Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings [Paperback]

Ingo F Walther (Author), Rainer Metzger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006

Vincent van Gogh's story is one of the most ironic in art history. He lived an unhappy and difficult life during which his work received almost no appreciation - finally killing himself by a bullet to the chest, so great was his despair - and is now widely considered one of the most important painters of all time, his works fetching record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction. This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) represents a rarity in art history: a detailed monograph on his life and art combined with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings. This volume also reproduces most of van Gogh's paintings in color for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Succeeds in capturing the brutality and magnetism of his works' Art Press, Paris --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Rainer Metzger studied art history, history and German studies in Munich and Augsburg. He received his doctorate in 1994, and has worked as a fine arts journalist for the Viennese newspaper Der Standard. He has written numerous books on art and music, including volumes on van Gogh, Chagall, John Cage, and Erik Satie.

Product Details

• Paperback: 734 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; 25th edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822850683
• ISBN-13: 978-3822850688
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #514,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such Picky People Here, September 19, 2005

By 

thetradeback (new york city) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings (Midi) (Paperback)

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.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have for all Van Gogh Fans out there!, October 29, 2006

By 

Nick (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings (Midi) (Paperback)

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.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VERY NICE SET..., November 14, 2005

By 

Sébastien Melmoth (Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings (Hardcover)

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.