The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh - Hardcover

Vincent Van Gogh

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713991356 ISBN 13: 9780713991352

Publisher: Allen Lane, 1996

Synopsis

The painter, Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) was also an accomplished writer, and this collection of his letters provides both a self-portrait and a picture of the contemporary cultural scene. The book includes complete letters wherever possible, linked with passages of connecting narrative and showing all the pen-and-ink sketches that originally went with them. The familiar image of Van Gogh as an anti-social madman is questionned in this book as the letters show the humanitarian and religious causes he embraced, his fascination with the French revolution, his striving for God and for ethical ideals, his desperate courtship of his cousin and his unsuccessful search for love. Not only does this serve to demolish some of the myths about Van Gogh but it shows him as a human being, not just an artist. The letters also reveal Van Gogh's conflicts as a painter, torn between realism, symbolism and abstraction. He received little feedback from the public and wrote at length to his family and friends and above all, to his brother Theo, who was his confidant.

About this title

Review:

"The best book of writing on art I have read." -- The Week

From the Back Cover:

That Vincent van Gogh was one of the greatest painters in the history of European art is now generally accepted. That he was a man of high intelligence and tender affections these letters abundantly establish. By their directness and humility they bring us an intimate understanding of genius. To anyone interested in painting or in the mind of a creative artist they are indispensable.

But what makes them of supreme importance is their fascination for people who have, in the ordinary way, no particular interest in the arts. It is the human spirit, not fame of the artist, that is the secret of their perennial attraction.

This selection by Professor Mark Roskill, who contributes an introduction and notes, also includes the memoir of van Gogh written by his sister-in-law.

The cover shows van Gogh's portrait of his friend the postman Roulin, 'a man who is neither embittered, nor sad, nor perfect, nor happy, nor always irreproachably right. But such a good soul and so wise and so full of feeling and so trustful.'

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0713991356
• ISBN 13: 9780713991352
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 560
• Editor: Ronald De Leeuw