Van Gogh by Josephine Cutts and James Smith (2000) Hardcover

by Josephine and James Smith; Introduction By Lucinda Hawksley Cutts

A book of the work of Van Gogh.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Reference, Biography, Biography Memoir

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Anggia Ferdina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, the most heartbreaking story of Van Gogh I've ever read came from an art book! Okay, you probably want more documentary details about the paintings and less about the the painter. But what's great is the fact that Cutts and Smith neatly juxtaposed the artwork and the commentary features, giving a sense of chronological events in Van Gogh collection. The commentary was not primarily focused on the technique, instead it was more biographical. We can emotionally relate a painting with a period in Van Gogh's life which gave an influence to it.

In the early pages we can see the calm, unruffled, and idyllic style of Van Gogh's painting which signify early stages of his career. As we turn the pages, the paintings become more and more vigorous, yet disturbed, implying the more mature stage. Along with the more distinct style that had brought him to be a prominent post-impressionist in the history, the story of sadness, exasperation, and dejection began to take over. Closed by the famous "Wheat Field With Crows" (1890), the painting of a place in which Van Gogh shot himself, this book has become an art book that provide more than informative notes on the paintings. It's quite successful in bringing out emotional values that some other books might fail to capture.

[Xavier Patiño · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small little book filled with Van Gogh's famous paintings. On one side of the page Josephine explains the details and techniques Vincent uses on the painting featured on the opposite page. I don't know a whole lot about art critique and color theory so some things that Josephine would bring to light were things I didn't fully understand.

I enjoyed looking at the artwork and learning about the sad and tumultuous life of Vincent. It especially got sadder towards the end of the book, knowing his suicide was imminent.

A nice place to start I think for those interested in Van Gogh.

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes you in a short tour through some of Van Gogh's paintings. It's an introductory book for those who know very little about the artist and need to learn a bit more about his work.

[Kara ✨]

Of all this may be the best and most effective book on Van Gogh. It provides a thorough yet still brief introduction to his life and then descriptions of memorable paintings. It’s easy and fun to read.

I only wish it included more paintings! It’s missing a few of my favorites.

[Harooon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een leuk boek waarin het leven van Van Gogh uitgelegd is door zijn kunstwerken, te beginnen met zijn vroege dagen in Londen. Van Gogh was bijzonder getroffen door de armoede die hij daar zag. Ook was hij overweldigd door liefde voor een vrouw die niet hetzelfde voelde voor hem, wat voor Van Gogh een terugkerend thema was.

Om aan alles te ontsnappen keerde Van Gogh terug naar Nederland. Daar wou hij een religieuze roeping volgen. Hij was vooral aangetrokken tot de “arme klassen” en de andere vergeten mensen in de gemeenschap: prostituees en arme boeren bijvoorbeeld. Van Gogh woonde zelf vrijwillig in ascetische levensomstandigheden. Helaas wilde geen priester hem aannemen, vanwege zijn overdreven ijver.

Men ziet Van Gogh’s fascinatie met het boerenleven al in zijn vroegere werken, waar een soort realisme en invloed van de Nederlandse meesters op te merken is. Hij hield vooral van de kunstwerken van Jean-Francois Miller, die het Franse boerenleven in zijn eenvoud schilderde in grijs-bruin-achtig koloriet. In Antwerpen volgde Van Gogh even een kunstopleiding, waar hij een grotere focus had voor het gebruik van opvallende kleuren.

Na zijn verhuizing naar Parijs raakte hij steeds verder onder de invloed van de verschillende stromingen van de kunstwereld. Van het impressionisme leerde Van Gogh om onderwerpen met zachtere contouren voor te stellen, waar zij om leken te smelten in hun omgeving – hiermee wendde hij zich van het realisme af. Het japonisme verwonderde hem ook. Hij raakte geïnspireerd door de platheid en het krachtige gebruik van kleuren. Uiteindelijk, van het pointilisme, nam Van Gogh de dikke en losse penseelvoering over om vorm te geven in streepjes en vlekjes verf.

Elk jaar oefende Van Gogh met nieuwe stijlen en technieken, maar hij keerde toch altijd terug naar zijn favoriete thema’s: de authenticiteit en eerlijkheid van het platteland, waar te zien is dat de mensen samensmelten met de natuur. Ook de intensiteit van de gevoelens van verlangende zielen – zoals Van Gogh zelf – blijken zijn perspectief op de wereld om te buigen. Op het eerste gezicht zien zijn onderwerpen er rustig uit, maar een vermoeidheid schittert in hun ogen, hun innerlijke gevoelens tot uiting gebracht met overweldigende, contrasterende kleuren.

In de laatste paar jaar van zijn leven bereikte Van Gogh zijn eigen stijl waarin al deze ingrediënten te zien zijn. Maar diezelfde uitbarstingen van emotie, waar van Gogh nog altijd mee kampt, leed uiteindelijk ook tot zijn voortijdige dood. Op 37-jarige leeftijd schoot Van Gogh zichzelf dood. Wat hij nooit in zijn leven kon vinden, legde hij in zijn kunst.

[♡ India ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Van Gogh and I highly enjoyed it! The curation of paintings illustrated the evolution of not only van Gogh’s art style but life, as he put himself so deeply into every one of his paintings so much so it’s palpable. The descriptions for each of the paintings provided a good mix of context and analysis which I appreciated.
The only thing that bugged me was that the writer would sometimes contradict themselves, wherein they would interpret a certain facet of van Gogh’s works one way and then interpret that same facet in a completely different way using a tone that implied that their interpretation was more of an objective truth. This was aggravating.
But otherwise I thoroughly relished my time with this book and I would recommend it to those who are interested in van Gogh’s pieces and life.

[David Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weirdly concise yet comprehensive look at Van Gogh's work. There is much information about his life as well but we are chronologically following his major works and marking his changes in style. Much like his work, Van Gogh himself is a very relatable character, an artist for all ages to admire, his work beautiful and imaginative for the child and deep and symbolic for the adult.

[Piet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vriendelijke benadering van een getourmenteerde kunstenaar. De foto's van de kunstwerken zijn soms abominabel en meestal slecht. De beschrijving van de werken is verfrissend simpel zonder het hoogdravend jargon dat vaak te vinden is in de Volkskrant/Taschen serie.

[Patrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great volume to read after Lust for Life. Now I want to go to Amsterdam to the Van Gogh museum!

[Charles Maynard · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Blane Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and beautifully sad.

[Cristian de Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

ótima leitura

[Salam Almahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished this book. I had been sipping it slowly, taking my time to digest it, and I'm glad I did it this way.
I gained more knowledge about Vincent as a person, got confirmed information on the things he was going through, earned new analytical tools that would help me dissect other works, and discovered paintings that I fell in awe with.

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in Art in general and in Gogh in particular, and is new to this world. It is simple and the explanation is very clear and on point. If you are, however, deeply familiar with Gogh's life and paintings.. this would hardly add anything new to you.

This book gives glimpses of what Vincent was going through by analyzing each painting in chronological order, so as you can expect, it got really sad and depressing towards the end, which made me so overwhelmed that I could not read more than 2 pages each time. But in general, it was a great journey, I really enjoyed this book! #RIPgogh

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only things I like about this book are the photos of Van Gogh's paintings, the excerpts from his letters, and the bio.

The rest of the text is mostly just the author's own criticism of Van Gogh. It generally seems pretentious and unnecessarily belabored, actually. The author kept pushing her own unfounded theories on the artist and his work. It was all quite redundant and tiring to read, and I didn't agree with a lot of the stuff she said. It felt like listening to a gossiper who loved jumping to conclusions about people she never met. It makes me wonder if this author bothered to actually educated herself about art history and psychology, because her writing just reads like a bored blogger's opinions.

Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable collection of over a hundred reproductions. Try to make your own observations before you read the author's.

[Chris Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must for any Van Gogh fan. It includes most (all?) of his paintings and weaves a history throughout the pages. I bought the book simply for the pics of his paintings, but have also learned a bit more about the man (though admittedly any Van Gogh scholar is not going to find anything new here).

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every pages of this book gives details about Van Gogh's paintings one by one, some pages also include the story of how, why and for whom the painting was made. A-must-have if you are a fan of his works. My favorite is not the sunflower, but 'Starry Night'

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a great collection of Van Gogh's paintings, arranged in chronological order. The commentary focuses more on the biographical events going on at the time that Van Gogh created the painting. There is also a brief biography of his life in the beginning. This is a gorgeous book.

[Gaby Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Para admiradores del arte de Van Gogh.

Cita: "Si, yo hice eso en dos horas, pero yo trabaje por anos para ser capaz de hacer algo como eso en dos horas""Vincent Van Gogh"

*Estaba incluido en un lote de libros sobre diferentes artistas, y compré el lote para tener este.

[Suzan Poisner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent chronological summary of his life with beautiful images of his work. Thanks Hilary!