Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Mr. Van Gogh Interlude

I have a HUGE crush on my Van Gogh doll.
(And because I am an art teacher, I can have Van Gogh dolls.)

{You know Van Gogh right? The tormented artist who painted all
the beautiful swirly landscapes. My favorite is "Starry Night."
He was always financial broke. And sadly
only sold one of his 800 paintings during his lifetime. He committed suicide in his
30s. Pretty much he is a legend-- very mysterious and a genius for his time,
not appreciated until after his death. I love his paintings. And he
happens to be my favorite artist. And the fact that another of my favorite
artist, Josh Groban, sang about him makes my toes wiggle.
A Van Gogh painting to look at and a Josh Groban song to listen to,
well there is nothing better than that. It is my cozy time.}


MusicPlaylistRingtones
Music Playlist at MixPod.com

My original Van Gogh doll faced a terrible death by the
roommate's dog shortly after moving in. Belle, the dog, attacked his face and left
a gaping hole. I was heartbroken. But a new one arrived the other day,
and my broken heart fills somewhat renewed.

Look at him! Cute right?
I mean he has a little paintbrush in his hand!
And the best part, the part that gets me really excited, is his ear
comes detached!

There are several stories about Mr. Van Gogh's ear. One that
it was injured after a fight with one of his good friend and fellow
painter, Gauguin. There is the one were he cut it off and took it to
a prostitute and practically bled to death until discover by the police the
next day. But the one I like and prefer to believe is that Van Gogh
fell in love with a woman who would not return his affection. In
some fit of craziness, he cut off his ear and set it to her. I don't know
why, but I like to think in his lunatic mind it made sense to give
her a piece of himself as a sign of true devotion.

So, my Van Gogh doll sits waiting for me to find someone to give
his ear to, only symbolizing my true devotion of course.
But he looks so cute while he does it I just had to share.
(Maybe all artists are a tad loony.)

There is your art history lesson for the day. Feeling educated?

6 comments:

mary kate said...

i totally agree with you, that van gogh doll is so cute!

Laura Wynn said...

ahaha, that is SO cute! I love Starry Night too, I've got it hanging in my bedroom! and the fact that his ear comes off just makes him all the more adorable!

Kaleena J. said...

Haha.. he is adorable!

S said...

He is so awesome!
I love the true devotion theory.

Nikki Neurotic said...

I have a Starry Night quilt. My aunt makes quilts, and the last time I visited her in Indiana I went with her to a fabric store. I saw fabric with Starry Night printed and knew I had to have a quilt of that, so my aunt bought the material and voila, I have my little piece of art.

Tara said...

I didn't know that about Van Gogh. Yeah, this is all a little loony, but you're so cute while your loony I guess it's o.k. ;-)