Life Of Van Gogh Inspires New Soundtrack, Stage Show

By: Stephanie Simon

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A New York musician and music producer has created a soundtrack and music videos for some of Vincent Van Gogh's most famous paintings. NY1's Stephanie Simon filed the following report.

Dutch Musician Diederick Van Eck would like those who think they know Vincent Van Gogh to start singing a different tune, preferably one of the 12 on his new CD "Van Gogh By Van Eck." It's Van Eck's attempt to translate Van Gogh's life and paintings into music.

"He wasn't only the madman, the insane guy, that cut off his ear. He was much more," said Van Eck. "He was a person that stood for persistency, had perseverance, that followed the dream, that was a believer. He had passion."

The new CD offers 12 songs inspired by 12 famous paintings, including The Potato Eaters.

"If you look at it at first glance, you will say it's doomy and it's gloomy because it's dark. However if you give it a little longer thought what you see is a family, after a hard day's work, coming back from the fields having a cozy warm moment under the oil lamp, having potatoes," said Van Eck. "If you know the story about Van Gogh a little bit, he always wanted to be part of a family."

Van Eck, who today splits his time between New York and Amsterdam, grew up admiring the Dutch painter. But originally he wasn't supposed to sing the music or star in the videos.

"We were looking for another artist, we were looking for a guy like Rod Stewart or Willie Nelson, because we felt that he would fit in that role of Van Gogh very well. However, at a certain point we realized that these great artist, they are, they have a fan base, and so they cannot step into the role of 'Now today I am Van Gogh,'" said Van Eck.

There are also plans to turn Van Eck's project into a new Broadway musical based on the life of Van Gogh.

"What we are doing is we are embodying Van Gogh in today's character," said Van Eck. "He's not going to be a famous painter but he's going to be a very talented musician. He lives in the '70s, the East Village, and he is sort of cloned by the life of Van Gogh and he goes out there and people who enter the theater will first come into the traditional world of Van Gogh and will smell the paint and see all the stuff that is surrounding Van Gogh."