Vincent's Colors

by Vincent van Gogh (Illustrator, Author), Metropolitan Museum of Art, William Lach (Editor)

Vincent van Gogh is one of the world's most famous artists. Throughout his life, he wrote to his younger brother, Theo, about his colorful, dynamic paintings. This book pairs the artist's paintings with his own words. Van Gogh's descriptions, arranged as a simple rhyme, introduce young readers to all the colors of the rainbowand beyond. The descriptive words combine with spectacular reproductions of many of the artist's most beloved and important works to create a perfect art book for young and old alike.

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Storytime

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2005

About the author

Vincent Willem van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage (a dreary mining district in Belgium), where he was dismissed for overzealousness. He remained in Belgium to study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints.

In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. In a fit of epilepsy, van Gogh pursued his friend with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.

In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archived on Internet Archive/ openlibrary, but I was lucky enough to read the hardcover.
Would work well as a largish board book, but I suppose then the back matter (thumbnails of the full-works from which these trimmed images were taken) would not be reproduced. Simple, but I loved it. Not a biography. Does make me want to read his letters to Theo.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful portrayal of Vincent's art to introduce children to his work and capture their imaginations!

[Ashis Saha · Rating 3 out of 5]

চমৎকার প্রিন্টে বিখ্যাত কিছু ছবি। আমি অবশ্য পড়া শুরু করেছিলাম ভাইকে লেখা ভ্যান গো'র এক চিঠির ছবির প্রতি আকৃষ্ট হয়ে - চিঠিতে ছবির বর্ণনা দিতেন ভ্যান গো। তবে এরপরের সব ছবির সাথে ছিলো কেবলই ৫-১০ শব্দের এক লাইন, ভাইকে লেখা চিঠি থেকে নেয়া। ছবির সাথে এর বিশেষত্ব বা আঁকার স্টাইলের কিছু বর্ণনার অভাবে বইটি কেবলই ১৭টি ছবি আর ১টি চিঠির প্রিন্টেড কালেকশন হয়ে দাঁড়ায়। তবে বর্ণ্না ছাড়াও দুয়েকটা ছবি দেখলেই মনে হয় - "বাহ্‌, চমৎকার!!"

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The doctors office read. Pretty book.

[Iftekhar Naim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected, amazing paintings!!! Fantastic reproduction/print quality.. but very thin on the text side.. I was hoping to see some more description or context of the paintings. Each painting has a one sentence description by Van Gogh based on what he wrote to his brother, and that's mostly it.

[Kristen Adair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes through different paintings by Van Gogh and describes them in single sentences that Van Gogh used himself to describe his own paintings. It says in the beginning how he liked to use bright colors and color is described in all of his sentence descriptions. It also has a very nice rhythm to it.
I am not a huge art person, but I really appreciate the simplicity of this book. It makes something it easy for kids to understand, and there are a lot of kids that like art that would love to read a book like this. They could just look through and admire the paintings if they wanted to. I also just think its really cool that this children's book is written and illustrated by Van Gogh himself. Its definitely a book I would keep on my shelf.
I would use this book and read it to the class if we were working on descriptive writing. I think it would be good to have the students draw their own picture then on the back of it write a description of it like Van Gogh did. Or they could draw a picture then trade with a friend and have the friend write a description of it on the back of the paper.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very simple book that isn't really much of a textual book but instead one showcasing a few of Vincent van Gogh's works while putting an emphasis on one particular feature via emphasizing it by color.

The words were taken from letters that the artist had actually written to his brother in his explanations of his pieces. Unfortunately the reader will read towards the back that some of the words were taken verbatim while others were freely translated but neither are differentiated from one another so if you really are curious to see which actually came from the painter than you will have to do your own research.... Fortunately letter numbers are provided to the reader who really wants to read over these letters on their own.

Meanwhile the pages are set-up to be one full size painting on one side and the opposite page to be a line that was taken from the notes. The lines are sequenced so much that they work as an actual story to the works themselves.

And for those curious to know more about the pieces they are included as a pictorial index in the back. Under each piece is the number of the letter, the title of the piece, the type of painting (all of these are of course oil on canvas), the size of the piece as well as where it may be found both location-wise as well country-wise with some including the collection that the piece may be found in for some of them.

All in all this will make for a great introduction to van Gogh for young readers who may not know his works and thus could also help for a nice yet quick bonding read for aficionados of van Gogh who may want to share their favorite artist or pieces with young minds.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book filled with Vincent Van Gogh's words and paintings. The words were from letters to his brother describing his paintings.

[Beth Honeycutt]

Headed to the Columbus Museum today to see the Van Gogh collection.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vincent van Gogh's art is fabulous. This book isn't that great though. But I didn't get it for the words, so I suppose it was exactly what I wanted.

[Celia Buell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vincent's Colors (words by Vincent van Gogh and compiled by the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Vincent's Colors is a good introduction to Van Gogh without having to include all the depression and scary stuff for the youngest readers. The introduction states that "van Gogh was an artist who loved bright colors" and that the words in the book are taken from letters to his brother Theo.

I think this book could be involved in an exercise on perspective taking for young students. Having students look at the pictures and point out 1-2 elements that stand out, especially using color, would be a good starting activity. Students could describe the colors that are the most prominent and then the teacher could read each page. Did the students describe the same things as van Gogh did?

I like that this book exposes kids to all varieties of van Gogh's art and the wide range of colors he used, rather than just Starry Night and the sunflower paintings. It helps readers to look at the bigger picture and recognize that art is not just a single entity, which can also be applied to bigger things like personality, hobbies, or identity. You don't have to be just one kind of person, and you don't have to paint just one kind of picture.

I would definitely consider using this one in my classroom.

[Sarah Beth Stair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
"Vincent's Colors" gives facts of biographical information about Vincent Van Gogh's life. It then shows many of his paintings and describes them uses words he wrote in letters to his brother, Theo. It rhymes the words to explain the beautiful paintings displayed in the book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Analysis:
I really enjoyed this book because the paintings displayed in it are gorgeous. I think it's really great for kids to be exposed to real art like Van Gogh's so they can learn to appreciate it and understand how great artists are from a young age.

How I will use this book:
This can be used to educate students about one of the most prominent and important artists to ever have lived. It would be great to use to show them art and then inspire them to make their own similar art or even rhymes to describe their artwork.

[Epos Opus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Vincent's Colors
Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vincent Van Gogh
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 48
Language: English
Isbn: 9780811850995
Published: 2005
Read and review: 2025
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐ (3)

Born in gloomy Netherlands. Vincent loved bright colors. When he was older he moved to southern France where the sun is stronger and the colors brighter.

Being away from his family made Vincent write letters to his family. He often wrote to his brother letters where he described his works, their dynamics and their colors.

This book combines Vincent works, next to them the descriptions from his letters. Giving a peek into Vincent's thoughts and passion for art.

[Adrianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Vincent's Colors" is a beautiful picture book. Van Gogh was a famous Dutch Post-Impressionist painter and the book includes sixteen of his paintings along with phrases from the letters he wrote to his brother, Theo. I enjoyed looking at each painting and my favorites were "Irises" and "Starry Night over the Rhine River." The last painting in the book was "Starry Night" which is one of Van Gogh's most famous paintings. I highly recommend this book since it gives an introduction to Van Gogh, his paintings, and the letters he wrote to his brother, Theo.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vincent van Gogh is one of the world's most famous artists. Throughout his life, he wrote to his younger brother, Theo, about his colorful, dynamic paintings. This book pairs the artist's paintings with his own words. Van Gogh's descriptions, arranged as a simple rhyme, introduce young readers to all the colors of the rainbowand beyond. The descriptive words combine with spectacular reproductions of many of the artist's most beloved and important works to create a perfect art book for young and old alike.

[Ember Air · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very cute little children's book. I liked how they zoomed in on the paintings to make them more easily process-able by young children, but then have the full prints in the back so that the those who want to see more, can. The book says that it is a rhyming story book, and it kind of is if you read it quickly, but with the art work on each page, and wanting to spend time looking at the pictures, the rhyming aspect is almost completely hidden! Which made for fun re-reads.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have really mixed opinions of this book. For a kid reading the book alone, it is a bust. It will only come alive with an adult, who loves art, using the book to further discussion about a trip to an art museum or such. There just isn't enough information transmitted for the book to stand successfully on its own. The illustrations of original Van Gogh's are great but a postscript containing additional information is lacking.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be good to use in toddler story time as there are few words, bright colorful illustrations, and good first introduction to classical art and artists. I could even use this with toddler craft and have them create shaving cream paintings with food coloring. The possibilities are endless. What is also interesting to note is that the words describing the paintings are from van Gogh's personal letters to his brother. How cool is that?

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic picture book introduction to the most famous art works of Vincent Van Gogh. The book begins with a brief description of Van Gogh's life and art, in order to give a bit of context. Following that, each page contains one painting along with a line from Van Gogh's own writings. Charming!

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and short phrases about the colors in various Van Gogh paintings.
Each 2 page spread is a Van Gogh painting on one page and then the words on the other.
The words are from Vincent's letters to his brother, although they admit that some are "loosely translated".

Beautiful introduction to some of Van Gogh's most famous works.

End matter gives titles and more information on each painting.

[A Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this book uses Vincent's own words showcased alongside his pieces. There are only 5-8 words on each page, which leaves room for the reader to interpret and appreciate the artwork in my opinion. I do wish the artwork was made to fit onto the pages; the pieces were cropped into a square shape, which I especially didn't like when it came to the landscapes.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond the first page or two, there's very little text here, just short descriptions of paintings. Those descriptions are translated from letters from van Gogh to his brother. The focus really is on the paintings themselves.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are only 2 paragraphs on one page about Van Gogh. The rest of the pages are his paintings, but they are only part of the paintings, they are cropped, some of them with nearly half the painting missing.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way for toddlers and preschoolers to be introduced to Van Gogh’s masterpieces by focusing on the main colors in each of the paintings and matching them with some of his own words about those paintings.

* library book. Read at 22 months

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reproductions of several of Van Gogh's works with what, in his letters to his brother Theo, he said about the colors in the paintings. While I loved the painting reproductions, I would have loved to know more about what the artist said about them.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun look at VanGogh’s paintings for K-2, I would say but a little more bio with each painting would have been cool to help internalize the artist as a person.

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic info, but a good primer.

[Renae J Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because I love the work of Vincent van Gogh. However, the book did not really keep my kids entertained. I suspect it would be best for kids who are really into art.

[Kathleen Messmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book up at the museum and so glad I did. I discovered some of his work that I’d never seen or known about. Lovely little book.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for a short picture book about Vincent van Gogh that shows his artwork.