Vincent Van Gogh (Volume 1: Drawings / Volume 2: Paintings, In Slipcase)

The incarnation of the myth of a cursed artist, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is a legend who became a reference for modern art. An Expressionist during the Post-Impressionist movement, his art was misunderstood during his lifetime. In Holland, he partook in the Dutch realist painting movement by studying peasant characters. Anxious and depressed, Vincent van Gogh produced more than 2000 artworks, yet sold only one in his lifetime. A self-made artist, his work is known for its rough and emotional beauty and is amongst the most popular in the art market today.

A man possessed, van Gogh transformed himself over a 10-year period from a somewhat awkward, overwrought sketcher into a master painter. His best work in both media is abundantly sampled in this magnificent set, the catalogue of a large retrospective held concurrently at two museums in the Netherlands on the centenary of the artist's death. Essays provide insight into how this dissatisfied experimenter viewed his own output ( The Starry Night "said nothing" to him). We are also able to situate the paintings in a biographical context. The color reproductions--hundreds of them--are glorious, the commentaries consistently interesting. The volume devoted to drawing rescues a body of work from undeserved, comparative obscurity; here we see van Gogh the doer and pragmatist, using charcoal, pencil, chalk, ink, watercolor, in whatever combinations needed, to penetrate the secrets of what he was observing.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Representing "that part of his work which the artist himself considered most important," this book serves as the exhibition catalog for the major retrospective held recently in the Netherlands and occupying two museums. Essays by distinguished Dutch art scholars portray a humane genius captivated by peasant life and incorporating the artistry of 17th-century Dutch masters, the Barbizon painter Millet, Impressionism, and the writings of Zola and Dickens to forge his own masterpieces. The analyses of the works, drawing materials, and techniques are fascinating. Yet ultimately, it is the hundreds of exquisite color reproductions that the reader will savor. Commemorating the centenary of van Gogh's death, two new biographies, Jan Hulsker's Vincent and Theo van Gogh and David Sweetman's Van Gogh (both LJ 7/90), will complement this magnificent slipcased set. Most libraries should purchase the catalog.
- Joan Levin, Indian Trails P.L., Wheeling, Ill.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.