Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh was born in 1853 in the Netherlands. He was born into a middle class family, with parents and relatives in the ministry. Vincent himself was leaning toward going into the ministry. Between 1860-1880 Van Gogh decided to become an artist. His artistic career is defined by two broad categories which I will simplify by calling pre-Paris, and post-Paris. His pre-Paris stage artistically was defined by a decidedly Dutch style of painting, much in the same vein as Rembrandt. Post-Paris, Van Gogh was influenced and defined by impressionists painters. Subsequent from Paris, Van Gogh experienced deteriorating mental health which resulted in his suicide at the age of 37.
All the works I could find, and had time to read on Van Gogh, reflected on the artistic influence of various artist on Van Gogh’s work, as well as his love life or lack thereof. There was also a minimal reflection on his familial relationship and its influence on his art. In all the works I referenced there appears to me to be one very important topic that is left virtually un-discussed and that is the influence of Calvinist theology upon Van Gogh’s art work. A couple of reasons that my interest was piqued in Van Gogh is that I am a minister, and the child of two ministers, I am also close to the same age as Van Gogh when he started seriously painting. It has been my experience that an individual does not study to be in the ministry and abandon the call without theological repercussions. Those repercussion Van Gogh would have had to reflect on and deal with. He would also have had to deal with potential negative influence that his theology might have had in his life. I believe that struggles Van Gogh might have engaged in with his theological world view may have subsequently promoted his deteriorating mental health.
In one of the only books to reference Van Gogh’s families religious persuasions, Anthony Mario Ludovici talks about Van Gogh’s family being staunch Calvinist. Calvinism was established by the French born Swiss theologian John Calvin in the 1500’s. There are several core values to Calvinism that are easily remembered by the acronym TULIP. T stands for total depravity, meaning that sin is deeply ingrained in every human being and that humanity ultimately cannot save itself. U stands for unconditional election, meaning that God chooses people on the basis of his will not on anything they can or cannot do. L is for limited atonement, that Christ’s death on the cross is a sacrifice for just those that are elect by God. I stands for irresistible grace, this means that if God wants to save someone he will and there’s nothing the person can do about it. And finally, P is for the perseverance of the saints, that means once someone experiences salvation through Christ they cannot lose that salvation.
One of the things that peaked my curiosity here is that there is another theory of atonement that was developed by a Dutch theologian, Joseph Arminius, called Arminianism. It holds that people can resist God’s grace, and reject God’s salvation, there is an amount of human choice and freedom within this understanding.
TULIP has a tendency to foster a very rigors form of religion, in fact the early American settlers the Puritans, were staunch Calvinist. The rigors of predestination, contained within U and I, could leave a feeling of despair of not knowing whether one is saved or not, causing psychological distress. Another aspect of Calvinism is that it has the potential to be very stringent and has historically been known for its adherence of rules. Many great thinkers have come from Calvinism, and in fact modern science owes a lot to Calvinism because it is through that belief system we get the idea that all of creation is orderly and with purpose, therefore it can be studied.
Something that struck me about Van Gogh’s painting is the very “chaotic” nature of the painting’s, which I feel maybe a rebellion by Van Gogh against his Calvinist roots. Some might argue that he abandoned his religious roots, therefore they don’t matter. The problem with that view is that we don’t leave behind our religious views easily. Many people don’t even shed their views in a life time. In my opinion Van Gogh’s paintings show a measure of fighting with the stoic and planned nature of reality that Calvinism inspired in his religious upbringing. In my own experience I know how difficult it is to leave some of the religious ideas that I grew up with behind. In Europe when conversion is a far less acceptable behavior, to abandon the religion of his youth would be next to impossible, thus Van Gogh would have struggled with this issues after he left the possibility of the Ministry.
All the works I could find, and had time to read on Van Gogh, reflected on the artistic influence of various artist on Van Gogh’s work, as well as his love life or lack thereof. There was also a minimal reflection on his familial relationship and its influence on his art. In all the works I referenced there appears to me to be one very important topic that is left virtually un-discussed and that is the influence of Calvinist theology upon Van Gogh’s art work. A couple of reasons that my interest was piqued in Van Gogh is that I am a minister, and the child of two ministers, I am also close to the same age as Van Gogh when he started seriously painting. It has been my experience that an individual does not study to be in the ministry and abandon the call without theological repercussions. Those repercussion Van Gogh would have had to reflect on and deal with. He would also have had to deal with potential negative influence that his theology might have had in his life. I believe that struggles Van Gogh might have engaged in with his theological world view may have subsequently promoted his deteriorating mental health.
In one of the only books to reference Van Gogh’s families religious persuasions, Anthony Mario Ludovici talks about Van Gogh’s family being staunch Calvinist. Calvinism was established by the French born Swiss theologian John Calvin in the 1500’s. There are several core values to Calvinism that are easily remembered by the acronym TULIP. T stands for total depravity, meaning that sin is deeply ingrained in every human being and that humanity ultimately cannot save itself. U stands for unconditional election, meaning that God chooses people on the basis of his will not on anything they can or cannot do. L is for limited atonement, that Christ’s death on the cross is a sacrifice for just those that are elect by God. I stands for irresistible grace, this means that if God wants to save someone he will and there’s nothing the person can do about it. And finally, P is for the perseverance of the saints, that means once someone experiences salvation through Christ they cannot lose that salvation.
One of the things that peaked my curiosity here is that there is another theory of atonement that was developed by a Dutch theologian, Joseph Arminius, called Arminianism. It holds that people can resist God’s grace, and reject God’s salvation, there is an amount of human choice and freedom within this understanding.
TULIP has a tendency to foster a very rigors form of religion, in fact the early American settlers the Puritans, were staunch Calvinist. The rigors of predestination, contained within U and I, could leave a feeling of despair of not knowing whether one is saved or not, causing psychological distress. Another aspect of Calvinism is that it has the potential to be very stringent and has historically been known for its adherence of rules. Many great thinkers have come from Calvinism, and in fact modern science owes a lot to Calvinism because it is through that belief system we get the idea that all of creation is orderly and with purpose, therefore it can be studied.
Something that struck me about Van Gogh’s painting is the very “chaotic” nature of the painting’s, which I feel maybe a rebellion by Van Gogh against his Calvinist roots. Some might argue that he abandoned his religious roots, therefore they don’t matter. The problem with that view is that we don’t leave behind our religious views easily. Many people don’t even shed their views in a life time. In my opinion Van Gogh’s paintings show a measure of fighting with the stoic and planned nature of reality that Calvinism inspired in his religious upbringing. In my own experience I know how difficult it is to leave some of the religious ideas that I grew up with behind. In Europe when conversion is a far less acceptable behavior, to abandon the religion of his youth would be next to impossible, thus Van Gogh would have struggled with this issues after he left the possibility of the Ministry.
Comments