Van Gogh's Flowers

by Debra N. Mancoff

Van Gogh was inspired by the beauty and colours of nature. He brought this passion to life in some of the most vibrant depictions of the natural world ever put to canvas. This book takes a look at this side of the artist's life and work. It offers insight into the artist's unique vision with the help of his most beautiful paintings and excerpts from his own writings. We see that flowers such as the iris and the sunflower served as emblems of self-identity and that the fields were a testament to the cycle of life and a warning of the inevitability of death. The book offers a portrait of the joy and pleasure that Van Gogh experienced in his life and expressed with his brush.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have received this novelty book as a gift years ago. Van Gogh has been one of my favorite artists since I was young and I have acquired many books about him and his art but have read few of them. Now that I'm working my way through them I'm finding a new appreciation for Van Gogh's life, even while my artistic taste has changed over time and I don't always enjoy his paintings like I used to.

Though this book is brief, I learned some new things about Van Gogh and, as always, reading about his emotional/mental struggles helps me to appreciate not only him and his work, but the countless others who struggle onward in the face of immense difficulty. One of the new things I learned was that Starry Night, the first painting that drew me to Van Gogh's work, was painted while he was hospitalized. It's both humbling and inspiring to know that so much beauty and brilliance can come out of such struggle.

I also really enjoyed the scope of this book because it focused on the artist's interaction with nature and the way it motivated and encouraged him in many ways. The text gives a brief overview of his life and different situations, but Van Gogh's appreciation for various nature motifs is emphasized. It's not very extensive, but it does serve to show a glimpse of the wonder and beauty of God's creation and the impact that it can have on us.

My only real critique is that at least some of the paintings are not provided in their full context (they are cut off or zoomed in on). Several paintings are given in full with an additional close up of some detail, but once I noticed one painting that was not given in full it made me wonder which others might not be and I didn't like not knowing if I was seeing the full representation.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the wonderful illustrations and 3 stars for the overly repetitive text, averaged to 4 overall.

[Karen Dransfield]

I got this out to find out some more about Van Gogh's sunflower paintings. And to have some examples to show my art class. I read the introduction and a bit of the first chapter and then just looked at the paintings. Purely for research.