Van Gogh Article
Passion and temperament
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By JUDITH STEININGER
June 2003

Terrence Coffman is about two-thirds through with a novel titled "Ayutthaya" about a man looking for his grandson in Vietnam; it will allow Coffman to bring together his interests in Buddhism, Hinduism, India and Thailand.
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Great art is not the product of physical illness, addiction or irrational behavior. Those are impediments to art. Art is produced in spite of those things and we should respect the artist even more for overcoming them." That’s Terrence Coffman speaking: president of Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD), painter, musician and, recently, author of the novel, "A Walk Through The Wheatfields: The Missing Journals of Vincent van Gogh."

Coffman has been obsessed with van Gogh since his high school teacher put up a slide of one of the great Dutch artist’s paintings. "I’ve read every book and seen every movie; I keep learning more and more. He always resonated with me. I see him as more than a painter; he was also a great writer and philosopher. I can still remember the first time I saw a real van Gogh at the National Gallery; the passion and temperament is in each brush stroke." Speaking of impediments, Coffman goes on to explain that in van Gogh’s short lifetime of 37 years (1853 to 1890), he created such masterpieces as "Starry Night," "The Vase with 12 Sunflowers," 30 self-portraits, "Wheatfields" and his less well known though equally amazing writings. "All that despite "epilepsy, syphilis, tooth decay, and acute depression; that’s amazing," said Coffman.

Coffman and his wife Wallis, also an artist, live in Mequon where they are creating a home and studio complex to serve their needs. From the warm atmosphere of its current living room, surrounded by art books and paintings by both of them, Coffman talks about his creative life.

He became MIAD’s president in September of 1983. Prior to that he had served as dean, then president, of Maryland College of Art and Design in Silver Spring, MD for ten years. His own education was at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington D.C. A favorite early work experience was as an instructor at the Smithsonian Institution also in D.C. Looking pretty cool himself in jeans and loafers, Coffman proudly calls the approximately 700 full time degree students of MIAD "hipsters." "These are Fine Arts kids who are passionate, hard working and gifted. They know from an early age that creativity is part of who they are. When they leave here they go on to graduate school or to work in museums, galleries and corporations. Many become painters or sculptors. All of them know design and do it well."

Because of his responsibilities as president of MIAD and numerous education committees, Coffman probably wishes he had an off switch, but a creative mind rarely rests. In addition to his award winning paintings in a variety of styles and media, he has also found a modicum of success as a folk musician playing acoustic guitar at venues like Hotel Milwaukee.

The recently published novel grew out of his admiration for both van Gogh’s art and his writing, especially the letters to his brother Theo that were published in 1958. "These letters provide a day by day description of van Gogh’s life. After I read them, they started to shape the way I see things. In 1995, I got a fellowship to Provence, France then returned three other times. I had the opportunity to sit alone on a chair in his room in Auvers-sur-Oise where he died. I looked at a built in closet and wondered what if I looked in the closet and found something. I began to daydream about it and that was the seed for the idea behind the story."

The novel assumes the discovery of van Gogh’s journals and what van Gogh calls "walks," by a soldier at the end of WWI. Coffman illustrates the book with his own black and white drawings that are to be taken as van Gogh’s work.

Coffman is now adapting the story to the stage. He sees it as a dialogue between the soldier and van Gogh with a narrator to weave the two together.

"The greatest teachers in life are writers. They change and influence who you become." Three in particular have done that for Coffman. One is Nikos Kazantzakis who wrote "The Last Temptation" and "Zorba the Greek." Coffman sees a parallel between Kazantzakis and van Gogh. "Kazantzakis, especially in ‘The Last Temptation’ is writing about transforming flesh into spirit and that’s exactly what van Gogh does. He suffers so much, yet leaves this wonderful gift to humankind." Another influence is the German writer Herman Hesse, author of "Siddhartha, The Journey to the East," and "Magister Ludi." The third is Joseph Campbell’s works, especially "The Power of Myth."

Coffman recommends Irving Stone’s fictionalized biography of van Gogh, "Lust for Life," also made into a movie and Somerset Maugham’s "The Moon and Sixpence" about the painter Paul Gauguin, a contemporary of van Gogh. Coffman’s bookshelves bulge with large, heavy, beautifully illustrated art books whose single word titles speak realms: Degas, Wyeth, Gaugin, Winslow, Bonnard, and American Watercolors among others. Perched on a top shelf is the ubiquitous favorite of many an art history class instructor "The Story of Art" by Gombrich.

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