In Van Gogh's Footsteps

HUGHIE O’DONOGHUE’S latest show is inspired by the great painter. NATALIE MILNER asks the Academician how and why he wanted to explore the Dutch master’s legacy

- Natalie Milner

“There’s no difference between painting an apple and painting Vincent van Gogh. You still have to stand there and make a good painting,” says Manchester-born artist Hughie O’Donoghue RA, when asked if his recent reimaginings of the famous artist’s work caused him sleepless nights. He adds, “There was a lot more pressure on Van Gogh than there ever has been on me.”

The Royal Academician’s latest solo show Scorched Earth, which runs until 14 April at London’s Marlborough Fine Art gallery, questions the Dutch painter’s legacy alongside our collective cultural memory of the man. Putting severed ears aside, his new works explore paintings the much-loved artist made during the last two years of his life in Arles and Saint Rémy, France. The large-scale works are echoes of the originals, “I’m not trying to make a copy of Van Gogh,” he says, “I’m trying to make more sense of Hughie O’Donoghue, which is a different thing.”