“EVERYBODY thought they knew Van Gogh,” says Elio di Rupo, the mayor of the Belgian town of Mons. “This show proves they didn’t.” He was speaking at the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the Dutch painter’s early work, which launched Mons’s stint as European Cultural Capital for 2015 (along, rather confusingly, with the Czech town of Pilsen).
Those expecting a traditional blockbuster show, or some sunflowers, may be bewildered at first. “Van Gogh in the Borinage—The Birth of an Artist” is more subtle and intelligent than many “Greatest Hits” retrospectives, and much more than just a show dedicated to a specific period of an artist’s life. The exhibition tells how the troubled Van Gogh came to be an artist, and brings together works from various parts of his short but brilliant career.
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