NEW YORK — Vincent van Gogh is among the most closely studied artists in modern history. We know more about the painter, where he went and what he thought, than we do about most other artists of his stature.
His career was brief -- just one decade separates Van Gogh's suicide from the moment he determined to become a painter. More than 800 paintings and 1,100 drawings are identified, although his great work was made during a scant period of three years at the very end. And as a prolific correspondent, he left a detailed paper trail. It has helped historians trace the contours of his life with unusual specificity.
Given all this, it's something of a surprise to encounter "Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings." According to the organizers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the exhibition remains on view through December, and at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, where it had its premiere last summer, this is the first thorough retrospective of the Dutchman's drawings ever assembled. The show brings together 113 works in ink, graphite, watercolor, crayon, chalk and, occasionally, oil paint on paper.
All the precise and explicit information we have on Van Gogh's life and art has now been brought to bear on the works he made on paper, rather than on canvas. The hefty catalog that accompanies the exhibition is filled with acute documentation and revealing insights.
For several works, advanced technology has even been applied. Infrared techniques were used to bring out the pencil lines beneath dark ink, while fascinating chemical analyses are also provided for the various inks he used.
Drawings are paired with excerpts from letters written to his brother, Theo; sometimes the drawing and the letter were penned on the same day. A number of drawings are akin to letters, since Van Gogh often drew copies of his oil paintings to send to Theo.
A descriptive drawing was a meticulous way to keep Vincent's art-dealer brother abreast of the rapid evolution of his painting. And seven paintings have been installed in the galleries to show correspondences between the different mediums.
Still, no visitor will need a degree in history (or chemistry) to recognize that something profound happened in Van Gogh's art. The show cleaves neatly in two. The difference between the parts is dramatic.
The first third of the show covers seven years, as the largely self-taught artist flailed about in an effort to find his way. When he did, the event was a virtual light-bulb moment. The drawings, hitherto bleak and dreary, suddenly seem illuminated from within.
