Local artist learns about Van Gogh through painting
Jun 20, 2015
Bill Comeau's recreation of Vincent van Gogh's 1888 painting, "The Red Vineyard." It's believed that "The Red Vineyard" was the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime. ARTWORK BY BILL COMEAU
Bill Comeau stands in front of a portrait he painted of Van Gogh. BY SETH THOMAS
Various Van Gogh recreations on display at Gallery X. ARTWORK BY BILL COMEAU
Bill Comeau was inspired by Van Gogh's heavy use of the color yellow. ARTWORK BY BILL COMEAU
Bill Comeau's recreation of Van Gogh's 1890 painting, "Landscape at Auvers in the Rain." ARTWORK BY BILL COMEAU
A selection of Bill Comeau's work featured at Gallery X. ARTWORK BY BILL COMEAU
A selection of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings that were destroyed during World War II have been revived in an exhibition from a local artist.
Reverend Bill Comeau, part-time pastor of the Smith Neck Friends Meeting in Dartmouth, spent two years recreating Van Gogh’s paintings as a way to study the techniques used by the master painter and to connect with the artist’s history.
“Since I was always painting, mostly for therapy, I decided to spend two years with Vincent, having him be my teacher. I got every book I could find,” said Comeau.
In his research, Comeau found a book that collected more than 600 of Van Gogh’s paintings and noticed that a number of his pieces were destroyed during World War II. Comeau was a child during the war and recalled how much the sound of air raid warnings scared him.
“That kind of fear, I think, is the same kind of fear that was going through Vincent,” said Comeau. “Van Gogh has an interesting story. He had a very short life. His entire life was haunted by mental illness. Today, we would diagnose him with both borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.”
While renowned today for his body of work, Van Gogh led a life marked by anxiety and mental illness. He died in 1890 at age 37 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Despite his struggles with substance abuse and mental issues, Van Gogh created more than 2,000 artworks in his lifetime.
Comeau thought that Van Gogh’s use of painting as therapy could translate into his own life. In addition to being a painter and a part-time pastor, Comeau also teaches a humanities course at Bristol Community College.
“I teach Coping with Life and Death, and I use art therapy as part of the coping devices. What I do is collage, because anybody can tear up a magazine and stick it on a piece of cardboard. If you make a collage, turn it over, then a day later look at it and write what you see. It’s a good coping strategy."
Comeau said he painted nearly 100 recreations during his two-year project, a couple dozen of which are now on display in the downstairs gallery at Gallery X in New Bedford. The show runs until June 28.
“Van Gogh was qualified as an artist to do anything he wanted to, but the style he developed set him apart,” said Comeau.
