I was lucky to get tickets to see this exhibition which has been in high demand since it opened in September.

The works I could visit at the National Gallery were made by Van Gogh between 1888 and 1889, when he went to live and work to Arles and Saint-Remy-de-Provence, in the South of France.

The first room holds two portraits and “The Poet’s Garden” which immediately caught my eye because of the intensity of the colors, the light and the peace it transmits.

“I’m going to be an arbitrary colourist… Behind the head – instead of painting the dull wall of the mean room, I paint the infinite”. These words written in the walls almost brought tears to my eyes as I think of the difficult life of Vincent and how he indeed painted the infinite for generations and generations of people to come and admire his art.

“The Garden of the Asylum at Saint-Remy” is the next work that makes me fall in love, the pinks, the joy, the vibrancy of all the greens mixed with the blues.

Then to the next room and probably my favourite of all the exhibition (not only for the Japanese references that I love) “The Sower”, there is something universal about this painting. This dark figure that we almost imagine moving, more than seeing, which emerges from the bottom left in parallel to the tree that points to the magnificent sun. I can see what it feels to be human in this composition. I see it in the light that indicate a sunset, I can feel the anxiety, the fear mixed with the utter beauty of being alive, I can feel it all when I look at this painting which captivated me. I wonder is the man dancing after all?

A painting that shows a more relaxed way of painting is “The Alyscamps”, where Van Gogh imagined a pair of lovers taking a promenade along a line of Roman and medieval tombs.

In the adjacent room we can find a series of drawings, which to me show even more than the paintings, what a phenomenal talent he had. I particularly stop and look at “Trees, Montmajour” where I find happiness in what I consider a dancing tree to the right of the paper.

“The Stevedores” is remarkable for that sky painted with only a few lines. “The Trinquetaille Bridge” makes me want to paint some of the bridges near Kew Bridge in London.

In the final room, I admired “The Olive Tress” painting and drawing. I felt transported to the rhythm along those hills. My hands started to draw in the air, continuing those brushstrokes. Again, Vincent, you are making me want to dance. Thank you.

“The painter of the future is a colourist such as there hasn’t been before”.