Jo van gogh-bonger is an unknown but important character.
As the wife of Van Gogh's younger brother, it was through her impetus that Van Gogh's talent was known to the world.
This article will introduce you to:
She has no background and has a grand ideal
Not simply selling, but allowing the paintings to appreciate in value quickly
Go out of Europe and make Van Gogh famous
Burn life until the last moment
Less than three months after Van Gogh's suicide, his younger brother Theo was on the verge of collapse and eventually died in January 1891.
For Joe, who had been married to Theo for less than two years, she was left with hundreds of paintings and drawings left behind by her young son and father van Gogh, who had given birth to Theo.
No background,
With grand ideals
Theo has always been a staunch supporter and admirer of his brother Van Gogh, and did everything he could to make people aware of Van Gogh's works during his lifetime.
In honor of her husband and help Theo fulfill his lifelong aspirations, Joe decided to make van Gogh's work and values seen and appreciated by the world through his own efforts.
Theo-Van Gogh, Vincent's younger brother
Without any artistic resources or background, Joe intends to start with what she has at hand—in addition to the paintings left behind by Van Gogh, she also inherits a large number of letters exchanged between her brothers. After settling in his young son, Joe began to study the letters day after day.
In addition to the contents of the letter, van Gogh's self-entanglements in life as an artist: his insomnia, poverty, bottlenecks and self-doubt in his creation, as well as the paintings he is creating and the fresh inspiration he has gained. Joe saw a more vivid Van Gogh in the literal letters, and also glimpsed his psychological pain and worries about the future.
Van Gogh's letter to Theo, November 1882
In order to understand the content and expression of the letters more deeply and accurately, Joe not only took courses in art criticism himself, but also began to socialize widely, listening as much as possible to the comments of other art intellectuals on art.
For more than a year, Joe immersed herself in her husband Theo's letters with Van Gogh, and after repeated reading, she realized that Van Gogh's letters were like a key to a deep decoding of Van Gogh's works, and they were also an indispensable part of his artistic content. These letters wrapped Van Gogh's artistic achievements with his bumpy and tragic life, making Van Gogh's image more vivid and three-dimensional.
Photo: Vincent van Gogh Public Domain Agreement
Immediately afterward, Joe contacted an art critic, Jan Veth, and handed him an envelope filled with Van Gogh's letters, hoping that he would be able to understand Van Gogh's work and the story behind it with letters like himself.
At first, the critic Veth was not able to appreciate Van Gogh's paintings, considering them "vulgar". Joe, on the other hand, went out of his way to express his views and voices to critics, trying to guide and reverse his stereotypes of Van Gogh and his works.
Thanks to Joe's patient efforts, Veth's attitude has changed positively. In a subsequent review for Van Gogh, he stated:
"I now see the amazing insight of an artist, and since I understand van Gogh's charm, I can accept everything about him in its entirety."
Not just selling,
But let the painting appreciate rapidly
Another influential artist in the art world, Richard Roland Holst, also assisted Joe in organizing her first solo exhibition of Van Gogh's paintings in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in December 1892, following Joe's continuous efforts.
In 1892, Vincent's first Amsterdam art exhibition was on the catalogue cover
In 1895, the Parisian painter Ambroise Vollard included 20 van Gogh works in an art exhibition. A group of young artists who admired Van Gogh's paintings and regarded them as role models wanted to borrow Van Gogh's paintings to exhibit alongside their work.
Joe cleverly transformed this approach into a means of promoting Van Gogh's paintings. Joe borrowed Van Gogh's best works from outside, alongside the paintings that needed to be sold in the exhibition.
In this way, buyers can also see Van Gogh's paintings when buying other paintings, and introduce the works to the public in this way. In one of the exhibitions, she sent nearly 100 Van Gogh paintings, but the significance was more about displaying and promoting, attracting more public attention than simply selling.
The poster for the Vincent exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1905 is the largest van Gogh retrospective to date, with more than 480 works on display.
After promoting Van Gogh's artwork and gaining popularity, In 1905 Joe organized a major exhibition of paintings at the stedelijk museum amsterdam in the Netherlands.
She personally arranged various curatorial affairs, rented galleries, printed posters, drew up lists of people to be invited, and even bought ties for staff. She also had her son, Vincent Jr., in charge of writing invitations. In the end, the art exhibition became the largest Van Gogh exhibition to date, with more than 480 works on display.
This exhibition once again confirms that Joe's efforts were not in vain. While understanding Van Gogh's works, people in the art world began to better understand the story behind his works, and to face up to and identify with his achievements and struggles in expressing themselves in the field of art. In the months that followed, the price of Van Gogh's works rose two to three times.
Out of Europe,
Make Van Gogh famous
Van Gogh's works spread unabated in Europe, and in the United States, where the social atmosphere was more rigorous at that time, people knew little about him.
In order to make his work more extensive around the world, Joe moved from Europe to Live in New York, USA. During her three years in the United States, she continued to slog artists and critics, bringing Van Gogh's paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for "impressionist and post-impressionist paintings." In his free time, Joe translated Van Gogh's letters into English, hoping to further expand Van Gogh's influence through English publishing.
In 1914, Van Gogh's works were exhibited in Antwerp, Belgium
The long process during this period is more like a race against time. The constant depletion of energy and physical strength combined with Parkinson's disease made Joe's physical condition deteriorate.
After returning to Europe, she still focused on van Gogh-related matters day after day: repeated consultations with publishers, acceptance of exhibition invitations from all over the world, arrangements for Van Gogh's paintings to participate in large and small exhibitions, and let the world know more about Van Gogh with an almost life-burning attitude.
Burning life,
Until the last moment
Later in her life, she made a shocking move by removing the body of her husband Theo from the Dutch cemetery where he was buried and re-installing it in the small town of Orville on the banks of the Oise River, in the lifelong companionship of Van Gogh. Eventually, Joe died in 1925 at the age of 63.
Burying the body of her husband Theo with Van Gogh, photo/yannbee public domain agreement
Looking back on Joe's life, for a woman from the ordinary middle class, she loves culture, and has always hoped to have the opportunity to enter the art and cultural circles, rather than immerse herself in a tasteless life.
In the short time of contact, love and life with Theo, she truly felt a more wonderful and rich world. From the moment she studied the letters between the Van Gogh brothers, her knowledge and interpretation of art also matured over time.
One day after 1909, Joe was at her desk in Amsterdam
She affirmed and firmly believed in Van Gogh's artistic talent, and turned this identification and nostalgia for her husband into a strong self-driving force and a permanent day and night perseverance.
In the process of promoting Van Gogh to the world stage, she has also been burning her youth moments, continuing her love of art and inviting us to feel together.
reference: the woman who made van gogh (nytimes)
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