Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 25
With the permission of Kevin, I took on the role of a docent to those who visited the Van Gogh Museum.
No matter how many people came, I felt it was too short.
On the first day, I explained to a family audiences for about four hours, and today I was dealing with a group of more than ten people.
Since there are a lot of people, I plan to slowly unravel the things I couldn’t say yesterday.
Nothing could be more enjoyable than this.
“Van Gogh’s self portrait are the best. Don’t you think.?”
“Yeah. I think he looks more handsome in this one.”
“It’s true. But I liked Vincent’s character portrayed in the paintings, rather than his face.”
“Yes. The statue erected in honor of him at Auvers is ugly when you compare it with this.”
A man approached me while I was distinguishing between the portrait of Theo and my self-portrait to the audience.
“Are you Hun?”
I looked up blankly, and he gave me a business card.
He seems to be a reporter for a place called The Korean Express.
Pronunciation of Lee Inho is a little difficult, but for some reason he looks Korean, but speaks in English.
It’’s easier for me to talk to, but he’s rather a unique person.
“I came here because I wanted to do an interview, would you mind giving me some time? I have talked with your grandfather.”
Although it was intentional to some extent, it seems that Henry Marceau’s purchase of [Sunflower] became a hot topic.
I was surprised to hear that he had come all the way to Amsterdam to talk with me.
“Is it okay to do it after I give them directions?”
“how long does it take?”
“I’ll cut it off in about three hours.”
“Is that so?”
I cut the time short, but he don’t seems to like it.
“what’s the matter?”
asked one of the spectators.
“I was asked to do an interview, but the time didn’t fit.”
“interview? you’re really famous don’t you?”
“ It will take only three more hours. Let’s go to the second floor.”
“ It’s okay. It was fun. It’s a pity that you don’t have time. Will you be here tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Then see you tomorrow.”
I am glad that the people didn’t feel disappointed, and happy, that they like to coming back.
Spectators dispersed.
When I turned my head towards reporter Lee Inho, who was looking at me with his earnest eyes, my grandpa, who had been away, saying he had something to talk with Kevin, also returned.
“Ah! Dean, how are you?”
When reporter Lee Inho saw my grandpa, he bowed his head.
He seems like a person who respects the elderly.
“Ah, The Korean Express reporter?”
“Yes. It is an honor to meet you. My name is Lee Inho from The Korean Express. I was just having a conversation with Hun.”
“It was nice to meet you too. Little Hun, he came all the way from Seoul to write an article about you.”
“Really.?.”
“Let’s see. Should we go to the cafe in front of the museum?”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d love to do it here. I have to take some pictures too.”
“Okay then. Let’s have dinner together after we’re done.”
With reporter Lee Inho, I sat down on a bench outside the exhibition hall.
“Uh… I’ll start with a few known facts. They say you are ten years old and you have lived abroad for a long time. Is that right.?”
“Yes.”
“Where were have you been?”
“I was in England and France. I don’t remember very well about other places.”
I can only guess so from the conversation I had with his grandfather.
I added that I can’t remember because it may be different from the actual place where this boy ‘Ko Hun’ lived.
“Great. Then I’ll start with my question.First, when did you start painting?”
“I don’t really remember.”
“Huh? According to an article from Yehwa, it said that you had been drawing for about 10 years.”
“I just answered when I was mature enough to hold a brush I was drawing. I don’t know exactly when I started.”
“Okay.”
After the last interview with reporter Kim Jiwoo, I prepared, just in case, if I was asked a similar question.
Glad, it’s useful.
“I can’t help but, I have ask about [Sunflowers]. Did you known about Henry Marceau before selling the painting?”
“No. That was the first time I saw him.”
“After that?”
I shook my head.
“He is a great artist, after all a genius seems to recognize a genius. Did he buy it on the spot?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of picture is a [Sunflower]? Did it have meaning or something.”
Reporter Lee Inho asked a boring question.
“The meaning of the painting has been sufficiently talked about through the artwork. I want to end it in a painting where the viewer may or may not get anything from it.”
Drawings are a means of expressing myself.
If it does not convey enough and if had to add meaning through words and letters, then it is a failed painting.
“Whatever I want to express I have done it. Now everything will be up to Henry Marceau who bought it or those who saw it.”
“Huh..”
Reporter Lee Inho was confused and tried to ask, but I cut him short by saying.
“Did you see [Sunflower] ?”
“Uh-uh. Yes. On the last day.”
“You can write down what you felt at that time.”
“Well. Actually, I don’t know much about painting. I just thought, it was drawn well.”
“Exactly. It’s just like when you meet a person for the first time. How can you know everything about the person in front of you in your first meeting.?
“Huh?”
“As I don’t know anything about the reporter, since it’s our first time meeting. It’s the same thing for the reporter with [Sunflower]. First, you need to get to know each other.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. When you see the next picture, you can become more friendly. It’s like you can’t know everything about that person at the first meeting itself, you need get to know them little by little over time.”
Reporter Lee Inho blinked without saying a word.
“Excuse me…Are you alright.?”
“Are you really ten years old?”
He asked with a bewildered expression.
The truth is……
I can’t say that I’m thirty-six years old.
I just shrugged my shoulders, and Lee Inho letting out a huge sigh, organized his thoughts and took notes.
“Then are you saying that Henri Marceau saw your painting for the first time and bought it for 2 million euros. Why do you think he was able to do that?”
This question is a bit tedious.
I was looking for an appropriate expression and compared it to meeting people.
Then an answer popped in my mind
“It must have been love at first sight.”
“What.?”
“He just fell for it.”
“Hahahaha.”
Grandpa, who was sitting beside me laughed.
When I turned my head, he pated on my head.
” Yes. If you think of a work of art as a meeting with a person, then there can be many kinds of first impressions. Some are like the reporter, who doesn’t understand the person in front of him, some of them are like Henry, who falls in love with a person at their first sight. That’s a very good expression Hun.”
After all, my grandpa understands what I wanted say.
Reporter Lee Inho also wrote something in the notebook.
“Then, What about the thing you were doing earlier?”
“I was introducing.”
“Introduce? I think you were giving them some sort of explanation.”
Lee Inho raised one eyebrow and wondered.
“like the reporter, there are many people who doesn’t know how to approach a person they met for the first time. So I’m introducing them to the painting.”
“I see. So in what way?”
“The best way is telling an interesting story about the painting. For example, A little while ago, among the Vincent Van Gogh self portraits, there were some self portraits, which were not him.”
“You mean fake?”
“Nope, it’s the portrait of his brother Theo. The two look alike, so it’s hard to tell them apart. So I explained to them about who was Vincent and who was Theo.”
In the end, no one got the right answer, but I thought it was a good way to understand the painting.
“I thought the way to look at a painting was to look at what it meant, but that’s not necessarily the case. Right.?”
“Yes. At places like the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, such things are taught and memorized, but such drawings are not fun.”
Grandpa, who was listening quietly, smiled.
“There is nothing more unfortunate than finding answers in art. Art is something that has to change depending on the viewer and the times.”
Grandpa is right.
“I understand what you are saying. Then what do you think about my case.? I started thinking about it. But there is no answer.”
“Yes. It is enough to wonder what it means. No one will be able understand everything about the person in front of us. It’s the effort, that makes us understand a little about them.”
“Great. …Finally one more question. Seoul Art Museum’s The New Artists Exhibition was a huge success thanks to [Sunflower]. How was the experience.?
“It was really fun. People came to see my paintings, and I was able talk and meet a lot of people . I also sold a painting.”
“The other artists who exhibited said that they could not sell their paintings. Is it very difficult to sell paintings?”
“I don’t know.”
I don’t know how the art market works right now.
My grandpa spoke instead.
“It is a harsh environment for newcomers. It is getting worse and worse.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Hmm. It’s a difficult issue…….…”
Grandpa took a break to organize his thoughts.
“It is a situation that is too biased to one side. One side is denying understanding and communicating, while the other side is pursuing only a special form of art which does not say anything.”
“Can we say that art moving away from the interests of the public?”
“That’s right. Even a reporter like you doesn’t seem to have much interest in painting. Right.? Then how will the normal people have.”
“haha…….”
“To sum up, no matter how good an idea is, if it is not communicated, it is of no use. On the other hand, even if it looks beautiful, it cannot be attractive if it is empty inside.”
When it is beautiful and empty, it is like a flower without fragrance.
“Certainly, if such a situation continues, the distance between art and the public will only widen. But [Sunflower] broke the perception that it is not impossible for an artist to earn a living and make a living in art.”
I agree with reporter Lee Inho to some extent.
In my previous life, the only way to make a living as a painter was to get a job at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
There is no such place now, so they have to sell their paintings only to the public, but now, they are moving away from that public and dealing with some collectors.
The livelihoods of painters will never get better.
“I think it’s a really difficult road up front Are you still going to paint with in that situation.?”
There is only one answer to reporter Lee Inho’s question.
“Yes.”
Even though I, who died without being recognized by anyone, is now loved by so many people.
My ideals were not wrong, it’s just that it took long time for the people to get to know my paintings.
As much as I experienced it once.
I just do my best not to just paint, but live to the fullest. So that I do not repeat the suffering again.
“ Is there any specific reason, for wanting to be a painter.”
“No. I just love painting.”
[Henry Marceau’s, Love at first sight]
The meeting with a genius boy, famous not only in Europe but also in Korea was special from the start.
Last Thursday. Visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I found a small commentator dealing with the visitor.
The 9-year-old genius boy was helping the audience to understand Vincent van Gogh more deeply and broadly by telling various things.
Kevin McCurley, director of the Van Gogh Museum of Art, said that rumors spread that Ko Hun had stepped forward as a docent, increasing the number of visitors than usual.
The world-famous painter Henry Marceau paid a huge sum of 2 million euros to buy his painting.
I conducted an interview to find out more about the docent Kh Hun, loved by visitors to the Van Gogh Museum.
Q. What are you doing now?
A. I was visiting the Van Gogh Museum while traveling. Four days have already passed since I was talking with the audience.
Q. You have already become famous in Korea and Europe. What do you think about it.?
A. It’s nice to have a name, but it doesn’t mean anything to just have a name alone.
Q. What made you famous is [Sunflower]. What is your relationship with Henry Marceau?
A. We don’t know each other. I saw him for the first time, when I was selling the painting.
Q. Why do you think he bought [Sunflower]?
A. It might have been love at first sight. He fell in love with it the moment he saw it.
In a confident voice, Ko Hun said that Henri Marceau recognized him through [Sunflower].
Do geniuses recognize another genius?
Attention is focused on how Henry Marceau’s unrequited love for Ko Hun will proceed in the future.
Meanwhile, Ko Hun is said to be preparing for an exhibition in Seoul after the two-month trip.
– Lee Inho (The Korean Express)
