Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who galvanized readers with their Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Jackson Pollock, have written another tour de force—an exquisitely detailed, compellingly readable portrait of Vincent van Gogh. Working with the full cooperation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Naifeh and Smith have accessed a wealth of previously untapped materials to bring a crucial understanding to the larger-than-life mythology of this great artist: his early struggles to find his place in the world; his intense relationship with his brother Theo; and his move to Provence, where he painted some of the best-loved works in Western art. The authors also shed new light on many unexplored aspects of Van Gogh’s inner world: his erratic and tumultuous romantic life; his bouts of depression and mental illness; and the cloudy circumstances surrounding his death at the age of thirty-seven.
Though countless books have been written about Van Gogh, no serious, ambitious examination of his life has been attempted in more than seventy years. Naifeh and Smith have re-created Van Gogh’s life with an astounding vividness and psychological acuity that bring a completely new and sympathetic understanding to this unique artistic genius.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Praise for Van Gogh: The Life
“Magisterial.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
“This generation’s definitive portrait of the great Dutch post-Impressionist.”—Time
“A tour de force . . . an enormous achievement . . . Reading his life story is like riding an endless roller coaster of delusional highs and lows. . . . [A] sweepingly authoritative, astonishingly textured book.”—Los Angeles Times
“Marvelous . . . [Van Gogh] reads like a novel, full of suspense and intimate detail. . . . In beautiful prose, Naifeh and Smith argue convincingly for a subtler, more realistic evaluation of Van Gogh, and we all win.”—The Washington Post
“Brilliant . . . At once a model of scholarship and an emotive, pacy chunk of hagiography.”—The Daily Telegraph (London)
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST • THE WALL STREET JOURNAL • SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE • NPR • THE ECONOMIST • NEWSDAY • BOOKREPORTER
Another full immersion biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors. Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith know how to research and craft omnibus lives: Their mammoth Jackson Pollock: An American Saga is credited with reinvigorating interest in the much-maligned painter. Their Van Gogh: A Biography keeps you glued to its 950+-pages by smoothly unfolding the story of a strange Dutch boy who changed the world of art.
— Edward Ash-Milby
brushstrokes
Posted December 11, 2011
At first the book started out a little dry and then suddenly became a page turner. I've been an admirer and inspired by van Gogh's work since I was six years old. Now I know, more than ever before, why van Gogh painted with such emotion and expression. We all know that van Gogh was a tortured soul but man the stuff he had to endure! Brutal.
I loved reading the retelling of van Gogh's palette and methods for each of his paintings and of the places of which he painted. "Just the facts m'am" ---- "Van Gogh: The Life" clearly chronicles van Gogh's life from birth to end - backed by Solid Sources, Notes Appendix; Bibliography;Index; Gorgeous color plates and photos...my kind of book from cover to cover. Finally, posthumous biography I can believe. I have "Van Gogh's Letters" edited by Anne Suh and his last letter was not a suicide note. I'm so glad Naifeh and Smith followed through with their book.
Thank you Mr. Naifeh and Mr. Smith for your extensive research and for "colorfully" and conclusively proving to me what I have felt all along - van Gogh DID NOT end his life. Vincent van Gogh's "Cold Case" is officially closed in my book by reading THIS BOOK.
12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.erinrcline
Posted November 17, 2011
A facinating look at the life of Van Gogh. Well written, interesting and deeply sad, The Life is a must read for anyone even vaguely interested in Van Gogh or the Impressionist movement. A must read.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 24, 2011
However, I still feel Irving Stone's "Lust for Life" is more eminently readable!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 11, 2012
Like the authors' biography of Jackson Pollack, this book is a thorough examination of the events in the subject's life. But also like the book on Pollack, this story of Van Gogh leaves out the aesthetic cause of the subject's art form. Great biographies on any artists should be repleat with the explanations of what make their art great and the resonance that their ideas carry through the world. Even still, this book is hard to put down, and the conclusions about the artist's death bring down the traditional "suicide of the tortured artist" myth around Van Gogh. The image of Van Gogh as a man who suffered for his art remains, and is presented in all of it's tragic detail.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.drstong
Posted February 24, 2013
A great read full of fascinating detail with a number of pages of beautiful color reproductions. It took me a bit to figure out exactly why I was having a problem getting through it: The paperback volume I read is large, sharp edged, very heavy, and very hard to handle. I couldn't read it anywhere but at a desk or table. Seriously. I was tempted to take a kitchen knife and split the thing into two volumes right at the beginning of The French Years - around page 494. I admit, this is a tedious and silly thing to add to a review, but my reading was seriously hampered. Maybe the publishers will decide to release this as two volumes in a slip case. I love physical books, but this one would have gone well on my iPad.
The actual text? Incomparable.
Anonymous
Posted January 11, 2013
Good
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 9, 2013
Who is that arist is that one who cut his ear off for a girl
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.KMWWI
Posted January 6, 2013
My son is a 29 year old artist. I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for him. He couldn't stop reading it and commented that "it's awesome". I'm so pleased with his response and that B&N had exactly what my son mentioned that he wanted.
Thanks B&N!
Anonymous
Posted April 27, 2012
A wonderful look at a beautiful, astonishingly sad artist.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 20, 2012
An amazing and well-documented account of the tormented life of an artistic genius. It was difficult to put down.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 13, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 23, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 18, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 11, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 19, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 17, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted April 14, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted February 5, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 8, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 3, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who galvanized readers with their Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Jackson Pollock, have written another tour de force—an exquisitely detailed, compellingly readable portrait of Vincent van Gogh. Working with the full cooperation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Naifeh and Smith have accessed a wealth of previously untapped materials to bring a crucial understanding to the larger-than-life mythology of this great artist: his early struggles to find his place in the ...