Beyond Van Gogh - where two worlds collide

Clare
Aug 29, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Oct 9, 2024

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is a stunning digital tribute to an artist who needs no introduction. I saw it in Edinburgh and it truly is a magical and moving experience. It’s family-friendly, full of energy and fun. This captivating exhibition sets two worlds colliding. Cutting edge technology brings the master of post-impressionist art to a contemporary audience.

If you’ve never fully immersed yourself in the emotive world of Van Gogh’s art, or perhaps you don’t consider yourself a fan, this would be a fantastic access point for you. I’m sure it’ll leave you hungry for more.

“… the sight of the stars always makes me dream"

- Vincent van Gogh, 1888

Starry Night, Terrace of a Café at Night, Sunflowers and self-portraits to mention but a few, are liberated from the canvas and swirl and enchant at every turn. The artist’s world is laid bare with all the highs and lows of his dreams, thoughts, words and iconic imagery, which envelope the senses - all set to a dramatic and rousing musical symphony.

So, what would Van Gogh make of it all?

Of course, we can never know what Van Gogh would make of the digital interpretation of his extraordinary life as an artist in 19th century Europe. There are clues though that help us understand just how forward thinking he was for a man who lived his life in relative poverty with little recognition. An artist building a legacy through obsessively cataloguing his artistic trials and tribulations. He once said:

“If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning”

– Vincent van Gogh, 1885

To get a sense of what Van Gogh might make of the immersive show we need to understand what he made of himself, his image, his world and the mesmerising art he created. His enduring legend can, in part, be attributed to his prolific journaling, and letter writing. There is a richness of prose in his letters to his brother Theo and others close to him. Learn more here.

A radical of his time

Self-Portrait with Straw Hat by Vincent van Gogh, 1887

Van Gogh had the courage of his own convictions to go against the grain and become the vanguard of his own art movement. He, like his peers in the second half of the 19th century such as Claude Monet and Paul Gauguin, strove to break free from the more formal and stuffy academic ideals of the then art establishment. He was ahead of his time and heavily influenced by new ideas in art, such as plein air painting and Japonisme. Van Gogh was a futuristic outsider.

In light of all of this he surely must have wanted his legacy to survive and be understood and reimagined by future generations. In his lifetime though, he struggled for acceptance as an artist and was tragically misunderstood and overlooked.

Now he’s one of the most famous artists in the world and we’re forever inventive in finding new ways to engage with his artistic life. But ...

Make an effort to go and see Van Gogh’s art outside of the show, you wont be disappointed. Nothing can compare to the originals by this master of post-impressionism.