Customer Reviews

Biography - Vincent Van Gogh: A Stroke Of Genius [VHS]

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California State University Fullerton's Professor Patricia Craig, gave an eight hour lecture and informational session to the Arts and Entertainment for the award winning Biography series to sum up into this 2 hour video. Her interest brought new ideas and makes alive the story of an already vibrant history of a late-blooming Dutch born painter destined to take Paris by storm. Vincent Van Gogh's paintings are sold at Christie's Auction house at the highest value in the world's history of famous painting sales. A Japanese business man loved his purchase so much, he gave directions to be cremated with his Van Gogh. I am not an art history major, but there are only a few times you run into a professor that brings such passion into their work that they seem to inspire and motivate all those who come into her path. Combined with the style of the director, this A&E production was produced like none other. "Your profession is not what brings home a weekly paycheck. Your profession is what you are put on Earth to do. With such passion, with such intensity, it becomes spiritual in calling." - Van Gogh.

Vincent Van Gogh's work is some of the most sought after of any artist. Such a tragic life, for someone who gave so much, to experience so much pain. The pain and the beauty were intimately linked. As is the case with many who reach a level of artistic genius, the "opposites" the yin and yang are vital components of their work. The force behind the creative genius, what shaped his work, presented chronologically, is what this DVD does exceptionally well. It covers the loving Vincent, the highly emotional, passionate man plagued by disappointments, frustration, and health problems. The same emotional fury that gives us his beautiful art, led to a difficult life. The DVD does a great job of showing the man behind the work. I was particularly impressed with the photography of his paintings, I have never seen them presented more beautifully."A Stoke of Genius" interviews a number of Van Gogh scholars who give unique insight into Vincent's work and life. Deep down Vincent was a simple man, at his core he was spiritual, passionate, and loving. His art was an expression of this. But somehow looking at his life we see that although he could see the beauty, he was somehow not fully able to experience it. In his efforts though, he left us with breathtaking art. Art which is his window to the beautiful world we live in.

I think this video gives lots of information, without being boring. The A&E's series is always good and I highly recommend this Van Gogh video if you want a good introduction to the life of one of the greatest artists in history!

This video is a great way to learn the basic facts about Vincent Van Gogh. It covers, rather quickly, his brief life and the tribulations he experienced.

It does attempt to lay blame for his life at his parents' feet. I do not subscribe to that pop psychology, but fortunately that is only a brief part at the beginning.

Aside from that it is a very well crafted documentary. It is not an "in your face" show as so many stations are apt to put together to make it more "entertaining." It is simply words and art to explain a bit about the artist's life and works and to whet the viewer's appetite for more information.

In short, it is everything a video biography should be.

This video is a biography of the now famous Vincent Van Gogh. It is insightful, accurate and inspiring. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Poor Vincent. If he only knew how famous he would become. But then, he might not have been able to handle the attention. How sad that such a genius had to have such a tragic life.

This documentary had its strong and week points. Too avoid a negative aftertaste (some say I'm too critically), I'll start with the criticism and end on the strong points. First, I thought that the movei was a little dry. It simply trucked through Van Gogh's life, telling it bit by bit, rather than really fleshing out his story. Nowhere was there any scholars discussing certain points of his life. It was a direct narration as if reading a book, perhaps too straightforward for my taste. Also, it didn't really touch on his paintings, giving the viewer some background information on when they were painted and which ones were of particular interest. I would have liked to hear more about how Van Gogh affected art today, and his overall significance. The biography seemed like a daily walk through with his life, not a view of his life as it affected the world. One of the strong points of the film (potentially part of the reason for the weak ones) was that the documentary was very short. Less than an hour! If you are on a time schedule or don't want to devote much time to Van Gogh, it takes little commitment to learn about Van Gogh. Also, there was much information packed into that short amount of time. I found Van Gogh's life to be very interesting, so he is a subject that keeps your attention. Anyway, I did enjoy the film, and it is likely worth your time, though I would probably just check it out from the library.