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Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh: A Portrait of the Compassionate Life
Carol Berry and her husband met and befriended Henri Nouwen when she sat in his course on compassion at Yale Divinity School in the 1970s. At the request of Henri Nouwen's literary estate, she has written this book, which includes unpublished material recorded from Nouwen's lectures.
As an art educator, Berry is uniquely situated to develop Nouwen's work on Vincent van Gogh and to add her own research. She fills in background on the much misunderstood spiritual context of van Gogh's work, and reinterprets van Gogh's art (presented here in full color) in light of Nouwen's lectures. Berry also brings in her own experience in ministry, sharing how Nouwen and van Gogh, each in his own way, led her to the richness and beauty of the compassionate life.
As an art educator, Berry is uniquely situated to develop Nouwen's work on Vincent van Gogh and to add her own research. She fills in background on the much misunderstood spiritual context of van Gogh's work, and reinterprets van Gogh's art (presented here in full color) in light of Nouwen's lectures. Berry also brings in her own experience in ministry, sharing how Nouwen and van Gogh, each in his own way, led her to the richness and beauty of the compassionate life.
160 pages, Hardcover
Published May 7, 2019
30 people are currently reading
357 people want to read
About the author
Carol A. Berry
2 books5 followersCarol A. Berry is an artist, art educator, and lecturer at the Vermont Humanities Council, and the author of Vincent Van Gogh: His Spiritual Vision in Life and Art in the Modern Spiritual Masters series.
Berry has been studying Vincent van Gogh since 1979, and spent years under the instruction of Henri J.M. Nouwen. She has traveled throughout Europe retracing van Gogh's life, visiting the towns and villages in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France, where van Gogh lived and worked. She has also published chapters in the books Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend and Turning the Wheel: Henri Nouwen and Our Search for God. She has an MA in art education from California State University.
Berry has been studying Vincent van Gogh since 1979, and spent years under the instruction of Henri J.M. Nouwen. She has traveled throughout Europe retracing van Gogh's life, visiting the towns and villages in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France, where van Gogh lived and worked. She has also published chapters in the books Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend and Turning the Wheel: Henri Nouwen and Our Search for God. She has an MA in art education from California State University.
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July 2, 2019
The heart of this book is embodied by Henri Nouwen's words; "the word compassion literally means 'to suffer with'". Because it's essentially about the experiences of three people (Vincent Van Gogh, Nouwen, and the author Carol Berry) who suffered greatly to be compassionate but also found no other way of living.
Naturally the most famous of the three is Van Gogh but his life takes on an entirely new light through the lens of Dutch theologian and professor Henri Nouwen. And Nouwen's life and teachings in turn are transformed by the impressions of his former student, the art educator Carol Berry who took Nouwen's class on compassion at Yale. Nouwen calls Van Gogh 'his saint', in that he found a spirit so kindred to his own, so continuously inspirational, that he spent decades of his life studying Van Gogh, his letters, and his art. And on the surface this confused me because, although I was unfamiliar with Nouwen before reading this book, the facts of his life didn't seem kindred to my impression of Van Gogh as a sensitive, depressive genius who eventually committed suicide. After all what does a Dutch priest who gave up academia to live and work in a hospice for mentally disabled individuals have in common with an artist who lived with a prostitute and chopped his own ear off in a fit a rage?
Only, now I totally get it. Because they both lived this insane, radical compassion that looked foolish to the world and what we are told we should desire for our lives. In fact, Van Gogh spent his mid 20s as a missionary to a desperately poor and disease stricken mining community in Belgium. It was a formative time in his life and eventual artistic development. He wrote to his brother, "melancholy does not hurt, but makes us see things with a holier eye."
And despite his own degenerating physical and emotional condition, he lived and worked in the same squalid conditions as the miners in order to live their suffering with them, instead of preaching from a lofty position. He ripped up his own bed sheets to make bandages for a wounded miner, he gave his meager food supplies to families with empty cupboards, etc. To the extent that when the Belgian religious authorities visited him to assess whether to appoint and financially support him as a full fledged missionary, he was rejected as too radical. It rather puts into sharp relief the distinction between religion and faith.
In much of Van Gogh's early work we can see his sketches of the miners, his desire to use art to foster compassion and empathy with oft ignored laborers and peasants. And something in this struck an eternal chord with Nouwen. Berry writes,
In Nouwen's own words,
The was the essence of Van Gogh. His whole life, right there. The deepening of his own pain and grief to paint people who were ignored and scorned, at the cost of personal comfort and well being. In another letter to his brother;
Nouwen believed that Van Gogh 'crawled under the skin of people', found holy in the ordinary. Van Gogh himself chased the sun for his paintings later in life, giving us the most enduring image of his work, which is light soaked, warm, and reverent of nature and ordinary working people. Solidarity. Consolation. The belief that no person is 'destined for the worms'. Evidenced most strongly when he wrote in 1882 about a painting by one of his greatest artistic influences Jean-François Millet,
Nouwen, and later Berry, found in Van Gogh 'the light and the sun that were really bringing [one] in touch with something that could only be called the lighting up of eternity in the midst of life'. And that's the perfect way to sum it all up.
I've written mostly about Van Gogh and Nouwen's relationship to his life and work, but Berry herself is no less a compelling figure and I can see the threads that connect her to Van Gogh so powerfully. In her 20s she moved from Europe to rural Vermont after marrying a young American student minister. Rural Vermont in the 1970s was populated by poor farmers and mill workers and she quickly came to understand the deepening of compassion through the deepening of pain. Holding the mother of a drowned young boy, making house calls to women with rotting teeth living in dilapidated trailers, witnessing a fire destroy a young family's home because the fire engines couldn't reach them on the icy, country roads. And later, after divinity school at Yale, in inner city ministries populated with the homeless and those with mental illnesses unable to work or afford health insurance.
I suppose if you, like any of these three people, have felt the depths of nakedness and vulnerability, of doubt and struggle, but still the iron will to not close your eyes to the human condition, then you will understand the sort of radical compassion displayed by multiple people in this book. The kind that looks to others a lot like madness, poverty, obscurity, or all three. I think it takes a few, very gifted people to go to the lengths described here (though doubtless they exist in greater quantities than we imagine) but all of us could benefit from spending a little time thinking about compassion and how to grow deeper and fuller in it.
On an end note, I know the Van Gogh suicide theory has been challenged throughout the years by academics and art experts alike. I first encountered the push back against this accepted image of Van Gogh as the sensitive suicidal in Loving Vincent but I think what this book accomplishes that the movie does not, is provide a peek into the soul of Van Gogh and what we can glean about his inner life from over 400 of his letters. I think Nouwen and Berry spent so much time with him, listening to the stuff his soul ran on so to speak, trying to see the man underneath people's narrow judgements about his life choices, disabilities, and mental illness. And the person they resonate with so much is someone I'd like to spend more time getting to know in the future as well.
Naturally the most famous of the three is Van Gogh but his life takes on an entirely new light through the lens of Dutch theologian and professor Henri Nouwen. And Nouwen's life and teachings in turn are transformed by the impressions of his former student, the art educator Carol Berry who took Nouwen's class on compassion at Yale. Nouwen calls Van Gogh 'his saint', in that he found a spirit so kindred to his own, so continuously inspirational, that he spent decades of his life studying Van Gogh, his letters, and his art. And on the surface this confused me because, although I was unfamiliar with Nouwen before reading this book, the facts of his life didn't seem kindred to my impression of Van Gogh as a sensitive, depressive genius who eventually committed suicide. After all what does a Dutch priest who gave up academia to live and work in a hospice for mentally disabled individuals have in common with an artist who lived with a prostitute and chopped his own ear off in a fit a rage?
Only, now I totally get it. Because they both lived this insane, radical compassion that looked foolish to the world and what we are told we should desire for our lives. In fact, Van Gogh spent his mid 20s as a missionary to a desperately poor and disease stricken mining community in Belgium. It was a formative time in his life and eventual artistic development. He wrote to his brother, "melancholy does not hurt, but makes us see things with a holier eye."
And despite his own degenerating physical and emotional condition, he lived and worked in the same squalid conditions as the miners in order to live their suffering with them, instead of preaching from a lofty position. He ripped up his own bed sheets to make bandages for a wounded miner, he gave his meager food supplies to families with empty cupboards, etc. To the extent that when the Belgian religious authorities visited him to assess whether to appoint and financially support him as a full fledged missionary, he was rejected as too radical. It rather puts into sharp relief the distinction between religion and faith.
In much of Van Gogh's early work we can see his sketches of the miners, his desire to use art to foster compassion and empathy with oft ignored laborers and peasants. And something in this struck an eternal chord with Nouwen. Berry writes,
Henri stressed that to become compassionate people, we had to recognize and admit 'our intimate solidarity with the human condition'. We had to give up our desire to be different, exceptional, or better than the others in order to become a consoling presence.
In Nouwen's own words,
"Consolation demands that we be cum solis with [alone with] the lonely other, and with him or her exactly there where he or she is lonely and where he or she hurts and nowhere else. Consolation is...not the avoidance of pain, but paradoxically, the deepening of pain to a level where it can be shared."
The was the essence of Van Gogh. His whole life, right there. The deepening of his own pain and grief to paint people who were ignored and scorned, at the cost of personal comfort and well being. In another letter to his brother;
"What I am in the eyes of most -a nonentity or an eccentric or a disagreeable man- someone who has no position in society and will not have one, in short a little lower than the lowest. Well then, if this were exactly like that, then through my work I would like to show what is in the heart of such an eccentric, such a nobody."
Nouwen believed that Van Gogh 'crawled under the skin of people', found holy in the ordinary. Van Gogh himself chased the sun for his paintings later in life, giving us the most enduring image of his work, which is light soaked, warm, and reverent of nature and ordinary working people. Solidarity. Consolation. The belief that no person is 'destined for the worms'. Evidenced most strongly when he wrote in 1882 about a painting by one of his greatest artistic influences Jean-François Millet,
"It seems to me that one of the strongest proofs for the existence of 'something on high' in which Millet believed, name in a God and in an eternity, is the inexpressibly moving quality seen in the expression of an old man like that...as he sits so quietly in the corner by his hearth. At the same time, there's something dignified, something noble, that can't be destined for the worms."
Nouwen, and later Berry, found in Van Gogh 'the light and the sun that were really bringing [one] in touch with something that could only be called the lighting up of eternity in the midst of life'. And that's the perfect way to sum it all up.
I've written mostly about Van Gogh and Nouwen's relationship to his life and work, but Berry herself is no less a compelling figure and I can see the threads that connect her to Van Gogh so powerfully. In her 20s she moved from Europe to rural Vermont after marrying a young American student minister. Rural Vermont in the 1970s was populated by poor farmers and mill workers and she quickly came to understand the deepening of compassion through the deepening of pain. Holding the mother of a drowned young boy, making house calls to women with rotting teeth living in dilapidated trailers, witnessing a fire destroy a young family's home because the fire engines couldn't reach them on the icy, country roads. And later, after divinity school at Yale, in inner city ministries populated with the homeless and those with mental illnesses unable to work or afford health insurance.
I suppose if you, like any of these three people, have felt the depths of nakedness and vulnerability, of doubt and struggle, but still the iron will to not close your eyes to the human condition, then you will understand the sort of radical compassion displayed by multiple people in this book. The kind that looks to others a lot like madness, poverty, obscurity, or all three. I think it takes a few, very gifted people to go to the lengths described here (though doubtless they exist in greater quantities than we imagine) but all of us could benefit from spending a little time thinking about compassion and how to grow deeper and fuller in it.
On an end note, I know the Van Gogh suicide theory has been challenged throughout the years by academics and art experts alike. I first encountered the push back against this accepted image of Van Gogh as the sensitive suicidal in Loving Vincent but I think what this book accomplishes that the movie does not, is provide a peek into the soul of Van Gogh and what we can glean about his inner life from over 400 of his letters. I think Nouwen and Berry spent so much time with him, listening to the stuff his soul ran on so to speak, trying to see the man underneath people's narrow judgements about his life choices, disabilities, and mental illness. And the person they resonate with so much is someone I'd like to spend more time getting to know in the future as well.
January 19, 2020
Beautiful. Amazing. A book to escape into, savor, and emerge refreshed and inspired. I have such respect and awe for these tortured but brilliant men who gave of themselves to others until they burnt out like a flame.
January 6, 2020
Lovely little book for those interested in both Nouwen and Van Gogh. I particularly appreciated the use of Van Gogh’s letters to his brother, and how the author delved into his mind and world. I’ve come away even more touched by his life, his art, his story and his legacy.
December 18, 2025
A lovely book! I think I expected a bit more biography stuff, but it was truly lovely. It tells us what a traditional book about Van Gogh wouldn't. So beautiful.
September 15, 2020
4.5 stars. This is what my soul needed. I have never before read such a thorough examination of the deep Christian faith that permeated Van Gogh's actions and art. Book #50 of 2020!
October 27, 2019
I didn’t expect to love this book. Little did I know it was exactly what I needed.
Divided into three parts (Solidarity, Consolation and Comfort), this book explores Vincent van Gogh’s life and spirituality through the lens of Henri Nouwen and his teaching, as well as demonstrating how these ideals lived on in the life of Nouwen’s student, the author. It demonstrates the calling of the Christian life of compassion in universal, understandable ways and demonstrates the way this call is at once specific and universal, looking at once the same and completely different in the lives of the artist, the professor, and the ministers described in the book.
It was quite a revelation to read about Vincent’s life. I had quite a narrow understanding of him before this book: cut off ear, potentially a suicide, a little bit crazy, liked flowers. I’m almost ashamed of the caricature I had before: now I see a thoughtful man, who struggled to find the vocation which matched the depth of his spirit. Once he found that vocation, he flourished.
As an artist and a Christian, sometimes painting can feel an awful lot like praying. Often the two activities draw on the same energy. This book helped me better understand this connection and encouraged me to think more deeply about art and what I do with it, how I can pursue the call to compassion within my artistic journey.
I would encourage every thoughtful artist - whether Christian or not, whether a painter, writer or musician - to consider picking up this book. While the theology is specifically Christian, compassion is quite a universal virtue. It will help you think about your art better and live your life fuller than before.
Divided into three parts (Solidarity, Consolation and Comfort), this book explores Vincent van Gogh’s life and spirituality through the lens of Henri Nouwen and his teaching, as well as demonstrating how these ideals lived on in the life of Nouwen’s student, the author. It demonstrates the calling of the Christian life of compassion in universal, understandable ways and demonstrates the way this call is at once specific and universal, looking at once the same and completely different in the lives of the artist, the professor, and the ministers described in the book.
It was quite a revelation to read about Vincent’s life. I had quite a narrow understanding of him before this book: cut off ear, potentially a suicide, a little bit crazy, liked flowers. I’m almost ashamed of the caricature I had before: now I see a thoughtful man, who struggled to find the vocation which matched the depth of his spirit. Once he found that vocation, he flourished.
As an artist and a Christian, sometimes painting can feel an awful lot like praying. Often the two activities draw on the same energy. This book helped me better understand this connection and encouraged me to think more deeply about art and what I do with it, how I can pursue the call to compassion within my artistic journey.
I would encourage every thoughtful artist - whether Christian or not, whether a painter, writer or musician - to consider picking up this book. While the theology is specifically Christian, compassion is quite a universal virtue. It will help you think about your art better and live your life fuller than before.
June 16, 2019
Learning from Henri Nouwen & Vincent Van Gogh A portrait of the
Compassionate Life by Carol A. Berry Foreword by Sue Masteller is a stellar, particular book to my point of view. Published by InterVarsity Press, this book speaks the language of compassion and a compassionate life seen of course through the eyes of the writer, the wife of a pastor, but also the one of mr Nouwen through the works by Vincent Van Gogh.
Mrs Berry attended a course in 1978 by mr. Nouwen where the teacher expressed all the magnificient message left by Vincent Van Gogh not just as a painter, but first of all as a sensitive, wonderful, touching, human being in grade to be compassionate, close to people, in the particular the last ones of the world, peasants, later miners.
Being Vincent Van Gogh's dad a pastor, peasants were a strong reality in the church he ruled and often, Vincent's father asked him of joining him during his visits. Years later Vincent wrote to his brother Theo: "Even as a boy I sometimes looked up with endless sympathy and respect into a half-withered female face where it was written,
as it were: life and reality have left its mark there."
People who forged his character and entered in his soul for remaining there forever.
The existence of Van Gogh as we all know has been difficult, unlucky, and being a sensitive person of course difficult for this reason as well. Although his father was a pastor, he didn't meet as also writes the author, a great compassion from his family. They would have wanted to see more real consistency in what he was doing, but the decision of dedicating his years to an art's life meant most of the times lack of money.
Theo, in particular, his brother will always remain close to him.
But what does the word compassion mean? To suffer with. Being compassionate is sharing with other a common destiny, being close, comforting and understanding.
As adds the author Saint Paul wrote ones: "Always consider the other
person to be better than yourself, so nobody thinks of his own interests
first but everyone thinks of the other people’s interests instead."
When Van Gogh left his house he began a trip that brought him at the Hague, Paris, London. Here he worked for an art dailer but this work didn't have success and after a while Vincent left London embracing the cause of the miners in the Borinage.
He did it with simplicity and, living his life to the fullest and protecting the rights of the miners who, at first saw this boy with great diffidence.
Consolation means cum solus with , so alone with and as adds Berry, it's not so simple to stay close to someone in the sufferance, because sometimes we stereotyped sufferance or just because we would want to fly away, without helping our relative or our friend in the sufferance. I experienced a lot of sufferances but I can tell you people evaporated where not strong enough for helping; but let's add this, it is human.
The new existence of Van Gogh was characterized by compassion in particular regarding the poorest people around him like a prostitute in trouble. There will be also a love-story but it ended up tragically because the girl, pressed by her family returned to be a prostitute, a profession that permitted her of earning a lot of money.
After this experience Van Gogh went to Drenthe. Continuing to potraying peasants.
and "feeling them" as wrote to Theo: "One must paint the peasants as being himself one of them, as feeling, thinking as they do themselves."
Ready for the biggest world, Van Gogh won't never return home once he again, left Holland.
Berry explains that: "Every human being does have a great, yet often unknown, gift to care, to be compassionate, to become present to the other, to listen, to hear, and to receive. If that gift would be set free and made available, miracles could take place."
Paris meant to Vincent and Theo a wonderful experience thanks to the vibrant parisienne life and the new knowledge he had about color theory.
What Van Gogh did from this moment was to research spasmodically for vibrant colors and that light in grade to make the difference. Bright colors were compulsively added for bringing joy in the darkest corners of people's existences.
When in Arles Van Gogh would have wanted to create a studio but the only one agreed was Paul Gaugin and as we all remember that friendship and sodalice brought Van Gogh at an ugly moment of auto-lesionism: for a reason or another he cut one of his ear with powerful consequences for his health; frequent seizures, a lot of headache. And depression. Gaugin terrorized escaped away when discovered what his friend caused to himself. Destination Paris.
More than a year spent at Saint-Rémy for recovering, Theo insisted: he had to live with him and his family.
It hasn't been another great success and at the end Van Gogh returned home one day with this apparently episode of suicide. He didn't die immediately: two days later, assisted by Theo.
It is still disputed this story because yes, maybe it was a suicide but maybe also a probable accidental shooting. We won't never know that and Theo didn't add anything in any letter, too devastated for the departure of his creative brother.
I have been touched by a sermon of Steve, the husband of mrs Berry. I knew a person like Lyn, someone who loved to share, making happy and joyful other people.
I add some of the sermon.
"Lyn didn’t have any money because he put people before money.
He valued friendships more than he valued things. He gave every-
thing he had, wherever he was. Men and women are generally
valued by what they acquire. It’s one of the big lies, of course, that
we are what we own. Lyn measured life and its value by a higher
standard. Material wealth came in far, far behind an extensive list
of priorities, topped by helping others. That’s what he did. He left
behind a legacy of people he had helped and nurtured. You never
had to ask Lyn to help with anything; he was always one step
ahead of the asking. He always offered; he never sat by and ex-
pected someone else to do what he could do or to help where he
might help. Lyn did not grasp for things. He did not measure his
life over and against others....Lyn taught us how to trust. He taught us that you could have your heart broken and still go on loving. He taught us that sacrifice for the
ones you love is never too great.
The book is divided in three parts: Solidarity, Consolation and Comfort with a lot of paintings of Van Gogh's production. A real joy for the eyes.
I thank NetGalley and InterVarsity Press for this ebook.
Compassionate Life by Carol A. Berry Foreword by Sue Masteller is a stellar, particular book to my point of view. Published by InterVarsity Press, this book speaks the language of compassion and a compassionate life seen of course through the eyes of the writer, the wife of a pastor, but also the one of mr Nouwen through the works by Vincent Van Gogh.
Mrs Berry attended a course in 1978 by mr. Nouwen where the teacher expressed all the magnificient message left by Vincent Van Gogh not just as a painter, but first of all as a sensitive, wonderful, touching, human being in grade to be compassionate, close to people, in the particular the last ones of the world, peasants, later miners.
Being Vincent Van Gogh's dad a pastor, peasants were a strong reality in the church he ruled and often, Vincent's father asked him of joining him during his visits. Years later Vincent wrote to his brother Theo: "Even as a boy I sometimes looked up with endless sympathy and respect into a half-withered female face where it was written,
as it were: life and reality have left its mark there."
People who forged his character and entered in his soul for remaining there forever.
The existence of Van Gogh as we all know has been difficult, unlucky, and being a sensitive person of course difficult for this reason as well. Although his father was a pastor, he didn't meet as also writes the author, a great compassion from his family. They would have wanted to see more real consistency in what he was doing, but the decision of dedicating his years to an art's life meant most of the times lack of money.
Theo, in particular, his brother will always remain close to him.
But what does the word compassion mean? To suffer with. Being compassionate is sharing with other a common destiny, being close, comforting and understanding.
As adds the author Saint Paul wrote ones: "Always consider the other
person to be better than yourself, so nobody thinks of his own interests
first but everyone thinks of the other people’s interests instead."
When Van Gogh left his house he began a trip that brought him at the Hague, Paris, London. Here he worked for an art dailer but this work didn't have success and after a while Vincent left London embracing the cause of the miners in the Borinage.
He did it with simplicity and, living his life to the fullest and protecting the rights of the miners who, at first saw this boy with great diffidence.
Consolation means cum solus with , so alone with and as adds Berry, it's not so simple to stay close to someone in the sufferance, because sometimes we stereotyped sufferance or just because we would want to fly away, without helping our relative or our friend in the sufferance. I experienced a lot of sufferances but I can tell you people evaporated where not strong enough for helping; but let's add this, it is human.
The new existence of Van Gogh was characterized by compassion in particular regarding the poorest people around him like a prostitute in trouble. There will be also a love-story but it ended up tragically because the girl, pressed by her family returned to be a prostitute, a profession that permitted her of earning a lot of money.
After this experience Van Gogh went to Drenthe. Continuing to potraying peasants.
and "feeling them" as wrote to Theo: "One must paint the peasants as being himself one of them, as feeling, thinking as they do themselves."
Ready for the biggest world, Van Gogh won't never return home once he again, left Holland.
Berry explains that: "Every human being does have a great, yet often unknown, gift to care, to be compassionate, to become present to the other, to listen, to hear, and to receive. If that gift would be set free and made available, miracles could take place."
Paris meant to Vincent and Theo a wonderful experience thanks to the vibrant parisienne life and the new knowledge he had about color theory.
What Van Gogh did from this moment was to research spasmodically for vibrant colors and that light in grade to make the difference. Bright colors were compulsively added for bringing joy in the darkest corners of people's existences.
When in Arles Van Gogh would have wanted to create a studio but the only one agreed was Paul Gaugin and as we all remember that friendship and sodalice brought Van Gogh at an ugly moment of auto-lesionism: for a reason or another he cut one of his ear with powerful consequences for his health; frequent seizures, a lot of headache. And depression. Gaugin terrorized escaped away when discovered what his friend caused to himself. Destination Paris.
More than a year spent at Saint-Rémy for recovering, Theo insisted: he had to live with him and his family.
It hasn't been another great success and at the end Van Gogh returned home one day with this apparently episode of suicide. He didn't die immediately: two days later, assisted by Theo.
It is still disputed this story because yes, maybe it was a suicide but maybe also a probable accidental shooting. We won't never know that and Theo didn't add anything in any letter, too devastated for the departure of his creative brother.
I have been touched by a sermon of Steve, the husband of mrs Berry. I knew a person like Lyn, someone who loved to share, making happy and joyful other people.
I add some of the sermon.
"Lyn didn’t have any money because he put people before money.
He valued friendships more than he valued things. He gave every-
thing he had, wherever he was. Men and women are generally
valued by what they acquire. It’s one of the big lies, of course, that
we are what we own. Lyn measured life and its value by a higher
standard. Material wealth came in far, far behind an extensive list
of priorities, topped by helping others. That’s what he did. He left
behind a legacy of people he had helped and nurtured. You never
had to ask Lyn to help with anything; he was always one step
ahead of the asking. He always offered; he never sat by and ex-
pected someone else to do what he could do or to help where he
might help. Lyn did not grasp for things. He did not measure his
life over and against others....Lyn taught us how to trust. He taught us that you could have your heart broken and still go on loving. He taught us that sacrifice for the
ones you love is never too great.
The book is divided in three parts: Solidarity, Consolation and Comfort with a lot of paintings of Van Gogh's production. A real joy for the eyes.
I thank NetGalley and InterVarsity Press for this ebook.
February 12, 2019
Carol A Berry has chosen a favorite author and a favorite artist to find edification for spiritual life. She pulls similarities in the lives of Henri Nouwen and Vincent Van Gogh and adds in their spiritual growth to make a wonderful book to teach us new lessons that are as old as the Bible. I have long since loved Henri's writings. His writings seem to bring out new ideas I've never encountered before. Carol also includes the studies Henri did on the life of Vincent Van Gogh through his letters. Carol studied under Henri while he was at Yale and she was the one chosen to put his unpublished notes together in a book by his estate.
Her writing style gives these men an aura of heaven while showing their absolute humanity. She shows their hearts for God and how their thoughts and letters shaped their lives and can shape ours.
I give this book five stars, two thumbs up, and a starry, starry night.
My thanks to InterVarsity Press for allowing me to read and review this book.
Her writing style gives these men an aura of heaven while showing their absolute humanity. She shows their hearts for God and how their thoughts and letters shaped their lives and can shape ours.
I give this book five stars, two thumbs up, and a starry, starry night.
My thanks to InterVarsity Press for allowing me to read and review this book.
July 23, 2019
It was divine providence that Carol Berry wrote a book on two of my favorite people in art and literature. As an Art and Bible School graduate this book was like water in the desertion me. I taught art history yet was touched to read Henri Nouwen’s insights. I’ve been blessed by Nouwen’s writings for decades. The term “wounded healer” has been so beautifully exemplified by both Van Gogh and Nouwen. I’m grateful that Ms. Berry has shared her personal experience and transcribed for us such an edifying book. I will be purchasing a hard copy.
I received a free copy of this book in lieu of an honest review.
Honestly, I’m going to need the group discount for the number of copies I want to share with my family and friends whom I know will find the same beauty in ALL the areas of life upon in this book. I will never look at Van Gogh the same again.
#LearningFromHenriNouwenandVincentVanGogh. #NetGalley
I received a free copy of this book in lieu of an honest review.
Honestly, I’m going to need the group discount for the number of copies I want to share with my family and friends whom I know will find the same beauty in ALL the areas of life upon in this book. I will never look at Van Gogh the same again.
#LearningFromHenriNouwenandVincentVanGogh. #NetGalley
January 24, 2019
What we've been exposed to by Hollywood and the like about Vincent van Gogh has at best been a misunderstood life with much of his foundation as a person and artist omitted. An examination fostered by Henri Nouwen through his research, 900 letters and the chronological study of Vincent's art displays a much different portrait of the artist. Author Carol Berry takes us on a journey of that foundation, his writing and art to understand his choices, life, art and purpose.
What we learn of Vincent van Gogh, his deep compassion for people and sincere offerings of hope through his paintings is well worth the investment in this book. He truly emodied the title of wounded healer.
I received a complimentary copy of the book without obligation. This review is my opinion.
What we learn of Vincent van Gogh, his deep compassion for people and sincere offerings of hope through his paintings is well worth the investment in this book. He truly emodied the title of wounded healer.
I received a complimentary copy of the book without obligation. This review is my opinion.
May 16, 2019
Carol Berry takes readers on a definite journey. Through letters and obviously detailed research she brings the two men, Nouwen and van Gogh to life in a way I never expected. Ms Berry writes conversationally and I never felt lectured to. She draws spiritual and theological comparisons so vividly and clearly that I relished the time spent with these two men, artists in their own rights. I knew so little about either man at the beginning, but I cant stop telling people what I now know! I would recommend this book as a fantastic book discussion selection, based solely on how badly I wanted to connect to other readers.
Well Done, Carol Berry!
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.
Well Done, Carol Berry!
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.
April 23, 2019
Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh combines Nouwen's lectures from Yale with a brief study of the spirituality of van Gogh. This book helped me gain a greater appreciation of van Gogh's art, especially as rooted in his desire to focus on everyday people who were often impoverished. It is structured within the theory of how to provide compassion to others, based on Nouwen's thought and the life of van Gogh. Overall, this book provides an important introduction to van Gogh's spirituality, and the ideas it offered should be included when we study this great artist.
November 23, 2019
The author has made herself a vehicle (of Henri Nouwen’s lectures, and Van Gogh’s art and biography), to reintroduce to readers what is seen through the eyes of an artist. How do we see the world with sensitive eyes, through our hearts? Compassion is part of our common human vocation: to join alongside others to share in our experience in solidarity, to console and to comfort one another.
Read alongside ‘Visions of Vocation’ by Steve Garber.
(This makes me also want to sit on the couches in front of the Van Gogh’s at the National Gallery with a Henri Nouwen book in tow!)
Read alongside ‘Visions of Vocation’ by Steve Garber.
(This makes me also want to sit on the couches in front of the Van Gogh’s at the National Gallery with a Henri Nouwen book in tow!)
January 8, 2020
There is so much wisdom packed into this small book that I don't know where to begin! Henri Nouwen has been one of my favorite authors for more than 30 years, so whenever I see a new book about him, I want to read it and this one was a real treat.
The three sections of this book (Solidarity, Consolation, & Comfort) explore Henri Nouwen's teaching on compassion through the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. The author added how Henri's teaching influenced her own life and her lifelong study of Vincent Van Gogh. The lessons on compassion are deep and this book gives me so much to reflect on in my own life.
The three sections of this book (Solidarity, Consolation, & Comfort) explore Henri Nouwen's teaching on compassion through the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. The author added how Henri's teaching influenced her own life and her lifelong study of Vincent Van Gogh. The lessons on compassion are deep and this book gives me so much to reflect on in my own life.
September 23, 2025
A lovely book that feels intimate, like sitting in front of a fireplace sipping tea/hot coaco with Henri, Vincent, and the author (Carol) and listening to them share their personal experiences of compassion, the outworking of a life lived in fellowship with God and in solidarity with the broken and suffering.
September 3, 2023
This book isn't quite what I expected, but is still beautiful. I'd imagined a book more about how Nouwen's life was impacted by van Gogh. Instead, it is a book about van Gogh through the lens of Henri Nouwen.A worthwhile read, even if it took me a minute to change my expectations.
February 10, 2025
A slow start but keep going and it’s well worth it the effort. Intertwined stories of Nouwen, Van Gogh and the author makes for a fascinating read. Those who don’t know Vincent’s story will be surprised by what they learn. Beautifully presented book.
August 17, 2023
This was a very inspiring, but sad book to me. Now I think I understand the song "Vincent" by Don McLean much better.
July 4, 2019
The way author, Carol A. Berry, interspersed her own experiences and relayed insights from Henry Nouwen concerning van Gogh only made me cherish my Nouwen books more & transformed the way I will view van Gogh's paintings & letters. We often limit what we think of as ministry. Paintings and books, especially Nouwen books and van Gogh's letters and paintings are excellent examples of ministry that speak to soul first.
January 1, 2024
Ever since I began to take an appreciation of art in my teens, I've always felt inexplicably drawn to Vincent Van Gogh, not just the artist or his art, but to the human being, the tortured soul who saw so much beauty and hope in humanity itself and who wanted nothing more than to interpret and contribute to that hope.
In the intervening decades I've seen hundreds of his original works in person, been to the Van Gogh museum, contemplated the sunflowers in London, and attended several immersive 360° experiences featuring his works. I can't get enough. I have a Lego Starry Night model. There is beauty and hope and transcendence in his works. The film "Loving Vincent" where every frame is made from oil paintings in his style leaves me in awe. His style captivates, and speaks love and humanity. The Doctor Who scene where the Doctor shows Vincent hundreds of people admiring his work in the modern era makes me cry every time.
So all this is to say, I love Vincent and his work. But I've oddly also felt a strange kinship with the human being Vincent. I'm a bit of a misfit, misunderstood, naive at times, much like Vincent. But his humanity speaks to me literally on another level that has been hard to understand for me. So when I found a book talking about how the Catholic priest and Yale professor Henri Nouwen could himself find spiritual kinship with Vincent I knew I wasn't totally alone. We often caricature Vincent as a psychologically disturbed, mentally imbalanced, crazed man who took up with prostitutes and mooched off his brother. But Vincent's works and life showed instead a man who was compassionate above everything else. A man whose works inspired hope.
In Nouwen's Yale Divinity School course "The Compassion of Vincent Van Gogh" (the notes from which were the basis of this book), he taught: "Vincent offers hope because he looks very closely at people and their world and discovers something worth seeing."
In Vincent's words: "If it were not that I have almost a double nature, that of a monk and that of a painter... I would have been reduced, long ago, completely and utterly, to the condition of madness. ... Yet even then I do not think that my madness could take the form of persecution mania, since when in a state of excitement my feelings lead me rather to the contemplation of eternity and eternal life."
Vincent's life experiences show a life that was, yes, troubled, and a mental illness that affected him in varying degrees over the years. But seeing past all that we see a man who loved people. He was at his most lucid when he connected with people and nature. Nature cleared his head. He found beauty in seeing normal people interacting in natural scenes. All he ever wanted to do was connect with people. From dirt poor coal miners in Belgium (he literally gave up everything and lived in squalor to serve as a missionary to them, and continued doing so even after his church cut off support because he was not making a professional enough appearance), to inviting his mostly impoverished models to stay in his home and feeding them, to supporting his prostitute friend Sien with her two young children (he would’ve married her but for society’s warped and misguided conventions), to the would-be artist colony of the yellow house: all of it was done to connect with and share in the human condition with other people.
I'll share a few quotes:
"THE ARTIST AS SEER AND CONTEMPLATIVE
Henri also spoke about Vincent as being a seer, one "who saw and wanted us to see with him." As he progressed in his life and art, his sun-covered landscapes and glowing wheat fields, olive orchards, cypresses, radiant people, sowers, and reapers-all spoke their own wordless language in the images he created. "In the midst of darkness he saw light. In the midst of ugliness he saw beauty. In the midst of pain and suffering he saw the nobility of the human heart. He saw it, and he burned with desire to make others see it." Vincent felt that the deepest religious expression should be born from actual observation and personal experience....
"Curiously, while in Arles, Vincent created a self-portrait of himself looking like a bonze-a Buddhist monk. While inspired by his readings of books about Japan, the portrait alludes to Vincent's affinity for Japanese artists who could study a blade of grass that in turn led them to paint the great aspects of nature and the human figure. The portrait also suggests that Vincent, in his contemplative observations and just like the Japanese artists, had come to understand nature's revelation-that everything in nature was connected to and a part of the whole of creation, which led him to paint with a more universal and holistic sen-sitivity. When he lived for a year in the asylum of the monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Rémy, the monastery gardens and cloisters invited him to truly enter into monastic contemplation. Vincent painted some of his most symbolic and numinous paintings in the gardens of the asylum. These paintings inspire us to become contemplatives too."
"Henri said that like a monk who no longer needs to struggle to make God known, Vincent radiated his faith in the Something on High through the expressive lines and colors and subjects of his paintings. As a monk who is never separated from his sorrow, so Vincent's joy remained deeply connected with his own struggles. Vincent's joy reverberates though his sunflowers, his golden wheat fields, the spirals in the sky of his Starry Night. Vincent's sorrow is expressed, for example, through broken boulders and a deep chasm in the earth, as is seen in the Entrance to the Quarry. Vincent, as a true contemplative, could see beyond the surface of things and reveal the metaphorical implications of the material world. He could sense the eternal message in the temporal. This is what he hoped to be able to convey through his art."
"Henri repeated that Vincent had "crawled under the skin of people" whether they were the miners walking home from the pit through the snow, an old, sick farmer sitting by his hearth, or the reaper laboring in the intense heat of Provence. Vincent found the holy in the ordinary.
"Henri, who himself had an incarnational view of spirit infusing life, said that Vincent's "paintings do that for me... They show that there is something more to life, after all the misery has been dealt with, after all the human pains have been looked at very carefully and long," there is something beyond that transcends the here and now. Henri felt that Vincent was essentially a mystic who could abstract what he saw and then make it more tangible and intelligible in the form of his universal language. Vincent had always felt it to be his duty to make art revelatory. Henri saw that Vincent did this by seeking to disentangle truths inherent in the temporal, in the ordinary moments of life that pointed to the Something on High."
In the intervening decades I've seen hundreds of his original works in person, been to the Van Gogh museum, contemplated the sunflowers in London, and attended several immersive 360° experiences featuring his works. I can't get enough. I have a Lego Starry Night model. There is beauty and hope and transcendence in his works. The film "Loving Vincent" where every frame is made from oil paintings in his style leaves me in awe. His style captivates, and speaks love and humanity. The Doctor Who scene where the Doctor shows Vincent hundreds of people admiring his work in the modern era makes me cry every time.
So all this is to say, I love Vincent and his work. But I've oddly also felt a strange kinship with the human being Vincent. I'm a bit of a misfit, misunderstood, naive at times, much like Vincent. But his humanity speaks to me literally on another level that has been hard to understand for me. So when I found a book talking about how the Catholic priest and Yale professor Henri Nouwen could himself find spiritual kinship with Vincent I knew I wasn't totally alone. We often caricature Vincent as a psychologically disturbed, mentally imbalanced, crazed man who took up with prostitutes and mooched off his brother. But Vincent's works and life showed instead a man who was compassionate above everything else. A man whose works inspired hope.
In Nouwen's Yale Divinity School course "The Compassion of Vincent Van Gogh" (the notes from which were the basis of this book), he taught: "Vincent offers hope because he looks very closely at people and their world and discovers something worth seeing."
In Vincent's words: "If it were not that I have almost a double nature, that of a monk and that of a painter... I would have been reduced, long ago, completely and utterly, to the condition of madness. ... Yet even then I do not think that my madness could take the form of persecution mania, since when in a state of excitement my feelings lead me rather to the contemplation of eternity and eternal life."
Vincent's life experiences show a life that was, yes, troubled, and a mental illness that affected him in varying degrees over the years. But seeing past all that we see a man who loved people. He was at his most lucid when he connected with people and nature. Nature cleared his head. He found beauty in seeing normal people interacting in natural scenes. All he ever wanted to do was connect with people. From dirt poor coal miners in Belgium (he literally gave up everything and lived in squalor to serve as a missionary to them, and continued doing so even after his church cut off support because he was not making a professional enough appearance), to inviting his mostly impoverished models to stay in his home and feeding them, to supporting his prostitute friend Sien with her two young children (he would’ve married her but for society’s warped and misguided conventions), to the would-be artist colony of the yellow house: all of it was done to connect with and share in the human condition with other people.
I'll share a few quotes:
"THE ARTIST AS SEER AND CONTEMPLATIVE
Henri also spoke about Vincent as being a seer, one "who saw and wanted us to see with him." As he progressed in his life and art, his sun-covered landscapes and glowing wheat fields, olive orchards, cypresses, radiant people, sowers, and reapers-all spoke their own wordless language in the images he created. "In the midst of darkness he saw light. In the midst of ugliness he saw beauty. In the midst of pain and suffering he saw the nobility of the human heart. He saw it, and he burned with desire to make others see it." Vincent felt that the deepest religious expression should be born from actual observation and personal experience....
"Curiously, while in Arles, Vincent created a self-portrait of himself looking like a bonze-a Buddhist monk. While inspired by his readings of books about Japan, the portrait alludes to Vincent's affinity for Japanese artists who could study a blade of grass that in turn led them to paint the great aspects of nature and the human figure. The portrait also suggests that Vincent, in his contemplative observations and just like the Japanese artists, had come to understand nature's revelation-that everything in nature was connected to and a part of the whole of creation, which led him to paint with a more universal and holistic sen-sitivity. When he lived for a year in the asylum of the monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Rémy, the monastery gardens and cloisters invited him to truly enter into monastic contemplation. Vincent painted some of his most symbolic and numinous paintings in the gardens of the asylum. These paintings inspire us to become contemplatives too."
"Henri said that like a monk who no longer needs to struggle to make God known, Vincent radiated his faith in the Something on High through the expressive lines and colors and subjects of his paintings. As a monk who is never separated from his sorrow, so Vincent's joy remained deeply connected with his own struggles. Vincent's joy reverberates though his sunflowers, his golden wheat fields, the spirals in the sky of his Starry Night. Vincent's sorrow is expressed, for example, through broken boulders and a deep chasm in the earth, as is seen in the Entrance to the Quarry. Vincent, as a true contemplative, could see beyond the surface of things and reveal the metaphorical implications of the material world. He could sense the eternal message in the temporal. This is what he hoped to be able to convey through his art."
"Henri repeated that Vincent had "crawled under the skin of people" whether they were the miners walking home from the pit through the snow, an old, sick farmer sitting by his hearth, or the reaper laboring in the intense heat of Provence. Vincent found the holy in the ordinary.
"Henri, who himself had an incarnational view of spirit infusing life, said that Vincent's "paintings do that for me... They show that there is something more to life, after all the misery has been dealt with, after all the human pains have been looked at very carefully and long," there is something beyond that transcends the here and now. Henri felt that Vincent was essentially a mystic who could abstract what he saw and then make it more tangible and intelligible in the form of his universal language. Vincent had always felt it to be his duty to make art revelatory. Henri saw that Vincent did this by seeking to disentangle truths inherent in the temporal, in the ordinary moments of life that pointed to the Something on High."
June 22, 2022
Summary: Reflection on Vincent Van Gogh, what Henri Nouwen taught and learned about Van Gogh, and some personal reflections of Carol Berry, a student of Nouwen.
I am not well educated in art history or art more generally. What I know of Van Gogh is that I can recognize his style of painting and that he cut off or injured his ear. I understood that he was likely mentally ill, which contributed to his suicide. Except he didn't commit suicide but was probably killed by an accidental shooting when some young men (probably teens) were playing with a gun. And even that cutting off of his ear was probably an accident.
That is not to say that there wasn't likely some mental illness in van Gogh's life. But the focus of this book, channeling Nouwen's thoughts, is primarily looking at van Gogh's preparation for ministry and attempts at ministering to the poor and how eventually, his art grew to be a method of serving God and drawing attention to the plights of the poor.
I don't have enough art history to know how historically accurate this book is or how unusual the presentation of van Gogh is here. But this seems like a well-researched and fairly presented book. And I was aware that van Gogh wanted to be a pastor before becoming a painter. So that did match my understanding. But I did not realize how much van Gogh attempted to use his art to change how people around him understood the world and poverty. I did not know he viewed art as a vocation and means to connect with God, although that is not unusual for artists.
This is not a straight biography of either van Gogh or Nouwen. It is a spiritual reflection using their lives as the jumping-off point. At some point, I want to read a more straightforward biography of both Nouwen and van Gogh. I thought the spiritual reflection was reasonable based on this history as I understand it. It was not strained or inappropriate as some spiritual reflection books can be. And it both made me reflect spiritually and want to learn more about the subjects, which I think is a good sign of a well-written book.
I read this on kindle. This means that all the images of his paintings were in black and white. If I had an iPad or other color screen, the kindle edition would have shown me the images in color. Or the hardcover edition has all of the images in color. This is a book where the images matter, and they are referred to in the text. If anything, I would have wanted more images and more direct references to them in the text. But the kindle (or an audiobook) is not the best medium for this type of book.
I am not well educated in art history or art more generally. What I know of Van Gogh is that I can recognize his style of painting and that he cut off or injured his ear. I understood that he was likely mentally ill, which contributed to his suicide. Except he didn't commit suicide but was probably killed by an accidental shooting when some young men (probably teens) were playing with a gun. And even that cutting off of his ear was probably an accident.
That is not to say that there wasn't likely some mental illness in van Gogh's life. But the focus of this book, channeling Nouwen's thoughts, is primarily looking at van Gogh's preparation for ministry and attempts at ministering to the poor and how eventually, his art grew to be a method of serving God and drawing attention to the plights of the poor.
I don't have enough art history to know how historically accurate this book is or how unusual the presentation of van Gogh is here. But this seems like a well-researched and fairly presented book. And I was aware that van Gogh wanted to be a pastor before becoming a painter. So that did match my understanding. But I did not realize how much van Gogh attempted to use his art to change how people around him understood the world and poverty. I did not know he viewed art as a vocation and means to connect with God, although that is not unusual for artists.
This is not a straight biography of either van Gogh or Nouwen. It is a spiritual reflection using their lives as the jumping-off point. At some point, I want to read a more straightforward biography of both Nouwen and van Gogh. I thought the spiritual reflection was reasonable based on this history as I understand it. It was not strained or inappropriate as some spiritual reflection books can be. And it both made me reflect spiritually and want to learn more about the subjects, which I think is a good sign of a well-written book.
I read this on kindle. This means that all the images of his paintings were in black and white. If I had an iPad or other color screen, the kindle edition would have shown me the images in color. Or the hardcover edition has all of the images in color. This is a book where the images matter, and they are referred to in the text. If anything, I would have wanted more images and more direct references to them in the text. But the kindle (or an audiobook) is not the best medium for this type of book.
March 7, 2019
Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh
A Portrait of the Compassionate Life
by Carol A. Berry
InterVarsity Press
IVP Books
Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 07 May 2019
I am reviewing a copy of Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh through InterVarsity Press and Netgalley:
Carol Berry and her husband had the privilege of meeting Henri Nouwen when she audited a course on Compassion at Yale Divinity School in the 1970's. She was given the request to write this book by Henri Nouwen's literary estate. Some unpublished material has been included in this book material including Nouwen's lecture as an art educator.
Berry is not only able to use Nouwen's work on Van-Gogh as well as her own research on the subject matter. She fills this book with some much misunderstood spiritual context of Van Gogh's art. Berry also adds her own experience in ministry to add to this richly detailed book!
If you are looking for a book that will go into the rich details of van Gogh's art and faith as well as Henri Nouwen's teaching on the artist then Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent Van Gogh is just the book for you!
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
September 24, 2019
"Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh," was an interesting book, written by Carol A. Berry that is a mix of both art and spirituality.
Ms. Berry communicates about the connections the late great theologian, Henri Nouwen made with Vincent van Gogh, the oft-misunderstood, artistic genius. Nouwen taught a class on van Gogh and his human struggle and Berry's observations on both men make for a compelling argument that these men, while they seem to be larger than life, were still men. People with struggles and insecurities and fears.
Her views on both men tell a fascinating story of what it means to be human. As we come to understand the pain and struggle of those around us, it leads to a life of compassion for one another.
I received this eBook free of charge from InterVarsity Press via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
Ms. Berry communicates about the connections the late great theologian, Henri Nouwen made with Vincent van Gogh, the oft-misunderstood, artistic genius. Nouwen taught a class on van Gogh and his human struggle and Berry's observations on both men make for a compelling argument that these men, while they seem to be larger than life, were still men. People with struggles and insecurities and fears.
Her views on both men tell a fascinating story of what it means to be human. As we come to understand the pain and struggle of those around us, it leads to a life of compassion for one another.
I received this eBook free of charge from InterVarsity Press via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
January 10, 2022
This was a very well written and thought-provoking work, richly emotive and warmly reflective of Nouwen's compassionate and contemplative spirituality. I was not previously aware of van Gogh's Christianity, and this work has certainly helped to enhance my appreciation of his art. Berry's writing emphasizes how God can use deeply wounded, damaged and imperfect creatures to express His love and beauty to a hurting world.
That said, I found Berry's assessment of Vincent's spirituality and love for the poor and downtrodden to be somewhat romanticized. She breezes over Vincent's obvious illnesses, and only mentions his famous self-mutilation with maybe three words. Yes, Vincent created beauty from ashes, and through his pain reached out to many also in pain (and, through his art, continues to touch our painful places today). But ... there was also pain caused by woundedness, and I think Berry glosses over that somewhat.
That said, I found Berry's assessment of Vincent's spirituality and love for the poor and downtrodden to be somewhat romanticized. She breezes over Vincent's obvious illnesses, and only mentions his famous self-mutilation with maybe three words. Yes, Vincent created beauty from ashes, and through his pain reached out to many also in pain (and, through his art, continues to touch our painful places today). But ... there was also pain caused by woundedness, and I think Berry glosses over that somewhat.
August 23, 2022
I was drawn in by the premise of this book - connecting the teachings of a great theologian with the artwork of a master of a different time. I learned a lot about van Gogh (didn't know much to start with), a little bit about Henri Nouwen, and while I appreciate those learnings, nothing about them was powerful or revelatory. Perhaps that's because what I suspect the author is really trying to do - reveal nods and glimpses of the divine in van Gogh's artwork - can't fully be done by words. Whenever I have the opportunity to see some of van Gogh's work in real life, I certainly will.
"In his book Bread for the Journey, Henri, affirming Vincent's view of reality, says, 'All that is, is sacred because all that is speaks of God's redeeming love. Seas and winds, mountains and trees, sun, moon, and stars, and all the animals and people have become sacred windows offering us glimpses of God.'" (p. 123-24)
"In his book Bread for the Journey, Henri, affirming Vincent's view of reality, says, 'All that is, is sacred because all that is speaks of God's redeeming love. Seas and winds, mountains and trees, sun, moon, and stars, and all the animals and people have become sacred windows offering us glimpses of God.'" (p. 123-24)
Read
June 26, 2019Most people think of the red headed guy who cut off his own ear, or the swirly stars of Starry Night, when asked about Vincent van Gogh. The author, born in the Netherlands and a Dutch speaker who has lived most of her adult life in the USA, brings a fuller picture of the artist, and ties him to another Dutch writer, Henri Nouwen. Nouwen taught a course on Van Gogh and compassionate living at Princeton in the 70s that the author audited.
Berry outlines Van Gogh's life as a Pastor's son, his own attempts at ministry studies in Holland, and missionary life in Belgium before he became an artist. She looks at the human element of Van Gogh's works, the compassionate insight he brings to his art, and guides us to a clearer understanding of the artist's role in interpreting life. She barely mentions the ear incident.
IT is an easy read, but a profound study.
Berry outlines Van Gogh's life as a Pastor's son, his own attempts at ministry studies in Holland, and missionary life in Belgium before he became an artist. She looks at the human element of Van Gogh's works, the compassionate insight he brings to his art, and guides us to a clearer understanding of the artist's role in interpreting life. She barely mentions the ear incident.
IT is an easy read, but a profound study.
April 18, 2020
Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to one day meet him in heaven. I stumbled upon this book when looking online for another book of Henri’s. I immediately ordered it. What a gem. The author knew Henri Nouwen when he taught at Yale Divinity. She audited a course by Henri on the compassionate life of Vincent Van Gogh, another amazing creative who was so attached to his work, to the souls of those who suffered, and to the healing work of nature. I really enjoyed this book filled with some of Vincent’s work. I got to imagine myself sitting in the front row of Henri Nouwen’s class soaking in his insights into this fascinating artist. I so appreciate the hard work people do to provide us the details of someone who has impacted the world so much and lived so long ago. This was a gift.
May 10, 2025
“…And here we could see why Henri had chosen Vincent Van Gogh as his case study. Through Vincent’s story, through the parable of his life, we were to come closer to an understanding of what it meant to be a consoling (compassionate) presence.” Carol A Berry. And so goes this book by C. Berry. After taking a class at Yale Divinity School where Henri Nouwen taught “The Compassion of Vincent Van Gogh” she is drawn to “writing the book” though it was 20 yrs later, and I am so moved by her words and notes taken from Henri’s class. The chapters read from Henri’s and Vincent’s own words, and form the awaking of their lives touch by grace and compassion.
A small book that moves my heart and my devotion to the God of all created things✝️
A small book that moves my heart and my devotion to the God of all created things✝️
May 17, 2019
Carol Berry took a class from Henri Nouwen in 1978 and began immersing herself in the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh as a result. Her book is interesting but is weakened by the inclusion of her own stories. She and her husband befriended Nouwen and her commentary on his compassionate life is certainly verifiable through Nouwen's writings. Van Gogh's life is also well-known, but her perspective seemed stretched. Van Gogh was a troubled, tortured man who was often ill and mentally unstable. His art reflected his spiritual confusion and growth throughout his short life. The book, overall, was unsatisfying.
June 11, 2019
I expected more from this book. The premise, “learning the compassionate life from Henri Nouwen and Vincent Van Gogh,” promises an integrated study of compassion through the comparison of two seemingly dissimilar yet apparently connected lives. What we get instead is an abbreviated biography of Van Gogh mixed with autobiographical anecdotes, tenuously held together by references to a class on Van Gogh once taught at Yale by Nouwen. It is an attractive and well-illustrated book, and reading it was an enjoyable enough way to spend some time. The parts don’t fit together well though, and deliver little more than a pleasant diversion. Depending on your mood, maybe that’s enough.
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