Van Gogh

by Victoria Charles

116 Photographs - Van Gogh's life and work are so intertwined that it is hardly possible to see his pictures without reading in them the story of his life: a life which has been described so many times and that is by now the stuff of the legend. Van Gogh is the incarnation of the suffering, misunderstood martyr of modern art, the emblem of the artist as an outsider. This great artist lived at various places throughout his life and the book presents them in different topics, some of them are: Holland, England and Belgium: 1853-1886 Paris: 1886-1888 Arles: 1888-1889 Saint-Remy: 1889-1890 This book on one of the great masters who finally committed suicide, is a worthwhile read for fans as well as lovers of modern art.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, History, France

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Victoria Charles received her PhD in history of art. She has published extensively on the subject and has regularly contributed to Art Information, an international guide to contemporary art.

Frequently writing articles for specialised journals and magazines, Victoria Charles recently contributed to a collective work, World History of Art.

Reviews

[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an alright read but I didn't learn too much about van Gogh.

It's more of a collection of his paintings (which are BEAUTIFUL) along with the letters he wrote.
It's one of those coffee table books that you mainly read for the pictures over the words.


Still, seeing that I only liked The Starry Night this collection introduced me to more of his works.

[mai · Rating 3 out of 5]

lovely

[Luly · Rating 3 out of 5]

La biografía de Vincent no aporta mucho más de lo que ya se sabe de él, si bien hay algunas cosas con las me sorprendí. Personalmente, molesta un poco el orden de las pinturas a lo largo del libro, ya que no están en orden cronológico dentro de la sección, y no tienen mucha relevancia con el texto que aparece al lado (aparte de que muchas veces cortan el párrafo a la mitad y es molesto).
Fuera de eso, me gustó mucho la selección de pinturas, ya que hay un montón que desconocía, y las imágenes tienen una calidad muy buena. Me hubiera gustado que incluyeran más dibujos, que si bien no son tan extraordinarios como los colores en óleo, en su vida Vincent hizo más dibujos que pinturas y evidencian de igual manera el tremendo progreso que fue haciendo a lo largo de los años.

[Genevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting books with not only a biography of Vincent Van Gogh but letters and pictures that he wrote to mostly his brother but some to his mother and friends.
I learned a lot about Van Gogh in this book and loved looking at his pictures.

[Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is quite a bit of information about Van Gogh's life that I found very interesting, along with transcriptions of Vincent's and Theo's letters. The size of this book made the gorgeous and detailed reproductions of Van Gogh's painting featured in this volume a treat to go through.

However, some of the paintings were presented in a random order, therefore, they did not serve to illustrate the events being narrated, which is a shame. Additionally, the book ends quite abruptly, without going into detail about Vincent's last days.

[Luly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo único que vale la pena de este libro son las pinturas en una buena calidad que no se suele encontrar en internet y los prólogos de los capítulos. Después de eso es una recopilación de cartas que meh, apenas las miré por arriba

[Natasha P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Van Gogh es Van Gogh y lo demás, es demencia.

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

To talk about the art and the life of Van Gogh seems to be the same thing sometimes. His passion, his pain and his power could describe not just his work but also his most hard life episodies.

His art is a beautiful portrait of an inestable but genius mind; a reflection of how wonderfuly he felt and understood everything around him and how he suffer through the incomprension he was victim of. This book is a resume of his life but I found it very appropiated because is super imparcial what is weird when people talk about Van Gogh. The author dont do any personal judgmenst and let us know the true about his art.

And another thing that I also appreciate a lot was that it came with a lot of art pieces that are not the most famous from him so it let us know new art and new creations from him I was surprised looking some pictures that I dont knew and thats a very beautiful thing when you read an art book.
So if you are a kind of modern groupie of Van Gogh as I am this book is perfect jaja

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The alternation of biography, letters, and artwork made for an interesting read - though it would've been easier in hardcopy, rather than via Libby on my phone. I did get frustrated, however, by the ordering of the artworks; they were neither chronological, nor organised by when they were mentioned in the letters.

[Ahmed K-masterly {Cruel Sanity} · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great big collection of my favorite artists ever.

[Iuliia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I myself am quite absorbed in that immense plain with wheat fields up as far as the hills, boundless as the ocean, delicate yellow, delicate soft green, the delicate purple of a tilled and weeded piece of ground, with the regular speckle of the green of flowering potato plants, everything under a sky of delicate tones of blue, white, pink and violet. I am in a mood of almost too much calm, just the mood needed for painting this." (Vincent Van Gogh)

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful images with letters to Theo and from Theo and a little narrative in between. Didn't shine any new light on van Gogh, really, but it was interesting and well worth my time nonetheless.

[Lana Hasper · Rating 2 out of 5]

beautiful reproductions of his paintings. Quick overview of his life punctuated with his letters to Theo.

[Heathaa Feathaaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic introduction to Van Gogh. Noticed some typos. For more in-depth information, read another Van Gogh book.