Advice for the Soul: Vincent van Gogh

by Vincent van Gogh

192 pages, Hardcover

Published February 11, 2025

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

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Even though I’m often in a mess, inside me there’s still a calm, pure harmony and music. In the poorest little house, in the filthiest corner, I see paintings or drawings. And my mind turns in the direction as if with an irresistible urge.’

What an inspiration.

[Lil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less expectations would have made this a smoother read. I enjoyed the layout of the book, as it includes many of Vincent van Gogh's sketches and paintings alongside quotations from his private letters. While I've seen some of his more famous works, there were many more in this edition that were new to me. He writes beautifully, which is maybe to be expected from an artistic soul. However, I felt like some of the quotations needed a little bit more context to be fully appreciated and understood. All the letters are cited at the end, but I lazily wanted the editor to do more of that contextualization for me.

The book is split into sections like hope, meaning, love, etc. This works well, but I wondered about the order of the quotes. As a casual admirer of van Gogh's work and amateur painter, I hoped they would be shown chronologically and offer deeper insight into his artistic process. That being said, art doesn't always come together in a linear fashion - I'm cool with that being my takeaway.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep quotes. Really liked it.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

pleasant