VAN GOGH

by Pascal Bonafoux

The artistic career of Vincent Van Gogh streaks across the history of modern art like a flashing comet. When Van Gogh arrived in Paris in 1886, at the apogee of the Impressionist revolution, he associated with Pissarro, Cezanne, Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Bernard, and explored with them such new forms of painting as divisionism and cloisonnism. But Vincent, fascinated though he was by Gauguin, knew that he carried within himself a message, a genius, that was his alone. He left Paris and in a few years - he was to commit suicide four years later - in Arles, in the psychiatric asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, near Saint-Remy-de-Provence, and finally at Auvers-sur-Oise, he accomplished his life's immense work.

Genres: Art

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Pascal Bonafoux is a French writer, novelist, art critic and art historian, a specialist in self-portraiture. He collaborates with various newspapers and magazines, he is the author of numerous essays dedicated to art and was a resident at the French Academy in Rome. He is professor of art history at Paris 8 University, and is also a curator who organises exhibitions either in France or abroad.

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, with large reproductions of paintings of good quality, that creates a portrait of Vincent Van Gogh through his own words (in the form of letters), sketches, and paintings.
While I was surprised to see some information and classic paintings such as the Irises (now at the Getty) missing (although there is a description of the painting), and having seeing one the paintings included, I think maybe the colors in some of the reproductions are perhaps a bit off (though I can't be sure), but if you aren't expecting this book to the be the be-all and end-all book on Van Gogh, you'll find it a fascinating and insightful journey.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reproductions that are printed in this book are so detailed that I can really see the textures in the paint from his brushstrokes. This book also has many paintings I haven't seen before. It also has a detailed history of his life. Van Gogh is truly a master of colour, and his use of complementary colours is astounding.

[Alexe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une biographie très intéressante, marquée par ses tableaux et ses lettres envoyées à son frère.