Tonight S & I went to the Van Gogh live experience in St. Louis. Van Gogh is my favorite artist, but I also never fully humanized him: he was just "that brilliant, crazy artist" who cut off his own ear in a rage and (perhaps inevitably) took his own life years later.
The exhibit plainly stated that Van Gogh’s life was one of both extreme triumphs and extreme failures. These words really hit me: “Far from the dark madness that accompanies the legend of his genius, Van Gogh’s work radiates of joy and celebrates life.” His suicide and untimely end in no way negates the wondrous beauty of Starry Night or Cafe Terrace. It makes me think: Min was such a funny, vibrant, big-hearted, and insanely talented human being as well. His tragic ending should not take away from any of that.
I am not someone who has ever thought of heaven as a place literally paved with gold. I don’t know if I’ve ever conceptualized it at all, actually. But when I saw these paintings populate the walls around me, one by one, I suddenly did get a sense of what the afterlife holds. I’d like to think that he — and Min, and all the sensitive souls that left us too early — are doing the same in the next world, filling everything with magnificent colors, making it as full of life and beauty as they did here.
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