Van Gogh Cultural Events

Dance/theatre piece on painter Vincent van Gogh created in Lima by the peruvian company 'Yvonne von Möllendorff - Danza Contemporanea'.

"What am I in most people's eyes? A nonentity, or an eccentric and disagreeable man--somebody who has no position in society and never will have, in short, the lowest of the low. Very well, even if this were true, then I should want my work to show what is in the heart of such an eccentric, of such a nobody.

This is my ambition, which is, in spite of everything, founded less on anger than on love . . . ."

Vincent van Gogh
Letter 218
21 July 1882

Last updated: 2 February 2007

In this section you'll find details about various cultural events inspired by the life and works of Vincent van Gogh. When I say "cultural event" I take into account a huge range of topics: theatre, dance, plays, musical compositions--even local "town fairs" with a Van Gogh flavour. And the works don't necessarily have to be in production--a play or musical piece, for example, is of interest whether it's being performed or not. I set no limit on the types of "events" included here--whether it's a full blown opera or a second grade class staging their own Van Gogh exhibition.

The listings below (which I hope very much will grow in the weeks and months to come) are a moving testament to the many ways in which Van Gogh's genius has influenced and inspired so many people around the world.

Current/Upcoming Events

"I wish that I could make you feel the influence Vincent has had on my life."
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger

Convinced that an important but little known part of the story of Vincent van Gogh is how his sister-in-law, Johanna (Theo's wife), worked to win recognition for his genius, Muriel Nussbaum has created a program called "Van Gogh and Jo." Reading from the letters of these three superbly interesting people and showing copies of paintings that relate to the story, she makes us know more about the dedicated woman whose efforts in promoting exhibits of Vincent's work and in publlishing his letters helped make Vincent known to the world. Muriel is an experienced actor, director and lecturer and her program has been successfully received in several outings in the Northeast. For more information, you can contact her at murielnussbaum@optonline.net
"Fresh, convincing and emotionally enlarging--this is an evening not to be missed." R. McMurry, Kendal, Kennett Square, PA
"Exquisitely sensiive and authentic performance--at the end we feel we are truly part o the Van Gogh family." R. Friedman, WMNR Radio, Fairfield, Ct.
Composer Fred Pohlman has announced that his Musical Starry Nights, based on the life of Vincent van Gogh, is in the final stages of completion and is now ready to workshop. The Musical is composed of 56 very poetic and often emotionally spectacular songs, and has a running time of just short of 3 hours. Information on preliminary auditions for singers, actors and musicians is available at the www.vangoghmusical.com website. There, all interested parties can read an overview and become familiar with the lyrics of some of the songs that comprise Starry Nights. Interested parties may also contact Mr. Pohlman via email at : odysseus96@yahoo.com
The Peruvian dance company - Yvonne von Möllendorff-Danza Contemporanea - has recently staged a choreography based on the life and work of Vincent van Gogh. The piece is called Cross Section/Vincent van Gogh and details are provided in both:
- English
- Spanish

Past Events

On Friday, January 12, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at Shanklin Theatre at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, the Rev. Dr. Dennis Davenport presented "Vincent van Gogh - A Life in Letters," a 1 1/2 hour program he has created. The program focused on primary sources - 6 letters Vincent wrote to Theo, sections of Joanna Van Gogh's Memoir of Vincent, letters Theo wrote to Joanna and the letter of Emile Bernard, written upon Vincent's death. The program included biographical anecdotes from Vincent's life, images of his work and a concluding musical tribute. According to Davenport, "Vincent's life lends itself perfectly to primary sources. The actual words of Vincent and those who knew him best can give us greater insight into who he was than all the thousands of things that have been written about him since. Hearing 6 letters from crucial periods of his life in their entirety lend greater insight than a mere smattering of quotes from a multitude of letters."
Arnold Smith specializes in reconstructing paintings by Vincent van Gogh. These are works that Van Gogh himself destroyed, restored paintings based on fragments and Van Gogh drawings produced as full-scale paintings. Arnold's works were on public display at the exhibition Van Gogh Lost and Found: The reconstructed Lost, Missing and What if paintings of Vincent van Gogh by artist Arnold Smith. The exhibition ran from 13 February to 5 March 2004 at the Sewickley Gallery in Sewickley, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. Arnold Smith's reconstructed Van Gogh works can be seen on his website: http://community.webtv.net/NightCafe/doc.
NEW YORK - This June (2006), the torment and beauty that infused Vincent van Gogh's life will be brought to the stage in a collaborative music theater production entitled Van Gogh's Ear. The Montreal Chamber Music Festival - for the first time having a presence in New York just prior to its summer festival - is collaborating with the Ensemble for the Romantic Century (ERC) and the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA) in this production taking place on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. in the Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute Alliance Française, 55 East 59th Street, New York City.
Created by the Ensemble for the Romantic Century, the fully-staged, theatrical performance of Van Gogh's Ear features an original script by ERC Artistic Director Eve Wolf, and is based on the well-known letters from Vincent to his brother Theo van Gogh. The letters reveal Vincent's inner struggles and his strong sensitivity to sound, as well as the parallels he saw and often articulated between the visual and the musical art forms. The inspirational power of music was a source of solace to Van Gogh, who tried to emulate music's expressive and sensory qualities through the vibrancy of his palette, as exemplified by the following: "I am working now on a painting in which there is a vast field of wheat under troubled skies. The field of wheat is ruined and hurled to the ground by a storm. I did not need to go out of my way to express sadness and extreme loneliness. My brush goes between my fingers as a bow would on the violin."
With stage direction by MIFA’s executive artistic director, Donald T. Sanders, and design by Vanessa James, the production features French Canadian actor Simon Fortin as Van Gogh. Born in Quebec City, Fortin trained at the Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique du Québec and at Drama Studio London, England. In the last 20 years, Simon has acted and sung in more than 60 productions in Canada and the U.S. and has been a successful playwright and translator as well.
The script for Van Gogh's Ear interweaves performances of works by four of the most representative French composers of Van Gogh's time: Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Ernest Chausson, and César Franck. The musicians form a collaborative ensemble between ERC and the Montreal Chamber Music Festival and include mezzo-soprano Desirée Halac; tenor (TBA); violinists Andy Simionescu and Jonathan Crow; violist Beth Guterman; cellist (and Montreal Festival Artistic Director) Denis Brott; and ERC's co-artistic directors, pianists Max Barros and Eve Wolf. The Montreal Festival will present the Canadian premiere on Saturday, June 17, when the script will be performed in French, with Van Gogh portrayed by French Canadian actor, Simon Fortin.
General admission tickets for Van Gogh's Ear are $50; contact Alliance Francaise/Florence Gould Hall at 212-307-4100, www.ticketmaster.com, or in-person through the Alliance Française box office, with discounted tickets to members. This performance also serves as ERC and MIFA's annual New York City Spring Benefit. For $250, benefit tickets include VIP performance seating, a pre-performance reception in The Skyroom at Alliance Française, and a post-performance supper. Benefit and general tickets will be sold by phone through ERC (212-288-8020) and MIFA (800-224-6432).
37th North American Summer Esperanto Institute- July 3-21
Sponsored by the Esperanto League for North America
and the Esperantic Studies Foundation
School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont
NASK will be held for the fifth year at the School for International Training (SIT), a world famous venue for language and teacher training in Brattleboro, Vermont. The instructors have prepared programs of study that emphasize the active use of Esperanto in intercultural communication, understanding, and cooperation. The teachers include: Katalin Kovats (Hungary/Netherlands), Sylvain Lelarge (France/Netherlands) and Lee Miller (US). The cost for a three-credit course is $1015. Housing in a shared room with three meals a day is $700. Singles are $820. Students will arrive on July 2nd and depart on July 22nd. Classes officially will be July 3rd through 21st.
Katalin Kovats will provide a unique language experience based on the life and art of the painter Vincent van Gogh. While studying the fine points of grammar and improving both understanding and speaking abilities in Esperanto, the students will increase their vocabulary related to art, nature, philosophy and even illness, geography, and astronomy (besides everyday subjects). Sylvain Lelarge will bring his talents using suggestopedia and other brain-friendly speaking activities which have made him a popular instructor around the world.
Up to date information about NASK (in English and Esperanto) can be found at http://esperanto.org/nask/
On-line registration will be found in the spring at
http://www.sit.edu/esperanto/index.html
Highlights from "The Flame Burns Bright" were recently played by The Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005. The "Flame Burns Bright" is a musical drama based closely on the letters from Vincent to his brother Theo and met with audience and critical acclaim in the UK. Written by Hilda Petrie-Coutts and composed by Wernher Pramschufer the dramatic new scores blazed out to an highly appreciative Australian audience and discussion are being held to perform the work in Scotland by the Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2006. Meanwhile, video clips of the original theatrical production and and some of the music can be seen and heard at www.greatmusic.com.au. Wernher Pramschufer can be contacted on + (617) 3378 1766 or wernher@greatmusic.com.au for any musical group or theatre company wishing to perform the work.
Vincent, a new play by Robert Mitchell, played from 3 January to 1 February 2003 at the Wings Theatre in New York: 154 Christopher Street. Directed by Judith Fredricks.
In Porto, Portugal the new book Helena Amaral . . . jusque Vincent van Gogh was officially launched at a ceremony featuring the author, Mário David C. Fortunato, and the painter Helen Amaral. The ceremony took place on 17 October 2002 at 18:00 h.
The well-known play, "Vincent", by Leonard Nimoy opened at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace in Toronto from 16 to 28 January 2001. After performing the one-man play earlier this season in Fort Erie, Gabe Bettio reprised the roles of Theo and Vincent. Herman Trotter, critic for the Buffalo News, writes of the performance: "Bettio successfully treads a fine line, clearly establishing Theo as benevolent and long suffering, while painting Vincent as a monumental genius who was mercurially inconsistent and infuriatingly self-destructive, yet under it all pathetically lovable." Directed by John Dalingwater, "Vincent" is a captivating account of the artist's final years.
REVIEW: One man shows are, by their very nature, among the most difficult of theatre pieces to stage successfully. The burden on the actor is a heavy one and an audience tends to approach such plays with heightened expectations. As a result, it was a true delight to attend "Vincent" at the Theatre Passe Muraille's Backspace. The Passe Muraille's Backspace boasts a very small stage, but this works extremely well given the intimacy required--intimacy both in terms of the subject matter of the play as well as between the actor and the audience. The staging and direction are solid, but the real credit goes to Gabe Bettio who does an outstanding job. Gabe's performance as both Theo and Vincent is, in a word, outstanding. He captures both roles beautifully and engages the audience with his masterful portrayal of sorrowful brother and passionate artist. Gabe Bettio's performance makes "Vincent" a must see event--for lovers of art and for lovers of first-rate theatre.
The Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, Canada presented the new play "The Phoenix Lottery" written by Allan Stratton and starring Kent Staines. The play takes place in the present day. A young philanthropist on the verge of bankruptcy concocts a fundraising scheme whereby the winner of a lottery will achieve instant fame and recognition by having the opportunity to take a blowtorch to a prized Van Gogh at an event to be broadcast around the world. Van Gogh comes into the future to defend his painting, not for his sake, but for Theo's. "The Phoenix Lottery" has been called "an exploration of art, commerce, and untidy family relationships" and it ran from 9 January through 28 January 2001.
From 15-17 March 2001, Marie Källman Dance Production presented "Vincent", a ballet about Vincent van Gogh´s life, at the Uppsala Stadsteater's mainstage in Sweden. Uppsala is a university town 7 Swedish miles north of Stockholm. The piece is choreographed by Joseph Sturdy from Great Britain (from Béjart-ballet). The music is from Gustav Mahler´s symphonies. Dancers, except Marie and Joseph, are dancers from the Swedish Royal Opera and the Ballet of Cullberg. For more information:
- e-mail: marie.dansprod@swipnet.se
- post-address:
  Malma Backe 3 H
  752 47 Uppsala
  Sweden

If you'd like to announce your own Van Gogh event (again, there's nothing too big or small for this section), then I'd be happy to invite you to send me an e-mail at brooks@vggallery.com and let me know.

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