Richard Kendall, Clark Art Institute, Curator at Large
Exhibition curator Richard Kendall will discuss the research and origin of the exhibition and catalogue as well as the significance of its theme.
Fundamental to the project has been a close study of the artist's work throughout his career and his rarely discussed preoccupation with the natural world, from flowers, birds, and insects to the majestic landscapes of rural Holland and the south of France.
Still underestimated in many approaches to Van Gogh's art is his passion for reading, which included guides to nature, poetry that addressed the countryside, and literally hundreds of novels in Dutch, English, and French that celebrated rural life in an age of expanding towns and cities. This issue will also be explored in the lecture, which will be illustrated with works from 'Van Gogh and Nature' and other sources.
Free admission
IMAGE: A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, 1889, by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London, purchase, Courtauld Fund, 1923 (NG3861), Image © The National Gallery, London, 2014.