The Bedroom

The Bedroom by Vincent Van Gogh Although viewing a painting by definition, includes the process of visual perception, it is not limited to the “eye” of the beholder. I have chosen to look at Van Gogh’s 1888 oil on canvas painting, The Bedroom. What one “sees” in any image is colored by a plethora of factors that inform the viewer-consciously and unconsciously. Thus, Plato’s argument about the objectivety of art, its quantifiable ability to be “judged” is based on a flimsy, static version of human beings. But, it is equally strange to pretend that an image is merely a subjective experience, as though the context, history, and intention were not part of the process. As Berger notes in his essay, “Ways of Seeing,” [w]hen an image is presented as a work of art, the way people look at it is affected by a whole series of learned assumptions about art. Assumptions concerning: Beauty, Truth, Genius, Civilization, Form, Status, Tast, etc.” Even with this in mind, or maybe, because of it, we nevertheless invariably find some images more to our liking then others. Berger, for example admits that Caravaggio’s, “The Calling of St. Matthew” is his favorite painting. As I have looked at many images for this essay, I have been virtually called to Van Gogh’s, “The Bedroom.” There is so much about life that begins and ends in a bedroom. Most of us probably began our life in a bedroom. The bedroom is a place of deep intimacy, it is the place of needed rest, we begin and end most days in our bedroom. It is our home within our home. One-third of our lives are spent in the bedroom. Without even the slightest amount of sexuality, Van Gogh’s, “The Bedroom” seduces me and I become captive to its call. Berger says it like this, [w]hat is this “seduction” he writes of? It is nothing less than the painting working upon us.” Van Gogh painted, “The Bedroom” three times; two times after the first painting was