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''Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate)'' is an oil painting by
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
that he made in 1890 in Saint-Rémy de Provence based on an early lithograph. The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a severe relapse in his health some two months before his death, which is generally accepted as a suicide. In the 1970 ''
catalogue raisonné A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...
'', it was given the title ''Worn Out: At Eternity's Gate''.


Lithograph

The lithograph was based on a pencil drawing ''Worn Out'', one of a series of studies he made in 1882 of a pensioner and war veteran,
Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland was Vincent van Gogh's favorite model during his Hague period. He appears in dozens of drawings, easily identified by his bald head and prominent white whiskers, and he was the model for the drawing which was the ba ...
, at a local almshouse in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
and itself a reworking of a drawing and watercolour he had made the previous year. The inspiration for ''Worn Out'' was Hubert von Herkomer's ''Sunday at the Chelsea Hospital'', an immensely popular print depicting an old war veteran slumped dead that went on to become an acclaimed painting at the Royal Academy, '' The Last Muster'', that Van Gogh had seen in 1875 when in England. Van Gogh wrote of his drawing: Van Gogh's first attempt at the lithograph followed just two days later. He wrote: Later, in a rare expression of his own religious feelings, he wrote expressly about this lithograph and two other drawings also posed by Zuyderland, of an old man reading a Bible and saying grace ( below) respectively: Seven impressions of the lithograph are known, of which one is annotated ''At Eternity's Gate''. The same theme is taken up again in two later 1883 studies of a seated woman. In 2021, a drawing in a private collection in the Netherlands since 1910 was authenticated as a preliminary study for the original pencil drawing ''Worn Out'' by the
Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opene ...
and put on display. The Van Gogh Museum had previously been aware of the existence of the study for some time.


Commentary

Writing about ''At Eternity's Gate'' in 1998, the American theologian Kathleen Powers Erickson remarked:


Genesis

Vincent van Gogh suffered from some form of mental illness, acutely during the last two years of his life. The official diagnosis furnished by the hospital in Arles that Van Gogh was taken to on 24 December 1888, following the celebrated incident involving his ear, was "acute mania with generalised delirium". Dr. Félix Rey, a young intern at the hospital, also suggested "a kind of epilepsy" he characterised as ''mental'' epilepsy. There is no agreement today over a modern diagnosis of Van Gogh's illness. Suggestions include
epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...
and
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
, possibly exacerbated by excessive absinthe drinking, heavy smoking and venereal disease. Symptoms were varied, but in their most severe manifestations they involved attacks of confusion and unconsciousness followed by periods of stupor and incoherence during which he was generally unable to paint, draw, or even to write letters. It was such an attack that first led him to being hospitalised at Arles, and following a later relapse, he had himself committed to the asylum at Saint-Rémy in May 1889, where he remained for the most part until May 1890. On 22 February 1890, Van Gogh suffered his most severe relapse, an episode
Jan Hulsker Jan Hulsker (2 October 1907, The Hague – 9 November 2002, Vancouver) was a Dutch art historian especially noted for his work on Vincent van Gogh. He studied Dutch literature in Leiden and was promoted with a thesis on the author Aart van der Lee ...
called the longest and saddest of his life, and one which lasted some nine weeks through to late April. During this time, he was only able to write to his brother
Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
once, in March 1890, and then only briefly to say he was totally stupefied (''totalement abruti'') and unable to write. He did not write to Theo again until late April, but that letter makes it clear that he had been able to paint and draw a little during this time, despite his sadness and melancholy: It is in these drawings and paintings that Hulsker sees unmistakable signs of his mental collapse, otherwise rare in his work. It is not clear whether ''Sorrowing Old Man ('At Eternity's Gate')'' is one of the canvases referred to in his April letter. Hulsker remarks that it would have been remarkable for Van Gogh to have copied his lithograph so faithfully from memory. Nevertheless, the painting is clearly a return to the past, and both the 1970 ''catalogue raisonné'' and Hulsker cite the painting as ''fecit'' May 1890 at Saint-Rémy.


From the 1880s

File:Hubert von Herkomer 1871 - Sunday at the Chelsea Hospital (The Graphic).jpg,
Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...
- '' Sunday at the Chelsea Hospital'' (1871), also known as '' The Last Muster'' File:Vincent van Gogh - Prayer Before the Meal F1002.jpg, ''Prayer Before the Meal'', pencil, black chalk, ink, heightened with white, December 1882,
Private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individu ...
, Switzerland (F 1002, JH 281). File:Vincent van Gogh - Peasant Sitting by the Fireplace (F863).jpg, ''Peasant Sitting by the Fireplace ('Worn Out')'', (F863, JH34), watercolor, 1881, P. and N. de Boer Foundation, Amsterdam File:Vincent van Gogh - Worn Out (F997).jpg, ''Worn Out'' (F997, JH267), pencil on watercolor paper, 1882,
Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opene ...
File:Old Man with his Head in his Hands (At Eternity's Gate).jpg, ''Old Man with his Head in his Hands ("At Eternity's Gate")'' (F1662, JH268), lithograph, 1882, various collections, including
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, ( Persian: موزه هنرهای معاصر تهران), also known as TMoCA, is among the largest art museums in Tehran and Iran. It has collections of more than 3,000 items that include 19th and 20th centur ...
, whose version illustrated is annotated by the artist in ink at lower left: ''At Eternity's Gate'' File:Sorrowful old man.jpg, ''Sorrowful old man'' (F998, JH269) pencil, black lithographic crayon, wash, white opaque watercolour, on watercolour paper, 1882,
Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...
File:Vincent van Gogh - Mourning WomanSeated on a Basket (F1060).jpg, ''Mourning Woman Seated on a Basket'' (F1060, JH326), black lithographic crayon, grey wash, white and grey opaque watercolour, traces of squaring, on watercolour paper, 1883,
Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...
File:Vincent van Gogh - Weeping Woman (F1069).jpg, ''Weeping Woman'' (F1069, JH325), Black and white chalk, with brush and stumping, brush and black and grey wash, and traces of graphite, over a brush and brown ink underdrawing on ivory wove paper, 1883, Art Institute of Chicago


References


Bibliography

* Erickson, Kathleen Powers. ''At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent Van Gogh''. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998. * de la Faille, Jacob-Baart. ''The Works of Vincent Van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings''. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1970. * Hulsker, Jan. ''The Complete Van Gogh''. Oxford: Phaidon, 1980. * Naifeh, Steven; Smith, Gregory White. ''Van Gogh: The Life''. Profile Books, 2011. * Pomerans, Arnold. ''The Letters of Vincent van Gogh''. Penguin Classics, 2003.


External links

{{ACArt At Eternity's Gate At Eternity's Gate Collections of the Kröller-Müller Museum