Stranger On The Earth: A Psychological Biography Of Vincent Van Gogh [Paperback]

Albert J. Lubin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1996

The personality of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)—a 19th-century combination of dropout, rebel, and genius—and the source of his enormous achievement continue to fascinate people as deeply as his vivid, wildly painted canvasses of sunflowers, peasants, and starry nights. In this first and only in-depth study of the relationship between van Gogh's psychological development and his art, Albert J. Lubin, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus) at Stanford University and a practicing psychoanalyst, draws on the tremendous wealth of information available about van Gogh, to explore his personal conflicts in the context of the forces that molded him: familial, historical, cultural, religious, artistic, and literary. Dr. Lubin approaches van Gogh not as a mysterious mix of sick eccentric and martyred artist, but as a complete man who transformed his suffering into a phenomenal body of work. Lubin's daring psychological insights and art criticism allow us to better understand, and more fully appreciate, van Gogh's artistic triumph over his inner torment.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Albert J. Lubin is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus) at Stanford University and a practicing psychoanalyst.

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306807262
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807268
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Post-Impressionism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Gigglefest of Freudian Fallacies, June 11, 2004

By 

M. Atkinson (Bakersfield, CA (new orleans)USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stranger On The Earth: A Psychological Biography Of Vincent Van Gogh (Paperback)

Pure, unintentional, Freudian-style hilarity! This book is what happens when modern psychology ignores modern neuropathy. I was laughing until tears streamed down my face when I read the passage that states that Vincent's early work, (i.e. the Potato Eaters) was his superego rebelling against his mother's "Dutch cleanliness" and her refusal to allow the infant Vincent to smear feces on the walls of his nursery which then affected his pallete choice as an adult. Brown, yep. OK, I'm about to start laughing again . . . (whew!)

Vincent van Gogh was extraordinarily adept at introspection, and through reading his body of correspondence a student of psychology may glean an idea of van Gogh's state of agitation and alienation, and I recommend that a van Gogh scholar, or anyone with a genuine desire to better understand and empathize with van Gogh, read his correspondence instead of this book.

This book fails to lend any original - or even modern - insights, it is entirely too subjective, mired in neo-Freudian and occasionally, Jungian, conjecture, it lacks Gestalt, and works to distort and narrow the reader's perception of Vincent's gift as it related to his sustained neuropsychiatric state.

But, if you want to laugh (and laugh and laugh and laugh) at one scholar's attempt at deconstructing art and epileptiform neurological affect via Freud's ridiculous personality-based suppositions, read this book.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Only Van Gogh Biography I Can Recommend, December 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Stranger on the earth; a psychological biography of Vincent van Gogh (Hardcover)

Many biographies and abbreviated collections of Vincent's volumnous and passionate letters to his brother Theo have been published in recent years. The only one that I can recommend though is "Stranger on the Earth : A Psychological Biography of Vincent Van Gogh" by Albert J. Lubin, which provides a fascinating insight into Vincent's life and work. The author examines Vincent's fragile personality with a sensible balance of clinical observation and human compassion. The title "stranger on earth" is an apt description of how Vincent apparently felt about his life. I read this book cover to cover in a few days (a page-turner) and came away with an appreciative sense of Van Gogh as a complex personality driven alternately by great passion and great depression. A tragic yet very human story.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Once past the first chapter, really great book!, May 9, 2002

By 

Susan Simpson (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stranger On The Earth: A Psychological Biography Of Vincent Van Gogh (Paperback)

I really liked the perspective of looking at Van Gogh from a psychological view point. However, the first chapter is very dense with names of paintings and their deeper meaning. The author does much better in the subsequent chapters trying to discover Vincent the man.
A must read for anyone trying to understand Van Gogh!