Customer Reviews

Vincent van Gogh: Between Earth and Heaven: The Landscapes

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This book is the catalogue for a wonderful exhibition held at the Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland, from April to September 2009. Centered on Van Gogh's many depictions of the Dutch, Parisian and eventually, Provencial landscapes, it gives the reader an opportunity to study a number of paintings seldom seen outside German, Swiss and Northern European museums (Holland and Denmark especially), with some additions from American and French museums.

The essays are interesting and shed new light on such themes as Van Gogh's roots and inspirations, his evolution towards an emotional, almost expressionistic (ahead of Expressionism obviously) approach of landscape painting, also on the question whether he should be considered a French painter in spirit and style, or rather a "Dutch painter in France", or even "an outsider whose genius transcended all borders". There are also enlightening passages on the reception of Van Gogh's art in Germany, and especially in Nazi Germany (one surprisingly learns of Goering's taste for Van Gogh's paintings, which he prominently displayed in his Carinhall palace, when at the same time Hitler banned them from German museums...).

Now, as opposed to the other reviewer, I was somewhat disappointed with the quality of the reproductions, all of the works figuring in the exhibition being illustrated half-page and the ones not in the exhibition being granted thumbnail-sized images only. Besides, having seen the exhibition in Basel, I found the colors in the book rather far from the originals. One is entitled to expect better quality from Hatje Cantz in this respect with today's technologies. Therefore, only 3 stars for the illustations and 5 for the text, which makes an average of 4 stars...

Vincent van Gogh's genius needs no reiterating. In his output, he was equally adept in the depiction of people, still life and landscape. This catalogue, featuring some of the master's landscape oeuvre, is associated with an exhibition held this year at the Kunstmuseum Basel. I was fortunate to have attended this stellar event in person and it is instructive to compare the "real thing" with the images presented in this excellent catalogue.

No reproduction, however good, can replicate the experience of seeing an original art painting. This is particularly so with a painter such as van Gough who utilised thick impasto brush strokes and strong colors in many of his works. Nevertheless, the publishers Hatje Cantz have made a successful effort giving the reader a reasonable impression of the original.

Van Gogh's total output of paintings was in the vicinity of 900; this exhibition presented 69 of these. Personally, I was pleased to come upon many of these works for the first time. Of course the usual familiar suspects are there, but a significant proportion of the paintings are sourced from smaller galleries and private collections.

The introductory essays are informative. The authors propose that van Gogh created some of his works in cycles, groups and triptychs. There are also a number of interesting contemporaneous photographs of locations that the artist painted.

For those interested in this aspect of van Gogh's output, Hatje Cantz has also published a volume entitled "Fields".

I strongly recommend this beautifully produced catalogue.