And yet a smoking skeleton?! Is it another way of saying Born to be wild?
There are few cases where the work itself has been devoured only by the personality of the person who created it. Personally, I often find myself, knowingly or not, in front of a painting and developing a kind of admiration through misunderstanding.
That’s how it happens that one afternoon while reading “La gente feliz lee y toma cafe” I wake up DUSA thinking far away about Van Gogh’s painting Skull with a burning cigarette.
This, as shown by the biographical data of the painter and especially the specialized literature, was created between 1985-1986 while he was studying in Antwerp. It is known that during that period he closely studied, among other things, the skeleton, in order to familiarize himself with the anatomy of human beings. But from studying anatomy to making a morbid joke, I think it’s just one step, it’s also the most conventional and often encountered interpretation.
If I am to go by the first thoughts that appeared in my mind regarding this painting, I think that brought to our days it is a perfect anti-advertisement for tobacco. On the other hand, I’m thinking of Z. Stancu’s “Satra”, who eased the pains of the cold with the finest tobacco, left over after thousands of adventures during the war. But I seem to be limiting myself to a death-aware game, and I don’t want to make room here to talk about it.
Van Gogh invites me, as it were, to overcome the contradictions and take the risk, to recognize his enthusiasm and say yes, whenever I look at the above mentioned painting I recognize a revolted man, dying, alive, a kind of revolt “without hope”, which in the end brings nothing but contemplation.
Photo source: Wikipedia
Written by Paula Horju