At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent Van Gogh

By Kathleen Powers Erickson

Book Overview

Most scholars have argued that van Gogh was insane and that his religious life was a product of this madness - and was something he happily abandoned when he left the Christian ministry to pursue a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802838561
• ISBN13: 9780802838568
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.3" x 1.0" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

a rich understanding of suffering, faith, and creativity

Erickson does van Gogh a considerable service by returning to the voluminous letters he wrote, in order to help the reader see the roots and meaning of his devotion. She views van Gogh as essentially a mystic inspired by the Gospels and by the writings of John Bunyan and Thomas a Kempis. Their words and images were internalized and remained with the artist in spite of his break with organized Christianity. . . . Erickson provides yet another corrective by carefully reconstructing the etiology of van Gogh's mental disturbances that resulted in an extended hospitalization after the celebrated event in which he severed a part of his own ear and presented it to a local prostitute. By returning to van Gogh's letters and utilizing a finely tuned clinical understanding, Erickson plausibly concludes that the artist suffered from epileptiform illness with attendant depression. She thus provides an alternative view to the varied and sometimes poorly researched conclusions that have led previous scholars and clinicians to arrive at a wide variety of diagnostic hypotheses. . . . Erickson offers a portrait of van Gogh as a visionary struggling to find the means to express his felt spiritual experience. In so doing, she provides us with an enlarged and richly nuanced understanding of the interdependence of suffering, faith, and the act of creation.

We can now see van Gogh's art as he intended

The conventional view of Vincent van Gogh is that he was a great painter who lost his faith and, finally, lost his sanity as well. . . . But now, thanks to Kathleen Powers Erickson, such interpretations are no longer tenable. Erickson has performed an invaluable service to the disciplines of art history and spiritual Vincent van Gogh corrects numerous misconceptions about this complex man and clarifies the nature of his artistic calling. . . . By illuminating van Gogh's life, Erickson has allowed it, in turn, to illuminate his canvases. Paintings which were formerly "works of art" now seem more like icons; Erickson has enabled us to see beyond their painterly surfaces and glimpse the spiritual forces that inspired them. The paintings become, in a sense, windows that are transparent to the divine reality behind them. More than just a series of magnificent paintings, the works of Vincent van Gogh, after Erickson, now appear as the artist had intended - a visual record of the human soul trying to understand its Creator, while struggling with its afflictions along the earthly road of trials, and making its way, at last, through eternity's gate and into the Celestial City. It is a magnificent trip, and Erickson is a worthy guide along its path

the most reliable resource to date on van Gogh's life

Soundly informed and judiciously handled, notably with respect to van Gogh's formative religious background and its long-term effects on his life, thought,and motivation, including his artistic choices. Erickson also provides remarkable insight into van Gogh's legendary illness, showing his religious dimensions and demonstrating its impact on his art from a novel perspective. Prof. John Walford, Wheaton College

A must in understandiing the real influences in Van Gogh

An absolutely outstanding work by Kathleen Erickson. This is a must read that sets aside the smoke and mirrors by other acclaimed historians. I was also fortunate to attend her talk at one of her book signings. The years of extensive research involved in bringing this new evidence to us is invaluable. Although the first chapter is a little tricky to follow, it sets the foundation for the rest of the book and is the appropriate passageway into it. This book should be added to college art history as well as theological courses so tomorrow's public is not mislead by past fables.

very informative, interesting biography of a great artist

"At Eterntiy's Gate" opened my eyes to see the spiritual dimensions in van Gogh's life and art I didn't know existed. Also, the detatiled explanation of his illness helped put the myth of his insanity to rest. The writing was very clear and I especially enjoyed the last chapter in which the author explains the religious significance of "Starry Night."