If you, like me, expect to only live once, then you owe it to yourself to go quickly and see the Van Gogh exhibit currently at the Anchorage Museum. The show ends on Jan. 10, so time is running out.
In the unlikely event that you haven't heard or read anything about this exhibit, it consists of no less than 3,000 images projected on to walls and floors in a dedicated section of the museum, accompanied by a breathtaking soundtrack engulfing the entire exhibit. I am one of those fuddy-duddies who usually prefers books, newspapers, film and oil on canvas to their digital successors, and I have seen most of these paintings in real life in Paris and New York, and in art books, so, I wasn't terribly interested in going to this event. I discovered how wrong I would have been shortly after my arrival.
The exhibit appears at first to be a traditional museum exhibit with old photographs on the wall, being observed by quiet museumgoers. Then, all of a sudden, a musical script, I believe of a Schubert piece, appears on the entire wall. Soon animated birds are flying across the wall. The wall soon changes to copies of Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo. Then the wall turns into a 19th century French village with a 19th century locomotive pulling a train across the wall. Soon there are sailboats, spinning windmills and more animated magic appearing on the wall. Next the wall turns into a gigantic face of Van Gogh from some of his self-portraits, including his "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear." Other self-portraits appear on the wall and floors, but the best is yet to come.
The next room is dark. The room and floors immediately turn to royal blue and the bright yellow starbursts from Van Gogh's "Starry Night" appear in the blue. It gives the impression of being right inside of "Starry Night." Then, out of nowhere, comes thundering from hidden speakers Handel's intense and overwhelming composition "Sarabande." For those of you who are too young to ever experience a voyage into LSD but wondered what it might be like, forget the LSD and visit this "Starry Night" instead.
The walls and floor of the room next become bright yellow, gold, blue and green and you are standing inside Van Gogh's "Sunflowers." The room then turns blue, yellow and red, and you are inside Van Gogh's "Bedroom at Arles." The room then turns blue and green, and you find yourself inside Van Gogh's "Irises." If this is not enough of an experience, the fantastic music score continues through all of this program. You will hear a Bach cello concerto and music by Barber, Satie, Liszt and others from that era. The most profound, I feel, other than the Handel piece, is Lakmé's haunting "The Flower Duet." Van Gogh's calming "Cherry Blossoms" appears all around you, and a piece of traditional Japanese koto music fills the room and your ears.
The program, of course, ends in tragedy. This artist of the working people, the one who could turn potato eaters and old boots into magic, went out into a field and shot himself. Van Gogh wrote, "I would rather die of passion than of boredom."
The programs ends with easels set up at the exit where children can draw pictures. By all means, bring your children to this show. They will behave inside this exhibit. Van Gogh wrote "... if you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint." If your children become artists you might have no one to blame but yourself ... and Vincent Van Gogh.
Sean O'Hare is a professional in the freight transportation industry and holds a master's degree in political science from California State University-Hayward (now Cal State-East Bay). He lives in Anchorage.
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