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Een leven in brieven
'Conversations with Van Gogh' is an imagined conversation with this remarkable figure. But while the conversation is imagined, Van Gogh's words are not; they are all authentically his. '
Vincent van Gogh is best known for two things - his sunflowers and his ear-cutting. But there are many other ways of knowing this remarkable son of a Dutch pastor, who left his chill homeland for the sunshine of Arles in the South of France; and left us over a thousand frank letters of struggle and joy, to help us glimpse his inner world.
Vincent came late to painting after spending time in London trying to be a Christian missionary. And though he is now amongst the most famous artists on earth, in his day, no one saw him coming - apart from one French art critic called Aurier. It is possible he never sold one of his paintings in his life time.
When he discovered the sun in Arles, he also discovered energy. Yellow for him was the colour of hope, and in his last two years he painted almost a canvass a day. But hope ran out on July 27th , 1890 when he shot himself, aged 37. He was at this time six months out of a mental institution, where perhaps he experienced his greatest calm. Vincent compared himself to a stunted plant; damaged by the emotional frost of his childhood.
'Speaking with Vincent - which he insists on being called - was a privilege,' says Simon Parke. 'He's endlessly fascinating, contradictory, moving, funny, insightful and tragic. There's a fury in him; but also a great kindness. He found harmony in human relationships elusive; his love life was a painful shambles. But with colour, he was a harmonic genius, and he has much to say about this. And here's the thing: for a man who killed himself - he died in the arms of his brother on July 29th - spending time with him was never anything but life-affirming.'
Vincent van Gogh is best known for two things - his sunflowers and his ear-cutting. But there are many other ways of knowing this remarkable son of a Dutch pastor, who left his chill homeland for the sunshine of Arles in the South of France; and left us over a thousand frank letters of struggle and joy, to help us glimpse his inner world.
Vincent came late to painting after spending time in London trying to be a Christian missionary. And though he is now amongst the most famous artists on earth, in his day, no one saw him coming - apart from one French art critic called Aurier. It is possible he never sold one of his paintings in his life time.
When he discovered the sun in Arles, he also discovered energy. Yellow for him was the colour of hope, and in his last two years he painted almost a canvass a day. But hope ran out on July 27th , 1890 when he shot himself, aged 37. He was at this time six months out of a mental institution, where perhaps he experienced his greatest calm. Vincent compared himself to a stunted plant; damaged by the emotional frost of his childhood.
'Speaking with Vincent - which he insists on being called - was a privilege,' says Simon Parke. 'He's endlessly fascinating, contradictory, moving, funny, insightful and tragic. There's a fury in him; but also a great kindness. He found harmony in human relationships elusive; his love life was a painful shambles. But with colour, he was a harmonic genius, and he has much to say about this. And here's the thing: for a man who killed himself - he died in the arms of his brother on July 29th - spending time with him was never anything but life-affirming.'
582 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Vincent van Gogh
543 books2,349 followersVincent Willem van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage (a dreary mining district in Belgium), where he was dismissed for overzealousness. He remained in Belgium to study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints.
In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. In a fit of epilepsy, van Gogh pursued his friend with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.
In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.
In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. In a fit of epilepsy, van Gogh pursued his friend with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.
In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 15, 2022
Sommige passages waren wel mooi, maar het grootste deel was gebakkelei over geld en schilderijen. Mij te feitelijk. Blijf Vin een fascinerend figuur vinden maar dit deed weinig voor me.
January 21, 2016
Albert Aurier scheef over Vincent onder andere het volgende:
"What characterizes his works as a whole is its excess . . . of strength, of nervousness, its violence of expression. In his categorical affirmation of character of things, in his often daring simplification of forms, in his insolence in confronting the sun head-on, in the vehement passion of his drawing and colour, even to the smallest details of his technique, a powerful figure is revealed . . . masculine, daring, very often brutal . . . yet sometimes ingeniously delicate . . . ."
De reactie van Vincent op dit stuk in de "Mercure de France" kenmerkt de Nederlandse schilder op een bijzonder treffende manier. Een amalgaam van stukjes uit brieven:
"Ik ben buitengewoon verrast door het artikel over mijn schilderijen dat je me gestuurd hebt, onnodig te zeggen dat ik blijf denken dat ik niet zo schilder, maar ik zie er eerder in hoe ik zou moéten schilderen. (...) Maar ik vind werkelijk dat men zulke dingen over Gauguin zou moeten zeggen en over mij dan erg in de tweede plaats. (...) Want het aandeel dat er mij van toekomst of zal toekomen , zal (...) heel secundair blijven. (...) Ik was er bedroefd door toen ik het las, omdat het zozeer overdreven is, het zit anders in elkaar - wat mij draagt bij het werk, is juist het gevoel dat er verscheiden zijn, die net 't zelfde doen als ik, en waarom dan een artikel over mij en niet over die zes of zeven anderen, enz.?"
Ongelooflijke en emotionele-soms voyeristische- reis doorheen het leven van één van de meest geniale kunstenaars van de 19de eeuw.
"Een merkwaardige held", beschreef criticaster Isaäcson hem zo mooi.
La tristesse durera toujours.
"What characterizes his works as a whole is its excess . . . of strength, of nervousness, its violence of expression. In his categorical affirmation of character of things, in his often daring simplification of forms, in his insolence in confronting the sun head-on, in the vehement passion of his drawing and colour, even to the smallest details of his technique, a powerful figure is revealed . . . masculine, daring, very often brutal . . . yet sometimes ingeniously delicate . . . ."
De reactie van Vincent op dit stuk in de "Mercure de France" kenmerkt de Nederlandse schilder op een bijzonder treffende manier. Een amalgaam van stukjes uit brieven:
"Ik ben buitengewoon verrast door het artikel over mijn schilderijen dat je me gestuurd hebt, onnodig te zeggen dat ik blijf denken dat ik niet zo schilder, maar ik zie er eerder in hoe ik zou moéten schilderen. (...) Maar ik vind werkelijk dat men zulke dingen over Gauguin zou moeten zeggen en over mij dan erg in de tweede plaats. (...) Want het aandeel dat er mij van toekomst of zal toekomen , zal (...) heel secundair blijven. (...) Ik was er bedroefd door toen ik het las, omdat het zozeer overdreven is, het zit anders in elkaar - wat mij draagt bij het werk, is juist het gevoel dat er verscheiden zijn, die net 't zelfde doen als ik, en waarom dan een artikel over mij en niet over die zes of zeven anderen, enz.?"
Ongelooflijke en emotionele-soms voyeristische- reis doorheen het leven van één van de meest geniale kunstenaars van de 19de eeuw.
"Een merkwaardige held", beschreef criticaster Isaäcson hem zo mooi.
La tristesse durera toujours.
April 17, 2023
Geeft inzicht van eerste hand over Vincent als mens: een lieve broer en zoon, een hartelijk mens. De brieven laten zien hoe scherp hij alles waarnam, met name de kleuren en het licht.
Voornaamste eye-opener: zijn prachtige schilderijen waren vooraf altijd grondig overdacht, ondanks dat hij ze in razende vaart maakte. In zijn laatste jaar had vGogh alleen van tijd tot tijd last van waanzin. Daartussenin schreef hij heel normale en kalme brieven.
Voornaamste eye-opener: zijn prachtige schilderijen waren vooraf altijd grondig overdacht, ondanks dat hij ze in razende vaart maakte. In zijn laatste jaar had vGogh alleen van tijd tot tijd last van waanzin. Daartussenin schreef hij heel normale en kalme brieven.
September 22, 2023
Van Gogh was een komiek op de eerste plaats en een schilder op de tweede. Hier mijn favoriete quotes:
“Kerel, wat is het veld mooi!” p. 58
“Ik heb toch oren aan het hoofd Theo” p. 90
“Adieu, ik hoop dat de lucht helder blijft tussen u en mij” p. 94
“die lelijke??? verlepte vrouw” p. 107
“O kerel, ik ben zo melancholiek geworden” p.199
“Lamlul” p. 232
“ik geniet ervan als een krekel” p. 385
“Kerel, wat is het veld mooi!” p. 58
“Ik heb toch oren aan het hoofd Theo” p. 90
“Adieu, ik hoop dat de lucht helder blijft tussen u en mij” p. 94
“die lelijke??? verlepte vrouw” p. 107
“O kerel, ik ben zo melancholiek geworden” p.199
“Lamlul” p. 232
“ik geniet ervan als een krekel” p. 385
September 2, 2020
Op sommige momenten niet altijd vlot leesbaar, maar een uniek instrument om zich het werk van deze getourmenteerde geest eigen te maken. Tip : lees dit boek met een kijkboek van het oeuvre van van gogh bij de hand. Alles wordt nog aanschouwelijker !
October 25, 2022
as a painter it’s a must read, the flow between despair and pure happiness in his letters is so heartbreaking. it made me feel like i really knew him. the last thing van gogh said on his deathbed made me cry.
March 17, 2021
"Maar de waarheid, ook het trachten iets waars te maken, is mij zo dierbaar; ik geloof dat ik nog liever een schoenmaker ben dan een musicus met kleuren."
December 9, 2015
I remember loving this book. I was writing a paper about Van Gogh at the time so I was paying attention mostly to the parts where he talks about his influences (really interesting if you're into his art, btw) but what makes this collection so worthwhile (or any collection of his letters, I suppose, but this is the only one I've read) is his struggle with art and with life in general really. you can feel the frustration but there is also hope and his dedication to hard work and desire to express himself are moving tbh.
June 11, 2011
wonderfull must read
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews