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Letters of Vincent van Gogh
 
 
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Letters of Vincent van Gogh [Paperback]

Mark Roskill (Editor)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 18, 2008

A literary classic, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh Captures the voice of one of the most beloved and important artists of all time.

Though Vincent van Gogh is often thought of as a mad genius, in The Letters of Vincent van Gogh the thoughtful, effervescent, and sensitive man is revealed to readers through his own voice.

This collection of letters, arranged in chronological order and written to Vincent's closest confidant, his brother and art dealer, Theo, provide a riveting narrative of van Gogh's life. The letters expose Vincent's creative process; his joy and inspiration derived from literature, Japanese art, and nature; as well as his many romantic disappointments and constant poverty. Also documented are Vincent's close relationships with fellow artists, especially Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh's tender and often ebullient letters provide a sharp contrast to the devastating and frequently violent mental breakdowns that plagued and eventually destroyed him.

Collected and edited by art historian Mark Roskill, this volume also includes a chronology, a short memoir by van Gogh's sister-in-law that fills in many of the blanks of Vincent's early years, and reproductions of selected artwork discussed in van Gogh's letters.

An epistolary classic, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh is not just an important historical collection but also a captivating treasure.


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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This thorough collection of van Gogh's letters has been assembled with an artful eye and sensitivity to the artist's thinking. The result is an atypical take on Vincent van Gogh that avoids putting too much stress on his troubled mental state and too much straining by the editor to shape a narrative out of van Gogh's epistolary clues. Instead, we see the thoughtful and contemplative side of this creative genius, as well as his concern for the impact his art and life had on those people closest to him. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Van Gogh was 37 and on the edge of fame when, in 1890, he shot and killed himself. Unable to sell his brilliant canvases, he was utterly dependent upon his younger brother, Theo, to whom most of the letters collected here are written. Anguished by loss of faith after planning to be a priest, disappointed in several once-promising love affairs, he was also so tormented by poverty that one of his artistic breakthroughs occurred when, without proper colors, he brushed in "a garden, green by nature, but painted without actual green, nothing but Prussian blue and chrome yellow." Whether van Gogh's suicide was the inevitable culmination of depression, or due to epilepsy or to professional frustration (he is remembered, beyond his pictures, for razoring off part of his ear), his letters reveal that the end was long contemplated. In 1878, he had written to Theo, "It must be good to die in the knowledge that one has done some truthful work." By the time he put a hole in his chest, he knew he had done that. The letters, edited by de Leeuw, the director of the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, echo the artist's passionate voice, and the connective narrative excerpts other letters that readers may regret not having in full. Integral to the letters are 49 pen-and-ink sketches that evidence van Gogh's development into a creative force. Although each letter possesses an inherent pathos because one knows what lies ahead, van Gogh's epistolary appeal goes beyond melodrama. Often inspired by books despite being a limner of peasant life and the land, he once wrote, "How beautiful Shakespeare is, who else is as mysterious as he is; his language and method are like a brush trembling with excitement and ecstasy."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Touchstone; Reprint edition (November 18, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416580867
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416580867
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
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4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Intimate Look, November 2, 2000
I bought this book several years ago in a college bookstore. How fortunate these students were to have been able to read and discuss this with others! I have had a long interest in Van Gogh and found this book to be fascinating, an almost voyeuristic look into his short life. I am glad to see that it is available * * and would hope that people now seeing the traveling Van Gogh portraiture exhibit might read it.

De Leeuw has compiled letters covering over 25 years of Van Gogh's life, letters that offer the reader an intimate look into the artist's thoughts and emotions. He writes about his friendships, his family, his attempts at love affairs, his religious beliefs and questions, and most importantly, about his art. These letters reveal him as anything but the anti-social person often portrayed in the past, with the ones about his relationship with his brother Theo being particularly touching.

Van Gogh was a prolific correspondent and an absolutely wonderful writer. His prose is remarkable--he could have been a writer as well as an artist. These letters shed light on the inner thoughts and the inspiration for his art and show him as a person of great passion and compassion.

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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Spirit of a Great Artist, January 27, 1999
By A Customer
While Vincent van Gogh has always been one of my favorite artists, this compilation of his letters combined with a more in-depth study of his work has intensified my appreciation of him as both an artist and a person. I've always felt it was impossible to separate this particular artist from his work and reading his letters has led me to a better understanding of why this is. These letters beautifully capture his soul and spirit and reveal him as the caring, expressive and socially aware person that he was. The combination of strength of character and vulnerability expressed in these letters explain both the intensity and sensitivity of his work.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "the best way to love God is to love many things", February 20, 2003
By 
A very fine collection of the letters, with multiple sides of VVG revealed. To read a collection of letters by an artist whose work you know very well is to invite yourself to take a look at him as a person. As a person, I found that I liked him best in these letters when he was struggling with his religion, his art, and his purpose. I'm glad that Roskill didn't make a selection that focused solely on the more famous and theatrical depressions.

I don't agree that this work reveals Van Gogh as a writer. For me, they definitely confirmed his status as a painter. At his best in these letters, he's painting with words.

Which doesn't make it a less interesting read. I found this a good adjunct to taking a look at the work again, it added an extra dimension to experiencing him as a painter.

Well worth the time it takes.

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First Sentence:
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a village in Brabant on the Belgian border, the oldest son of Theodoras van Gogh and his amiable wife, Anna Cornelia Carbentus (their first child, also named Vincent, had been stillborn exactly one year earlier). Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mountain chalk, painted studies, good handshake, petites misères, orphan men, turf huts, potato eaters
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Vincent van Gogh, Theo van Gogh, Émile Bernard, Kee Vos, Anthon van Rappard, Paul Gauguin, Puvis de Chavannes, Albert Aurier, Jules Breton, Uncle Stricker, Claude Monet, Hague School, Emile Bernard, Frank Holl, Guy de Maupassant, Jules Dupré, Uncle Cor, Margot Begemann, Ary Scheffer, Beecher Stowe, Evangelical Hymns, Grand Boulevard, Herman Tersteeg, Octave Mouret, Père Tanguy
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