Vincent van Gogh: 1853-1890, Vision and Reality

Great book. Beautiful pictures, lots of information. Well worth it

Probably everyone has a favorite Vincent Van Gogh painting. We have a hand-painted reproduction of "Starry Night" in our living room. The original was painted in 1889, the year before the troubled artist's death.There are a lot of paintings from which to pick a favorite, as Van Gogh has some 200 extant works. This book is an Introduction to Vincent, so it does not have pictures of his every drawing and painting. But there's still a lot of illustrations. I counted 27 full-page photos of his works, with 44 smaller photos and one 2-page spread of the 1887 "Four Cut Sunflowers". This close-up makes you feel like you can see him make the bold brush-strokes. There are also 13 supporting photos , such as the studio portrait of Vincent when he was 13 years old.The book presents Van Gogh and his paintings in chronological order and covers what is happening in his life as well as discussing the paintings themselves. I knocked half a star off in my rating due to a few lapses into what I call "art-speak". From Chapter 2, "Apprenticeship Years in Paris", a paragraph on the painting "Still Life with Mackerels, Lemons and Tomatoes":"The inexplicable nature of the interrelationship of space, the blurred borders between table, tomatoes and jug, one behind the other, point towards the influence of Japanese prints, in which the spatial continuum is at odds with the ornamental surface."Fortunately, the text is mostly more accessible to the non-art historian or art critic. And there is a lot of interesting stuff to read about how and why he painted. Vincent wasn't a slap-dash painter. He studied color theory and symbolism. Here's Vincent's own description of the 1888 painting, "The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night":"A gigantic yellow lamp lights up the terrace, the house fronts and the pavement, and casts out its light onto the street cobbles, which take on a pink violet colouring. The house façades in the street, under a blue starry sky, are dark blue or violet, in front a green tree. There you have it – a night painting without having used the colour black."Trivia: No matter how you pronounce "van Gogh", someone will think you're saying it wrong. That's because it's generally pronounced differently in different countries. To confuse everybody, we can try to approximate the Dutch pronunciation:v = a cross between an f and a van = ahwng = almost an h, half-swallow an h in the back of the throatogh = rhymes with the Scottish LOCHPut it together: vin-sent-fawn-hoch!This is the 2nd book I've purchased in the Taschen "Basic Art Series 2.0". The first was on Vermeer, Vermeer (Basic Art Series 2.0), which was excellent. The series was first published in 1986 and now has almost 200 titles. The 2.0 refers to the 2nd editions, rolled out for the series' 30th anniversary.I enjoyed this book a lot, 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Which artist in the series shall I get next?!Happy Reader

The media could not be loaded. As I assumed that it won’t be a good choice for my coffee table ! And I never expected that the pages are coated papers ! As I don’t see quite amount of comment related to book , I actually hesitate to buy however I decided to buy to see . I will give detailed information about the book for your reference:Firstly the hardcover is quite chic and there was no dent or damage.Secondly the pages are coated which adds value to book and I also like the quality of pictures on the contrary of some reviewsLast but not least , it is very fashionable as well as good choice for having good time reading book in your free time. Very informative .I would definitely recommend for those who have any hesitation about ordering for this book.I will complete the whole series over timeThank you 🙏🏻

Me gusto muchísimo este libro, esta excelente!

It was what we were looking for

So gorgeous

These books are great, particularly when you have several from the set. For the price, they’re a good option to elevate your decor. Simple but effective

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