Customer Reviews

Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings (Midi)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this book when I needed to reference Van Gogh's works for a replication project I had back in high school. I found it to be very informative and wonderfully done. I picked it out of a pile of others that I had assembled in Barnes & Noble, finding that this one was the most informative and had the better color variation.

I've noticed that almost every review here complains about the colorings. I think that's extremely ridiculous and should not take away any value from the book overall. You are never going to find a book that has the paintings EXACTLY as they are in real life (which have been faded over the years anyway). I've seen many of Van Gogh's works in person and can assure any potential buyer of this book that the difference is not as great as these other melodramatic reviewers have suggested.

Basically, I strongly recommend this book if you are a lover of Van Gogh, need it for research, or whatever you'd like it for. Don't let the other reviews scare you.

First off, I must point out that I did not read the English version of this, but the French one; since it's a translation, it should basically be the same.

Taschen has the nice habit of making great books for comparatively very cheap prices; and that is once again the case with this collection of all Van Gogh paintings. The paper is top quality (glazed is it? I forget how it's called, but it's the same as you find in every other taschen publication) and the size of the book ensures a good view on the paintings.

I had read 2 books relating Vincent's life, so when it came to read another text on him and his work, I already knew most of of the bulk of that artist's life; however, this wasn't redundant at all. The authors have interesting things to say and usually do so in ways that won't kill you with boredom (even if I sometimes don't agree with the theories proposed). Substantial citations from Van Gogh's letters are used there, which is good, since Vincent wrote a lot. The book does a good work of setting Vincent Van Gogh in context, letting us know what authors he read, and what kind of human being he was. And Vincent was a particularly wonderful human being in my opinion, something this book does not fail to show.

Now as to the pictures of the paintings, what can I say? If you like Van Gogh's art, you'll like them. And even though you may not like everything he's ever done, it's worthwhile to have the whole thing to see the evolution of his art from a very dark and gloomy universe to a violently colourful one.

I definitely recommend this book for everyone interested in knowing more about Van Gogh than the basics. The book is a beautiful object as well, pretty heavy, but very classy.

All things considered, this is a very nice set: two volumes, in a nice box, printed in Italy, featuring virtually all Van Gogh's paintings in color.

The reproductions are not glossy, but the photography is so clear that one can see the paint textures and even the canvas under the paint. Someone has noted that the colors are somewhat "off," but we must hasten to add that one wouldn't know it at all unless there were another color reproduction with which to compare. So, all in all, the reproductions are quite good. The monochrome photos represent paintings destroyed in WW2, or those which were denyied full color reproduction by the owners.

Can hardly go wrong with this set.

This single volume edition ISBN 3822812153 published in 2001 containing 740 pages was originally issued in two separate volumes. It contains all of the about 870 paintings comprising the artist's complete output, reproduced in full colour with just a few exceptions where for any of several legitimate reasons a colour picture is not available.

It is an admirable effort, the quality of printing is superb, and the standard of photography in many instances is excellent showing the texture of the paint and brush work. In the case of the latter the paintings truly sing out from the page. The pictures are presented chronologically, which in itself is very revealing. The text is extensive and very informative, and being largely based on Van Gogh's letters makes truly fascinating reading and lends an intimate edge. It provides a background to the artist's life and his work and influences.

I should mention a couple of points. Many of the reproductions are quite small, less than post card size, some considerably less; there are of course some half page and full page size too. The other point is that while the text and illustrations are fully integrated there is little if any relationship between the text and image on each page. When there is a reference in the text to a picture the picture is invariably to be found many pages apart. Of course with the pictures presented chronologically this was bound to be a problem; but would it then not have been better to separate the two completely. One could also argue for a larger page size, but a least at this fairly modest size the book is at least not unwieldy.

That aside this is a splendid book; and one of the best surprises is that while there are of course many very familiar paintings here, the less familiar are by no means overshadowed by them; it is in fact a revelation to find so many superb yet relatively unknown works. Tremendous value, a book not to be passed over.

I am talking about the 2001 edition. The printing quality is HORRIBLE. The colors are WAY OFF. In fact, they are disgusting. Absolutely completely unacceptable! What an insult to Van Gogh! (The book was printed in Slovenia.) I am returning the book tomorrow. If we tolerate bad quality, the publisher will never learn a lesson and never improve their business.

To those of us who have seen only some of van Gogh's paintings in international galleries this book, bringing together every painting that he did, and many drawings, is a constant source of pleasure and interest tempered only by regret that the artist received so little recognition in his lifetime and by his tragic end. The quality of the reproductions is high and the text gives a sensitive and scholarly review of his life, his work and his motives and makes considerable reference to his letters. It ends with a useful illustrated chronology of van Gogh's life. Because there are more paintings than text one is forced to turn pages, sometimes many, to find a painting referred to in the text but this is inevitable unless one is to have merely a catalogue, with comments, of his works. Walther and Metzger are to be congratulated on this fine work.

A frustrating demonstration of poor publication practices, this book demeans the artist it pretends to celebrate with some of the worst color reproductions in print. Van Gogh might as well have let Taschen paint his work. Inexpensive, like forgery, with the same exploitive result.

You have included a five star review for this book that is meant for the 1997 edition,not this printing. This is very confusing. This review is what led me to buy this book and in reality the review says this particular printing is very bad.

A fantastic book - unbelievable at the price! Two volumes, over 800 prints, all on good quality paper. A book (or a set) I will treasure forever.

I enjoyed a Van Gogh Exhibit and wanted to get a collection of his works to look at and decided on this book.

It is pretty encompassing with a wide range of paintings, though some here indicate it may not be complete.

As to the images, they are of a quality that was similar enough to what I recall to seeing, so it serves its purpose well (though I wish all the painting coulds have been larger, but of course in light of the amount of material it is too be expected.)

So overall I found this a good buy for what I wanted.