BLOG: Art Institute’s ‘Van Gogh’s Bedrooms’ not worth the ticket

This past week, a group of students from the art department visited the Art Institute of Chicago. For an extra price, I was excited to see a current display: Van Gogh’s Bedrooms, an exhibition centered around Vincent Van Gogh’s three bedroom paintings.

From 1888 to 1889, Van Gogh painted three versions of his living space in Arles, France. Each is distinct from the others — the colors, perspective and space are slightly different.

As an art student, I have travelled to New York City’s Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I saw “The Starry Night,” “The Olive Trees,” “The Potato Peeler,” as well as self-portraits. Because of this, I had a high expectation going into the exhibit.

What’s impressive about the exhibit is that it’s the first time since Van Gogh’s death that these works are on display together. The Art Institute of Chicago owns one of these works, while the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam own the others.

However, besides seeing many great works, the overall structure of the exhibit was confusing.

The exhibition is set up to distract from the featured works. Other than the three paintings, many of Van Gogh’s works are on display, including paintings, drawings and letters. This extra media helps the public understand his life, but distracts from the focus of the exhibit.

The Art Institute provided an in-depth look at the three versions of these works by digitally reconstructing the bedroom to full scale and including works by other artists who either influenced Van Gogh or worked during the Post-Impressionist movement. Other digital components analyzed how the works are different from each other.

While many of these features could help the general public understand Van Gogh’s work, the overall structure of the exhibit is confusing and distracting. The digital components are easier to understand than simply looking and analyzing the works themselves. I strongly encourage everyone to analyze works on their own without the added distractions.

Seeing Van Gogh’s work is always exciting. However, compared to his works at MoMA or the Met, this exhibit isn’t worth the extra ticket on their own without the added distractions.