Review by Booklist Review
Vincent van Gogh's reputation as master postimpressionist only seems to increase as the years pass. Coupled with the popular appreciation of his tortured personal life, van Gogh's importance as artist and icon is steadfastly intact. These attractive volumes--following two major reassessments of his life on the one hundredth anniversary of his death (see Husker's Vincent and Theo van Gogh: A Dual Biography and Sweetman's Van Gogh [BKL Je 1 90])--help to reaffirm the legacy. Bonafoux's contribution traces the artist's career briefly, supplemented by numerous quotes from primary sources and a large number of color illustrations reproducing paintings and drawings in full and in detail. Documentary photographs enhance our vision of the world van Gogh knew and painted, while an appendix uses a sequence of small black-and-white reproductions to give a solid indication of van Gogh's essential works. Chronology, bibliography; index. Callow's biography doesn't follow Sweetman in breaking any new ground, but his book does provide an agreeable account of van Gogh's life that dispenses with some, but not all, of the myths that have grown up around him. Callow, an English novelist and poet who has recently turned to biography, invests the painter's story with sympathy and psychological insight--though he must, on occasion, bring up questions that apparently can't be answered--and, of course, he writes elegantly. All in all, a book worth reading. Notes, bibliography; index. Finally, the two-volume catalog for the van Gogh retrospective held in Amsterdam in 1990 also refrains from reassessing van Gogh's reputation or aesthetic. Instead, with colorplates splendidly illustrating van Gogh's accomplishment, and commentaries relaying pertinent information in a subdued but effective and authoritative manner, the authors allow the artist's work to speak for itself. The survey that results is an exemplary piece of research encapsulating the artist's brief but varied career. Bibliographies in each volume. ~--John Brosnahan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
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. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
