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The Letters of Vincent van Gogh (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Vincent Van Gogh
Creators: Ronald De Leeuw, Arnold J. Pomerans
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $6.40
You Save: $9.60 (60%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 164560
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 0140446745
Dewey Decimal Number: 709
EAN: 9780140446746
ASIN: 0140446745
Publication Date: March 1, 1998
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Amazon.com Review
This thorough collection of van Gogh's letters has been assembled with an artful eye and sensitivity to the artist's thinking. The result is an atypical take on Vincent van Gogh that avoids putting too much stress on his troubled mental state and too much straining by the editor to shape a narrative out of van Gogh's epistolary clues. Instead, we see the thoughtful and contemplative side of this creative genius, as well as his concern for the impact his art and life had on those people closest to him.
Product Description
This volume reinstates a large number of passages omitted from earlier editions of Van Gogh's letters and includes, whenever possible, the wonderful pen-and-ink sketches Van Gogh added to his written messages. Ronald de Leeuw's notes provide informative links between the letters. 49 sketches. 4 facsimile letters .
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
van Gogh: A Writer and Painter February 14, 2008
To read Van Gogh's letters is to come as close to sitting aside this world class artist as possible. I dare say, he wrote almost as good as he painted--his passion verily jumps off the page.
In this addition, we are treated to an excellent selection of Van Gogh's letters (mainly to his brother Theo) from each seminal period in his extraordinary life. In between the sections, the editor provides us with fascinating details into the travails of Van Gogh's personal life.
Alongside Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, this collection is essential reading for all artists.
intimate look into the artistic process December 19, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
this collection of van gogh's letters to his brother Theo both captivated me and broke my heart. Such an intimate look into the vulnerability of the artistic soul. Those who appreciate the artistic process will love this collection of letters. You don't need to be an admirer of Van Gogh's to appreciate this; but you will walk away admiring the man behind the sunflowers.
The greatest letters ever written by an artist November 1, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Van Gogh is a tremendously powerful letter- writer. In these letters mostly written to his brother we see a great , suffering , soul, a devoted artist tormented and striving. This may all sound like 'cliche' but Van Gogh is perhaps the most conspicuous example of the cliche of the suffering , rejected in- his- life artist who knows great recognition only after death.
Van Gogh is a person of great intelligence, and of a very strong conscience. There are no greater letters I think ever written by an artist.And while they may be filled with a troubled and agonized spirit they too have a great richness of feeling and appreciation of life.
 "the best way to love God is to love many things" February 20, 2003
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
A very fine collection of the letters, with multiple sides of VVG revealed. To read a collection of letters by an artist whose work you know very well is to invite yourself to take a look at him as a person. As a person, I found that I liked him best in these letters when he was struggling with his religion, his art, and his purpose. I'm glad that Roskill didn't make a selection that focused solely on the more famous and theatrical depressions.I don't agree that this work reveals Van Gogh as a writer. For me, they definitely confirmed his status as a painter. At his best in these letters, he's painting with words. Which doesn't make it a less interesting read. I found this a good adjunct to taking a look at the work again, it added an extra dimension to experiencing him as a painter. Well worth the time it takes.
An Intimate Look November 2, 2000
29 out of 31 found this review helpful
I bought this book several years ago in a college bookstore. How fortunate these students were to have been able to read and discuss this with others! I have had a long interest in Van Gogh and found this book to be fascinating, an almost voyeuristic look into his short life. I am glad to see that it is available * * and would hope that people now seeing the traveling Van Gogh portraiture exhibit might read it.De Leeuw has compiled letters covering over 25 years of Van Gogh's life, letters that offer the reader an intimate look into the artist's thoughts and emotions. He writes about his friendships, his family, his attempts at love affairs, his religious beliefs and questions, and most importantly, about his art. These letters reveal him as anything but the anti-social person often portrayed in the past, with the ones about his relationship with his brother Theo being particularly touching. Van Gogh was a prolific correspondent and an absolutely wonderful writer. His prose is remarkable--he could have been a writer as well as an artist. These letters shed light on the inner thoughts and the inspiration for his art and show him as a person of great passion and compassion.
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