Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh (PDF)

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The definitive biography for decades to come.”—Leo Jansen, curator, the Van Gogh Museum, and co-editor of Vincent van Gogh: The Complete LettersSteven 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.NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • The Wall Street Journal • San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • The Economist • Newsday • BookReporter “In their magisterial new biography, Van Gogh: The Life, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith provide a guided tour through the personal world and work of that Dutch painter, shining a bright light on the evolution of his art. . . . What [the authors] capture so powerfully is Van Gogh’s extraordinary will to learn, to persevere against the odds.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times“Brilliant . . . Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith are the big-game hunters of modern art history. . . . [Van Gogh] rushes along on a tide of research. . . . At once a model of scholarship and an emotive, pacy chunk of hagiography.”—Martin Herbert, The Daily Telegraph (London)

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is among the best biographies I’ve read. You will be amazed with the level of detail covering every aspect of the painter’s life.Van Gogh’s father was a pastor in several towns in Holland during his youth. I was surprised to learn that he had lived in the coal district of Belgium, the peat harvesting region of Holland, in London and Paris. He painted his most of his famous paintings while living in Arles, France, and others while hospitalized in Saint-Remy.Vincent was versed in much of the contemporary literature of his time. He admired the paintings of Millet and had a tumultuous friendship with Gauguin.During his entire life he was unable to form meaningful relationships with anyone, including his family. His brother Theo kept Vincent afloat financially.He struggled to find an artistic style that suited him. He started with drawings, moved on to watercolor, and finally landed on the oil painting for which he is immortalized.He painted during the last 10 years of his short life. Most of his acclaimed paintings were executed during his final three years. In the end he painted furiously to keep his mind focused outwardly so he didn’t disintegrate.After reading this book you will be able to look at most of his canvases and assess where he was in his arduous journey, both in time and location, when he painted them. The many color plates of his significant works are worth the modest cost of this book.I kept hoping that Van Gogh would enjoy some acknowledgement of the importance of his paintings before he died. In his final year an art critic began complementing his works, but Vincent could not accept even this faint praise.The mystery of his early death at age 37 in Auvers, France is documented in the appendix and is elucidating.The authors employ a broad vocabulary; they do not shy away from using the most appropriate words…..lucubration, tenebrous, Manichean, etc.At 868 pages this is a significant undertaking. When I finished this biography, I regretted that my journey through the life of this great artist had ended.Fred Dotzler

⭐I was enthralled with this actually heartbreaking life of Vincent Van Gogh from beginning to end, despite all the details from his and his family’s letters. This was an incredible undertaking. However, there were times – especially during the rendition of his childhood and young adulthood where I felt that the authors were unsympathetic toward what I might guess was possibly autism. Yes, I’m sure he was difficult, but it seemed to me that his parents had no compassion ar all for Vincent and the authors took the parents’ point of view. This changed as the book went on and by the end they seemed much more compassionate. Despite what I perceived as the negative attitude toward this difficult child, I found that I loved him from the start. I always liked Vincent’s art, but now I feel that I can see his soul in his paintings and drawings. Incredibly well researched book packed wirh detail and yet never boring.

⭐I don’t know why anyone would call this book a hagiography. I was concerned for quite some chunk of the book that the authors might have overstepped the bounds of propriety in their close examination of the van Gogh family. I was also concerned that they might be peering into Vincent’s psyche with too much confidence in their own analytical powers, which I don’t consider to be their forte. However, eventually the talents, knowledge, determination and sense of greatness within the confounded, ever-struggling Vincent begin to build, and his terrific straining to produce the corresponding results becomes a key feature of this biography. Then come the careful descriptions of how Vincent painted, which I deeply admire and appreciate. I used this book laboriously, like a textbook, frequently referencing the images and other clarifying information online.

⭐Being a well researched and well written book, I found tremendous pleasure in reading it. Yet it was not an easy read, for there is little joy or humour to be found in van Gogh’s life. This poor bloke had an extremely raw deal almost from cradle to grave. Reading of all his mishaps for almost 600 pages tended to dampen my spirits occasionally, especially knowing there is no happy ending. ( I read fragments of Wodehouse in between to counter the gloom.)Vincent was probably basically an introvert, but what made him almost impossible to get along with seemed to be his eccentricity, his shot fuse, his obstinacy, his obsessive nature and his general tendency to rub people the wrong way. at some time during a relationship. It was only his brother Theo, bless his saintly heart, who showed compassion and love for most of their adult lives.And yet, unappealing as his personality appeared to be, it also emerged from his copious letters that he was in fact also a sensitive human being with heartfelt remorse about the problems and disappointments he caused his parents . Despite his lack of formal schooling he emerged from his letters as a gifted writer and a reader of high quality (French) literature. In addition there can be no doubt about his formidable knowledge of painters and their paintings.Tragically, the first signs of some acknowledgement of the greatness of Vincent’s art only appeared shortly before his death, and he himself was unsure whether it would last. As is well known, only one of his paintings was sold at that stage.The question remains: with his way of looking at life, with the mental illness that tormented him in his last year of life, would he have been really happy even if he became rich and famous during his lifetime?

⭐I still haven’t finished this book. I read it in bits. Very hard going, a bit like van Gogh’s life. Full of facts and figures. Detailed about his tempestuous life. I am a van Gogh fan and have been since the 1960’s and hoped this might shed other light on his life, which it does. But it is hard going. Be prepared for the long haul. But, don’t not read read it if you like van Gogh!

⭐Excellent read, dare i say, the doomed cliche of divine talent an eggshell mind. Misunderstood, tortured, a man of profound humility and kindness to others, virtues sadly forgotten and eclipsed by his fabled talent.

⭐I’ve been a fan of Van Gogh since my early 70’s art school days, so I assumed I knew most things about him. Wrong. This is a truly wonderful (and wonderfully written) account of his whole life. Many insights here I hadn’t considered before. It really brings his full character to life. On Kindle the text is very well presented. (I’ve never thought of Kindle a a media for illustrations). Highly recommended.

⭐I found this book extremely interesting and informative. As an art historian who has lectured for many years on this period and on Van Gogh, I found plenty of new information and facts which corrected my previous impressions. For example the fact that Van Gogh returned several times to Arles in 1889 after being committed to the asylum at St Remy, and of course the possibility that Van Gogh did not actually commit suicide, but was the victim of an accidental shooting which he decided to keep secret to protect those involved. There is no better account of Van Gogh’s life in existence and this will become the standard biography. There some faults in particular the length of the book and certain amount of editing would have helped reduce its size by maybe a couple of hundred pages. There is repetition which a good editor could have cut out. However overall a great book and a great achievement

⭐it took me the whole summer to read… every page is quality text content structure mature clean and informative and inspirational too… no one could have done better than you too… please take over picasso from JR… picasso deserves you… and have you considered twombly too

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