OKCMOA'S INTERIM 
PRESIDENT & CEO
DR. MICHAEL ANDERSON
& THE STORY OF VAN GOGH'S 
THE WHEAT FIELD...

Photo courtesy Oklahoma City Museum of Art

We're excited to announce Director of Curatorial Affairs Dr. Michael Anderson has accepted a position as Interim President & CEO of OKCMOA! You may have seen him around the Museum introducing a film, giving a tour or lecture, or overseeing work in the galleries. He earned his doctorate in History of Art and Film Studies at Yale University in 2013 and joined the Museum in 2014 as Film Curator. OKCMOA's Board of Trustees selected Dr. Anderson to lead the Museum as we work to begin a national search for a new President & CEO.

"I am truly humbled by the confidence that the Board of Trustees has shown in me, and by the support I have received from my very talented colleagues. I am passionate about the Museum and the city, and am eager to do my small part in helping to guide OKCMOA during this period of transition." - Dr. Michael Anderson

The Story of The Wheat Field behind St. Paul’s Hospital, St. Rémy Van Gogh's lifelong struggles with "attacks of mania" are well known. These incidents – perhaps stemming from a form of epilepsy – became more pronounced following his two months of unsuccessful collaboration with Paul Gauguin in Arles in late 1888. The intense situation and its physical toll eventually prompted Van Gogh to admit himself to the clinic of Saint-Paul-de-Mausolé. Unable to leave the hospital to paint for the first few weeks, Van Gogh turned to this view from his window for inspiration. Thus began the creation of a series that culminated in some fourteen canvases and thirteen drawings. It is in the swirling clouds of The Wheat Field behind St. Paul’s Hospital, St. Rémy (1889) that we can see echoes of the whirling, rhythmic brushwork that Van Gogh employed in The Starry Night, which he would paint later in the same year. PURCHASE TICKETS