I love story. I love the written word. A single beautifully written sentence can move me to tears, leaving me filled with awe and wonder. When I hear someone mention art and artists, my mind goes first to books and writers. It takes another beat for my brain to include painters, actors, dancers, sculptors, musicians and the like.

That said, there are some visual artists whose work I love. Even though it’s not original I adore the work of Claude Monet. If asked my favorite painter, it would be him.

Interestingly, however, if asked my favorite painting it would not be a Monet. My favorite all-time painting is Vincent van Gogh’s The Bedroom. It’s a painting of his bedroom when he lived in Arles, France.

I took an art history class in college. The required schoolbook for the class was filled with full-color photos. At the end of the class, I sold the book back to the university bookstore but not before carefully removing a few of the pages. I’m not proud of myself but it is what I did. And, you can probably guess, van Gogh’s The Bedroom was one of them. I framed it and the others I pilfered and they became home decor in my first apartment.

Then years later when my finances improved and I rehabilitated my thieving ways, on a trip to Washington DC, I purchased van Gogh’s The Bedroom at one of the Smithsonian museums. Interestingly, I don’t think the painting was there. Or if it was, it was on loan because I never actually saw it.

Red living room furniture and a white television stand. A painting of van Gogh's bedroom is hung low on the wall.
The poster in my living room. My red furniture went perfectly with the red bedspread of the painting.

The poster itself wasn’t expensive. As I recall it was $20 or $30. When I returned home, I had it professionally framed. That, I clearly remember, was $90 because it seemed crazy expensive to me and wacky that the framing cost more than the thing I was having framed. But I sucked it up and had it done.

It hung in both houses I owned in Anchorage before I sold it for $10 at one of my early garage sales. I still miss it a little. But, obviously, a large framed piece of art just wouldn’t work in my trailer. Both because of the size and the big piece of glass.

Do you know the piece of art I’m talking about? What you may not know is that there are actually three versions. Do an internet search to learn the reason why van Gogh did three. The basic differences between the various version are the art on the walls and the coloring of the flooring. He painted all three between October 1888 and September 1889, finishing the last one less than a year before he died at the age of 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest.

A Profound Moment with van Gogh’s Bedroom

I was in Chicago for a work conference a couple decades ago. My cousin lives in the suburbs of Chicago so I added a few extra days to the conference and stayed with her. On of our adventure days included driving into Chicago where we went to the Art Institute of Chicago followed by dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. You might remember from my trip to Tampa for an RV Show that I love Cheesecake Factory and that time in Chicago was the first time I’d ever been.

As we wandered the museum, I saw several paintings by Monet as well as van Gogh. What I didn’t know was they have one of the versions of The Bedroom. Version number two, for the curious.

From a little ways away, I saw it. A couple stood in front of it as I approached. I stood beside them, waiting my turn to stand in front of it. Eavesdropping on their conversation, the woman said it was the red bedspread that made the piece brilliant.

I didn’t (and still don’t) know about any of that. I only know I like it. After a few minutes of admiring whispers, they moved on.

My turn. I moved to stand directly in front of it, my face only a breath away from it, and just stared.

Then—and this was a complete surprise to me—I started crying.

To this day, I’m still not sure if my reaction was to the painting itself or if it was a reaction to the fact that I was standing in front of the real thing. It was no longer a page stolen out of a book or a poster on my wall. This was the canvas van Gogh put his brush to. I am still awed and humbled even remembering that moment.

Finally

While writing this piece, I learned the three versions were brought together for the first time in 2016 by the Art Institute of Chicago. On the one hand, for me, to see it would’ve been a meaningful and monumental moment. On the other hands, no one wants to see a sobbing puddle of a woman standing in an art museum. So, perhaps, it best I didn’t know about it.

Fun Update on van Gogh’s Bedroom

Recently, after reading this post, a Supersize LIFE reader sent me a gift of a computer screen cleaning cloth with the image of van Gogh’s The Bedroom on it. On etsy, she found a man from Spain who makes them from any image you want. I photographed the cloth and it is now the feature image of this post.

Big thanks to Charlotte for the kind and generous gift.

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