Van Gogh / Artaud. The Man Suicided by Society

Vincent van GoghPortrait of the Artist with an Easel© Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum (Fondation Vincent van Gogh) A few days before the opening of a van Gogh exhibition in Paris in 1947, gallery owner Pierre Loeb suggested that Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) write about the painter. Challenging the thesis of alienation, Artaud was determined to show how van Gogh’s exceptional lucidity made lesser minds uncomfortable. Wishing to prevent him from uttering certain "intolerable truths", those who were disturbed by his painting drove him to suicide.

Based on the categories and the unusual designations put forward by Artaud in Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society, the exhibition will comprise some forty paintings, a selection of van Gogh's drawings and letters, together with graphic works by the poet-illustrator.

Curator Isabelle Cahn, chief curator, Musée d'Orsay

Van Gogh / Artaud. The Man Suicided by Society

artists:
Vincent van Gogh, Antonin Artaud

curators:
Isabelle Cahn