The Singapore edition of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience had its run from March to October 2023, while the London edition has been running for over a year! I loved the location in Singapore at The Forum in Resorts World Sentosa, it was big and spacious. The London edition was at an industrial-style building in Spitalfields, and so I took the time to explore the area a bit too!

Get to Know Van Gogh

I love that the experience starts off with a collection of Van Gogh’s self-portraits, enlarged in equal size on these black banners. Van Gogh’s famous self-portraits in public museums were featured alongside some in private collections, which I thought were a nice inclusion!

The next section is all about getting to know more about Van Gogh. There’s a good mix of digital elements, replicas of Van Gogh’s paintings (no real works on site!), and wall panels sharing more information about his life and work. An exhibit of a life-size white vase is part of a digital projection that features the different flower paintings that Van Gogh made, which was pretty fun!

This was a fun real-life set-up of Van Gogh’s painting Bedroom in Arles. As the wall panel explains, Van Gogh made three versions of his bedroom in the famed ‘Yellow House’. Van Gogh had painted the first / original Bedroom in Arles in October 1888, now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. The two latter versions were made the following year in 1889, and are now in the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Looking at the set-up in the London immersive experience (pictured above), I think they were imitating the second version of Bedroom in Arles in the Art Institute of Chicago, with the similar colours and portraits on the wall! But this area was barred off, so unfortunately I couldn’t take a photo inside. The Singapore edition made the Bedroom a photo spot though!

The Immersive Experience

The star of the show is really the immersive experience itself, with so many of Van Gogh’s paintings brought to life and animated across the entire room. I liked how each painting was accompanied by its title and year of its making, if you care for the details like I do! There are also some quotes from Van Gogh’s letters, set along to a somewhat dramatic soundtrack.

I loved that the immersive experience included images of Tree Roots, which was the last painting that Van Gogh made. I remember following the art news (during the circuit breaker in May 2020!) that the location of these Tree Roots was newly discovered in Auvers-sur-Oise, France through a postcard photograph! As it was, Van Gogh lived in Auvers-sur-Oise back in 1890, and brought his colourful vision to the tree roots, which still look largely the same even today.

The immersive experience is about twenty minutes long, which is so worth the value! I beelined straight for the deck chairs because I loved lying back and staring up at the art on the screens, and it’s such a novel way of looking at art!! Although on second thought, I should have also tried parking myself on the sofas in the Singapore experience, as all of the furniture was sponsored by Castlery!

Because the immersive experience room in Singapore was so spacious and comfortable, I must say that I enjoyed it much more than the London edition, which had a smaller room. The room was very packed and so it was also difficult to get clear pictures!

Japonisme Room in Singapore

It felt extra special that the Singapore edition also included a japonisme room! This was not available in London, and I wonder if the other stops in Asia also have this. Van Gogh famously drew inspiration from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, like those by Hiroshige in particular. This japonisme room highlighted works from Chinese and Japanese art, as well as works by Van Gogh’s contemporaries, such as Gustav Klimt. The tea brand Matchaya also provided free samples of green tea, which I thought was such a nice touch!

Paint with Vincent

At the end, you can colour your own version of Van Gogh’s masterpieces, display it on the wall, and even project it digitally!

Sunflower Room

One more photo spot in the Sunflower Room in the Singapore edition before leaving!

Cafe and Merchandise Shop

I loved how the cafe and shop (in Singapore) was so well decked out and on-theme!

Some final thoughts: I really enjoyed seeing Van Gogh’s art in this new, immersive experience! I’ve heard some critique that this might not be a ‘purist’ way of looking at art, and at times the animated artworks in the immersive experience also took on ‘creative license’. But I’m of the view that it’s fun, engaging, and brings awareness to more of Van Gogh’s artworks — whether for old favourites or other less familiar ones.

Another note is the surprising difference in price: In Singapore an adult ticket cost SGD$24, while in London an adult ticket cost £19.90 (not inclusive of booking fees via the Fever app), which is quite a steep difference!

In any case, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience was fun enough to go twice! It’s exciting to see the experience continue its world tour, check out their website to see if it’s coming to your city!

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Going to London in May 2022 was such perfect timing as there were so many special exhibitions (and some still ongoing) that I was particularly interested to see! At The National Gallery, there’s the phenomenal Raphael exhibition — running until 31 July 2022. There was also the historic, once-in-a-century exhibition of Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy which ended on May 15th and I managed to see it in its final week!

| Cover image: Detail of John Constable’s The Hay Wain (1821) |

Raphael

I don’t think I really need to review the Raphael show and tell you how good it is, since it’s already gotten plenty of 5-star reviews from the British newspapers. There’s an incredible showing of artworks on loan, including the the Louvre, National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Prado Museum, Uffizi Museum and the Vatican Museum. I was also amazed that the exhibition pamphlet contained all the wall text and didactics in the show, so you could focus on viewing the pictures and reading up on each of them at a later time. Also very much appreciated since the ticket price is steep — I paid £24 to see it on a Monday morning.

I was super excited to go after viewing the exhibition trailer (so epic) and the photo highlights, which you can view on the National Gallery’s website here. I loved how they have blown up the portrait of Bindo Altoviti as the ‘star’ image, and it was fun seeing him on ads on buses and on billboards across the city!

I also loved seeing many of Raphael’s masterpieces of Madonnas, which was like a Renaissance art history class come to life! Love the colours, they’re so vivid.

But the absolute stunner of the show (spoiler alert?) to me is hands down, the final piece in the exhibition in the last portraits room: Portrait of a Woman (‘La Fornarina’).

I’ve actually been researching La Fornarina to include in my PhD, and I was so surprised and excited to find out that this was included in the Raphael exhibition! It is so much more beautiful and incredible than I’d ever expected in person. The Guardian says that ‘This great show is like falling in love again’, but I honestly just fell in love with this painting, it is so wonderful.

The sitter in question (La Fornarina, meaning the Baker’s Daughter) is not known, although she was purportedly Raphael’s lover. I would think she really was, as the entire painting is done with such intimacy and affection and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. My favourite part is her face and her blue and gold turban — I was literally admiring the blue colour.

Gainsborough’s Blue Boy

I might have a thing for blues so it was also perfect timing to see The Blue Boy by the British artist Thomas Gainsborough. The epic story behind The Blue Boy goes that it was sold to an American collector and sailed away from British shores 100 years ago, and now resides in the collection of The Huntington in San Marino, California. The painting goes on loan to The National Gallery for the first time ever, and 100 years later to the day (!) opens to the British public again on January 25, 2022.

There’s a fantastic article from ARTnews that shares more about the history behind The Blue Boy, which you can read here. Coincidentally, a few days ago, I also find out about The Pink Boy supposed to be a counterpart to The Blue Boy at the Waddesdon Manor!

I love the regal pose of The Blue Boy — who is now thought to be modelled by Gainsborough’s nephew Gainsborough Dupont — and the lovely blue shimmer to his clothes!

The Blue Boy was shown alongside a few of Gainsborough’s portraits as well as Antony van Dyck’s portraits, like the double portrait of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628–1687), and Lord Francis Villiers (1629–1648) below, which inspired The Blue Boy.

The Collection and British Art

The National Gallery, London consists of a collection of paintings in Western art ranging from the 13th century to the early 20th century, going from the medieval, Renaissance, early modern to the modern era. I spent the whole day taking in as much as I could, but my favourite room was the one devoted to British art from the 18th and 19th centuries!

More Favourites from the Collection

Going to the museum feels like an excellent lesson in Western art history, but at the end, I realised how devoid the collection is of women artists. I only saw works by Berthe Morisot, and a self-portrait by Gwen John (that’s on loan from the National Portrait Gallery which is currently closed for redevelopment).

The National Gallery also has fantastic self-portraits by Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, but they are both out on loan to overseas exhibitions, so I was sad to miss them!!

Still, based on my bias, the National Gallery is one of my favourite museums in London!

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I went to look it up and it’s Don McLean’s classic Vincent from 1971. An oldie, but still a goodie! Lyrics are below. :)

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer’s day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand

Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night

You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frame-less heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can’t forget

Like the strangers that you’ve met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now, I think I know what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they’re not listening still
Perhaps they never will

Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889

Of course, that refrain brings to mind van Gogh’s classic painting The Starry Night. I’ve always loved the big swirly background that I feel is so atmospheric and really pulls you into the picture. This painting could arguably be van Gogh’s most well-known work, especially coupled with the familiar song and all.

To back up a bit, van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutchman who moved to Paris, and later the South of France, where he settled into his artistic style and produced his greatest works. In his short life and career, he only fully developed his style in the later years of his life starting from about 1888 till his death in 1890. That style so familiar to many of us is characterized by bright color, strong outlines and broken brushstrokes. While he might not have had the best technical skill, he produced a wealth of artworks, including figure painting/sketches, portraits, landscapes, and still life.

Vincent van Gogh, Red Poppies and Daisies, 1890

Just earlier this month, there was a Poppies and Daisies painting by van Gogh on show at Poly Gallery, another painting in van Gogh’s series of paintings of poppies and daisies. Viewing a van Gogh (and Picasso) was of course a delight! Photographic reproduction is of great quality these days, but nothing can beat viewing an artwork in real life. I don’t think I realized it while viewing it at the time, but I found van Gogh’s flowers very natural. His painting simply looked effortlessly done.

When looking at photographs of his artworks though, it’s easy to see that van Gogh wasn’t exactly going for a highly naturalistic effect in his paintings. Colors are darker or brighter than expected, and work to heighten the intensity of the picture. If we were to translate the colors from his paintings to real life, it would be highly unnaturalistic.

Vincent van Gogh, Sower, 1888

Add to that his exaggeration of certain shapes and forms like the giant yellow sun in Sower, or the swirling stars/clouds in The Starry Night. Since van Gogh was clearly not aiming to paint in the likeness of reality, his works have been interpreted as having religious or spiritual connotations (e.g. Sower) or containing metaphors about life and death (e.g. The Starry Night).

Don McLean’s lyrics doesn’t stray much from the general perception of van Gogh – the tortured artist who created such great artworks in his genius insanity and creativity, but eventually committed suicide. It’s a beautiful song, and captures the way van Gogh is shrouded in mystery and tragedy.

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Cypress Tree, 1888

I generally agree with the above-mentioned view of van Gogh, but I’m not convinced by the religious argument (although van Gogh’s father was in fact a preacher). I do find other interpretations of van Gogh’s contemplations of life and death interesting. Not so much an indication of his eventual suicide, but personal reflections on life.

There’s always a melodramatic angle in reading van Gogh’s works, but don’t you think that van Gogh’s works are smoothing in a way? There’s a sadness about his works, I think, but there’s also a calmness to it that makes me stop and think.

While covering van Gogh in class, I got the chance to discover van Gogh’s letters to his younger brother, Theo van Gogh, an art dealer and big supporter of Vincent’s works. (Students of art history are such snoops reading artists’ old letters. ;D) In Vincent’s letters, he seems to me very earnest and focused on his work, mostly writing about his working process or describing some of his works that he’d painted to his brother. He definitely didn’t sound like a crazy man, but again, I suppose these things are hard to say.

Vincent van Gogh, The Night Café, 1888

Albert Aurier, an art critic and supporter of the growing Symbolist movement at the time, tried to count van Gogh in as a Symbolist artist by writing that his works were in line with Symbolist Ideas and the abstract, etc. Van Gogh however rejected this idea of his being a Symbolist, and resolutely placed himself as an artist who was just doing his own thing. Which I find pretty awesome. :D

Van Gogh is hence categorized within the Post-Impressionists, a rough grouping of artists who became influential after the wave of Impressionism had passed. They include Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat and more, all of whom had an individual style to their work.

Vincent van Gogh, Café Terrace, Place du Forum, Arles / Café Terrace at Night, 1888

I’d always known van Gogh’s famous works and this familiar song, but learning about his works and his background made his works so much more fascinating to me. Van Gogh was really one of a kind, and it’s nice to be able to look upon his work and think about what he’d wanted to achieve through them.

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