Through the Eyes of Vincent Van Gogh

by Barrington Barber

View the world as seen through the eyes of the legendary artist Vincent Van Gogh in this follow-up to the wildly successful Through the Eyes of Leonardo da Vinci. Beautiful color illustrations by Van Gogh are accompanied by informative and captivating text. Learn about the themes, motives, and meanings behind the drawings and paintings of one of the most fascinating artists of the nineteenth century. All of Van Gogh's major works are here, from portraits such as that of postman Joseph-Etienne Roulin to the best-known landscape "Starry Night."

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2005

About the author

Barrington Barber originally worked in advertising and television as designer and art director. Then taught at Ealing Art School. Then practiced as a freelance designer, illustrator, painter at Augustine Studios. He was Head of Art at St James’s Independent Schools. Author and illustrator of Fundamentals of Drawing and about 20 other books for Arcturus Publishing. Now paints, draws and writes about art.

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good things about this book: excellent reproductions of the works, well chosen to show the variety of Van Gogh. Also, quotes from the artist about the particular pictures.
Bad things: appallingly clunky prose and dubious psychoanalysis. Sorry, Mr Barber, you have not done VVG justice.

[Sneha Bhargava · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been written in a way that the descriptions of the painting don’t sound anything out of the ordinary, I think the write could have a done a better job in painting the pictures to its readers. It’s been laid out in a way that the last picture is actually the last painting created by Van Gogh which was cool. Overall I wish I could have read something more detailed than what this book has to offer...

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. A good introduction to the art and life of Vincent Van Gogh. Paintings are grouped by subject - landscapes, portraits, still life, etc. Each painting has a page of its own, along with a page describing the work and its significance.

[Azam Ch. · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good short introduction to get an idea about his paintings, the book was divided into different sections like early works, portraits, landscapes, still life paintings and so on with a brief description and some background about each painting under it.
it leaves out many good paintings tho.

[Nadia Ab Latif · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice comprehensive book of Van Gogh’s works.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more of a coffee table book. The quality of the reproductions are nice, but that's about it. The author tries to write a little bit about each work, but I find the essay on each painting rather trite and lacking any sense of robust scholarship or deep understanding. I admit I cannot say this as a Van Gogh scholar by any means, but when reading this book in tandem with Van Gogh in Arles, Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers, Van Gogh: The Life and some other books, the weaknesses of the essays are more apparent. (Some of it is also just the way the book is laid out...for instance if the author talks about "in comparison to his early work, this painting shows VG uses a different palatte" the reader doesn't have a desire to flip through the book and figure out which earlier works and also the book is arranged thematically, not chronologically, so one cannot simply refer to the preceeding or following image. The integration of snippets from Van Gogh's writings, versus large chunks of his letters (as other more scholarly tomes are wont to do) does make for easier reading. Nice for the photos...read a different book for analysis.

[Apple · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how the book was written. The introduction immediately fired up my curiosity for Van Gogh even more! This book is awesome for Van Gogh scholars who really want to delve into his life and works. :)

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful color prints. Not certain about some of the analyses of his paintings/state of mind, however.

[Azad Azadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I translated this book to Persian.

[Baiba Auria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly speculative writing, but worth it for the images and factual information presented in a accessible way.

[philosophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

again barrington's writing style is very simple, likeable and informative. van gogh is an artist that didn't interest me much, before reading this book.

[Ash al jaberi · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating