Conversations with Van Gogh

by Vincent van Gogh, Simon Parke

'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 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.'

Genres: History, Biography

143 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2010

About the author

Vincent 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.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The sadness will last forever.”

Van Gogh remains one of the greatest and most tragic of artists. His letters are true literary treasures, and the emotional power of his words always, always moves me.

That being said, I didn’t care for the interview format of this book, which felt awkward and forced at times. It’s not bad, merely okay.

At the same time, as a sort of reader’s theater, this must have been a fantastic project to undertake, and both readers did a fine job. At its best, it reminded me of the Doctor Who episode about Van Gogh, which is still (IMHO) the best imaginative exploration of Van Gogh’s life I’ve come across.

[RKanimalkingdom]

DNF

[Claire Bull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook and it was well done and quite different.

[Kara of BookishBytes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally the structure of the book (with the "interviewer" asking questions and the responses taken from Van Gogh's letters) makes the reading experience stilted, but most of the time it works well.

[Sadie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy the writing style of this book. It's a cool concept, but I think Van Gogh's letters could have been displayed better.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to incorporate the letters. Learnt quite a bit.

[Удвал Шижирбаатар · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadness, emptiness and loneliness but with love, kindness, alive and thoughtful. One of the fav quotes of him ‘I dream of painting and then I paint my dream’.

[Mary Playford · Rating 3 out of 5]

He is not one to inspire but an interesting individual to know.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a bit of an intense Van Gogh period of late, leading up to visiting the Van Gogh up close exhibit at the National Gallery.

Yesterday I saw the exhibit and can say that I was glad to have read the book, as the biographical information provided was sparse to say the least (though I have not yet read the catalogue, I expect that will flesh things out some).

The format of this book could be off-putting to some. All of the words attributed to Van Gogh were used by him, mostly in his letters, but the author has re-purposed them, supplying his own questions (presumably made up to fit already existing "answers" in a weird sort-of literary Jeopardy.

So it was interesting, but not really proper biography to my eyes. Still worth a read if you are a fan, but not an art historian.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The interview format was stilted. I'd rather read his letters to brother Theo. It's okay, but not great.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intriguing, short introduction to Vincent's life cleverly written in interview form. Van Gogh's answers come straight from his letters.

[Camila Zm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmm o sea es que estuvo interesante el formato de entrevista con Vincent pero no me convenció del todo, algo le faltó, pero está ligero y rápido el libro.