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Taschen Basic Art
Van Gogh (Basic Art)
Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) are among the most well known and celebrated in the world. In Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, and many paintings and drawings beyond, we recognize an artist uniquely dexterous in the portrayal of mood and place through paint, pencil, charcoal, or chalk. Yet as he was deploying the lurid colors, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms that would subsequently make his name, van Gogh battled not only the disinterest of his contemporary audience but also devastating bouts of mental illness. His episodes of depression and anxiety would eventually claim his life, when, in 1890, he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday. This richly illustrated introduction follows Vincent van Gogh’s story from his earliest pictures of peasants and rural workers, through his bright Parisian period, to his final, feverish burst of creative energy in the South of France during the last two and a half years of his life. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions
96 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2009
25 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
Ingo F. Walther
133 books52 followersIngo F. Walther was born in Berlin in 1940 and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He has published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 29, 2025
”To create works of art meant no less to him than to paint life - not mere reality, but the principle of life.”
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I remember a few years ago during the pandemic, I would look at art online and zoom into paintings (I think it was a site by Google) to see how Van Gogh applied paint to his canvas. Anyway, I went down a rabbit hole on YouTube and ended up watching an hour-long documentary about his art and life, it was so painful. For many years, his work didn’t garner much interest. It was only after his death (and a little before it) that his art was truly revered.
This book walks us through his life and shows how his paintings carried parts of his inner world and mental state. I loved that it included so many of his paintings and explained the emotion and artistic significance behind each one.
Since this was the first book I’d read about an artist (I know very little about artists in general), at first I felt like the descriptions of the emotional themes in his paintings were exaggerated. But halfway through the book, I began to look at his paintings and agree with what was being said. The colours play a huge role. The famous Sunflowers were painted during a time in his life when he felt excited, eager, and joyful. Van Gogh’s Chair was painted when he was low and discouraged. Poverty and loneliness shaped much of his life, yet he tried his best to make ends meet. He was painfully aware of his situation and, eventually, couldn’t bear it any longer.
I’ve always been inspired by his life. It clearly took a toll on him, not fitting into his family’s expectations, social isolation, being financially dependent on his younger brother, women who, for the most part, weren’t interested in him, and people he looked up to who didn’t respect him enough.
The book made me sad.
I can’t wait to see his paintings in real life, even though I know I’ll feel even sadder when I do :((
-
I remember a few years ago during the pandemic, I would look at art online and zoom into paintings (I think it was a site by Google) to see how Van Gogh applied paint to his canvas. Anyway, I went down a rabbit hole on YouTube and ended up watching an hour-long documentary about his art and life, it was so painful. For many years, his work didn’t garner much interest. It was only after his death (and a little before it) that his art was truly revered.
This book walks us through his life and shows how his paintings carried parts of his inner world and mental state. I loved that it included so many of his paintings and explained the emotion and artistic significance behind each one.
Since this was the first book I’d read about an artist (I know very little about artists in general), at first I felt like the descriptions of the emotional themes in his paintings were exaggerated. But halfway through the book, I began to look at his paintings and agree with what was being said. The colours play a huge role. The famous Sunflowers were painted during a time in his life when he felt excited, eager, and joyful. Van Gogh’s Chair was painted when he was low and discouraged. Poverty and loneliness shaped much of his life, yet he tried his best to make ends meet. He was painfully aware of his situation and, eventually, couldn’t bear it any longer.
I’ve always been inspired by his life. It clearly took a toll on him, not fitting into his family’s expectations, social isolation, being financially dependent on his younger brother, women who, for the most part, weren’t interested in him, and people he looked up to who didn’t respect him enough.
The book made me sad.
I can’t wait to see his paintings in real life, even though I know I’ll feel even sadder when I do :((
May 13, 2022
obviously van gogh is my fav artist and one of the most fascinating individuals i’ve ever read up on, but this book itself was not executed that well. it’s basically a coffee table book but i figured i’d actually read it. it tells the story of van gogh‘s life with a lot of his paintings shown throughout. what really frustrated me was that all of the descriptions of the paintings within the narrative were on DIFFERENT PAGES from the actual paintings, so i had to flip back and forth. also the text was really dense.
January 4, 2025
Un livre instructif qui est une très bonne introduction à la vie de Vincent Van Gogh.
La narration chronologique permet de nous plonger dans sa vie de manière plus humaine, comprenant sa regrettée solitude, sa maladie et sa triste fin. Les commentaires et analyses de ses œuvres sont mêlées de ses courriers et citations contextuelles, nous suivons peu à peu son évolution artistique, ses tourments et ses peines.
De quoi continuer d'admirer cet artiste incompris par beaucoup, et se plonger dans le cœur de son art.
La narration chronologique permet de nous plonger dans sa vie de manière plus humaine, comprenant sa regrettée solitude, sa maladie et sa triste fin. Les commentaires et analyses de ses œuvres sont mêlées de ses courriers et citations contextuelles, nous suivons peu à peu son évolution artistique, ses tourments et ses peines.
De quoi continuer d'admirer cet artiste incompris par beaucoup, et se plonger dans le cœur de son art.
May 7, 2023
This is the third book in the basic arts series I read (after Hokusai and Duchamp) and so far the best. It was really informative and well written, and it actually did make me look at van Gogh's art differently. It's definetely more for people who don't know much (or anything) about him to begin with- I doubt there is a lot of new information for someone who already has some knowledge of his life and work. But for a first overview, this was really nice.
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October 31, 2025Nel complesso, sono rimasta sorpresa da questo piccolo approfondimento su Van Gogh.
Per quanto conosca ormai bene la vita dell’artista e abbia in mente (e abbia visto) molte delle sue opere, sono rimasta comunque stupita dalla ricchezza di informazioni e di illustrazioni presenti – alcune di quadri che non avevo mai visto prima e che mi ha fatto piacere scoprire. Non sono molto convinta di come sono state inserite le foto in alcuni punti, più che altro perché non amo dover fare avanti e indietro tra le pagine ogni due righe, ma capisco che è un dettaglio.
Bello, comunque.
[niente voto perché è un saggio]
Per quanto conosca ormai bene la vita dell’artista e abbia in mente (e abbia visto) molte delle sue opere, sono rimasta comunque stupita dalla ricchezza di informazioni e di illustrazioni presenti – alcune di quadri che non avevo mai visto prima e che mi ha fatto piacere scoprire. Non sono molto convinta di come sono state inserite le foto in alcuni punti, più che altro perché non amo dover fare avanti e indietro tra le pagine ogni due righe, ma capisco che è un dettaglio.
Bello, comunque.
[niente voto perché è un saggio]
July 15, 2021
It's very interesting and informative. Thanks to this book, the readership is able to find out more about the great artist. It shows how his family and private life influenced his vision of art. I think the most compelling aspect was the one related to his strong relationship with a younger brother, Theo.
What's more, this title is so lavishly illustrated... I just adore it. Having finished this book I feel like reading more about Vincent van Gogh and discovering more masterpieces.
What's more, this title is so lavishly illustrated... I just adore it. Having finished this book I feel like reading more about Vincent van Gogh and discovering more masterpieces.
August 28, 2022
„Es ist nur allzu wahr, dass eine Menge Maler geisteskrank werden - es ist ein Leben, das einen milde ausgedrückt, sehr weltfremd macht. Wenn ich mich wieder Hals über Kopf in die Arbeit stürze, so ist das gut, aber halb verdreht werde ich immer bleiben.“ - Vincent van Gogh (S. 66)
Der am 30. März 1853 geborene niederländische Maler nutze oftmals die Rückseite seiner Werke, da er nicht das nötige Kleingeld für neue Materialien hatte. Diese und viele weitere Informationen erhält man in Ingo F. Walthers Buch „Van Gogh“. Von Geburt bis zum Tod wird Vincent van Goghs Werdegang geschildert und dabei oftmals Aussagen des Künstlers zum Beispiel aus Briefen an seinen Bruder zitiert. Außerdem gibt dieses Buch kurze Beschreibungen und Erklärungen zu van Goghs künstlerischer Entwicklung und zu einigen seiner Werke. Nur leider sind die angedruckten Bilder zum Teil auf anderen Seiten als der angedruckte Text, weshalb fleißiges hin und her blättern angesagt war. Ich bin sehr begeistert von Vincent van Goghs Kunst und war letztes Jahr im Van Gogh Museum im Amsterdam-Urlaub hellauf begeistert. Dementsprechend waren mir dir meisten Informationen aus dieser Biografie nicht unbekannt. Nichtsdestotrotz gibt dieses Buch einen tollen allgemeinen Überblick über Vincent van Goghs Leben und Wirken und ich möchte es in meinem Regal nicht missen.
Der am 30. März 1853 geborene niederländische Maler nutze oftmals die Rückseite seiner Werke, da er nicht das nötige Kleingeld für neue Materialien hatte. Diese und viele weitere Informationen erhält man in Ingo F. Walthers Buch „Van Gogh“. Von Geburt bis zum Tod wird Vincent van Goghs Werdegang geschildert und dabei oftmals Aussagen des Künstlers zum Beispiel aus Briefen an seinen Bruder zitiert. Außerdem gibt dieses Buch kurze Beschreibungen und Erklärungen zu van Goghs künstlerischer Entwicklung und zu einigen seiner Werke. Nur leider sind die angedruckten Bilder zum Teil auf anderen Seiten als der angedruckte Text, weshalb fleißiges hin und her blättern angesagt war. Ich bin sehr begeistert von Vincent van Goghs Kunst und war letztes Jahr im Van Gogh Museum im Amsterdam-Urlaub hellauf begeistert. Dementsprechend waren mir dir meisten Informationen aus dieser Biografie nicht unbekannt. Nichtsdestotrotz gibt dieses Buch einen tollen allgemeinen Überblick über Vincent van Goghs Leben und Wirken und ich möchte es in meinem Regal nicht missen.
August 9, 2021
A great journey through the life and works of Van Gogh. Ideal for casual fans who wish to learn more.
My only gripe with this series of books (and this may be standard for art books, I don't know) is the way the piece of art under discussion is often half a dozen pages away, either before or after the text. This leads to a lot of unnecessary to and froing which could be avoided with a little more thought to the layout. Surely it can't be that hard to bring them closer together. It's like two separate books. One for someone who only reads, and one for someone who only looks at the pictures.
My only gripe with this series of books (and this may be standard for art books, I don't know) is the way the piece of art under discussion is often half a dozen pages away, either before or after the text. This leads to a lot of unnecessary to and froing which could be avoided with a little more thought to the layout. Surely it can't be that hard to bring them closer together. It's like two separate books. One for someone who only reads, and one for someone who only looks at the pictures.
May 20, 2025
I remember seeing four typos in this book, but then again, it is a coffeetop book. Van Gogh's life is outlined and described quite well, and the narrative writing is moving enough to keep the reader engaged.
March 22, 2020
Loved the paintings, not a fan of Walther's writing.
November 5, 2020
An incredible book about gorgeous paintings and artist's biography!
May 5, 2023
The editing is pretty bad (the author edited himself) and I disagree with several of his interpretations. Love Van Gogh but don’t love this writer 💔
June 9, 2025
très intéressant
June 21, 2024
Finalmente mi sto immergendo nel mondo dell’arte, da tempo volevo farlo e già in passato ho letto molto su internet di vari autori. Mi ha invogliato a leggere altro, di arte, e sicuramente non tra molto sfoglierò un altro libro su qualche altro autore, magari Friedrich.
Questo piccolo libro riassume la vita e le opere di Vincent Van Gogh, un uomo che voleva dipingere, voleva amare ed essere amato, nella maniera più semplice e sincera, ma sfortunatamente nessuno lo ha salvato da quella buia solitudine e da quel assordante dolore che, in seguito, lo ha portato a spararsi. Il libretto fa quel che deve fare, è un introduzione al mondo del pittore e sicuramente la versione integrale del libro (di oltre 700 pagine) è piu ricca ed esaustiva, ma forse non è ideale come primo approccio, a differenza di questo.
È impossibile non provare pena per Vincent, ha subito fin troppo, nonostante volesse solo essere accettato. La qualità della carta, del linguaggio, della copertina, delle immagini e di tutto il resto è buona, la Taschen è una garanzia. Il testo è suddiviso molto bene e ripercorre la vita del pittore in ordine cronologico. Ho letto che molti hanno odiato il fatto di andare avanti e indietro con le pagine perchè molte volte la descrizione dell’opera non è nella stessa facciata dell’immagine, a me non è pesato molto.
Non posso dare un voto alto perchè è un libro che funge praticamente solo da introduzione, accorpando il testo senza immagini verrebbero fuori non più di 30 pagine. È un preambolo. Però scommetto che il libro esteso da 750 merita il massimo.
“Amava il mondo e la vita, anche se quel suo amore non fu mai corrisposto. Se il mondo lo fece soffrire e crollare, con la sua arte Van Gogh ne creò uno soltanto suo, nuovo, variopinto e vivace, che racchiudeva tutto quanto lui sapeva della vita.”
Questo piccolo libro riassume la vita e le opere di Vincent Van Gogh, un uomo che voleva dipingere, voleva amare ed essere amato, nella maniera più semplice e sincera, ma sfortunatamente nessuno lo ha salvato da quella buia solitudine e da quel assordante dolore che, in seguito, lo ha portato a spararsi. Il libretto fa quel che deve fare, è un introduzione al mondo del pittore e sicuramente la versione integrale del libro (di oltre 700 pagine) è piu ricca ed esaustiva, ma forse non è ideale come primo approccio, a differenza di questo.
È impossibile non provare pena per Vincent, ha subito fin troppo, nonostante volesse solo essere accettato. La qualità della carta, del linguaggio, della copertina, delle immagini e di tutto il resto è buona, la Taschen è una garanzia. Il testo è suddiviso molto bene e ripercorre la vita del pittore in ordine cronologico. Ho letto che molti hanno odiato il fatto di andare avanti e indietro con le pagine perchè molte volte la descrizione dell’opera non è nella stessa facciata dell’immagine, a me non è pesato molto.
Non posso dare un voto alto perchè è un libro che funge praticamente solo da introduzione, accorpando il testo senza immagini verrebbero fuori non più di 30 pagine. È un preambolo. Però scommetto che il libro esteso da 750 merita il massimo.
“Amava il mondo e la vita, anche se quel suo amore non fu mai corrisposto. Se il mondo lo fece soffrire e crollare, con la sua arte Van Gogh ne creò uno soltanto suo, nuovo, variopinto e vivace, che racchiudeva tutto quanto lui sapeva della vita.”
January 28, 2023
It was interesting to see the evolution of Vincent van Gogh, but the Taschen books always have the Problem that they end midsentence and start with pictures and explanation texts in-between, the again continue the sentence on the next page.
But you get the pictures, his life story and the explanation so it's a good book to get into Van Gogh art
January 10, 2021
Libro scritto molto bene in modo chiaro e preciso. Da una visione completa dell’artista sia dal punto di vista dello stile artistico che dal punto di vista psicologico. Ideale per chi vuole approcciarsi all’artista e conoscerne le generalità.
July 11, 2023
Art has always held a special in mine and my whole family's heart. This book truly helps you understand van Gogh, not only as a master of the craft he ultimately chose, but more about him as a person. Absolutely would recommend this book to everyone!!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews