Creative Inspiration: Van Gogh

by Vincent van Gogh

A beautiful and delightfully handy art book that is designed to inspire, this collection of 150 beautifully reproduced Vincent Van Gogh images makes a stylish gift. His writings have been edited and selected to create an enlightening, uplifting, and helpful book for art lovers and creatives, amateur and professional alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 10, 2017

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

[Johanna H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful. Semi-inspirational. Simplicity.

[Fotoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading all these beautiful quotes and seeing those sketches/drawings/paintings from Vince is just so amazing. I’ve always been intrigued by his story and will always find books to read more about him.

[Mohamed Jaafar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The insanely beautiful van Gogh, simply inspiring. Beauty lies in simplicity. Something about this book is just so special, and touches me sincerely.

[Mind the Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fin presentbok! Såg denna kleinblå (?) skönhet på Waterstones och läste den i en sittning på det starry night-lika No.1 Duke Street i Richmond en dag efter jobbet. Hade bröd och ost framför mig på bordet och kände mig mycket lycklig!

"As long as there's bread in the house [...] what more could I want? My enjoyment lies in my work getting better - and that absorbs me more and more."

image:

Ser nu fram emot den kommande filmen 'Loving Vincent': http://lovingvincent.com/

[haispeace · Rating 5 out of 5]

So inspirational. I love Vincent, he's my favorite painter, and I believe that this recompilation of some phrases he wrote on his letters is a very special way to keep his memory alive.

He's got good advice on how to perform someone's passion, and also on how to live when we don't have the corage to do it anymore.

A very nice read. I'll be rereading it multiple times.

[Solange Vidal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este es un libro que se disfruta desde el tacto, que se lee con atención y de esos que sabes que, indudablemente, volverás a leer. La selección de los fragmentos extraídos de la correspondencia de Van Gogh nos permite adentrarnos progresivamente en su universo, tan único, acompañado además por algunos de sus bocetos. La composición es tan atinada como el azul de su portada.

[Yoana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than books oriented on motivation. Van Gogh's thoughts and views on the world are somethig else. Comes from the heart and actual experience, pain and achievement gained trough that pain. Would highly recommend.

[Thomas Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quotes from Van Gogh coupled with early sketches and drawings. Purchased from the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

[Trinh Chau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very lovely and inspiring small read I’m proud to have

[Irfan Muhaimin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini petikan kata kata Van Gogh melalui beberapa surat dan ada lukisan VG yang jarang kita lihat. Apa yang boleh disimpulkan VG seorang filsuf dan berfikiran tajam dalam banyak aspek terutama hal seni. Antara katanya “'We sometimes feel rather lonely and long for friends, and think we'd be quite different and happier if only we found "it", a friend of whom we would say, "this is it". But you, too, will already have started to notice that there's a lot of self-deception behind this, and that this longing, if we were to surrender to it too much, would cause us to stray from the path. To understand all is to forgive all, and I believe that if we knew everything we'd arrive at a certain serenity. Now having this serenity as much as possible, even when one knows - little - nothing - for certain, is perhaps a better remedy against all ills than what's sold in the chemist's. A lot comes of its own accord, one grows and develops of one's own accord. Secara keseluruhan buku ini penutup bagi misi memahami jiwa Van Gogh

[India M. Clamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.29.24 RIP

Many sketches here along with auspicious quotes illustrating how an artists mind thinks, creates, and views a world. Vincent and Theo some would say were at opposite ends of the the universe--one was rational and logical and the other was passionate, emotional and some have remarked dramatic and irrational like a hungry animal cornered.

"An artist , in any case, is the exact opposite of someone living the life of leisure, and as I said, if one wants to draw a parallel, then either a smith or doctor corresponds more closely."
---Vincent van Gogh

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5 stars. After visiting the Van Gogh Museum and becoming even more obsessed with him, I had to get this little book full of quotes. As I'm not an aspiring artist I didn't 'feel' all the quotes, but of course there were some really pretty ones in there about passion and nature. I liked that beside each quote there was one of his drawings, but I felt like there could be more variation in the drawings shown, as a lot were pretty similar.

[Eugenia Senik · Rating 5 out of 5]

"While I'm working I feel an unlimited confidence in art and that I'll succeed, but on days of physical exhaustion or when there are financial obstacles I feel that faith less and am overcome by doubt, which I try to get over by immediately setting to work."

Such a wonderful book with thoughts of Vincent van Gogh.

[Mario Gogh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este é um daqueles livros para ser ter na cabeceira da cama ou num escritório para momentos de emergência.

Tem um trabalho Fantástico de capa e diagramação. É um livro que serve bem ao seu propósito: inspiração.

[Renato Renato · Rating 3 out of 5]

short book. It bring pieces of Vincent Van Gogh's letters organized by themes. You can sense the depth of this man also in his writings. He was really an observer and a reflexive person. I guess he would do well as a poet too. I have the book with the full letters. Let's see if I can read it soon.

[Anna Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep this book on my desk at all times and flip through every now and then. Very beautiful and inspirational quotes. What an interesting life this man lived. Would also very much recommend the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, where I picked up this treasure.

[Yuval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and indeed inspiring. 10/10 would recommend to get this as a gift for your creative friend.

[Yazmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and inspiring quotes taken from Van Gogh's letters

[shensis · Rating 5 out of 5]

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
“the battle is short and it’s worthwhile being sincere”

[Emily Rennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous little book. I love Van Gogh so much!

[Eleni Stavrianou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring. A glimpse into the artist's mind with his own words (translated).

[Alex Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great gift book for Van Gogh fans.

[Cez Verzosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved how this book was prepared. Van Gogh is a great companion for every creative out there.

[Anoushka Kolahalu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A calming, easy read on Van Gogh's inspirations.

[Arun Seehra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The drawings in this book I’ve never seen before, they’re really cool and make you understand the way he paints in the way he draws. Interesting and inspiring quotes from letters to his brother about why he kept working and painting although he never was financially free. He just did it for the pursuit. Serious 💯

[Zoe Davey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful little treasure for a bookshelf.

[Elsa Kuka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiny piece of joy.

[Auriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want this to end.