Vincent Van Gogh, The Story Of the Soul (Artist Series Book 1)

Reading the new edition of Van Gogh's letters from cover to cover turned out to be a shocking, upsetting, at times frustrating experience that destroyed my previous idea of this great artist.

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I had previously formed an almost reassuring view of Van Gogh as an intense, troubled, tragic, yet at the same time inspiring man. The sheer mass of peculiarities and sadnesses makes him uttely real and — for all his genius — less easy to empathise with. His achievement was not to conquer illness, but to drag something out of its isolating darkness. Long before he became an artist, he was a writer. It does you a lot of good when you're out of spirits, as I quite often am nowadays.

His earliest surviving letters date from , when he was His very first, dated 29 September , is addressed to Theo — as is his last, dated 23 July He wrote to other people too — including artist friends such as Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, and his sister Wilhelmina, who was herself to spend decades in an asylum. Together these letters amount to a literary work of epic proportions. It's not just that Van Gogh wrote letters.

He poured his heart into them. You smell the very tobacco-laden breath and musty clothes of Van Gogh. The shape of the man these massed words slowly reveal is much baggier and saggier and perplexing than any actor in any film could portray. Often the silences say the most. A series of letters from were destroyed by his family for the embarrassing reason that in these months his father was making active plans to have him incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital. This was nearly a decade before the crisis that led to his eventual hospitalisation.

Van Gogh's family doubted his mental wellbeing all along. When it became more than that, it was to kill them both — for when Vincent succumbed to his visionary extremes, his brother's health collapsed and he died soon afterwards like a grief-struck spouse.

The copiousness, too, is eloquent. The excess of Van Gogh's need to communicate becomes tragic. It so clearly exceeds what Theo can say in reply, what anyone can say. Sometimes he gets a reply, sometimes he doesn't. Always he is alone. His letters take on a new joy and conviction when he starts teaching himself to draw.

The most uplifting letter he ever wrote was sent from Etten, where his parents were then living, to Theo in September In it, he describes his efforts to draw the local peasants at work and in their cottages. The reason it is so beautiful is that he includes sketches of what he has been doing. These sketches are marvellous — even though he has only recently started drawing, and has no formal art education. He is so manifestly gifted. He is, suddenly, on his way. As he says in the letter, "a change has come about in my drawing. I'm no longer so powerless in the face of nature as I used to be.

This is such a good new start, you are crushed that it did not lead to a steady improvement.

Instead, he fell out with his family again , set up studio in The Hague, but alienated his friends there — not to mention Theo, who was paying. His drawing went on getting stronger but there was no parallel conquest of everyday life. Nor did things improve when he migrated to France. Then on 20 February he got off the train in Arles in Provence, where he planned to found a colony for artists, a "studio of the south". The collapse of that dream is the most infamous chapter in his life. After a lot of cajoling from Theo, Gauguin agreed to stay with Vincent, as potentially the leader of the studio.

But they started arguing, Van Gogh got more and more stressed, and suddenly confronted Gauguin with a razor. That same night he cut off part of his own ear and gave the bloody flesh to a horrified prostitute. Incidentally, the expanded letters expose as nonsense the ridiculous idea floated last year that Gauguin cut off Van Gogh's ear with a sword. No reader can miss the emotional thread of self-violence in them — and a clear statement of what happened appears in a letter where he actually says, "I. The full correspondence lets you see how spiritually intoxicated he was before Gauguin arrived.

Almost as soon as he got to Arles, the red-headed northerner started painting in a new, incomparable way. The sun entered his paints. It got in his head — "I feel fine working outside in the hottest part of the day. It's a clean, dry heat. Naturally this induces orange — a face tanned by the sun looks orange.

Vast suns blazing above golden fields, sunflowers engorging light like immense yellow giant stars: Van Gogh came to believe he was mad when he made them. Moreover, the illness is inseparable from the artistic triumph Provence inspired. Reproductions, a glossary, and other appended material will help this find cross-curricular support. Elaine Wick Children's Literature Vincent van Gogh, second born child, was named after his parents' stillborn first son. Perhaps, the authors speculate, this affected his lifelong yearning for love and understanding.

In this highly engaging biography, readers will quickly be drawn into the artist's quixotic life and empathize with his moods and neediness. Sent away to school at age eleven, Vincent felt lonely, yet he learned four languages and received several years of valuable experience as an art gallery apprentice in The Hague. Rejected by his first love at age twenty, he became a religious zealot and began a course of study that he grew to hate.

By age 26 and living on charity, he was rescued by his beloved younger brother Theo, who supported him throughout his life and to whom he wrote more than letters. Their powerful bond is palpable in this book. Today, those letters are part of van Gogh's legacy, along with the vibrant, powerful paintings that he alone foresaw would eventually find an audience. Unfortunately, success did not come until after his tragic death.

Each chapter is based on a new period in van Gogh's life and each opens with an excerpt from one of his letters. The authors balance happy moments in his life and his passionately humanitarian character against his demons and repugnant personal ways. In spite of his maniacal spells, self-deprecation and probable epileptic attacks, van Gogh created an astonishing body of work in his ten-year artistic journey. The book is a good introduction to the art itself, for example, van Gogh's motivation for depicting the life of laborers in his famous "Potato Eaters," or the special significance to him of the color Yellow and of achieving the "high yellow note.

A wonderful resource for researchers, artists and art aficionados and an enjoyable read for all. Response to Two Professional Reviews: The second review described how each chapter opens up with an excerpt from a letter, and I thought this was a powerful way to start the chapters. The letters corresponded to the chapter that followed, and it was interesting — as well as entertaining — to read the letter and then find out how it connected to each chapter.

The first review spoke to how the book debunked the myths that Van Gogh was crazy, and suggested he was eccentric and I thought this was a fresh take on something that I had heard many times before. Evaluation of Literary Elements: I thought the chapters were the perfect length to begin to move children towards more complicated texts. Each chapter was only a couple of pages, and were manageable as a result.

Additionally, I loved the pictures in the middle of the book.

I thought it was interesting to read all about the artist, and then see some of his work in the center of the book. Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is a biography about an artist, and I would want to incorporate both aspects of the book into a lesson. What I would want to do is have my children paint something about him or herself. It could be a self-portrait, a painting of a special memory, or anything really as long as they could explain how it represented an aspect of who they are. I would let the children paint whatever they pleased, and then I would have them present on why they painted it, and how it relates to them.

Nov 09, Garnette rated it liked it. Exactly what I was looking for: Concise yet not cold. Filled with references to Primary resources. May 14, Nancy rated it it was amazing. Apr 18, Melissa Mcavoy rated it really liked it Shelves: This biography tells the detailed and Grade Range: Greenberg and Jordan have collaborated together on many award-winning books about art and artists; their understanding of artists and their sympathy for them comes through in this sensitive and nuanced biography of van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh Quotes (Author of The Letters of Vincent van Gogh)

We learn that van Gogh struggled to find his calling, trying several different careers before he settled on painting. Excerpts from letters begin each chapter and offer insight into his art: Greenberg and Jordan devote a lot of text to van Gogh's descriptions of his painting process: While the book has many color plates, they are clumped together and not all the paintings talked about are pictured. For kids with Internet access, images are only a click away, but others will need to flip back and forth and check out other books to see the art.

She collected and catalogued letters, drawing and paintings, arranged exhibits and wrote the first biography of van Gogh. It is thanks to her Greenberg and Jordan can show readers his vibrant art and enable us to relive his story. Front matter includes contents, a map of the areas van Gogh lived and a prologue that vividly imagines van Gogh as he heads out from Arles to paint Harvest at Le Crau.

Back matter includes a helpful biographical time line, a list of museums where his work is located, a glossary of artists and terms, extensive notes, which are divided by chapter, an extensive bibliography, photography credits and a brief biographic sketch of the authors. Sep 11, Una rated it really liked it.

Portrait of an Artist written by: Una Lynch World-renowned artist Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his entire lifetime. They talk about his physical and mental health, both of which were very unstable. But a major part of this book is the relationship be Vincent van Gogh: But a major part of this book is the relationship between Vincent van Gogh and his brother, Theo. Theo was an art dealer in Paris during the time that Vincent van Gogh was an artist. Many of the things that the authors write about they discovered from many of the letters from Vincent to Theo. Vincent van Gogh traveled around France from Paris to Arles.

But his life was difficult. He struggled with his mental health and would make rash decisions because of it. Some good did come out of it: The book ends with an epilogue about his great success after death. But he was given another gift, the ability to see deeply into nature, to put on canvas his own ardent soul.

I have not always enjoyed non-fiction books but this was very different. It is the story of a very interesting man. This book was fascinating because I never knew very much about Vincent Van Gogh but this book really changed that for me. It is a short book so it is a quick read but it is chock full of information about him, his life, and his disabilities.

He had such an exciting and interesting life that is worth knowing about. One of parts of this book that really stuck with me was his mental state and all the struggles he faced in becoming an artist. I think that this book is for so many different types of people. This is a good book for people interested in art history. This is because this book talks about different popular artists of his time, art techniques, his personal style, and his works. But it is not just for interested in art. It is a great book if you like stories about people with drive and determination. I've never read a book quite like this; I have read books about other artists but none compare to this.

Another thing that makes this book so good is the exquisite writing. I believe that stories can change so much just based on the writing alone even if it is pure fact, like this book. His legacy to us is not only powerful, vibrant paintings but also articulate, poetic letters. Through these we can relive his story, the story of Vincent the consummate artist.

I thought these excerpts were almost poetic. The sad thing is that in his lifetime no one ever thought he had potential and he never got to see what became of his art. This is not the happiest book but it is worth reading. Overall this was an intriguing and thought-provoking book. Feb 19, Skip rated it it was amazing. So glad I read this book. Here was a man that lived and breathed art. He spent his life learning, understanding and creating art. He was also a man who cared deeply about others.

He was always there to help those in need. He was generous in heart His instinct was to put himself inside his art, to bring his emotion the art he created. Never once did he ever think of doing a piece of art that was anything less than the integrity great art demands and is. May 17, Mai Son rated it it was amazing.

This book is about the life, struggles, and successes of Vincent Van Gogh, a very famous Dutch painter that was unknown and poor for the most part of his life. Van Gogh had a very unstable mental and physical health. From a young age, he was struggling financially, and as he grew older, he developed a horrible relationship with his father had a catastrophic love life.

He got rejected by his landlady's daug This book is about the life, struggles, and successes of Vincent Van Gogh, a very famous Dutch painter that was unknown and poor for the most part of his life. He got rejected by his landlady's daughter, fell in love with his cousin who got repulsed and fled away because of him, and was attracted to an alcoholic prostitute. Theo was an art dealer while he was an artist. They sent many letters back and forth and most of the things the author wrote was discovered from those letters. Most biographies are boring to me, but this book exceeded my expectations.

It was not only easy to read, but super well written. In a page book, the author was able to provide a lot of interesting information on his life, struggles, and his passion and drive for painting. He is a truly inspiring man with determination to pursue his dreams. I found it heart wrenching that nobody saw his potential and his brilliant masterpieces, until years after his death.

This book was pretty sad, but nevertheless, it was an engrossing book that is perfect for people who are interested in art history and art techniques, or people who want to be motivated by someone who who had persevered to achieve his dreams. Nov 03, Sirimas-isb rated it it was amazing. This novel brings out his strong, self destructive passion in art to life. His talents, determination, hard work and passion has bring him to his greatest dream, he is determined to give happiness by create art.

Behind his well known painting and his fame, he is struggled with his madness, his passion in art and determination that he is forever known as a guy who cut his own ear from madness. However, behind his madness is a guy with gifted hand who enriches the world with beauty and imagination.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers: the story behind a masterpiece

I really enjoy reading this book because this book is so well written that I could actually see the world through his eye. I got caught up with the struggled he experienced with his progress and his impatient with capturing the beauty and emotions on canvas. He had put his heart and soul into his work and has lost his mind in the process. Throughout this novel, I get to experienced with his ideas and thinking process for his work and the messages he want to convey to the viewer. In addition, I get to see his artist of influence, his style of painting, his way of conveying emotion through the use of color and events that shaped his personalities and his painting style.

He truly inspired and motivated people with his true passion and determination for art and his courage to pursuing for his dream. Apr 20, Michelle Tran rated it really liked it.

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This book is the life of Vincent Van Gogh. It starts from his childhood up until his death. It has moments of happiness and despair and uses real quotes from Van Gogh's letters. Unlike the common informational text, this book was written in bibliographical chapters. Each chapter included years of his life but is told in 3rd person point of view to have the readers get an understanding of all the characters in the book.

Like many informational text, it has a table of contents, glossary, timel This book is the life of Vincent Van Gogh.

Vincent Van Gogh, The Story of the Soul

Like many informational text, it has a table of contents, glossary, timeline, and index as well as a map that showed where Van Gogh traveled throughout his life. I would give this book 4 stars because it would have been better nice to have the pictures drawn from a certain time be in the designated chapter. I understand that grouping the paintings together in the middle was more organized for readers but it made more sense to see his mentality change as well as his painting style.

But overall, this was a good book. It gave readers a lot of information on the artist. Oct 30, Luann rated it really liked it Shelves: What a remarkable artist! Van Gogh never really saw recognition for his talent, but he might not have liked that anyhow. He said, "Success is the worst thing that can happen in a painter's life. He sold several drawings, but only one painting during his lifetime. I've always been interested in Van Gogh. He was my chosen artist for a report many years ago in an art class, b What a remarkable artist! He was my chosen artist for a report many years ago in an art class, but since then I've forgotten many of the details of his life.

This book helped me remember many of those details, and I learned a lot of new things, too. I read next to my computer so that I could look up paintings as they were mentioned. There are quite a few included in an inset in the center, but not as many as I wanted to see. He painted so very many paintings in his life!