Vincent van Gogh in Chen Danqing’s Paintings

Chen Danqing once described Van Gogh as “a very kind-hearted madman.” What moved him most was Van Gogh’s innocence and simplicity. He has commented on Van Gogh on many occasions and in his books, and has also created a series of still-life paintings about “Van Gogh” in his works.

In 1890, Vincent van Gogh, the tormented painter, created “Almond Blossom” for his newborn nephew while confined in the Saint-Rémy asylum in France. In the painting, the azure sky pours down like a divine decree, the almond branches stretch upwards like bones, long and tenacious, piercing the sky. The pure white petals fall like stars or freeze like tears. At this time, van Gogh was deeply trapped in mental distress, yet he poured a rare tranquility onto the canvas – the tenacity of the almond blossoms blooming in early spring is both a tribute to new life and the artist’s self-redemption.

During my trip to Europe with Chen Danqing in 2007, I saw the original painting of “Almond Blossom” for the first time. When I gazed at it, I noticed that each almond flower was in a different stage of blooming: the budding ones carried hope, the fully blooming ones were exuberant, and the fallen petals hung low – all were van Gogh’s ultimate interpretation of the cycle of life. He abandoned the frenzied swirling brushstrokes of “The Starry Night” and instead delicately outlined the branches with restraint. In the Bible, the almond tree symbolizes “God’s watchfulness”, while in Eastern culture, it represents tenacious vitality in adversity. Those upward-reaching branches seem to pierce through the iron bars of the asylum, transforming into eternal vitality.

In a letter to Van Gogh, Theo wrote: “As we told you, we will name him after you. I pray that he will be as resolute and brave as you.” A few months later, Van Gogh pulled the trigger, while the blossoms in the painting remained forever suspended in their full bloom. This extreme contrast allowed the most shattered soul to create the most complete solace; the briefest of blooms, ultimately became eternal due to the courage to face death. Even now, I still clearly remember standing before the painting for a long, long time, reluctant to leave…