People are working hard under the hot sun. This work is 〈The Red Vineyards at Arles〉, painted in 1888 by Vincent van Gogh. Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853 in the small town of Zundert in the Netherlands. He lived in Paris from 1886 and moved to Arles in the south of France in 1888. He painted this picture at this time. Vincent left about 900 works and 1100 sketches. However, among his 900 works, this painting was the only one sold during Vincent van Gogh’s lifetime. The person who bought this work is Anna Bosch, a painter, and she is the sister of a friend of Van Gogh. Anna Bosch bought this painting in 1890 for 400 francs. And this painting was purchased by a Russian rich man named Ivan Morozov, and is currently on display at the Pushkin Museum.

Vincent worked as an employee at the gallery for 7 years. But he hadn’t worked to earn money since 1880. He only painted for 10 years. So he always had financial support from his brother Theo, who worked as an art dealer. When he writes to Theo, he almost always asks for money to be sent. Vincent says he will pay Theo back when he makes money someday. However, none of his paintings were sold, except for 〈The Red Vineyard〉. Why didn’t his paintings sell? It is difficult to conclude with only one reason, but there are several clues to understand the reason. In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent says that an artist should not paint while considering whether his own works are worth selling. He says that an artist should put something good in his works. According to letters and documents he exchanged with his brother Theo and his family and friends, he pursued “light and freedom” and vowed not to be preoccupied with “worldly things.”

There are several backgrounds for Vincent’s aversion to “secular things.” First, let’s move on to a time before he started painting as a painter. Vincent dropped out of school and worked as an employee at the Gupil Gallery in Hague (1869) and London (1873). He got a job there because his relative was a famous art dealer. Although Vincent himself was an employee of the gallery, he often quarreled with his customers, thinking that “trading in art was the same as stealing”, and of course he was kicked out of his job. Meanwhile, a contemporary of Vincent was an Englishman named Joseph Duveen. Like Vincent, his relative was an art dealer, and young Joseph worked there as an employee. However, Vincent and Joseph’s attitudes towards “art” were completely opposite.

Duveen noticed that Europe had a lot of art but no one could afford it, whereas America had a lot of money but no art. And he said he would connect the two and put it into practice. As a result, Duveen left his name as the most unique as an art dealer and received the title of “Sir” from the British royal family. He donated many of his collections to the British Museum and a separate gallery space named after him was established. A little before Vincent was Henry David Thoreau, an American philosopher, poet, and essayist. His ideas of civil disobedience are known to have influenced many people, including Lev Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela.

By the way, his work 〈Walden(1854)〉 contains a very interesting anecdote about an Indian basket weaver. The Indian who appears in this book shouts at the white lawyer who refuses to buy the baskets he has woven, “So you’re saying that we should all starve to death?” Thoreau says in this story that it would be foolish for an Indian to yell at a lawyer for a basket. He says: He had not discovered that it was necessary for him to make it worth the other’s while to buy them, or at least make him think that it was so, or to make something else which it would be worth his while to buy. The “value(=worthwhile)” that Thoreau is talking about here means economic value. Economic value refers to the value of money. Replace the Indian in this story with Vincent van Gogh. Vincent made an earnest request in a letter to his brother Theo. “Why don’t people buy my paintings? Why are my paintings not selling? Please let me know how I can sell my paintings.”

However, he did not think of painting a picture that would be attractive enough for someone to pay money for. His request ended in an empty cry like an Indian selling baskets. Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh were painters of similar talent. However, the lives of the two unfolded in extreme opposite ways. While Picasso lived a life of success, Gogh lived a life of failure. As we commonly know, Vincent van Gogh was clumsy both academically and professionally. He was a drunkard and frequented brothels. And he cut off his own ear. Pablo Picasso was already a millionaire in his early thirties. His success accelerated as he got older. Gogh was poor in his twenties, poor in his thirties, and poor at the time of his death. His reputation as a painter was also gloomy. His paintings did not attract people’s attention. He lived without making his name known as a painter and died like that.

In some ways, Gogh was a painter of greater talent than Picasso. He left over 2,000 works in just 10 years from 1880 to 1890. Even people who don’t know him know 〈Sunflowers〉 and 〈Starry Night〉. He worked harder than anyone else. Nevertheless, we love Vincent van Gogh’s work. We feel intense sympathy for his life when he passed away tragically at the age of 37. Why?
Perhaps it is because our lives, like Vincent van Gogh’s, are dotted with many mistakes and failures. However, there is a little-known fact about Gogh. Looking at the letters that Vincent sent to Theo, he is not the alcoholic, schizophrenic and cranky Gogh. He constantly introspected, pondered deeply, and was cautious about his life to the point of being desperate.

Perhaps, for Gogh, “Absinthe”, an alcoholic drink with 70% alcohol, was a painkiller for him to continue painting even in the frustration and pain of life. Absinthe may not have been a delirium-causing curse for Gogh, but a source of inspiration. Vincent van Gogh told his brother Theo: “Later, people will definitely recognize my paintings, and when I die, they will definitely write about me.” His words came true like a prophecy. Numerous books have been published about him. His life, like a drama, was also made into a movie. And while we are enthusiastic about his painting, the result of his pursuit of light and freedom, we sympathize with his short life as an artist. A man named Vincent van Gogh.

From a secular point of view, he seems to have failed his parents’ expectations and made his brother hard, and he failed every time he did. Is he a Loser who does not know the world? He also called himself valueless. Did he live a worthless life? What about you if he is your child or friend? The subject called “human life” is difficult indeed. We don’t know what’s right or wrong, where to go or how to go. However, if possible, we want to live a life that is economically prosperous, respected by others, and contributing to society. At least we don’t want to live a life pointed at by others. This would be human nature. If so, we should ask the following questions: How can we live a life of excellence and prosperity?