00:30:09,520
Henry van de Velde, with the
provision that the works,
583
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,150
will become public property.
584
00:30:13,620 --> 00:30:17,960
Helene died in 1939, a year
after the museum opened.
585
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,230
In a letter to Sam, she wrote,
586
00:30:20,230 --> 00:30:23,100
"This museum was born from suffering"
587
00:30:23,100 --> 00:30:25,810
During the war years in German occupation,
588
00:30:25,810 --> 00:30:29,360
Sam, thanks to his
privileged relationship with
589
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,310
Arthur Seyss-Inquart,
590
00:30:31,310 --> 00:30:34,110
Reich commissioner for the Netherlands,
591
00:30:34,110 --> 00:30:36,070
was the one who saved the collection.
592
00:30:37,230 --> 00:30:39,300
(dramatic music)
593
00:30:39,300 --> 00:30:40,780
Helene did not live long enough
594
00:30:40,780 --> 00:30:43,740
to see her important work appreciated,
595
00:30:43,740 --> 00:30:46,050
just like Vincent with his art.
596
00:30:46,050 --> 00:30:48,280
But now her collection is in demand,
597
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,290
for exhibitions all around the globe.
598
00:30:51,300 --> 00:30:54,790
(dramatic music)
599
00:30:54,790 --> 00:30:59,210
Every day in her museum, experts
check and restore the works
600
00:30:59,210 --> 00:31:01,720
that are to leave on loan to other museums
601
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:02,910
and galleries.
602
00:31:04,530 --> 00:31:06,250
These drawings, for example,
603
00:31:06,250 --> 00:31:08,320
must always be kept in the dark.
604
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,350
They are sensitive to light.
605
00:31:10,350 --> 00:31:11,720
They are taken out of their drawers
606
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,650
and put in glass cases
only on rare occasions,
607
00:31:14,650 --> 00:31:16,300
to be displayed only temporarily.
608
00:31:18,580 --> 00:31:21,330
(dramatic music)
609
00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:26,470
The paintings too are delicate.
610
00:31:26,470 --> 00:31:29,810
Before traveling, they must
be meticulously examined.
611
00:31:29,810 --> 00:31:32,330
A report is drafted about their condition,
612
00:31:32,330 --> 00:31:35,770
the solidity of the structure,
the hold of the paint.
613
00:31:35,770 --> 00:31:39,930
It is essential that the canvas
is not damaged by moving.
614
00:31:39,930 --> 00:31:42,660
(dramatic music)
615
00:31:42,660 --> 00:31:45,500
I'm working on the
painting by Vincent van Gogh,
616
00:31:45,500 --> 00:31:50,500
it's a portrait, painted in the
last month before his death.
617
00:31:50,900 --> 00:31:54,080
And it's going to Vicenza in the fall.
618
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,770
It's going to a large exhibition.
619
00:31:56,770 --> 00:32:01,090
I'm now removing the
degraded yellow varnish,
620
00:32:01,090 --> 00:32:05,030
because it gave a really
yellow veil on the painting.
621
00:32:05,030 --> 00:32:08,130
In this painting van Gogh used a lot of
622
00:32:08,130 --> 00:32:09,120
different brush strokes.
623
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,460
In the background, you can see very,
624
00:32:11,460 --> 00:32:16,460
he used a broad brush to
quickly set up the backgrounds
625
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:18,870
and on top he uses smaller brush
626
00:32:18,870 --> 00:32:21,170
and in quick swift brush strokes,
627
00:32:21,170 --> 00:32:23,350
he sets up a nice contrast.
628
00:32:27,110 --> 00:32:30,890
And the nice thing about this painting is,
629
00:32:30,890 --> 00:32:32,750
that's hidden behind the,
630
00:32:36,060 --> 00:32:37,200
black cardboards.
631
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,250
A lot of his materials,
he used have degraded
632
00:32:40,250 --> 00:32:41,700
and discolored over the years.
633
00:32:41,700 --> 00:32:43,670
And the background of this painting
634
00:32:43,670 --> 00:32:46,880
must have been much more
pink underneath the frame
635
00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:49,800
and paint is protected from the lights.
636
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:51,680
So, you can still have a glimpse
637
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:53,580
of what the painting used to be like.
638
00:32:54,460 --> 00:32:57,630
(sweeping orchestral)
639
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,120
(snapping staple gun)
640
00:33:23,580 --> 00:33:26,160
(gentle piano)
641
00:34:17,300 --> 00:34:18,560
[Narrator] The Basilica
Palladiana in Vicenza,
642
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,290
is also known as the White Lady.
643
00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:24,060
It is one of the most beautiful buildings
644
00:34:24,060 --> 00:34:26,270
of the Italian Renaissance.
645
00:34:26,270 --> 00:34:28,310
The works from the Kroller-Mueller Museum
646
00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:30,650
and other important
museums for the exhibition
647
00:34:30,650 --> 00:34:35,110
"Van Gogh, Between Wheat and
Sky" are already in place.
648
00:34:38,780 --> 00:34:41,300
The story begins in the Netherlands.
649
00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:44,390
In 1880, Van Gogh was 27 years old.
650
00:34:45,420 --> 00:34:48,470
It was here that he decided
to become an artist.
651
00:34:48,470 --> 00:34:50,710
His experience as a lay
preacher among the workers
652
00:34:50,710 --> 00:34:55,250
of the mining region of
Borinage Belgium, was a failure.
653
00:34:57,310 --> 00:34:58,760
His first paintings,
654
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,770
once he had obtained the colors,
655
00:35:00,770 --> 00:35:03,960
were scenes of country life
and portraits of peasants.
656
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,370
Dark faces, furrowed by fatigue,
657
00:35:07,370 --> 00:35:11,380
like plowed fields, and the
same brown as winter landscapes.
658
00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:14,270
One of the most important
works of this period,
659
00:35:14,270 --> 00:35:16,360
is "Peasants Planting Potatoes"
660
00:35:18,180 --> 00:35:20,340
(gentle piano)
661
00:35:20,340 --> 00:35:22,070
[Marco] In the summer of 1884,
662
00:35:22,070 --> 00:35:25,510
Vincent van Gogh was commissioned
to decorate six panels,
663
00:35:25,510 --> 00:35:29,060
in the dining room of a former
goldsmith from Eindhoven,
664
00:35:29,060 --> 00:35:32,050
Anton Hermens, who asked Van Gogh,
665
00:35:32,050 --> 00:35:35,450
to take some themes from the
Bible, as his starting point.
666
00:35:36,980 --> 00:35:39,960
Vincent however, chose to
recommend to Mr. Herman's
667
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:41,850
some scenes from country life.
668
00:35:41,850 --> 00:35:45,430
One of which was the
peasants planting potatoes,
669
00:35:45,430 --> 00:35:47,670
a picture that shows quite clearly,
670
00:35:47,670 --> 00:35:49,510
what Van Gogh's references were,
671
00:35:49,510 --> 00:35:51,710
during this period of his painting.
672
00:35:51,710 --> 00:35:55,320
They obviously included
French realist painters,
673
00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,540
especially Jean-François Millet,
674
00:35:57,540 --> 00:35:59,740
as well as painters from the Hague school,
675
00:35:59,740 --> 00:36:02,940
who carried on the French
painters work in the Netherlands.
676
00:36:03,910 --> 00:36:05,690
It's a crucial painting,
677
00:36:05,690 --> 00:36:08,800
because he had found a
new way to use color.
678
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,210
The first blues that light up the sky
679
00:36:11,210 --> 00:36:12,810
and the greens that are lighter,
680
00:36:12,810 --> 00:36:15,550
compared to the almost
mossy depths of the greens
681
00:36:15,550 --> 00:36:17,520
that appear in the Dutch years.
682
00:36:18,950 --> 00:36:22,110
(sweeping orchestral)
683
00:36:25,740 --> 00:36:27,170
[Narrator] The peasant's
movements and faces
684
00:36:27,170 --> 00:36:29,320
that appear in Van Gogh's works,
685
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,980
are an important legacy to
this day in the Netherlands.
686
00:36:32,980 --> 00:36:35,680
A land arrested from the
seas grip by man's hand.
687
00:36:39,670 --> 00:36:42,020
At the open air museum in Arnhem,
688
00:36:42,020 --> 00:36:44,790
not far from the Kroller-Muller Museum,
689
00:36:44,790 --> 00:36:46,700
tourists have been able
to learn about life
690
00:36:46,700 --> 00:36:51,100
in the 19th century countryside
every day, since 1918.
691
00:36:54,870 --> 00:36:57,620
(dramatic music)
692
00:37:04,890 --> 00:37:07,250
[Marco] One of the
painters that Van Gogh
693
00:37:07,250 --> 00:37:08,500
really admired very much was
694
00:37:08,500 --> 00:37:11,370
Jean-François Millet the Barbizon painter,
695
00:37:11,370 --> 00:37:14,680
who painted simple people, peasants,
696
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,100
in a very monumental way.
697
00:37:18,350 --> 00:37:21,370
There's a saw, an image
of a saw that we edited,
698
00:37:21,370 --> 00:37:24,440
where you really look up to
the figure in the painting.
699
00:37:25,510 --> 00:37:29,700
So he gives these people
a very high status,
700
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:32,470
and that is why Van Gogh admired him,
701
00:37:32,470 --> 00:37:34,880
because he too believed
that these people were
702
00:37:36,370 --> 00:37:38,920
truer to life than cultivated
and bourgeois people.
703
00:37:39,930 --> 00:37:42,240
(sweeping orchestral)
704
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,340
Of course, he had had a
lot of conflict himself
705
00:37:44,340 --> 00:37:48,110
with sophisticated people
before he became an artist
706
00:37:48,110 --> 00:37:50,580
and he had completely done with them
707
00:37:50,580 --> 00:37:53,190
and wanted to be as
simple as those people.
708
00:37:53,190 --> 00:37:56,710
He dressed very simply himself
709
00:37:56,710 --> 00:38:00,020
and he tried to identify
himself with the simple folks,
710
00:38:00,020 --> 00:38:02,520
because he thought they
are closer to nature.
711
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:06,000
They are closer to what
is essential in life.
712
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,270
They work in the ground,
713
00:38:08,270 --> 00:38:10,920
they dig up the potatoes
that they eat themselves.
714
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,700
So they are very close to the cycle of,
715
00:38:14,590 --> 00:38:18,840
sowing, growing, harvesting
the cycle of life.
716
00:38:20,650 --> 00:38:23,230
(gentle music)
717
00:38:40,330 --> 00:38:42,780
[Narrator] The world of
peasants often crops up
718
00:38:42,780 --> 00:38:45,270
in Vincent's letters,
from the Dutch period.
719
00:38:48,110 --> 00:38:49,880
[Vincent] Being a laborer,
720
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,000
I belong to the working class
721
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,560
and shall live and put down roots
722
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:55,950
in that sphere more and more.
723
00:38:55,950 --> 00:38:57,150
I can't do anything else
724
00:38:57,150 --> 00:38:59,590
and I have no desire to do anything else.
725
00:38:59,590 --> 00:39:01,730
I can't imagine anything else.
726
00:39:05,460 --> 00:39:08,810
It's always very tempting
to draw a figure at rest.
727
00:39:08,810 --> 00:39:10,950
Expressing action is very difficult.
728
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,830
But the truth is, that there's
more toil than rest in life.
729
00:39:21,260 --> 00:39:23,380
The man from the bottom of the abyss,
730
00:39:23,380 --> 00:39:25,790
they perform this as the miner,
731
00:39:25,790 --> 00:39:27,300
the other one with a dreamy,
732
00:39:27,300 --> 00:39:30,300
almost pensive, almost
a sleep walker's air
733
00:39:30,300 --> 00:39:31,350
is "The Weaver"
734
00:39:31,350 --> 00:39:32,970
And now it's roughly two years
735
00:39:32,970 --> 00:39:34,490
that I've been living with them
736
00:39:34,490 --> 00:39:35,650
and to some extent,
737
00:39:35,650 --> 00:39:37,950
I've learned to know
their original character.
738
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,800
(sweeping orchestral)
739
00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:47,140
More and more, I find something touching
740
00:39:47,140 --> 00:39:50,890
and even heartrending in these
poor and obscure workers,
741
00:39:50,890 --> 00:39:52,870
the lowest of all, so to speak
742
00:39:52,870 --> 00:39:55,240
and the most looked down upon,
743
00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:57,210
which one, usually
pictures through the effect
744
00:39:57,210 --> 00:40:02,090
of a perhaps vivid, but very
false and unjust imagination,
745
00:40:02,090 --> 00:40:04,190
as a race of criminals and brigands.
746
00:40:06,750 --> 00:40:09,920
(sweeping orchestral)
747
00:40:17,970 --> 00:40:19,960
[Narrator] In the
blackened faces of the miners
748
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:22,180
and in the tarnished
hands of the peasants,
749
00:40:22,180 --> 00:40:25,800
Vincent Van Gogh saw a manifestation
of the presence of God,
750
00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:27,820
much more so than in
churches like this one,
751
00:40:27,820 --> 00:40:30,110
in Auvers-sur-Oise where we are now,
752
00:40:30,110 --> 00:40:31,800
or in the more austere ones in the north
753
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:33,570
where he used to live.
754
00:40:33,570 --> 00:40:36,600
Perhaps it was also because
his father Theodoros,
755
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:38,370
was a somewhat religiously conventional
756
00:40:38,370 --> 00:40:42,690
Protestant, pastor and Vincent
didn't get along with him.
757
00:40:44,170 --> 00:40:47,110
His father and mother named him Vincent,
758
00:40:47,110 --> 00:40:49,370
the same name as a brother still born,
759
00:40:49,370 --> 00:40:52,350
exactly a year to the
day before his birth.
760
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:55,810
A replacement son, Vincent,
761
00:40:56,660 --> 00:40:58,160
making up for the lost one.
762
00:40:59,530 --> 00:41:01,410
How much did this knowledge
763
00:41:01,410 --> 00:41:03,950
weigh on the artist's existential malaise?
764
00:41:05,260 --> 00:41:07,930
(bells tolling)
765
00:41:09,170 --> 00:41:10,250
[Vincent] People say,
766
00:41:10,250 --> 00:41:12,300
and I'm quite willing to believe it,
767
00:41:12,300 --> 00:41:14,850
that it's difficult to know oneself,
768
00:41:14,850 --> 00:41:17,640
but it's not easy to
paint one self either.
769
00:41:21,330 --> 00:41:24,080
(birds chirping)
770
00:41:28,350 --> 00:41:30,100
I also read the Bible sometimes,
771
00:41:30,100 --> 00:41:33,080
just as I sometimes
read Michele or Balzak,
772
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:35,950
or Elliot, but I see
completely different things
773
00:41:35,950 --> 00:41:37,460
in the Bible than Pa sees
774
00:41:38,580 --> 00:41:40,500
and I can't agree at all
with what Pa makes of it,
775
00:41:40,500 --> 00:41:42,610
in his petty academic way.
776
00:41:46,070 --> 00:41:47,970
All that dribble about good and evil,
777
00:41:47,970 --> 00:41:49,890
morality and immorality,
778
00:41:49,890 --> 00:41:52,360
I actually care so little about it,
779
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:54,270
for truly it's impossible for me
780
00:41:54,270 --> 00:41:56,640
always to know what is good, what is evil,
781
00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:58,700
what is moral, what is immoral.
782
00:42:00,780 --> 00:42:03,360
(gentle music)
783
00:42:06,220 --> 00:42:08,250
[Narrator] Helene too
had questioned the doctrine
784
00:42:08,250 --> 00:42:10,140
that was forced on her by her family,
785
00:42:10,140 --> 00:42:12,460
since she was a little girl.
786
00:42:12,460 --> 00:42:15,040
(gentle music)
787
00:42:16,740 --> 00:42:18,800
At the age of 15, for example,
788
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,520
she wrote in her diary that
she had refused to be confirmed
789
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,720
and that her father and
mother considered her
790
00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:26,710
religious beliefs to be criminal.
791
00:42:29,020 --> 00:42:32,920
She would later discover the
same rebellion against dogma
792
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:34,860
and the same mysticism in Van Gogh,
793
00:42:35,930 --> 00:42:38,570
who in a letter from 1877 wrote,
794
00:42:39,500 --> 00:42:43,120
"I am desperately searching
for a way to devote my life,
795
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,360
"more so than is now the
case to the service of Him
796
00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:47,450
"and the gospel.
797
00:42:47,450 --> 00:42:49,060
"I do nothing but pray"
798
00:42:52,420 --> 00:42:56,780
Religion played an enormous
role in the family, Van Gogh.
799
00:42:56,780 --> 00:43:00,890
It was a kind of enlightened
kind of Protestantism,
800
00:43:00,890 --> 00:43:03,500
not very strict, not very rigid,
801
00:43:03,500 --> 00:43:07,800
but freedom for the people
to make up their own mind.
802
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:10,310
But, Van Gogh at a
certain point in his life,
803
00:43:10,310 --> 00:43:13,190
became much more religious
than the rest of the family.
804
00:43:13,190 --> 00:43:16,490
Van Gogh became very, very Christian.
805
00:43:16,490 --> 00:43:19,580
Very much focused on the
Bible in a way that his family
806
00:43:19,580 --> 00:43:21,650
found way over the top.
807
00:43:21,650 --> 00:43:24,810
And in a sense, what he does with his art,
808
00:43:24,810 --> 00:43:27,580
is what he tried to do with his religion.
809
00:43:27,580 --> 00:43:29,930
Van Gogh wants to mean something,
810
00:43:29,930 --> 00:43:32,700
not only for humans, but for humanity.
811
00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:35,480
(gentle music)
812
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:36,970
[Vincent] I'm concerned with the world.
813
00:43:36,970 --> 00:43:39,380
Only in that I have a certain obligation
814
00:43:39,380 --> 00:43:41,840
and duty as it were,
815
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:44,480
because I've walked the earth for 30 years
816
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:46,800
to leave a certain souvenir
in the form of drawings,
817
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:48,990
or paintings in gratitude.
818
00:43:48,990 --> 00:43:51,820
Not done to please some movement or other,
819
00:43:51,820 --> 00:43:54,950
but in which an honest
human feeling is expressed.
820
00:43:57,630 --> 00:44:00,020
I see myself in a similar way,
821
00:44:00,020 --> 00:44:03,190
as having to do something
with heart and love in it,
822
00:44:03,190 --> 00:44:06,210
within a few years and
do it with willpower.
823
00:44:09,100 --> 00:44:11,510
(soft music)
824
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:14,300
[Narrator] Van Gogh felt that his life
825
00:44:14,300 --> 00:44:15,750
would not last long.
826
00:44:15,750 --> 00:44:17,900
He knew he had to find his path quickly.
827
00:44:18,970 --> 00:44:22,050
So, from the moment he
decided to be an artist,
828
00:44:22,050 --> 00:44:24,400
he started off with a very strict method
829
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,530
and with plenty of willpower.
830
00:44:26,530 --> 00:44:31,120
In the first two years as an
artist, between 1880 and 1881,
831
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:33,190
he did not touch a brush.
832
00:44:33,190 --> 00:44:35,270
He only practiced drawing,
833
00:44:35,270 --> 00:44:37,960
which for him meant getting
to the root of forms
834
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:39,280
and therefore of life.
835
00:44:43,550 --> 00:44:47,460
Today, he is known as one of
the greatest masters of color,
836
00:44:47,460 --> 00:44:50,460
but this is how he began,
with a pencil, ink,
837
00:44:50,460 --> 00:44:51,850
chalk, or charcoal.
838
00:44:53,910 --> 00:44:58,830
What very few people know is
how good a draftsman he was,
839
00:44:58,830 --> 00:45:01,020
how beautiful his drawings were.
840
00:45:01,020 --> 00:45:03,580
These drawings, they are not functioning
841
00:45:03,580 --> 00:45:08,070
as a kind of stage in
the making of a painting.
842
00:45:08,070 --> 00:45:10,520
They are artworks in themselves
843
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:13,820
and they are not seen so often because,
844
00:45:13,820 --> 00:45:15,950
the paper is very brittle.
845
00:45:15,950 --> 00:45:17,950
It's very sensitive to light.
846
00:45:17,950 --> 00:45:22,510
So, the drawings are not
exposed so much, but in fact,
847
00:45:22,510 --> 00:45:24,600
one could say that he was two artists.
848
00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:27,330
He was a fantastic painter,
but he was also a very,
849
00:45:27,330 --> 00:45:29,560
very gifted draftsman.
850
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:30,790
Van Gogh started as an artist,
851
00:45:30,790 --> 00:45:33,750
he was aware of the academic principles,
852
00:45:33,750 --> 00:45:36,700
the way academies worked at his time.
853
00:45:36,700 --> 00:45:38,390
And he knew that drawing was seen
854
00:45:38,390 --> 00:45:41,340
as the foundation of really everything.
855
00:45:41,340 --> 00:45:43,640
So, if you wanted to
become a good painter,
856
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:46,550
you had to become a good draftsman first.
857
00:45:46,550 --> 00:45:48,970
(soft music)
858
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,460
(people chattering)
859
00:45:59,460 --> 00:46:02,600
[Narrator] In Brussels at
the Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
860
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:06,480
here in this school, Vincent
van Gogh came to enroll,
861
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:09,640
to learn the basics of
drawing and traditional art.
862
00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:15,060
We don't know exactly how long he stayed.
863
00:46:15,060 --> 00:46:17,650
The lessons held here since 1711,
864
00:46:17,650 --> 00:46:19,590
the year the academy was founded,
865
00:46:19,590 --> 00:46:21,800
were inspired by the teachings
866
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:24,740
of the oldest academy in the world.
867
00:46:24,740 --> 00:46:27,880
The Academy of the Arts
of drawing in Florence,
868
00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:31,760
founded in the 16th century
by Cosimo I de' Medici
869
00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:32,850
and Giorgio Vasari.
870
00:46:34,270 --> 00:46:35,100
Professor George Mayer,
871
00:46:35,100 --> 00:46:38,590
honorary professor of art
history shows us an area,
872
00:46:38,590 --> 00:46:41,500
that is normally closed to the public.
873
00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:43,120
The attic of the library.
874
00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:47,380
[Georges] Vincent van
Gogh enrolled in 1880.
875
00:46:49,050 --> 00:46:52,040
And here I have the enrollment
records from that time.
876
00:46:53,580 --> 00:46:56,670
No one ever have dreamed that
he would become Van Gogh,
877
00:46:56,670 --> 00:46:58,720
with works in the
world's greatest museums,
878
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:00,670
in the most important exhibitions.
879
00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:04,180
(gentle piano)
880
00:47:05,540 --> 00:47:08,340
According to the academies
enrollment register,
881
00:47:08,340 --> 00:47:10,760
Van Gogh was given the number 8488.
882
00:47:14,490 --> 00:47:16,960
Van Gogh wanted to devote
himself to painting,
883
00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:19,610
but first he had to undertake
a very rigorous apprenticeship
884
00:47:19,610 --> 00:47:21,600
in the field of drawing.
885
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:22,560
In the teaching methods,
886
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,220
he found here at the academy,
887
00:47:24,220 --> 00:47:27,250
he realized that drawing lessons
were of great importance.
888
00:47:28,410 --> 00:47:31,160
(dramatic music)
889
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:34,500
[Vincent] What is drawing?
890
00:47:34,500 --> 00:47:36,410
How does one get there?
891
00:47:36,410 --> 00:47:39,900
It's working one's way through
an invisible iron wall,
892
00:47:39,900 --> 00:47:42,130
that seems to stand between what one feels
893
00:47:42,130 --> 00:47:43,510
and what one can do.
894
00:47:45,050 --> 00:47:47,070
How can one get through that wall,
895
00:47:47,070 --> 00:47:49,220
since hammering on it,
doesn't help at all?
896
00:47:50,190 --> 00:47:52,870
In my view, one must undermine the wall
897
00:47:52,870 --> 00:47:56,030
and grind through it slowly and patiently.
898
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,430
(gentle music)
899
00:48:03,570 --> 00:48:05,650
[Narrator] As soon as he
had enrolled at the academy,
900
00:48:05,650 --> 00:48:09,190
Van Gogh took part in the
competition for places,
901
00:48:09,190 --> 00:48:11,310
as was the custom at the time.
902
00:48:11,310 --> 00:48:12,800
There was a drawing competition
903
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:15,130
and the highest ranked
students were rewarded
904
00:48:15,130 --> 00:48:16,870
with a good place in the classroom,
905
00:48:16,870 --> 00:48:18,680
a warm seat near the heater,
906
00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:21,630
or a well lit table with
a good view of the models
907
00:48:21,630 --> 00:48:23,590
and plaster casts to be copied.
908
00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:29,640
Vincent only ranked 22nd,
misunderstood from the very start.
909
00:48:34,530 --> 00:48:36,810
[Man] He didn't like academic teaching.
910
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,120
So it's very difficult
to know what he learned
911
00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:41,740
from that experience.
912
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:46,820
There were things he didn't like.
913
00:48:46,820 --> 00:48:50,530
What he didn't like was
the nude model clearly,
914
00:48:50,530 --> 00:48:53,330
which he often mentions in
his letters to his brother
915
00:48:53,330 --> 00:48:56,260
and to his fellow student at
the academy, Anton van Rappa.
916
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:01,010
He said "The nude model
does not interest me.
917
00:49:01,010 --> 00:49:04,690
"I prefer to depict
clothed model in a field"
918
00:49:08,140 --> 00:49:12,320
He was also aiming for a
certain type of representation,
919
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:14,260
that tends more towards the natural,
920
00:49:14,260 --> 00:49:17,420
than towards the ideal
dimension of the nude model.
921
00:49:18,820 --> 00:49:22,090
He wanted to be as a sane French painting,
922
00:49:22,090 --> 00:49:23,690
(speaking in a foreign language)
923
00:49:23,690 --> 00:49:24,600
In other words, in a field,
924
00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:26,870
close to the fields, in the forest
925
00:49:26,870 --> 00:49:29,590
and not locked away in a schools atelier.
926
00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:35,470
(sweeping orchestral)
927
00:49:35,470 --> 00:49:37,600
[Narrator] Van Gogh turned
his back on the academy,
928
00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,470
and headed quickly to the
countryside to find the truth.
929
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:44,560
His hands would not obey the
tenants of classical beauty.
930
00:49:45,420 --> 00:49:48,400
In his eyes, life did not seem harmonious
931
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:51,280
and polished like a Greek statue,
932
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:53,140
but wretched and full of hurt
933
00:49:54,030 --> 00:49:56,030
and this is how he wanted to portray it.
934
00:49:57,980 --> 00:50:00,560
(gentle music)
935
00:50:02,110 --> 00:50:04,030
After the drawings and
the paintings painted
936
00:50:04,030 --> 00:50:05,800
in the Netherlands,
937
00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:07,970
the Vicenza exhibition features works
938
00:50:07,970 --> 00:50:10,060
from his French period.
939
00:50:10,060 --> 00:50:12,480
The years in which Van
Gogh becomes the painter,
940
00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:14,210
we can instantly recognize.
941
00:50:16,170 --> 00:50:18,780
The turning point came in 1886,
942
00:50:18,780 --> 00:50:20,510
when Vincent moved to Paris.
943
00:50:21,900 --> 00:50:24,370
In a few months, his
style changed completely.
944
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:27,080
He left behind the brown
of the cloths of earth
945
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,340
in the fields and started
applying bright colors,
946
00:50:31,210 --> 00:50:34,180
in a way that no one
before him had ever dared.
947
00:50:35,500 --> 00:50:37,540
(gentle music)
948
00:50:37,540 --> 00:50:39,220
[Marco] It was his brother Theo,
949
00:50:39,220 --> 00:50:42,940
in certain letters
written in February, 1886,
950
00:50:42,940 --> 00:50:45,800
who called Vincent to Paris
to learn about the art
951
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,880
of the impressionists
and post-impressionists.
952
00:50:49,750 --> 00:50:51,930
But the first paintings Vincent painted,
953
00:50:51,930 --> 00:50:53,760
in the Montemarte quarter,
954
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:55,890
where he lived with Theo,
955
00:50:55,890 --> 00:51:00,290
still reflect the depth
and almost the earthiness
956
00:51:00,290 --> 00:51:02,450
of the last Dutch paintings.
957
00:51:03,870 --> 00:51:06,810
In the summer of the same year, 1886,
958
00:51:06,810 --> 00:51:09,350
something wonderful happened.
959
00:51:09,350 --> 00:51:12,100
In some beautiful, still lifes of flowers,
960
00:51:12,100 --> 00:51:14,610
the first violets and the first reds,
961
00:51:14,610 --> 00:51:17,030
light up in Vincent Van Gogh's painting.
962
00:51:18,900 --> 00:51:20,290
(upbeat music)
963
00:51:20,290 --> 00:51:22,130
[Vincent] My dear Theo.
964
00:51:22,130 --> 00:51:23,980
Don't be cross with me that
I've come all of a sudden.
965
00:51:23,980 --> 00:51:25,660
I've thought about it so much
966
00:51:25,660 --> 00:51:27,700
and I think we'll save time this way.
967
00:51:27,700 --> 00:51:30,960
We'll be at the Louvre from
midday, or earlier if you like.
968
00:51:34,550 --> 00:51:36,070
[Narrator] An appointment
to meet his brother,
969
00:51:36,070 --> 00:51:40,310
among the Lourve's paintings,
a symbolic gesture,
970
00:51:40,310 --> 00:51:41,720
which would perhaps prove to be,
971
00:51:41,720 --> 00:51:44,170
a stroke of good luck for modern painting.
972
00:51:45,610 --> 00:51:48,250
But what was the real reason
for Vincent's style to change
973
00:51:48,250 --> 00:51:50,260
so radically in Paris?
974
00:51:50,260 --> 00:51:53,020
We ask the writer, Pascal Bonafoux,
975
00:51:53,020 --> 00:51:56,230
who teaches Art History
at the Paris 8 University.
976
00:51:57,290 --> 00:52:00,230
He takes us to Montmartre
and helps us to understand
977
00:52:00,230 --> 00:52:04,380
how the mood in the district
at the end of the 1800s,
978
00:52:04,380 --> 00:52:05,930
could have influenced Van Gogh.
979
00:52:07,170 --> 00:52:09,890
Starting from the house
where he and Theo lived,
980
00:52:09,890 --> 00:52:11,680
at 54 Rue Lepic.
981
00:52:14,980 --> 00:52:17,350
[Pascal] Vincent van
Gogh arrived in Paris
982
00:52:17,350 --> 00:52:20,660
in February, 1886.
983
00:52:20,660 --> 00:52:22,790
He had already visited before,
984
00:52:22,790 --> 00:52:25,370
but this time he decided to live here.
985
00:52:26,580 --> 00:52:30,390
They lived on the fourth
floor and beyond the rooftops,
986
00:52:30,390 --> 00:52:34,010
Vincent has an extraordinary view of Paris
987
00:52:34,010 --> 00:52:37,540
and of course when it rains,
or it looks like rain,
988
00:52:37,540 --> 00:52:40,470
he indulges in painting a
number of views of Paris,
989
00:52:40,470 --> 00:52:43,160
from the windows of his
fourth floor apartment.
990
00:52:48,150 --> 00:52:49,820
[Vincent] Paris is Paris.
991
00:52:49,820 --> 00:52:51,470
There is but one Paris,
992
00:52:51,470 --> 00:52:54,140
and however difficult living here may be,
993
00:52:54,140 --> 00:52:56,120
the French air clears up the brain
994
00:52:56,120 --> 00:52:57,610
and does one good.
995
00:52:57,610 --> 00:52:58,610
A world of good.
996
00:53:04,130 --> 00:53:07,600
[Narrator] Montmartre was
a birthplace of modern art.
997
00:53:07,600 --> 00:53:10,330
In these streets, bustling
today with tourists,
998
00:53:10,330 --> 00:53:12,340
looking for a quick caricature
999
00:53:12,340 --> 00:53:15,240
and to breathe the air
of the Paris of old
1000
00:53:15,240 --> 00:53:18,280
In the 1800's they were
home to the most troubled
1001
00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:19,720
bohemian artists.
1002
00:53:20,720 --> 00:53:23,810
It was a poor community,
but hungry for life.
1003
00:53:23,810 --> 00:53:26,050
Free in its ideas and morals,
1004
00:53:26,050 --> 00:53:28,180
being further away from the center,
1005
00:53:28,180 --> 00:53:30,030
rents were low in the quarter
1006
00:53:30,030 --> 00:53:33,090
and the nightlife was cheap for some fun.
1007
00:53:33,090 --> 00:53:36,110
The painters womanized with their models,
1008
00:53:36,110 --> 00:53:39,290
who almost always had to
prostitute themselves,
1009
00:53:39,290 --> 00:53:41,070
to make it to the end of the month.
1010
00:53:42,210 --> 00:53:44,850
By day up and down the hill, they painted.
1011
00:53:46,260 --> 00:53:48,440
In the evening as the sun set,
1012
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:50,410
they sat around talking about art.
1013
00:53:51,810 --> 00:53:53,850
[Pascal] So, here we are in Montmartre.
1014
00:53:53,850 --> 00:53:57,040
In Montmartre is as you know,
1015
00:53:57,040 --> 00:53:59,460
still a city within a city.
1016
00:53:59,460 --> 00:54:01,130
It's an extraordinary place,
1017
00:54:01,130 --> 00:54:03,310
because with good reason,
1018
00:54:03,310 --> 00:54:08,170
Paris in the 19th century
was the world capital of art.
1019
00:54:08,170 --> 00:54:11,960
But artists in this capital of art,
1020
00:54:11,960 --> 00:54:13,730
led a very special life.
1021
00:54:14,560 --> 00:54:16,530
They had their meeting places,
1022
00:54:16,530 --> 00:54:19,080
places to let their hair down of course.
1023
00:54:19,080 --> 00:54:21,680
They went to its cafes and why not?
1024
00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:23,540
To places where they could sing,
1025
00:54:23,540 --> 00:54:25,710
to what we also call the cafe concert,
1026
00:54:26,890 --> 00:54:28,930
but they might have also gone to cabarets
1027
00:54:28,930 --> 00:54:30,220
like Le Chat Noir
1028
00:54:30,220 --> 00:54:32,020
or Le Lapin Agile
1029
00:54:32,020 --> 00:54:33,820
and then there are the other places
1030
00:54:33,820 --> 00:54:35,240
that have become legendary,
1031
00:54:35,240 --> 00:54:37,950
like the the Moulin de
la Galette behind me.
1032
00:54:37,950 --> 00:54:39,060
The Moulin de la Galette
1033
00:54:39,060 --> 00:54:41,340
was one of the quintessential places,
1034
00:54:41,340 --> 00:54:44,330
where the impressionist
would come to work,
1035
00:54:44,330 --> 00:54:46,040
particularly Renoir,
1036
00:54:46,040 --> 00:54:49,250
who painted one of his
largest paintings here.
1037
00:54:49,250 --> 00:54:51,020
Offering the girls that he wanted
1038
00:54:51,020 --> 00:54:53,070
to pose for whole sessions,
1039
00:54:53,070 --> 00:54:55,500
hats, as a means to persuade them.
1040
00:54:58,340 --> 00:54:59,440
[Narrator] Following in the footsteps
1041
00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:01,190
of the impressionist masters,
1042
00:55:01,190 --> 00:55:03,430
Van Gogh also painted different versions
1043
00:55:03,430 --> 00:55:06,730
of the Moulin de la Galette
and its surroundings,
1044
00:55:06,730 --> 00:55:08,400
where there were also other windmills,
1045
00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:10,790
most of which have since disappeared.
1046
00:55:10,790 --> 00:55:12,340
Like Renoir and like Monet,
1047
00:55:12,340 --> 00:55:14,750
Vincent loved working En plein air.
1048
00:55:14,750 --> 00:55:16,630
He spent his days among the fields,
1049
00:55:16,630 --> 00:55:19,590
gardens and dusty roads of Montmartre
1050
00:55:19,590 --> 00:55:21,610
which at that time was a rural suburb.
1051
00:55:24,170 --> 00:55:25,690
[Pascal] The Vincent
who arrived in Paris
1052
00:55:25,690 --> 00:55:27,660
was clearly obsessed with nature.
1053
00:55:27,660 --> 00:55:29,930
He wanted to paint the countryside
1054
00:55:29,930 --> 00:55:31,660
and by a wonderful stroke of luck,
1055
00:55:31,660 --> 00:55:33,730
Montmartre was still in the countryside.
1056
00:55:35,450 --> 00:55:38,500
When he came up here on the hill,
1057
00:55:38,500 --> 00:55:40,270
when windmills stood here,
1058
00:55:41,830 --> 00:55:43,670
he found nature still,
1059
00:55:46,030 --> 00:55:48,500
that illusion of being perhaps
1060
00:55:48,500 --> 00:55:50,490
in the countryside again.
1061
00:55:52,250 --> 00:55:54,250
And a couple of centuries later,
1062
00:55:54,250 --> 00:55:56,890
today at the start of the 21st century,
1063
00:55:57,850 --> 00:55:59,950
these rare traces of the extraordinary
1064
00:55:59,950 --> 00:56:01,780
Montmartre Hill remain.
1065
00:56:10,590 --> 00:56:13,340
(birds chirping)
1066
00:56:15,310 --> 00:56:19,370
Van Gogh spent two years in
Paris, shedding his skin,
1067
00:56:19,370 --> 00:56:22,870
the little, not exactly
glorious painter that he was,
1068
00:56:22,870 --> 00:56:25,150
at the beginning of his career,
1069
00:56:25,150 --> 00:56:28,140
but who had extraordinary willpower
1070
00:56:28,140 --> 00:56:32,270
and determination,
became Van Gogh in Paris.
1071
00:56:33,360 --> 00:56:35,290
Just a few weeks after his arrival,
1072
00:56:35,290 --> 00:56:38,020
at the end of February, 1886,
1073
00:56:38,020 --> 00:56:40,830
the final exhibition of
the impressionists opened.
1074
00:56:41,750 --> 00:56:46,090
For Van Gogh, discovering
this explosion of color
1075
00:56:46,090 --> 00:56:48,990
was something quite extraordinary
1076
00:56:48,990 --> 00:56:51,480
and in the two years he lived in Paris,
1077
00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:55,810
Van Gogh plunders, it's
not a pejorative word.
1078
00:56:55,810 --> 00:56:58,620
It was truly his initiation.
1079
00:56:58,620 --> 00:57:01,390
He plunders from works here and there.
1080
00:57:01,390 --> 00:57:02,990
He takes from Pissaro.
1081
00:57:02,990 --> 00:57:04,430
He takes from Monet.
1082
00:57:04,430 --> 00:57:06,230
He takes from Renoir.
1083
00:57:06,230 --> 00:57:07,670
I won't list them all.
1084
00:57:07,670 --> 00:57:10,250
He takes what he needs to invent,
1085
00:57:10,250 --> 00:57:12,860
what would become his painting style.
1086
00:57:13,910 --> 00:57:16,500
(gentle piano)
1087
00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:22,940
[Narrator] The origin of Van Gogh style,
1088
00:57:22,940 --> 00:57:27,440
those small colorful colors,
can be traced back to Paris.
1089
00:57:27,440 --> 00:57:30,440
When he discovered the
paintings of Georges Seurat,
1090
00:57:30,440 --> 00:57:33,270
a painter who was considered
a new impressionist,
1091
00:57:33,270 --> 00:57:35,450
using colors that are not mixed,
1092
00:57:35,450 --> 00:57:38,040
but paired together with
light brush strokes.
1093
00:57:39,550 --> 00:57:41,920
His paintings had a great
influence on Vincent.
1094
00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:45,870
Helene Kroller-Mueller,
knew this perfectly well.
1095
00:57:45,870 --> 00:57:46,790
And in her collection,
1096
00:57:46,790 --> 00:57:48,420
she wanted works by Seurat
1097
00:57:48,420 --> 00:57:50,710
and other new impressionist artists
1098
00:57:50,710 --> 00:57:52,330
like Paul Signac,
1099
00:57:52,330 --> 00:57:54,600
which can be seen in the
collection at Otterlo,
1100
00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:56,570
before entering the Van Gogh rooms.
1101
00:57:57,810 --> 00:58:01,520
In Vincenza, the painting that
symbolizes this meeting is,
1102
00:58:01,520 --> 00:58:03,300
"Interior of a Restaurant"
1103
00:58:10,130 --> 00:58:11,180
[Marco] There is no doubt,
1104
00:58:11,180 --> 00:58:14,000
that the interior of this restaurant,
1105
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:17,040
painted in Paris in the summer of 1887,
1106
00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:19,360
represents for Vincent van Gogh,
1107
00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:22,340
his main tribute to neo-impressionist art.
1108
00:58:23,500 --> 00:58:26,890
In the spring of the
previous year in 1886,
1109
00:58:26,890 --> 00:58:30,110
at the eighth final
impressionist exhibition,
1110
00:58:30,110 --> 00:58:32,460
Van Gogh had probably
seen the great painting
1111
00:58:32,460 --> 00:58:34,930
by Georges Seurat, a Sunday afternoon
1112
00:58:34,930 --> 00:58:37,330
on the island of a Grande Jatte,
1113
00:58:37,330 --> 00:58:41,400
from where his love for
neo-impressionist painting stemmed.
1114
00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:43,550
A new version of prismatic color,
1115
00:58:43,550 --> 00:58:47,650
with these tiny dots of
color placed side by side.
1116
00:58:47,650 --> 00:58:49,740
This is the moment when Van Gogh,
1117
00:58:49,740 --> 00:58:53,320
sets out on his journey
towards pure color,
1118
00:58:53,320 --> 00:58:55,490
towards the absolute light
1119
00:58:55,490 --> 00:58:57,690
that would take himself toward Provence.
1120
00:58:58,840 --> 00:59:01,420
(gentle music)
1121
00:59:11,090 --> 00:59:11,920
[Narrator] In June, 1888,
1122
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:13,750
Van Gogh wrote to his
friend Émile Bernard,
1123
00:59:15,300 --> 00:59:16,770
"I even work in the wheat fields at midday
1124
00:59:16,770 --> 00:59:20,310
"in the full heat of the sun
without any shade, whatever.
1125
00:59:20,310 --> 00:59:23,130
"And there you are, I
revel in it like a cicada.
1126
00:59:23,130 --> 00:59:26,910
"My God, if only I'd
known this country at 25,
1127
00:59:26,910 --> 00:59:29,040
"instead of coming here at 35"
1128
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:34,270
In February, Vincent had
moved a Southern France
1129
00:59:34,270 --> 00:59:35,850
to Arles, in Provence.
1130
00:59:37,200 --> 00:59:39,180
The supremely enthusiastic
period had begun for him,
1131
00:59:39,180 --> 00:59:41,920
the most wonderful time of his life,
1132
00:59:41,920 --> 00:59:42,760
which would last only a year,
1133
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:44,440
until his first attack of madness.
1134
00:59:45,480 --> 00:59:48,230
(dramatic music)
1135
00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:54,580
Van Gogh had never been so productive.
1136
00:59:54,580 --> 00:59:56,000
In the spring and summer months,
1137
00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:58,320
he threw himself into the landscape,
1138
00:59:58,320 --> 01:00:00,920
spending whole days, painting vineyards,
1139
01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:02,810
orchards, wheat fields.
1140
01:00:03,710 --> 01:00:05,790
His pictures began to sing in a language
1141
01:00:05,790 --> 01:00:07,760
that no one had ever heard before.
1142
01:00:09,200 --> 01:00:11,050
His painting exploded with light.
1143
01:00:12,450 --> 01:00:15,200
(dramatic music)
1144
01:00:17,120 --> 01:00:18,750
[Vincent] What a
funny thing that touches
1145
01:00:18,750 --> 01:00:23,240
the brush stroke, out of
doors exposed to the wind,
1146
01:00:23,240 --> 01:00:25,410
the sun, people's curiosity.
1147
01:00:25,410 --> 01:00:27,070
One works as one can.
1148
01:00:27,070 --> 01:00:29,930
One fills one's canvas regardless.
1149
01:00:29,930 --> 01:00:32,730
Yet one catches the
true and the essential.
1150
01:00:33,680 --> 01:00:37,190
I feel fine working outside,
in the hottest part of the day.
1151
01:00:38,060 --> 01:00:40,660
It's a dry clean heat.
1152
01:00:40,660 --> 01:00:43,770
The color here is actually very fine.
1153
01:00:47,910 --> 01:00:50,020
[Marco] At the end of March, 1888,
1154
01:00:50,020 --> 01:00:53,220
Van Gogh turned the sense
of color on its head,
1155
01:00:53,220 --> 01:00:56,130
discovering a kind of anti-naturalism.
1156
01:00:56,130 --> 01:00:57,990
The sky became yellow,
1157
01:00:57,990 --> 01:01:00,530
in a wonderful tone on tone relationship,
1158
01:01:00,530 --> 01:01:03,580
between the sun and the space of the sky,
1159
01:01:03,580 --> 01:01:05,500
and the tree trunks became blue.
1160
01:01:06,590 --> 01:01:09,700
The blue that we see in one
of the most famous versions
1161
01:01:09,700 --> 01:01:12,980
of the Langlois Bridge on the Bouc Canal,
1162
01:01:12,980 --> 01:01:14,810
south of the city of Arles.
1163
01:01:16,190 --> 01:01:18,540
Here it is, with a very graphic style
1164
01:01:18,540 --> 01:01:20,900
that records the art of Japanese painters.
1165
01:01:21,770 --> 01:01:24,880
The art of Japanese painters
that comes back at the times
1166
01:01:24,880 --> 01:01:28,130
when Vincent Van Gogh worked
in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
1167
01:01:28,130 --> 01:01:29,930
a small fishing village along the shore
1168
01:01:29,930 --> 01:01:31,830
of the Mediterranean Sea.
1169
01:01:31,830 --> 01:01:34,040
And it is from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer,
1170
01:01:34,040 --> 01:01:35,390
that he wrote to Theo,
1171
01:01:35,390 --> 01:01:37,760
that he had made the right
choice for his painting
1172
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:39,180
by moving down to Provence.
1173
01:01:40,860 --> 01:01:43,440
(gentle music)
1174
01:01:46,710 --> 01:01:48,800
[Narrator] No one knows
for sure why Van Gogh,
1175
01:01:48,800 --> 01:01:50,540
had decided to move to Arles.
1176
01:01:51,660 --> 01:01:54,320
Certainly his passion
for Japanese prince ,
1177
01:01:54,320 --> 01:01:57,420
played its part in his
decision to move south.
1178
01:01:57,420 --> 01:01:59,050
In these Southern landscapes,
1179
01:01:59,050 --> 01:02:01,540
he was probably hoping
to find the bright colors
1180
01:02:01,540 --> 01:02:05,240
and strong contrasts of the
oriental images that he loved.
1181
01:02:07,050 --> 01:02:10,390
He also hoped that other
painters would soon join him,
1182
01:02:10,390 --> 01:02:12,800
especially his friend Gauguin
1183
01:02:12,800 --> 01:02:15,170
and they could form a
community of artists.
1184
01:02:16,120 --> 01:02:18,970
The failure of this dream
would play a large role
1185
01:02:18,970 --> 01:02:21,780
in the nervous breakdown,
he was shortly to have.
1186
01:02:23,180 --> 01:02:26,740
He found an atmosphere that
suited what he wanted to do.
1187
01:02:26,740 --> 01:02:30,850
And you see in Arles, how he
comes strongly inspired by
1188
01:02:30,850 --> 01:02:32,230
the change of the seasons,
1189
01:02:32,230 --> 01:02:34,770
of the changing colors
of the beautiful nature
1190
01:02:34,770 --> 01:02:36,200
that he sees in front of him.
1191
01:02:36,200 --> 01:02:38,980
So, he started to paint all of that,
1192
01:02:38,980 --> 01:02:41,470
with a complete gusto.
1193
01:02:41,470 --> 01:02:45,870
In Arles, he discovers that the way
1194
01:02:45,870 --> 01:02:47,360
the paint is applied,
1195
01:02:47,360 --> 01:02:51,560
can make a big difference in
the effect that a painting has.
1196
01:02:51,560 --> 01:02:55,050
And he develops his own style of,
1197
01:02:55,050 --> 01:02:58,380
I would say a kind of sculptural style,
1198
01:02:58,380 --> 01:03:02,910
in which he imitates
the forms of the motif
1199
01:03:02,910 --> 01:03:04,600
with the brush stroke.
1200
01:03:04,600 --> 01:03:08,990
So, that makes it a very
expressive way of painting
1201
01:03:08,990 --> 01:03:13,010
and it also gives a lot of
depth into the painting,
1202
01:03:13,010 --> 01:03:15,170
'cause we call that impasto,
1203
01:03:15,170 --> 01:03:17,770
how thick the paint is applied.
1204
01:03:17,770 --> 01:03:20,640
And he really used everything he could,
1205
01:03:20,640 --> 01:03:23,530
to heighten the expressiveness,
1206
01:03:23,530 --> 01:03:26,120
expressive power of his painting.
1207
01:03:26,120 --> 01:03:29,700
So that's why he used this physical
1208
01:03:29,700 --> 01:03:33,890
and very physical brush stroke to make it,
1209
01:03:33,890 --> 01:03:35,240
to give it more expression.
1210
01:03:36,230 --> 01:03:39,550
(dramatic music)
1211
01:03:39,550 --> 01:03:41,080
[Vincent] At the moment
I have a clear head
1212
01:03:41,080 --> 01:03:43,560
or a lover's blindness towards my work,
1213
01:03:43,560 --> 01:03:45,850
because being surrounded
by color like this,
1214
01:03:45,850 --> 01:03:49,530
is quite new to me and
excites me extraordinarily.
1215
01:03:49,530 --> 01:03:51,800
Fatigue, doesn't come into it.
1216
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:54,200
I could do another painting tonight even,
1217
01:03:54,200 --> 01:03:56,330
and I could bring it home.
1218
01:03:56,330 --> 01:03:58,040
If I tell you that it's very urgent
1219
01:03:58,040 --> 01:04:02,020
that I receive six large
tubes, Chrome yellow,
1220
01:04:02,020 --> 01:04:05,330
one lemon, six large
tubes, veronaze green.
1221
01:04:05,330 --> 01:04:06,900
Three large tubes Prussian blue,
1222
01:04:06,900 --> 01:04:09,500
blue 10 large tubes of zinc white,
1223
01:04:09,500 --> 01:04:12,140
large tubes, like the
zinc and silver white,
1224
01:04:12,140 --> 01:04:14,510
then it's to be deducted
from yesterday's order.
1225
01:04:14,510 --> 01:04:16,410
Also five meters of canvas.
1226
01:04:17,430 --> 01:04:21,010
(dramatic uplifting music)
1227
01:04:22,340 --> 01:04:25,890
Van Gogh, didn't only
paint landscapes in Provence.
1228
01:04:25,890 --> 01:04:27,690
He also painted portraits of people
1229
01:04:27,690 --> 01:04:30,390
he spent time with, or met in Arles,
1230
01:04:30,390 --> 01:04:32,190
like Paul-Eugène Milliet,
1231
01:04:32,190 --> 01:04:33,710
a lieutenant with a Zoab.
1232
01:04:35,100 --> 01:04:38,830
Vincent met the soldier
on leave in June, 1888
1233
01:04:39,870 --> 01:04:41,470
and he gave him drawing lessons.
1234
01:04:44,310 --> 01:04:45,800
For Vincent Van Gogh,
1235
01:04:45,800 --> 01:04:48,900
portraits are not merely
the faithful representation
1236
01:04:48,900 --> 01:04:50,510
of a person's features,
1237
01:04:50,510 --> 01:04:53,910
but they are also a distortion
of the person's features
1238
01:04:53,910 --> 01:04:55,930
to reach their very soul.
1239
01:04:56,820 --> 01:04:59,730
In this picture, Milliet,
is placed in a space
1240
01:04:59,730 --> 01:05:01,630
that is almost nothingness,
1241
01:05:01,630 --> 01:05:03,190
in an abstract place,
1242
01:05:03,190 --> 01:05:06,480
relating the moon and a star here above,
1243
01:05:06,480 --> 01:05:08,930
to the green of a great flow of color.
1244
01:05:11,050 --> 01:05:13,800
(dramatic music)
1245
01:05:16,820 --> 01:05:18,490
[Vincent] In a painting,
I'd like to say something
1246
01:05:18,490 --> 01:05:21,500
consoling like a piece of music.
1247
01:05:21,500 --> 01:05:25,060
I'd like to paint men, or women
with their je ne sais quoi
1248
01:05:25,060 --> 01:05:28,910
of the eternal, of which the
halo used to be the symbol
1249
01:05:28,910 --> 01:05:32,290
and which we tried to achieve
through the radiance itself,
1250
01:05:32,290 --> 01:05:34,730
through the vibrancy of our colorations.
1251
01:05:36,040 --> 01:05:38,790
(dramatic music)
1252
01:05:43,260 --> 01:05:45,220
[Narrator] Meanwhile,
Vincent's friend Gauguin
1253
01:05:45,220 --> 01:05:47,880
had arrived, but the happy moment,
1254
01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:50,200
the time of mad joy in Arles,
1255
01:05:50,200 --> 01:05:52,010
would soon come to an end.
1256
01:05:52,010 --> 01:05:54,300
And the time that they were
supposed to spend together,
1257
01:05:54,300 --> 01:05:56,160
a year, ended badly.
1258
01:05:57,930 --> 01:06:00,250
After only two months of time together,
1259
01:06:00,250 --> 01:06:01,560
due to the excesses,
1260
01:06:01,560 --> 01:06:04,360
the constant tension and their
differences in character,
1261
01:06:04,360 --> 01:06:07,640
Gauguin, one one evening
in December, 1888,
1262
01:06:07,640 --> 01:06:09,330
announced that he was leaving.
1263
01:06:10,330 --> 01:06:13,520
They drank Absinthe and a
violent argument broke out.
1264
01:06:13,520 --> 01:06:16,910
Van Gogh took a razor and cut
off the lobe of his left ear.
1265
01:06:18,180 --> 01:06:19,700
He wrapped it in newspaper
1266
01:06:19,700 --> 01:06:22,480
and gave it as a present to
a prostitute named Rachel.
1267
01:06:24,270 --> 01:06:25,490
From that moment until his death,
1268
01:06:25,490 --> 01:06:27,640
a year and a half later,
1269
01:06:27,640 --> 01:06:30,320
Vincent's painting was a
struggle against madness.
1270
01:06:31,650 --> 01:06:34,400
(dramatic music)
1271
01:06:40,800 --> 01:06:42,470
[Vincent] The weather
outside has been splendid
1272
01:06:42,470 --> 01:06:43,710
for a very long time,
1273
01:06:43,710 --> 01:06:46,780
but I haven't left my room for two months.
1274
01:06:46,780 --> 01:06:47,710
I don't know why.
1275
01:06:48,700 --> 01:06:52,080
I would need courage and I often lack it
1276
01:06:52,080 --> 01:06:54,050
and it's also that since my illness
1277
01:06:54,050 --> 01:06:55,860
and the feeling of
loneliness takes hold of me
1278
01:06:55,860 --> 01:06:58,180
in the fields in such a fearsome way,
1279
01:06:58,180 --> 01:06:59,530
that I hesitate to go out.
1280
01:07:00,800 --> 01:07:02,710
The room where we stay on rainy days,
1281
01:07:02,710 --> 01:07:04,420
is like a third class waiting room
1282
01:07:04,420 --> 01:07:06,040
in some stagnant village,
1283
01:07:06,900 --> 01:07:09,300
all though moreso since
there are honorable
1284
01:07:09,300 --> 01:07:11,210
mad men who always wear a hat,
1285
01:07:11,210 --> 01:07:14,690
spectacles and traveling
clothes and carry a cane,
1286
01:07:14,690 --> 01:07:16,350
almost like at the seaside
1287
01:07:16,350 --> 01:07:19,020
and who represent the passengers there.
1288
01:07:19,020 --> 01:07:21,100
There's one person here
who has been shouting
1289
01:07:21,100 --> 01:07:23,990
and always talking like
me for a fortnight.
1290
01:07:23,990 --> 01:07:25,830
He thinks he hears voices and words
1291
01:07:25,830 --> 01:07:27,330
and the echo of the corridors.
1292
01:07:28,680 --> 01:07:30,610
Anyway, I'm trying to get better now,
1293
01:07:30,610 --> 01:07:33,400
like someone who having
wanted to commit suicide
1294
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:34,900
and finding the water too cold,
1295
01:07:34,900 --> 01:07:37,070
tries to catch hold of the bank again.
1296
01:07:39,080 --> 01:07:41,830
(dramatic music)
1297
01:07:54,480 --> 01:07:55,700
[Marco] This large model,
1298
01:07:55,700 --> 01:07:59,170
is a reproduction of the
St Paul De Mausole Asylum,
1299
01:07:59,170 --> 01:08:01,070
in Saint-Rémy, in Provence.
1300
01:08:01,070 --> 01:08:04,110
At the foot of the small
mountain range, of the Alps.
1301
01:08:05,960 --> 01:08:07,770
Following Vincent's repeated episodes,
1302
01:08:07,770 --> 01:08:12,300
of mental instability, in
the previous months in Arles,
1303
01:08:12,300 --> 01:08:16,160
the painter deliberately
chose to be hospitalized here.
1304
01:08:17,420 --> 01:08:20,090
In the year he spent in Saint-Rémy,
1305
01:08:20,090 --> 01:08:23,080
the head of the St Paul De Mausole Asylum,
1306
01:08:23,080 --> 01:08:26,130
Dr. Peron, did not always
give him permission
1307
01:08:26,130 --> 01:08:28,280
to go out and paint in nature.
1308
01:08:30,110 --> 01:08:35,060
So, Van Gogh painted from his
small studio, or his room.
1309
01:08:35,060 --> 01:08:36,860
It is the moment when his painting
1310
01:08:36,860 --> 01:08:40,980
becomes increasingly abstract,
in the landscape's light.
1311
01:08:42,690 --> 01:08:45,440
(dramatic music)
1312
01:08:49,610 --> 01:08:52,360
[Narrator] Dr. Peron
diagnosed Vincent with epilepsy.
1313
01:08:54,140 --> 01:08:57,220
Today, it is difficult
to assess his conclusions
1314
01:08:57,220 --> 01:08:59,590
and we can't say exactly
what mental disorder
1315
01:08:59,590 --> 01:09:00,990
Van Gogh suffered from.
1316
01:09:01,850 --> 01:09:05,530
We only know that in Saint
Remy, in spite of his illness,
1317
01:09:05,530 --> 01:09:08,050
he painted some extraordinary works,
1318
01:09:08,050 --> 01:09:10,140
such as Starry Night,
1319
01:09:10,140 --> 01:09:12,680
which is now at the MOMA in New York.
1320
01:09:16,940 --> 01:09:20,390
We cannot really say he
was either this or that.
1321
01:09:20,390 --> 01:09:23,290
It has lots in common
with borderline, some say,
1322
01:09:23,290 --> 01:09:26,570
or with manic depression, some other say,
1323
01:09:26,570 --> 01:09:28,350
but I don't think it's really important
1324
01:09:28,350 --> 01:09:30,630
what actually was his disease.
1325
01:09:30,630 --> 01:09:33,400
What is important is,
first of all, of course,
1326
01:09:33,400 --> 01:09:36,180
that he was ill and that it
caused so many problems for him
1327
01:09:36,180 --> 01:09:38,680
and then of course, what
is important is that
1328
01:09:38,680 --> 01:09:42,380
he still made a lot of
beautiful paintings,
1329
01:09:42,380 --> 01:09:44,410
in the periods when he was doing well,
1330
01:09:44,410 --> 01:09:46,510
he made fantastic paintings.
1331
01:09:47,850 --> 01:09:50,230
(soft music)
1332
01:09:50,230 --> 01:09:53,840
Although he thought that he
couldn't make the same kind of,
1333
01:09:53,840 --> 01:09:55,970
or reach the same level as before,
1334
01:09:55,970 --> 01:09:57,660
we think that after becoming ill,
1335
01:09:57,660 --> 01:10:00,910
he still made fantastic paintings.
1336
01:10:01,830 --> 01:10:04,390
(gentle music)
1337
01:10:04,390 --> 01:10:05,880
[Marco] When he went to Saint Remy,
1338
01:10:05,880 --> 01:10:08,770
he not changed that immediately of course,
1339
01:10:08,770 --> 01:10:09,630
but in Saint Remy,
1340
01:10:09,630 --> 01:10:13,540
he started looking for
something much more stylish,
1341
01:10:13,540 --> 01:10:17,950
stylized, and it was partly a result of
1342
01:10:17,950 --> 01:10:20,990
his discussion with his
friends, Paul Gauguin
1343
01:10:20,990 --> 01:10:22,750
and Emile Bernard,
1344
01:10:22,750 --> 01:10:26,910
who stressed that things should
not be taken from reality,
1345
01:10:26,910 --> 01:10:28,170
but from the imagination
1346
01:10:28,170 --> 01:10:30,890
and that you should manipulate reality.
1347
01:10:32,750 --> 01:10:33,580
Van Gogh tried his hand at it,
1348
01:10:33,580 --> 01:10:35,970
he was not, the imagination,
1349
01:10:35,970 --> 01:10:38,460
just the imagination was
not good enough for him,
1350
01:10:38,460 --> 01:10:41,530
but the search for style,
the search for rhythm,
1351
01:10:41,530 --> 01:10:45,350
which you see in the paintings
and drawing from Saint Remy,
1352
01:10:45,350 --> 01:10:46,920
is part of that discussion.
1353
01:10:46,920 --> 01:10:48,720
Partly a result of that discussion.
1354
01:10:50,730 --> 01:10:54,340
We start to experiment
with exaggerated forms
1355
01:10:54,340 --> 01:10:56,570
and exaggerated brush strokes.
1356
01:10:58,380 --> 01:11:01,040
I don't think that these are,
1357
01:11:01,040 --> 01:11:03,960
showing his mental illness
as some people believe,
1358
01:11:03,960 --> 01:11:08,160
but they were part of his artistic search,
1359
01:11:08,160 --> 01:11:09,580
for his own style
1360
01:11:09,580 --> 01:11:11,760
and he abandoned that afterwards.
1361
01:11:11,760 --> 01:11:14,190
So, it was like he did in Paris,
1362
01:11:14,190 --> 01:11:15,880
like he has done all his life.
1363
01:11:15,880 --> 01:11:19,050
He comes up on something new,
1364
01:11:19,050 --> 01:11:20,820
the circular brush strokes.
1365
01:11:20,820 --> 01:11:22,780
He experiments with that.
1366
01:11:22,780 --> 01:11:26,690
He tries to, make use of it,
1367
01:11:26,690 --> 01:11:28,990
make paintings with it,
in the best way he can
1368
01:11:28,990 --> 01:11:31,740
and then he goes on and on.
1369
01:11:31,740 --> 01:11:35,080
(gentle dramatic music)
1370
01:11:39,560 --> 01:11:40,900
[Vincent] Since I've been here,
1371
01:11:40,900 --> 01:11:43,750
the neglected garden,
planted with tall Pines
1372
01:11:43,750 --> 01:11:45,260
under which grows tall
1373
01:11:45,260 --> 01:11:48,720
and badly tended grass
intermingled with various weeds,
1374
01:11:48,720 --> 01:11:50,770
has provided me with enough work
1375
01:11:50,770 --> 01:11:52,870
and I haven't yet gone outside.
1376
01:11:52,870 --> 01:11:56,130
However, the landscape of
Saint Remy is very beautiful
1377
01:11:56,130 --> 01:11:57,130
and little by little,
1378
01:11:57,130 --> 01:11:59,960
I'm probably going to make trips into it.
1379
01:11:59,960 --> 01:12:02,240
I'm obliged to ask you
for some more colors
1380
01:12:02,240 --> 01:12:03,910
and especially some canvas.
1381
01:12:03,910 --> 01:12:06,130
When I send you the four
canvases of the garden
1382
01:12:06,130 --> 01:12:08,490
I have on the go, you'll see that,
1383
01:12:08,490 --> 01:12:11,840
considering that life happens
above all in the garden,
1384
01:12:11,840 --> 01:12:13,310
it isn't so sad.
1385
01:12:13,310 --> 01:12:16,120
Life goes on like that,
time doesn't come back,
1386
01:12:16,120 --> 01:12:17,460
but I'm working furiously,
1387
01:12:17,460 --> 01:12:19,940
because of the very fact that
I know that the opportunities
1388
01:12:19,940 --> 01:12:22,720
to work don't come back,
above all in my case,
1389
01:12:22,720 --> 01:12:24,050
where a more violent crisis,
1390
01:12:24,050 --> 01:12:27,060
may destroy my ability, to paint forever.
1391
01:12:27,060 --> 01:12:28,540
Work is going very well.
1392
01:12:28,540 --> 01:12:31,440
I'm finding things that I've
sought in vain for years
1393
01:12:31,440 --> 01:12:33,490
and feeling that I always
think of those words
1394
01:12:33,490 --> 01:12:35,130
of de la Cruz, that you know,
1395
01:12:35,130 --> 01:12:37,460
that he found painting
when he had neither breath,
1396
01:12:37,460 --> 01:12:38,660
nor teeth left.
1397
01:12:41,000 --> 01:12:42,900
(soft music)
1398
01:12:42,900 --> 01:12:45,160
[Narrator] As the
end of 1889 approached,
1399
01:12:45,160 --> 01:12:47,770
Van Gogh wanted to see the north again.
1400
01:12:47,770 --> 01:12:50,050
(gentle guitar)
1401
01:12:50,050 --> 01:12:51,100
He loved Provence.
1402
01:12:51,100 --> 01:12:52,470
It's colors.
1403
01:12:52,470 --> 01:12:54,930
The South had given him so much,
1404
01:12:54,930 --> 01:12:57,440
but he wanted to return
to his Northern light,
1405
01:12:57,440 --> 01:12:59,060
to his roots.
1406
01:12:59,060 --> 01:13:02,550
So in May, 1890, he moved here,
1407
01:13:02,550 --> 01:13:06,630
to Auvers-sur-Oise, 30
kilometers north of Paris.
1408
01:13:06,630 --> 01:13:09,210
(gentle music)
1409
01:13:19,300 --> 01:13:21,430
[Van Gogh] Auvers is really beautiful.
1410
01:13:21,430 --> 01:13:24,370
Among other things,
many old thatched roofs,
1411
01:13:24,370 --> 01:13:26,130
which are becoming rare.
1412
01:13:26,130 --> 01:13:28,270
I'd hope then that in doing a few canvases
1413
01:13:28,270 --> 01:13:29,990
of that really seriously,
1414
01:13:29,990 --> 01:13:31,320
there would be a chance of recouping
1415
01:13:31,320 --> 01:13:33,290
some of the costs of my stay,
1416
01:13:33,290 --> 01:13:35,770
for really it's gravely beautiful.
1417
01:13:35,770 --> 01:13:37,490
It's the heart of the countryside,
1418
01:13:37,490 --> 01:13:39,620
distinctive and picturesque.
1419
01:13:39,620 --> 01:13:41,410
I can do nothing about my illness.
1420
01:13:41,410 --> 01:13:43,300
I'm suffering a little these days.
1421
01:13:43,300 --> 01:13:45,020
It's just that after this long seclusion,
1422
01:13:45,020 --> 01:13:47,050
the days seem like weeks to me.
1423
01:13:47,050 --> 01:13:49,920
Whatever the case, I don't
regret coming back here
1424
01:13:49,920 --> 01:13:51,290
and things will go better.
1425
01:13:52,290 --> 01:13:54,870
(gentle music)
1426
01:13:58,570 --> 01:13:59,610
[Narrator] Here in Auvers,
1427
01:13:59,610 --> 01:14:02,640
Vincent rented a room
at the Auberge Ravoux,
1428
01:14:02,640 --> 01:14:04,540
the cheapest inn he could find.
1429
01:14:05,930 --> 01:14:08,290
It was a place frequented by artists,
1430
01:14:08,290 --> 01:14:09,760
who could come from Paris to paint
1431
01:14:09,760 --> 01:14:11,360
the villages surroundings.
1432
01:14:12,640 --> 01:14:15,840
The Ravoux family also made him his meals,
1433
01:14:15,840 --> 01:14:17,980
which he ate in the ground floor room,
1434
01:14:17,980 --> 01:14:20,880
that has been preserved
in its original state.
1435
01:14:20,880 --> 01:14:24,490
Auvers-sur-Ois would be the
last stop on Vincent Van Gogh's
1436
01:14:24,490 --> 01:14:26,300
frenzied journey.
1437
01:14:26,300 --> 01:14:29,270
He moved house 37 times in 37 years.
1438
01:14:30,100 --> 01:14:33,030
He spent the last 10 weeks
of his life at Auvers.
1439
01:14:33,030 --> 01:14:35,870
Once again, painting feverishly,
1440
01:14:35,870 --> 01:14:37,410
around one painting a day.
1441
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:41,800
In the end, he had produced 70 works.
1442
01:14:41,800 --> 01:14:44,020
Vincent walked the countryside
1443
01:14:44,020 --> 01:14:46,260
and his canvases took in the fields,
1444
01:14:46,260 --> 01:14:50,070
houses and landscapes,
with a vast horizon,
1445
01:14:50,070 --> 01:14:52,530
as if preparing for a leap into infinity.
1446
01:14:53,860 --> 01:14:55,870
His brush strokes were calmer now.
1447
01:14:56,840 --> 01:14:58,670
The twisting whirling arabesques
1448
01:14:58,670 --> 01:15:00,160
of Saint Remy, were gone.
1449
01:15:01,330 --> 01:15:02,760
The paintings of Auvers,
1450
01:15:02,760 --> 01:15:06,970
such as Poppy Field and
Landscape of Auvers in the Rain,
1451
01:15:06,970 --> 01:15:09,270
convey a sense of final abandonment.
1452
01:15:10,190 --> 01:15:12,940
(dramatic music)
1453
01:15:23,190 --> 01:15:24,930
[Marco] From the middle of June,
1454
01:15:24,930 --> 01:15:29,360
Van Gogh began painting the
last landscapes of his life,
1455
01:15:29,360 --> 01:15:33,420
and they are great
horizontal views of alfalfa.
1456
01:15:33,420 --> 01:15:36,430
As in this painting with
the red of the poppies,
1457
01:15:36,430 --> 01:15:37,380
floating above.
1458
01:15:38,780 --> 01:15:41,850
A kind of a long immersion in nature,
1459
01:15:41,850 --> 01:15:43,310
with a graphic style,
1460
01:15:43,310 --> 01:15:45,720
determined by the trees that recalls
1461
01:15:45,720 --> 01:15:48,440
Van Gogh's love of Japanese art
1462
01:15:48,440 --> 01:15:51,570
and these skies that
seem to almost swallow
1463
01:15:51,570 --> 01:15:54,140
the breath and the soul of painter,
1464
01:15:54,140 --> 01:15:56,890
very different from the
sky's painted in Provence,
1465
01:15:56,890 --> 01:15:58,830
just a few months before.
1466
01:15:58,830 --> 01:16:00,560
They are horizontal views,
1467
01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:04,210
that will then become the
final views of wheat fields.
1468
01:16:04,210 --> 01:16:07,050
Like a very important and wonderful image,
1469
01:16:07,050 --> 01:16:08,290
whose distinguishing mark
1470
01:16:08,290 --> 01:16:11,150
is the light of poetry and destiny.
1471
01:16:11,150 --> 01:16:13,570
This field of wheat under the rain.
1472
01:16:13,570 --> 01:16:16,240
Once again, the reference
is to Japanese art,
1473
01:16:16,240 --> 01:16:19,010
but it is here in this
moment that Van Gogh,
1474
01:16:19,010 --> 01:16:21,340
paints a kind of real tombstone
1475
01:16:21,340 --> 01:16:23,130
and the landscape is the place,
1476
01:16:23,130 --> 01:16:26,100
that will finally embrace
him once and for all.
1477
01:16:27,080 --> 01:16:29,750
(bells tolling)
1478
01:16:34,990 --> 01:16:37,030
[Narrator] Who knows
whether Vincent passed by here
1479
01:16:37,030 --> 01:16:41,290
on his last day, from the
street next to the church,
1480
01:16:41,290 --> 01:16:43,420
as he went to the
appointment with the death
1481
01:16:43,420 --> 01:16:45,070
that he himself had made.
1482
01:16:46,060 --> 01:16:48,310
It was a Sunday and these aisles
1483
01:16:48,310 --> 01:16:50,930
were probably ringing with song.
1484
01:16:50,930 --> 01:16:52,860
I imagine him moving away,
1485
01:16:52,860 --> 01:16:54,850
like the peasant woman in his painting,
1486
01:16:54,850 --> 01:16:58,130
back turned as if to
raise a wall of solitude
1487
01:16:58,130 --> 01:17:00,750
between him and us, before disappearing.
1488
01:17:02,450 --> 01:17:05,200
(dramatic music)
1489
01:17:14,290 --> 01:17:16,130
[Van Gogh] I am often
terribly and cantankerously
1490
01:17:16,130 --> 01:17:18,250
melancholic, irritable,
1491
01:17:18,250 --> 01:17:19,230
yearning for sympathy ,
1492
01:17:19,230 --> 01:17:21,770
as if with a kind of hunger and thirst.
1493
01:17:21,770 --> 01:17:23,490
I become indifferent, sharp,
1494
01:17:23,490 --> 01:17:25,680
and sometimes even poor oil on the flames,
1495
01:17:25,680 --> 01:17:27,750
if I don't get sympathy,
1496
01:17:27,750 --> 01:17:30,590
I don't enjoy company
and dealing with people,
1497
01:17:30,590 --> 01:17:33,780
talking to them is often
painful and difficult for me.
1498
01:17:33,780 --> 01:17:35,020
But do you know where a great deal,
1499
01:17:35,020 --> 01:17:36,900
if not all of this comes from?
1500
01:17:36,900 --> 01:17:39,170
Simply from nervousness.
1501
01:17:39,170 --> 01:17:42,890
I am terribly sensitive,
both physically and morally.
1502
01:17:43,970 --> 01:17:46,800
(dramatic music)
1503
01:17:46,800 --> 01:17:51,800
[Narrator] After breakfast
on Sunday, July 27th, 1890,
1504
01:17:51,850 --> 01:17:54,660
Vincent went out to paint
in the fields as usual.
1505
01:17:56,440 --> 01:18:01,070
In the afternoon, after resting
his easel on a haystack,
1506
01:18:01,070 --> 01:18:04,430
he took a revolver and
fired a shot into his chest.
1507
01:18:05,650 --> 01:18:07,640
He fell to the ground unconscious,
1508
01:18:07,640 --> 01:18:09,790
and only when the call evening arrived,
1509
01:18:09,790 --> 01:18:12,870
he came to and managed to
make his way back to his room.
1510
01:18:13,990 --> 01:18:17,650
(dramatic melancholy music)
1511
01:18:23,780 --> 01:18:25,730
He was found in the night by Mr. Ravoux
1512
01:18:26,740 --> 01:18:30,040
owner of the inn, who had heard his moans.
1513
01:18:31,050 --> 01:18:34,110
Theo was warned and arrived
the next day from Paris.
1514
01:18:35,330 --> 01:18:38,310
He and Vincent talked for many hours,
1515
01:18:38,310 --> 01:18:40,410
with Vincent, even smoking a pipe.
1516
01:18:41,250 --> 01:18:42,830
They reminisced about the rare,
1517
01:18:42,830 --> 01:18:45,550
happy moments of life, they spoke,
1518
01:18:45,550 --> 01:18:48,070
as they always had of painting,
1519
01:18:48,070 --> 01:18:52,170
until on the night between
the 28th and the 29th of July,
1520
01:18:52,170 --> 01:18:54,000
Vincent van Gogh died.
1521
01:18:54,000 --> 01:18:56,750
(dramatic music)
1522
01:19:08,510 --> 01:19:10,850
Vincent's ordeal through art and life
1523
01:19:11,780 --> 01:19:15,520
had to end this way, with sacrifice.
1524
01:19:15,520 --> 01:19:17,370
His search for an eternal principle,
1525
01:19:17,370 --> 01:19:20,880
in the simple manifestation of things,
1526
01:19:20,880 --> 01:19:24,840
perhaps led him too far and too deep.
1527
01:19:24,840 --> 01:19:27,590
It made him turn the
visible world on its head
1528
01:19:27,590 --> 01:19:29,060
until he lost himself.
1529
01:19:30,010 --> 01:19:32,760
(dramatic music)
1530
01:20:03,880 --> 01:20:06,300
(soft music)
1531
01:20:16,820 --> 01:20:18,590
This is why Helene Kroller-Mueller
1532
01:20:18,590 --> 01:20:21,870
loved Van Gogh's paintings
and letters so much,
1533
01:20:21,870 --> 01:20:23,930
because she saw Vincent as a guide,
1534
01:20:23,930 --> 01:20:26,530
a prophet who had the
courage to look beyond
1535
01:20:26,530 --> 01:20:28,190
what everyone else saw
1536
01:20:28,190 --> 01:20:30,710
and beyond what others painted.
1537
01:20:30,710 --> 01:20:32,790
Van Gogh was a sensitive man,
1538
01:20:32,790 --> 01:20:34,210
generous to a fault.
1539
01:20:35,060 --> 01:20:37,990
He used his life to give
us extraordinary paintings.
1540
01:20:39,930 --> 01:20:42,240
Whether it is right to forsake everything,
1541
01:20:42,240 --> 01:20:45,210
love health wellbeing in the name of art,
1542
01:20:45,210 --> 01:20:47,130
is not ours to say.
1543
01:20:47,130 --> 01:20:49,060
Standing in front of his paintings,
1544
01:20:49,060 --> 01:20:51,860
each one of us will form our own answer.
1545
01:20:51,860 --> 01:20:54,620
What is important is that Vincent existed
1546
01:20:54,620 --> 01:20:57,620
and that people like Helene
have protected his legacy.
1547
01:20:59,430 --> 01:21:01,340
And then I think that maybe Van Gogh,
1548
01:21:01,340 --> 01:21:03,020
as he was painting outdoors,
1549
01:21:03,020 --> 01:21:07,210
sometimes saw the God he was
searching for and smiled.
1550
01:21:08,130 --> 01:21:10,550
(soft music)
1551
01:21:24,740 --> 01:21:27,730
[Vincent] Now I look
out over rolling pastures
1552
01:21:27,730 --> 01:21:29,410
and everything is so quiet
1553
01:21:30,380 --> 01:21:34,130
and the sun is setting
behind the great clouds
1554
01:21:34,130 --> 01:21:36,580
and throws a golden glow across the land.
1555
01:21:38,240 --> 01:21:42,180
(gently sweeping orchestral)
1556
01:21:42,180 --> 01:21:46,370
When one travels for hours
and hours through the region,
1557
01:21:46,370 --> 01:21:48,810
one feels as if there's actually nothing,
1558
01:21:48,810 --> 01:21:50,610
but that infinite earth,
1559
01:21:51,490 --> 01:21:54,210
that mold of wheat or heather
1560
01:21:54,210 --> 01:21:55,830
and that infinite sky.
1561
01:21:57,380 --> 01:22:00,550
(sweeping orchestral)
1562
01:24:00,750 --> 01:24:03,670
(soft piano music)
114525
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