It isn’t easy to get out to a world-famous gallery to see the works of Vincent van Gogh. Thankfully, the Arden Theatre is bringing those works to St. Albert, albeit in a cinematic sense.
The theatre is offering a screening of Vincent van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing as part of its new Cinema Series. The film, created by Exhibition on Screen in collaboration with Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, offers its audience a complete and unprecedented access to the treasures of the celebrated painter.
Joan Greer, a University of Alberta professor of the history of art, design and visual culture, will present the film. As an expert on van Gogh, she can do more than tell you that your pronunciation of the artist’s name has been wrong all this time. She can be your personal tour guide into his life, his inspirations and his timeless work.
For one thing, she is considered a recognized expert on the subject and has a strong connection to the source material, noting that she works closely with the Van Gogh Museum and was there in November where she chaired a symposium session on Van Gogh and was offered a brief preview of the film.
“I’ve done most of my art history training in Holland,” she said, noting that the country was a focus of her specialization as she studied late 19th and early 20th century art. Right from the beginning of my PhD work, I have been closely associated with van Gogh research and archives, the museums and all of the collections that have van Goghs, especially in Holland.”
She has also been involved in several major international van Gogh exhibitions and is working on an ongoing project on the artist.
With her extensive knowledge, she described the film as “refreshing” as it gets more balanced between his life and his work than she was expecting.
“They’re looking at things from a number of points of view. They’re actually looking at van Gogh the artist, and that means the man, but then also the art he produced. Those are two sides. Often when you get writings or films, the biography just takes over. There’s a fascinating story there, no doubt, but then there’s also the art.”
“The art speaks really strongly and the history of how the art functioned within a context. They’re very good at placing the art and the man within a context. You get these narratives where the people who work on van Gogh … talk about how they made decisions about how best to let this person’s art shine really strongly for a large public.”
The film itself is a novel and authoritative curated experience: screening in high definition, offering details of exclusive new research that has revealed some incredible recent discoveries on the artist and his work, and replete with commentary from world-renowned curators and art historians who offer their own interpretations and explanations of van Gogh’s oeuvre.
Vincent van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing screens on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Arden. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Call 780-459-1542 or visit www.ardentheatre.com for more information.
