Phone Call on Vincent
The assumptive scenario in this work is: Vincent van Gogh has just committed suicide, and two of his closest friends, Dr. Gachet of Auvers and Mme. Ginoux of Arles are busy sharing the news and lamenting over the tragedy on the telephone. Dr. Gachet was a fatherly friend and medical advisor to Van Gogh, as well as an art lover and collector in his circle. After calling Theo in Paris and relating the distressing news, Dr. Gachet calls Mme. Ginoux, the proprietress of a coffee shop in Arles where Vincent used to spend hours painting and writing letters. Kind to Van Gogh, Mme. Ginoux had posed for him as he portrayed her thoughtful face and bluish-black dress against a yellow wall. She is so shocked and upset at the calamity that her telephone has turned a bright scarlet color. Upon Dr. Gachet’s table, an orange, a cup, and a glazed pitcher rest; while of Mme. Ginoux’ table, we see an orange, a lemon, a brown cup, and a pitcher with checkered pattern. All of these items are actually derived from one painting of Van Gogh’s – “Still Life with Coffeepot” (1888), now in a private collection in Lausanne. These shared items from Vincent’s painting attest to the personal connection that his two friends had with him. They affirm the sympathetic friendship and sincere concern that Dr. Gachet and Mme. Ginoux felt for Vincent. The close relationship in strong contrast is paradoxically intense in this painting. The sharp contrast of Dr. Gachet’s cornflower-blue background against Mme. Ginoux’ saturated yellow wall is the most evident, while the diagonal red table on the left and the round table in deep green on the right contrast each other harmoniously. The two chairs facing each other in their differences echo the meeting of Dr. Gachet and Mme. Ginoux, who are distant yet instantly connected to each other by the phone call.
– T. F. and Julie Chen |
Phone Call on Vincent
No Smoking
2015 年 8 月 11 日