Wow, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the immersive Van Gogh exhibit when I reserved tickets online, but the experience was truly wonderful. I do appreciate art in many forms and have visited many of the top museums globally. Many museum visits have been to appreciate experiencing a concentration of pieces by a select artist or to experience a true one of a kind masterpiece. These visits have included an extensive exhibit of Monet at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, a multitude of collections at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and also the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Based on my new experience, comparing the Immersive Van Gogh Experience to a “traditional” museum visit is not appropriate. While a museum visit may give you the opportunity to experience the original work of art by a true master of their craft, the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit allows you to be absorbed into the environment that led to the artist’s creations. This is a significant difference, especially allowing for the technology that can now be brought to bear to create an immersive environment, including computer graphics, synchronized projection on the scale of a large warehouse space, and finally virtual reality to truly capture a historical perspective.

Is it important to experience an original piece of art as captured by the artist? Yes, without a doubt. Given the opportunity, everyone should see the original The Last Supper in Milan or Michelangelo’s David in Florence. But having said that, I would emphasize that technology allows for new ways to experience so many things around us, including art, and the Van Gogh exhibit is a great example of a different experience that can complement other physical mediums.

One immersive experience is presented in a large walled hall with seating on loungers and also on the floor. The walls of the hall provide the canvas for projections depicting Van Gogh’s art, transitions in art styles and glimpses into his thought processes. Some of the inspirational aspects of the exhibit involve the inclusion of quotes attributed to Vincent Van Gogh in the dynamic portions of the exhibit. Some of the quotes:

  • I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.
  • What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
  • I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.
  • If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.