These Van Gogh inspired sunflowers are the dominant feature in this still life of flowers sitting in a piece of Dutch Makkum pottery. My parents, who were born in Holland, raised me in America on all things Dutch. The Art, the gardens, the history of commerce and the expansion of the mercantile industries were part of my development as it was for Vincent who also did not always live in the Netherlands.
Van Gogh, a Dutch artist, struggled with system and conformity in a culture noted for tradition and discipline. His work introduced into the vernacular the element of raw passion in his imagery and brushstroke.
The use of computer technology and the inherent distance the medium places between the subject and the Artist would have been entirely antithetical to Van Gogh’s visceral immersion into the locations and materials which constituted his oeuvre. He would never have accepted creating without the visceral feel of the paint and the wafting sounds and smell of his environment.
Ironically, the process of digital commercial reproduction of his original paintings is identical to the digital production of my work. Regardless of the process used in the creation of the original work of Art, the end result is an infinitely reproducible saleable print.
Though he never made a living as an Artist, his work and the reproduction of it has supported hordes of business people who never created Art.
