Customer Reviews

Van Gogh and Expressionsim

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A beautiful catalogue for an exhibition held at the Neue Galerie in NY in 2007, this book shows how German and Austrian artists, from Kokoschka, Kirchner, Schmidt-Rottluff to Egon Schiele, Gerstl and even, to some extent, Klimt, were all inspired by the Dutch master. The book studies the reception of Van Gogh in both countries in the first two decades of the XXth century (German museums started buying his works before American museums), through the active trade of dealers and patrons. It also dwells on the nazi period in Germany, when both Van Gogh and the expressionists were included in the so-called "degenerate art", deemed so by the fascist leaders who ended up selling their works at auction (pictures of the auctions appear in the book).

The illustrations are perfect (sometimes placing next to each other works by Van Gogh and their interpretation, so to speak, by each expressionist artist) and the selection of works, some of them actual masterpieces, makes this book a top-quality companion to the exhibition. An interesting post-war development, which is well described in the book, is the influence Van Gogh had on Francis Bacon, through the latter's series inspired by a painting destroyed during WWII.

Will be enjoyed by all with a desire to learn more about the varied influences radiating from Vincent van Gogh, as absorbed by such notable artists as Egon Schiele and Francis Bacon. Nicely chosen paintings accompany the informative text.