13 May

Dear Friends

JOANNA VAN GOGH

No visit to Amsterdam would be complete without a visit to the Vincent van Gogh Museum. Vincent took his own life in 1890. His brother Theo died six months later. Theo had been a tower of strength to Vincent throughout his life. Theo was his counsellor, comforter and financial backer. Vincent wrote hundreds of letters to his brother in which he confided his innermost thoughts and his mental turmoil. 

After the death of the brothers Theo’s widow Joanna found herself alone with her baby in an apartment in Paris with more than 200 of Vincent’s paintings. They were everywhere, covering the walls, filling cupboards and wardrobes and stuffed under sofas and chairs. In the opinion of art experts they were all worthless. But Joanna saw beauty and joy and vitality where the so-called experts saw only crude daubs. It was Joanna who persistently urged the experts to look again and think again about Vincent. In 1905 she helped organise the first solo exhibition of his work in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum. Joanna’s faith achieved a colossal amount. 

From a Christian point of view it is worthwhile pondering that in the Gospel of Luke we meet a disciple of Jesus called Joanna, who along with other faithful women helped support the wandering ministry of our Lord and his friends. Faith really does move mountains.

Denis Campbell

(Locum minister)