Thomas Merton and Vincent Van Gogh: the Map of Two Pilgrim Journeys to the True Self in Art and Parable
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https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Thomas Merton and Vincent Van Gogh: The map of two Pilgrim Journeys to the True Self in Art and Parable. By Paula Hazel Hutchinson Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of M.Th. University of Glasgow Department of Theology and Religious Studies Centre for the Study of Literature, Theology and the Arts April 2007 © Paula Hazel Hutchinson ProQuest Number: 10396058 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10396058 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 GLASGOW UNIVERSITYSITVj Ll i b r a r v Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge certain individuals as having contributed in many ways to the process of my having both undertaken and completed the degree of Masters of Theology, and I would like to affirm how indebted to them I am. First, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, brother and sisters for their support and encouragement. I pay speeial tribute to the guidanee, mentoring and instruction of Professor David Jasper of the Department of Theology and the Arts. His interest and knowledge of both elements within this thesis, namely. Theology and Art, is immense, and it has been rewarding to have studied under his tuition. To Patrick Porter, for special contributions and support. To Allen, for specially undertaking to assist me in the process of refining and redefining my work. To Philip McEvoy for support and for reading this thesis in its various stages. To Brannon and Gloria Hancock, and Michael and Julia Delashmutt, for their friendship throughout my course of study. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my Uncle Ken Hill (1949-1973) Poet. Black and White The night is black, the day is light As far apart as black and white The world is good, the world is bad The world is full of good and bad Some are rich, some are starving, Some are gay and some are sad A craft speeds out through space and lands upon the moon, While in jungle elearing a young man dies too soon While in Africa discrimination tries to quell a whole nation. In Israel an angry peace is set which warlords watch. And watching yet don't hear the distant plea of all humanity. Ken Hill, 1972. Table of Contents Abstract List of Abbreviations List of Illustrations Introduction p. 1 Chapter One p. 30 False Self/True Self; A Van Gogh Self-Portrait Chapter Two p. 62 Purity of heart: Van Gogh’s Sunflowers Chapter Three p. 83 Hidden Wholeness: Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows Chapter Four p. 105 Light from Darkness: A Paiadigm of Pilgrimage Conclusion p. 126 Bibliography p. 128 Abstract This thesis looks at the search for the true self as taken by the renowned contemplative writer, Thomas Merton (1915-1968), and the nineteenth century artist Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). These two are observed side by side as pilgrim figures, journeying and struggling through high and low times of joy and suffering, evidencing the experience of the dark night of the soul as a key facet to any kind of rebirth experience into light, and the awakening of the true self. Both find in art a means of immersion into contemplation and prayer, and a sharing in the creativity of God. Both also reveal in their ait and writings the unity of God and nature, and a strong self examination, as portrayed in the portraits they have made, Van Gogh in his paintings, and Merton in the portraits he allowed to be made of himself by the photographers Eugene Meatyard and John Howard Griffin. The first chapter sets out Merton’s discourse on the true self, with its rejection of a false (selfish) self. Van Gogh’s self-portraits are then studied as an avenue to the artist’s self- awareness and how they parallel his alternative inner pilgrimage to the true self. The second chapter seeks to ascertain how one journeys towards that self by what Merton defines as ‘pure intentions’. The third chapter examines how both Merton and Van Gogh find the capacity for true seeing, and the understanding and even the partaking in parables, for a parable is not only examinable, but also to be seen as a two-way mirror, something which examines us. The last chapter has as its focus the metaphor of light, which is employed by both artists; in the paintings of Van Gogh, as a visual well-spring of hope; and also in the art and writing of Merton, and indeed many artists and writers. Overall I can propose that each of these two figures, along their journey, attained what they sought to become, and that the journey was essential to their becoming tme, for it required a pilgrimage. Abbreviations Shoes: Edwards, C. 2004 The Shoes o f Van Gogh (New York: Crossroad Publishing Co.) HW; Merton T. 1910 A Hidden Wholeness: The Visual World of Thomas Merton (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.) NSOC: Merton, T. 1964 New Seeds of Contemplation (Kent: Burns and Oates Publishing Co.) NMI: Merton T, 1955 No Man is an Island (San Diego, New York, London: Harcourt Inc.) Raids: Merton T. 1964 Raids on the Unspeakable, (New York: New Directions Publishing Co.) SSM: Merton T. Seven Storey Mountain 1948 (San Diego, New York, London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.) AJ: Merton, T. 1968 (Edited from his original notebooks by Burton, N., Brother Hart, P., and Loughlin J.) The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton (New York: New Directions Publishing Co.) VGD: Van Heughten, S. 2005 Van Gogh Draughtsman, (Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum) MTW: Yancey, P. 2002 More Than Words: Contemporary Writers on the Works That Shaped Them (Grand Rapids: MI. Baker Books) TNM: Merton, T. 1961 The New Man, (London: Burns & Oates) TNOB: The New Open Bible CSA: Kandinsky, W. 1977 Concerning The Spiritual in Art (New York: Dover Publications Inc.) Illustrations P. 8 Fig. 1. Rembrandt Van RijnT/ie Return o f the Prodigal Son’ (ca. 1622) P. 26 Fig. 2. Vincent Van Gogh 'The Potato Eaters’ (1889) P. 27 Fig. 3. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Starry Night’ (1889) P. 50 Fig. 4. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Sorrow’ (1882) P. 51 Fig. 5.Thomas Merton: Untitled photograph of a Coleman stove (ca. 1965-68) P. 51 Fig 6. Thomas Merton: Untitled photograph of a splattered tin of paint (ca. 1965-68) P. 53 Fig 7. Ralph Eugene Meatyard ‘Lucybelle Crater’ (1970-1972) P. 53 Fig 8. Ralph Eugene Meatyard ‘Lucybelle Crater & her good, good Mertonian friend Lucybelle Crater’ (1970-1972) P. 53 Fig. 9. Ralph Eugene Meatyard ‘Romance of Ambrose Pierce’ (1964) P. 56 Fig. 10. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Self Portrait with Dark Felt Hat’ (1886) P. 56 Fig. 11. Albrecht Durer ‘Self-portrait with a Fur Coat’ (1500) P. 57 Fig. 12. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Self-Portrait’ (1889) P. 72 Fig. 13. Patrick Porter ‘Man with Shopping Cart’ (2006) P. 76 Fig. 14. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Sunflowers’ (1888) P. 84 Fig. 15. Thomas Merton: Untitled calligraphy example 1. ca. 1965-68 P. 84 Fig. 16. Thomas Merton: Untitled calligraphy example 2. ca. 1965-68 P. 87 Fig. 17. Thomas Merton: Untitled photograph of grass, ca. 1965-68 P. 89 Fig. 18. Thomas Merton: Untitled photograph of the concentric rings of a tree stump, (ca. 1965-68) P. 93 Fig. 19. Thomas Merton ‘Gethsemani: Old Sheep Barn’ (ca. 1965-68) P. 98 Fig. 20. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Wheatfield with Crows’ (1890) P. 124 Fig. 21. Vincent Van Gogh ‘The Sower’ (1888) P. 124 Fig. 22. Vincent Van Gogh ‘Café Terrace at night’ (1888) All photographs by Thomas Merton copyright © 1970 by the Trustees of the Merton Legacy Trust. Introduction The discussion of this thesis surrounds two central figures, the writer Thomas Merton and the artist Vincent Van Gogh, I will use this thesis to show how Thomas Merton defines the true self, and then how both he, and Vincent van Gogh, reveal it thiough art. I also seek to show how, through art, they both demonstrate what Merton terms the hidden wholeness in all things. On first glance they seem like very disparate persons; Merton is a successful writer, a committed monk, a jovial and yet calm person; Van Gogh, despite his undisputed brilliance as a painter, is, contrarily, somewhat caricaturised by the hot temper he was famed for, and the accusations of ‘madness’ that shroud his early death.