OPEN LETTERS
An Open Letter to Vincent Van Gogh
Sorry you had to cut off your ear
Dear Mr. Van Gogh:
It's not every day I write to a genius, a rare individual who was able to translate his unique vision of the world onto a blank canvas. You were an artist who dared to go where your heart took you, moving from the Netherlands to London to Paris — for your love of painting overshadowed your health concerns and mental instability.
You were someone I wish I could have met — because I loved what you stood for. So, instead of meeting you, I am doing the next best thing — writing you a letter.
Perhaps, if you had lived today, you might have survived your bipolar disorder and not engaged in self-harm. There are medications and talk therapies around today that could have helped you with your struggles. Maybe you would have been even more productive.
You said that God is in people, and everyone is worthy of being painted. So you sought to understand the working class — and lived a poor person's life to gain their perspective. Your poverty brought you closer to those beautiful souls who worked in the fields and did manual labor — like The Potato Eaters that you eventually painted.
