Vincent by Himself

by Vincent van Gogh, Bruce Bernard (Editor)

This unique compilation of the art and writings of Vincent Van Gogh vividly conveys the intelligence and genius of one of Europe's greatest artists. The unquestionable appeal of Vincent's paintings and drawings is enhanced by his own account of his life and thought, as contained in his letters. This selection includes more than 230 of his paintings and drawings - all reproduced in full color - as well as extracts of the artist's correspondence to friends and family members.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Art History, Memoir

328 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1985

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

[Hannah Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"First the pain, then the joy."

Gorgeous. Snippets of letters and corresponding paintings with the years. What a mind.

[Esther Hong · Rating 4 out of 5]

General idea of the places van Gogh lived in, progression in his artwork and writings. Favourite works from: Hague, Nuenen, Arles and St Remy.

[Pat | That Book Stop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hesitated writing a post for this book as it is not the type of book I typically read or write about. However, I highly recommend it as a companion to a novel I just completed, the historical fiction, Lust for Life by Irving Stone, which tells the story of Van Gogh's life.

While reading/listening to Lust for Life, I decided I wanted to find a coffee table book to see some of Van Gogh's works described in the novel. Barns and Nobel occasionally offers such books at a considerable discount. When I went to the store, it happened to be the only such book on sale! I thought I was very fortunate to be able to pick up the last two copies, one for myself and the other for a gift. (I have a similar book about Monet.)

Vincent by Himself nicely corresponds with Lust For Life. I enjoyed looking at the images and now know so much more about them than I ever would have had I not listened to Lust For Life (my local monthly book club selection). This picture book also includes excerpts of the many letters written by Van Gogh that I hope to delve into more sometime in the future.

Van Gogh wrote his brother, who was his benefactor, many letters (over 600) throughout his short life. The author of Lust for Life, Irving Stone, used these letters to build much of Van Gogh's story.

What have you been reading or listening to lately? Do you enjoy coffee table books? I don't normally actually keep these books on my coffee table, but rather keep them in my bookcase and enjoy pulling them out occasionally.

[Hayati · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable read so far..I have always admired Van Gogh for the intensity of his paintings but I am finding his prose to be intense too..wonderful! I can truely understand Vincent who suffered from extreme loneliness..I can see a fragment of myself in him through his soul searching letters.Van Gogh lived the life of the shooting star but while he lived he blazed his genius into his paintings and words.

[John P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular insight, beautiful works. The story of this man's life defines the tragic shooting star.

[djt · Rating 5 out of 5]

There really aren't words to describe how happy I am to have been given the opportunity to read this book, and certainly not words to describe my thoughts and emotion as I read his letters. Most especially, the last few written by Vincent in the year of his death, and his last, found on him on the day of his death, July 29, 1890. The portraits and landscapes and still life paintings are, of course, extraordinary, and brought to greater beauty when reading various letters Van Gogh had written to describe to his brother, Theo, and others, exactly what he was feeling when these were painted. His writing is as extraordinary as his painting. What was most difficult for me when reading this were the times, in his letters, he opened his very soul to the recipient and we're allowed, through this, to see the anguish he experienced due to his mental illness. Of course, there were those times in his letters where he, again, opened his very soul and we're able to see the extreme pleasure he experienced in seeing the smallest blade of grass; a wheat plant bending in a gentle breeze; a rainstorm. Through this, I felt as if I had a sense of his person, right beside me as I read his letters and viewed his paintings and drawings. I was touched so deeply by the descriptions in some of his letters, identifying his daily struggle against his severe mental illness, and in accounts of the kindness, and in many cases, the ill-treatment he received from friends, foes, neighbors, strangers around him. What a sad and beautiful and courageous man. I'm looking forward to reading "Ever Yours" the book of his essential letters. For anyone having even the least interest in the life of Vincent Van Gogh, I'd definitely recommend this book, and warn to be prepared to be emotionally overwhelmed while reading.

[BookChampions · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five stars for van Gogh's paintings and the excerpts from his letters—so many letters! But I'm going to go ahead and rate this particularly collection of his work as a 3.

The book has an usual set up, and I guess I see why this book was one of the more affordable collections. The reproductions of his artwork are fantastic, and there are plenty of them. It's not a definitive or ultimate collection, but it gave me a heavy dose.

My problem lies with the book's layout. The letters are excerpted (which is fine) but it isn't always clear when they start and stop, and when they were written. They are chronological, but felt haphazard. While I enjoyed the nice overview of his life at the beginning of the book, I would have liked to have this cut up into sections and then spread throughout the different phases of his career.

I still feel like I got a healthy glimpse into the life and mindset of most favourite painter and one of my personal spirit animals. Although I read it over the course of an entire month with my freshman English class for a research project I'm teaching, it was a pretty quick read and a fairly solid book for the price. But I *do* want to read Pulitzer prize authors Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith's biography, Van Gogh: The Life, very soon. My love affair with this visionary is far from over!

[Rebecca Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pairing Vincent’s letters with images of his paintings and drawings filled a gap in the stories by and about him. The writings are poignant and inspiring. The gaps between letters and incomplete context make them a bit disjointed and the print of the volume I read was minuscule, which diminished my enjoyment somewhat. Overall, the experience was just what I needed to connect me to history and keep me steady with inspiration and a good grounding.

[courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vincent's works have always stirred something deep in my soul and reading this has only strengthened that feeling. To be able to read about his life through letters he wrote himself is such an incredible thing. The gallery of his works through the last stretch of the book were delightful. Honorable mention of 'wheat field under clouded skies'.

[Jacob McAllister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of the Artist Van Gogh and although through this book we get a better understanding of Vincent and his mind, Personally this book gave me a very unpleasant image of who the man Vincent really was.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this several years ago now, a journey into the man himself and none of the fictitious fog just true and honest

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read another collection of his letters a while ago, and I like this one better because:

1. The foreword gives a brief yet thorough timeline of his life, and the letters are labeled so you can refer to the timeline.

2. Sketches and paintings are included (about half of the book).

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...Theo, are you perhaps in love too? I wish you were, for believe me, even its little miseries have their value. One is sometimes in despair, there are moments when one seems to be in hell, but-- there are also other and better things connected with it. There are three stages.
1. Not to love and not to be loved.
2. To love and not to be loved in return.*
3. To love and to be loved.
Now, I tell you that the second stage is better than the first-- but the third, that is the best.
*Which is my case."
-Vincent van Gogh, 1881

I have always loved, admired, and been fascinated by van Gogh. Early in the summer, I visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see some of his paintings for the first time, and I found them to be exhilarating to study. In comparison to more careful painters, van Gogh's art is passionate, intense, and driven by emotion, as can be seen by his broad, paint-heavy brushstrokes. Naturally, he is my favorite artist, tied only with perhaps Toulouse-Lautrec. I always knew that van Gogh's life was a rollercoaster for him, but to read his very words puts it in perspective. Just like his paintings, his letters are passionate, intense, and beautiful. Although he was not an author or poet by any means, his words are very relatable for me. He seemed to be a man driven by emotion, which makes him such a sympathetic figure in history. Not only do the selections of drawings and paintings in this book correlate with the mood of his letters, but as a whole this is a fantastic way to take a look into the mind of one of my favorite people.

[Ramzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vincent By Himself, even if contemporaneously edited and compressed—is a good delve to Van Goghʼs prolific letter writing. His letters have been necessarily cropped to focus mostly his own beginning, his take on the art of painting, painters before and with him in his time, his bookish yearnings, and of course—his unhealthy solitude, and ecstatic relationship with his family, especially with Theo. Hence, Bruce Bernard tried to maintain composure and avoided adding notes to not hegemonize Van Gogh, and instead, made pages after pages lucidly and devoid of heavy annotations. He just dropped where Van Gogh wrote and of what year—as lacking like that, but surely, it made the book engaging and easy for the readers.

Though not definitive, including that the introduction and letters should have been nurtured well on their paragraph selections, it is nonetheless, became an accessible and compact book that shows the beauty and humanity of Van Gogh.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is only 6-3/4 x 8-1/2 inches, so the painting reproductions are relatively small. Otherwise, this is a decent sampling of Van Gogh's work. I picked it up for less than $8.00 at a Barnes and Nobel, so that was a good value.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

You really can't ever go wrong with anything about Van Gogh.

[Jim Colombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vincent's letters show a sensitive soul ... Misunderstood but sensitive. I can take this insight to the museum with me and understand his paintings just a little bit better. Well done!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Just beautiful, in every way.