Van Gogh

Van Gogh was an amazingly prolific painter. His artistic career lasted scarcely ten years, but in that time he created enough paintings to decorate nearly every page of this 250-page book - and those aren't even all of them.

The book itself is a combination of a biography and an analysis of his paintings. This flows smoothly, perhaps because Van Gogh put so much of himself into his art: his moods are clear from what he depicted and how he depicted it.

The biographical portion makes for interesting reading in and of itself. Van Gogh actually came rather late to art after failing at other occupations, including that of a minister. Once he turns to art, he is almost immediately remarkably capable. Later on, he attempts to set up an artistic community in his famous "yellow house," with the help of Gaugain. It's a collaboration that fails disastrously, with Gaugain leaving and Van Gogh cutting off his earlobe. Van Gogh has a difficult time psychologically for a few years, then, when it seems he has finally turned things around, goes out and shoots himself. The authors suggest it's due to his believe that a dead artist is more valued than a live one, a strange but possibly true premise.

The analysis of the paintings, comfortably intertwined with the biographical information, are interesting as well, at least to someone like me who only barely understands painting. While the analysis occasionally descends into what is to me artsy gobbledegook, by and large the comments are incisive and point out the distinctive qualities of each painting and how it relates to his other work. The tone is positive and descriptive, which I liked. I could easily have imagined a much more critical approach or a tone that indicated this is the way to look at this painting. But the authors fall into neither trap.

So this artistic novice, at least, found this to be an excellent book about a great artist. Recommended for all those with an interest in the subject.


IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE COMPLETE PAINTING THIS IS FOR YOU   May 20, 2000
luca cippone
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I purchased this book not being aware of the complete painting book but if I knew about the other one ( complete painting ) I probably would have chose that book for sure ! Anyway, as a second choise this is a great value book . The picture are beautifull and the text is full of detail about Van Gogh's life that is exceeded only by the Letter to Theo book published by Penguin. Well,now that you know my opinion, order this book if you are tight with money; other wise you may consider the complete painting if the quality of the picture and the text is as good as this book. Ciao


A good find!   November 8, 2009
BeachReader (Delaware)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Cleaning out some bookshelves the other day (a never-ending task), I found this book which I bought some months ago. So I read it yesterday (it is just 96 pages) and even though I know quite a bit about Van Gogh, this was still a delight. Walther combines biography, paintings and analysis of them, and discussion of Van Gogh's techniques. I especially liked the illustrated time line at the end.

Very well done. This author clearly knows his art and artists. Great find!


Good, but not perfect   November 28, 2009
J. Baer (Pennsylvania)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I have had good experiences with purchasing Taschen's introductory overviews on the various basic genres. I was expecting this book to adhere to the basic pattern: a few pages in the beginning to serve as a larger overview (in this case, a biography), while the rest of the book concentrates specifically on individual pieces of art (reproducing the art work in full on the right hand page, while furnishing a page long analysis on the left).

Unfortunately, that is not the way this work is constructed. It is one long biography with reproductions of art work interspersed here and there throughout the book. That means an art work under discussion in the text is often pages away from where it is being discussed. All the page flipping back and forth to match description with picture is confusing and tiring. One star off for the inconvenience.

Still, this is a highly serviceable introduction for the novice (of which I must count myself). The pictures are reproduced in good quality. The prose is intelligent and erudite, though a bit wordy at points. I walked away having a greater knowledge and appreciation of Van Gogh and his place in art history, and that is really what matters in the end.