POV Rotating Header Image

Prescient or Prophetic?

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, 1886 - Van Gogh

Van Gogh - Skull of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette, 1886

One of my favourite paintings. At a certain level telling you that you are damned by your “habits” for eternity, and at the other telling you that smoking kills.

Was he prescient or prophetic? - or was this simply art?

Sphere: Related Content

Random Posts

3 Comments on “Prescient or Prophetic?”

  1. #1 An ananymous blogger
    on May 29th, 2005 at 9:21 pm

    I started blogging a few days back… was browsing blogs, came across yours. Its quite a nice one!

    This is an interesting painting. van Gogh seems to have painted quite a few paintings showing people smoking between 1885-1890. (Check out http://www.jti.com/english/tobacco_corner/art_gallery/van_gogh.aspx)

    Wonder why?

  2. #2 pH
    on May 30th, 2005 at 8:42 pm

    interesting pic!
    i seem to have missed this one earlier. not that i can claim to have seen all paintings by the Master.

  3. #3 Bernardo
    on Jun 4th, 2005 at 10:14 am

    Can’t answer the question ( :-) ) but love this. Very interesting… you are turning me on to new books and other art. You are a treasure!

Leave a Comment