In all my writings about Theo van Gogh never did I pay any real attention to the famous brother of his great-grandfather, Vincent. It wasn't immediately relevant to the story - apart from Theo's rants about royalties the Dutch state owed his family - and therefore I left it out almost all of the time.

There is a Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the last time I visited it was in 1990, the year that marked the 100th anniversary of Vincent's tragic suicide. Of all the paintings on display the one that left the deepest impression and continues to do so, was Wheatfield with Crows painted not long before Vincent van Gogh's death in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise. This work is often interpreted as representative of the painter's dark side which manifested itself through depressions and ultimately his suicide at age 37. For that he picked a wheatfield where he shot himself.

Of course, when you look at the work it isn't overly difficult to extrapolate its significance to Europe today. Dark clouds are gathering over the shining wheatfield and the crows further add to the sense of gloom. In such an ominous situation it is not easy to find an easy and quick way out and Vincent van Gogh appropriately included three paths, representing three different directions. If I were to translate these to Europe today it would probably mean: muddle through, take decisive action or give up. As obvious as the choice may seem, it is incredibly hard to make a positive one as Vincent van Gogh himself discovered.