Van Gogh, Steven Naifeh
Van Gogh, Steven Naifeh
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Van Gogh
The Life

Author: Steven Naifeh, Gregory White Smith

Narrator: Paul Heitsch

Unabridged: 44 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/28/2019


Synopsis

Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith galvanized readers with their astonishing Jackson Pollock: An American Saga, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography, a book acclaimed for its miraculous research and overwhelming narrative power. Now Naifeh and Smith have written another tour de force—an exquisitely detailed, compelling, and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of creative genius 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. While drawing liberally from the artist's famously eloquent letters, they have also delved into hundreds of unpublished family correspondences, illuminating with poignancy the wanderings of Van Gogh's troubled, restless soul. Naifeh and Smith 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; his impetus for turning to brush and canvas; and his move to Provence, where in a brief burst of incandescent productivity 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 deep immersion in literature and art; his erratic and tumultuous romantic life; and his bouts of depression and mental illness.

Though countless books have been written about Van Gogh, and though the broad outlines of his tragedy have long inhabited popular culture, 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 whose signature images of sunflowers and starry nights have won a permanent place in the human imagination.

About Steven Naifeh

Steven Naifeh has written for art periodicals and has lectured at numerous museums, including the National Gallery of Art.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Amina

I have a plethora of intense feelings after reading this extremely arduous book. I've learned so much and have this gnawing sadness in my heart for the misunderstood, broken, fragmented, tortured, loving, frustrating, creatively gifted, and masterfully talented soul. Where do I begin? Upon being int......more

Goodreads review by Jim

By far the saddest biography I have ever read, VAN GOGH is also one of the most stirring and superbly detailed biographies I have ever read. That Vincent van Gogh's life was such a brutally painful and difficult one should not deter readers from embarking on this massive journey, yet the fact that a......more