1 comments about 15 Cut-up Take Home Books Including Zac the Rat and Other Tales Plus a Special Bonus Pack of 5 Art Books Including Vincent Van Gogh.

1. First, be advised that this is a cut up book. It is soft, cuttable, workbook style, meant to be used, not displayed. It is also meant to be used in conjunction with the Starfall website which is an excellent site for beginning readers (www.starfall.com) and I can't recommend that enough, as well as the starfall phonics board game (a true phonics game) that's available (which I couldn't find on Amazon but found on the Starfall website). The kids enjoy the characters, Zac the Rat (Zac sat on a can), Peg the Hen (Peg gets in a jet), The Tin Man (The tin man has a bat), Mox the Fox (Mox is a fox) Bob the Hog (Bob is a hog) in their easy reader books that they cut out and staple before they begin to enjoy reading them. Each cut-out book has about 7-8 pages each focusing on Consonant-Vowel-Consonant words. The art book has about 14 pictures of masterpieces by Van Gogh, Seurat, Gauguin, etc. and questions for parents to ask kids about the paintings. Great way to familiarize children with the arts. It also includes a history on each artist. I can't recommend the Starfall program enough to beginning and reluctant readers. If you think you'd be interested in this book, take a look at the website, then see how your reader reacts. If they enjoy it, then this work book is a fabulous supplement to remind and retain the imprints of reading lessons learned.

No comments about Inventing Van Gogh.

No comments about Vincent Van Gogh Wrap: Lined (Embellished Manuscripts).

2 comments about Van Gogh's Women: Vincent's Love Affairs and Journey into Madness.

1. In this book Derek Fell takes a sensationalist, speculative approach to van Gogh's relationships with women, attempting to deconstruct them psychologically. Speculation about van Gogh's life is inevitable, since there are many things we do not know or do not understand. However, problems arise when the speculations in question have no basis in fact, or else are built upon erroneous information. This book is positively riddled with both errors of fact (large and small) and unqualified speculation, severely damaging the author's credibility. Given my limited space, I'll pick just two random examples to demonstrate the range.
   
   Small: Fell cites at length (pp. 225-26) a letter describing van Gogh's funeral and says it was written by the journalist Albert Aurier. Wrong. It was written by the artist Emile Bernard TO Gabriel-Albert Aurier.
   
   Large: On p. 173, Fell discusses the painting "First Steps," done while van Gogh was in the asylum at St-Remy. Painted while van Gogh's sister-in-law was pregnant, Fell interprets the painting as van Gogh's fantasy of himself as the father of the child. He does this through the painting's iconography, which depicts a man in a gardener's hat holding out his arms as a little child attempts to take its first steps from its mother to its father. The man's hat looks like the hat van Gogh wore while working, Fell tells us, and he uses that resemblance to anchor his psychological interpretation of the painting. What Fell does not say (maybe because he does not know?) is that this painting is van Gogh's copy after the painting "First Steps" by Millet-- the gardener's hat is Millet's motif, not van Gogh's. Theo had sent Vincent a photograph of that Millet painting together with others in October 1889; Vincent (a longtime Millet fan) admired it so much he made a copy of it as he sometimes did with other paintings, particularly in the asylum when it was not always possible for him to go outside and find subjects. Knowing this makes Fell's psychobabble analysis fall apart.
   
   And there's speculation after speculation along that line. Allegations that Theo physically abused Johanna; that Vincent carried on an affair with Marguerite Gachet and that's why he committed suicide, etc. These kinds of things might --*might*--be acceptable if the book were a novel, but it's classified as nonfiction. That means it's just sloppy scholarship, the second most grievous sin of academic publishing (after plagiarism): unverified information, hearsay, quotes taken out of context from letters, etc. (With reference to Marguerite Gachet, we're treated to more silly interpretations of paintings.) When Fell does mention a source, it's usually some psychologist whom I suspect doesn't know much more about Vincent than he does.
   
   The danger of a book in a format like this one--without footnotes--is that the author is able to make errors and heap speculations without the reader knowing where he got his information (or didn't, as the case may be). As a result, the unsuspecting reader with a casual interest in van Gogh might find him/herself believing what Fell has to say. The bibliography has gaping holes, so it's not at all clear where Fell *did* get his ideas.
   
   As for Fell himself--he's described as an "art historian" on the back cover. Allow me my own speculations based on the scholarly quality of this book: I'd venture a guess he either has no degree in art history at all, or certainly not an advanced one (M.A., Ph.D.). I'm tired of unqualified people writing drivel about artists and paintings and calling themselves "art historians" (or publishers calling them that). It's a professional insult to the rest of us who actually went to graduate school and built legitimate careers in the subject as professors, authors, etc. Cease and desist!



2. Indeed, this book is not well written. It reads like a college term paper, with attendant deficits in argument development, source citation, etc. There are huge amounts of speculation with little or no evidence to support them. It also loses its focus; although ostensibly about relationships with women, the book devolves into a loose biography of van Gogh's life.
   
   Having said all of this, there are worthwhile portions of the book. I enjoyed knowing about his strong family history of psychiatric illness, and of his seemingly endless capacity to engage in doomed relationships. I wondered about van Gogh's diagnosis: bipolar, borderline personality disorder, neurosyphillis, lead toxicity, all of the above? There was enough here to stimulate some thought.
   
   This book is worth a brief skim, at the library, but should be complemented by a more authoritative biography if you are more interested in fact than speculation.

No comments about What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh?.

2 comments about Vincent Van Gogh: 1853-1890 (Big Art Series).

1. I purchased this book not being aware of the complete painting book but if I knew about the other one ( complete painting ) I probably would have chose that book for sure ! Anyway, as a second choise this is a great value book . The picture are beautifull and the text is full of detail about Van Gogh's life that is exceeded only by the Letter to Theo book published by Penguin. Well,now that you know my opinion, order this book if you are tight with money; other wise you may consider the complete painting if the quality of the picture and the text is as good as this book. Ciao



2. I spotted this book and, having been impressed by the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery last year, decided to check it out. (That being said, I know very little about art and seldom read about it, so this review should be taken in that light.)

   Van Gogh was an amazingly prolific painter. His artistic career lasted scarcely ten years, but in that time he created enough paintings to decorate nearly every page of this 250-page book - and those aren't even all of them.

   The book itself is a combination of a biography and an analysis of his paintings. This flows smoothly, perhaps because Van Gogh put so much of himself into his art: his moods are clear from what he depicted and how he depicted it.

   The biographical portion makes for interesting reading in and of itself. Van Gogh actually came rather late to art after failing at other occupations, including that of a minister. Once he turns to art, he is almost immediately remarkably capable. Later on, he attempts to set up an artistic community in his famous "yellow house," with the help of Gaugain. It's a collaboration that fails disastrously, with Gaugain leaving and Van Gogh cutting off his earlobe. Van Gogh has a difficult time psychologically for a few years, then, when it seems he has finally turned things around, goes out and shoots himself. The authors suggest it's due to his believe that a dead artist is more valued than a live one, a strange but possibly true premise.

   The analysis of the paintings, comfortably intertwined with the biographical information, are interesting as well, at least to someone like me who only barely understands painting. While the analysis occasionally descends into what is to me artsy gobbledegook, by and large the comments are incisive and point out the distinctive qualities of each painting and how it relates to his other work. The tone is positive and descriptive, which I liked. I could easily have imagined a much more critical approach or a tone that indicated this is the way to look at this painting. But the authors fall into neither trap.

   So this artistic novice, at least, found this to be an excellent book about a great artist. Recommended for all those with an interest in the subject.

No comments about Van Gogh (Masters of Art).

2 comments about Brief Happiness: The Correspondence of Theo Van Gogh and Jo Bonger (Cahier Vincent, No. 7.).

1. In this volume the 101 existing letters between Vincent's brother, Theo van Gogh, and Theo's fiance, Johanna Bonger, are published for the first time in their entirity.

   Through the letters the reader gains insights into a young Dutch couple in love in the late 19th century. The book not only presents intriguing and very personal insights about Vincent van Gogh, but is also a compelling and touching chronicle of two young people as they prepare for marriage and a life together. A life tragically brief, as the title suggests.

   Much has been written about Vincent van Gogh, of course, but it's fascinating to read insights about how his own family and contemporaries perceived him. For example Theo wrote: "He is one of the most advanced painters and it is difficult to understand him, even for me who knows him so intimately. His ideas cover so much ground, examining what is humane and how one should look at the world, that one must first free oneself from anything remotely linked to convention to understand what he was trying to say, but I am sure he will be understood later on. It is just hard to say when."

   A satisfying and very worthwhile exploration of three lives--forever interwoven.




2. What a wonderful book! Not just for the student of art... reading this correspondence could inspire us all. It is fresh, vivid and frank. And it is a reminder that before e-mail, we once wrote letters... before telephones, we once poured our hearts out on paper... before television, we exercised our brains and spent time building relationships.

   It's ironic how often Jo and Theo mention how inadequate they are at expressing themselves on paper, when actually the opposite is true. In these letters that we are so privileged to be able to read, they are so considerate and thoughtful of each other's feelings and actually get inside each other's minds by reading and expressing thoughts on paper. In this way, their time apart is spent getting to know each other, almost as much as if they were in the same room.

   Jo often writes, in her womanly way, about practical matters, true, but is so endearing as she scolds herself for being too trivial or boring and never allows herself to get too bogged down by teacups and dressing gowns. Jo seems to be quite liberated. In one letter she says she's shocked at Theo mentioning that he might want to keep her locked up inside the new apartment; in another letter, she lets Theo know in no uncertain terms that he should not delude himself that she has no opinion on a subject as important as the arrangement of the furniture - that she has "ten opinions for that matter." She's got spirit. And Theo is so sweet as he constantly reminds her that everything she does is important to him and that he loves hearing about "everyday things" in her life. We find ourselves getting to know these two and anticipating what the reply will be in the next letter.

   At the same time, it is touching how Jo is so sympathetic and loving toward Theo's plight with his brother and often tries to be helpful without being too pushy or presumptuous. Reading these letters, one can see the plan and her life purpose unfolding. We can't imagine anyone else playing this part in the Van Gogh brothers' life more compassionately and productively.

   Theo's expression in letters exalts his position in the van Gogh story and he comes across as literally a prophet and seems to know not only that one day Vincent will be world famous, but so much more. His own writings here show us how valuable a role Theo played in Vincent's imminent success. It's as though they were one person. On one hand, Theo understands Vincent completely and knows his soul; yet on the other, he is destroyed by the constant worrying his brother's hopeless situation brings. He wishes good things for Vincent, but knows they'll never happen.

   The thing that I enjoyed the most about this book is reading Theo's thoughts on art. He was a true unmitigated art lover and a romantic soul who was able to feel and embrace the meaning and essence of paintings and the artists' expression. I love Theo's letter to Jo (27 Jan. 1889) where he compares music to art. And the poignant remark, "I realise I'm filling my page with what are probably incomprehensible flights of fancy..."

   When Theo sets out to define art, it is as if he were right there with Vincent painting in the mistral winds, "What is art? ...the painter will in all likelihood have succeeded in giving us a glimpse of ourselves... he will have succeeded in touching our very soul... this concept is the purest."

   "The painter can only tell us about what the world reveals to him and, if he is a great artist, he does so in a way that moves us."

   Theo talking about Degas, Monet, de Haan, Gauguin... what a glimpse into a chapter in art history that has been interpreted over and over in movies, books and art classes... but never expressed in this way. Reading him describe a Monet painting is sheer delight!

   But his heartfelt soul bleeds most when he talks about Vincent. He knows him as well as he knows himself and when he calls Vincent a genius, explains why he has such difficulties and knows the paradox that is Vincent; when he reminds Jo that he is "exceptional" and that there is no solution where Vincent goes, that "There's no such thing as a peaceful environment for him," Theo is, in a way also talking about himself.

   Theo tells Jo he has "a marble by Rodin representing the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The sculptor chose a figure for the precursor of Christ that bears a striking resemblance to Vincent." In her introduction to the "complete letters," Jo added, "Later, when I saw the sculpture, I found it bore a perfect resemblance to Theo."

   That about says it all.

2 comments about Lust For Life: A Novel Based on the Life of Vincent Van Gogh.

1. Although I enjoyed the book, I was appalled at the condition. I guess the old saying of you get what you pay for truly applies to used books listed on your website.
   
   This was the first time I purchased a used book and I will never do it again. I can hardly wait to see what the other used books I ordered look like.



2. First of all, let me just say that perhaps the previous reviewer should not rate the quality of the reading based on the paper quality of the actual book. As is the case with Irving Stones' other books, this one is also great. If you enjoy biographical novels, rather than just fact-filled, dry, biographies, then Irving Stone is one of the masters. I am sure that the facts may be a little "bent" from reality, so if you are a Van Gogh expert, you probably won't enjoy this. But then again, if you're a Van Gogh expert, you're probably not reading this book to learn about Van Gogh, but for its pure literary value. Bottom line: entertaining, great read, hard to put down.

5 comments about Vincent Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings / Box Set.

1. I used this book to research the fascinating problem of the perceptual and spatial distortions in van Gogh's paintings, for which it was very helpful, so later I make a few comments on that for what its worth.
   
   I've seen dozens of books on van Gogh's art, and this one is one of the few on the market that contains his complete output. Although the book contains some commentary, for me the most important thing was the reproduction of the paintings. Of course, book plates can't do full justice to the original paintings, but for color plates these are pretty decent. Van Gogh often just squeezed the paint directly onto the canvass from the tubes without mixing them, so one way you can tell if a color plate of a van Gogh painting is good is to look at one that you know of where he did this and see if the colors look right, and if they're close to full saturation. If they look washed out or off in some way, you'll know they're not. But overall, I thought these were pretty good.
   
   As I said, I used this for some research, so I include those comments here for anyone who might be interested in some of the more technical aspects of van Gogh's paintings. However, you don't have to read them since they are pretty dry and technical :-).
   
   As Ernst Gombrich has shown, analyzing space in a picture is an extremely complex business. The fact that even sophisticated observers sometimes form mistaken impressions of a pictorial space is itself an interesting phenomenon and illustrates an important principle of the human visual system, which is that it is not very good at evaluating precise metrical relationships. If the space is so constructed that it is at least internally consistent, it may look realistic when it is not, and the space may even seem distorted when it is not.
   
   Considering the problem of the different recession rates for the objects in van Gogh's paintings, how do we account for these distortions? We could simply dismiss them as errors resulting from van Gogh's inability to paint perspectivally, but would be a mistake, for the following reasons:
   
   1) The magnitude and direction of the errors in the sizes of objects are consistent with known psychophysical mechanisms of size constancy.
   
   2) There is a strong shape constancy effect, and also (as John Ward has pointed out), such as in the two chairs and the pictures on the wall (in his Bedroom at Arles).
   
   3) Van Gogh's failure to map out an initial, precise, major metric eliminates the most important perspective cue for object scaling and thus permits the inherent constancy-scaling effects of the human visual system to surface.
   
   4) Although distorted perspectivally, the space is nevertheless internally consistent. This is to be expected from the operation of secondary size-constancy effects.
   
   5) The technique of squinting to enhance one's depth of field, which van Gogh is known to have used, would reinforce cues to size constancy by essentially putting the station point behind the artist.
   
   Points 4 and 5 require further discussion.
   
   As noted earlier, secondary size constancy is the tendency for the sizes of objects to correlate with other perspective cues. Even in a painting with a very poorly defined or no major metric (such as in van Gogh's Bedroom), most perspective errors are not random. If they were, the errors would occur in both positive and negative directions about some mean value and would therefore average out. This is rarely the case, however. Usually the errors show a consistent trend. This is because once a given direction and magnitude of deviation has been established, other cues tend to be altered accordingly for the sake of consistency. This can be seen in van Gogh's Bedroom where different objects show similar effects. Although the objects themselves show different vanishing points, the size effect is nevertheless the same.
   
   Van Gogh is also known to have used squinting in order to increase his depth of field. Doing this would cause both foreground and background objects to appear simultaneously more in focus and therefore would have the effect of putting the station point artificially in back of the observer. Durer illustrated a device to accomplish this in his treatise on perspective, but simply squinting strongly can produce a powerful effect of several feet.
   
   Schapiro, Heelan, and various other writers have commented on the sense of realism which van Gogh's paintings create in the viewer. But at this point we could ask why, if van Gogh's perspective space is in many ways so imprecise, we continue to see it as powerful and realistic? Partly it is due to the fact that although there are many spatial distortions present, the space is nevertheless consistent with psychophysical expectations and the distortions due to size constancy are of the proper psychophysical magnitude. This is perhaps to be expected given van Gogh's interest in objects and in the depiction of objects for their own sake. The result is that objects possess more autonomy in van Gogh's paintings than they would if he had taken pains to construct a unified perspective space and thus show appropriate psychophysical effects.
   
   The main reason, however, concerns a fundamental principle of mammalian visual systems. It has been demonstrated repeatedly in experiments that the human visual system is a poor detector of the absolute values of such things as brightness and distance. On the other hand, the visual system is very good at preserving relationships and relative levels of things. Our eyes, for example, throw away information about luminous intensity but conserve and even enhance information about relative brightness and contrast borders, as in the well-known case of Mach bands. This mechanism enables us to easily detect the outlines of objects under varying levels of illumination. In fact, the visual system is such a good extractor of lines that it creates them where they don't even exist or where they are only suggested, as in the well-known case of illusory and subjective contours.
   
   A similar phenomenon occurs in space perception. As I discussed earlier in this article, many experiments have shown that people rarely view paintings from the proper perspective point, and yet experience very little distortion in the perceived objects. This suggests that the visual system constructs an internal model which preserves the relations between the objects in a scene. When distortions occur, the visual system is capable of compensating internally for the perceived distortion. In practical terms, this means that the perspective may depart substantially, both quantitatively and qualitatively, from reality and yet be seen as realistic if it is not too greatly distorted and if the space is at least internally consistent.
   
   What all this shows is that artists are, in essence, perceptual problem solvers, or, as Rudolph Arnheim has said, "visual thinkers." Such a view is, I believe, preferable to the idea that the artist paints from some inexplicable or mysterious talent, or from some sort of abnormal psychology or pathology.



2. This is a very nice publication to have on your shelf. Van Gogh is an icon of Western culture and it is almost certain that you can call more than a few of his images to mind quite easily. What this provides is a greater context for those several images by providing what it calls "the complete paintings". I have no ability to say whether it is complete or not, but I can say that the vast number of paintings reproduced here provide a wonderful context and the images become more connected and make quite a bit more sense than they do in isolation.
   
   Are the color reproductions perfect? Of course not! Mechanical coloring cannot approach the vivid colors these paintings have in real life. I am always pleasantly surprised when I get to an art museum and see real colors up close and personal. Things are so wonderfully vivid! The texture of the surfaces is also fabulous to see in person.
   
   But a book can never be as brilliant as seeing the painting in person. However, for a few dollars you can survey a body of work you will never be able to see in a lifetime. So, it is a fair trade off. Just make sure you get to a good museum as frequently as you can to enrich you senses and your soul.
   
   The text accompanying the paintings is really very good. The problem is that is provided next to a painting by Van Gogh and one's eyes can barely stay on the text. I find myself drifting to every nearby painting and focusing on that more than what the editors are telling me about Van Gogh's life and work.
   
   Very much recommended. The binding, Paper or Hardcover is irrelevant for home use. Pick whichever you prefer and can afford. For heavy use, obviously the hardcover is the better choice.



3. To those of us who have seen only some of van Gogh's paintings in international galleries this book, bringing together every painting that he did, and many drawings, is a constant source of pleasure and interest tempered only by regret that the artist received so little recognition in his lifetime and by his tragic end. The quality of the reproductions is high and the text gives a sensitive and scholarly review of his life, his work and his motives and makes considerable reference to his letters. It ends with a useful illustrated chronology of van Gogh's life. Because there are more paintings than text one is forced to turn pages, sometimes many, to find a painting referred to in the text but this is inevitable unless one is to have merely a catalogue, with comments, of his works. Walther and Metzger are to be congratulated on this fine work.



4. First off, I must point out that I did not read the English version of this, but the French one; since it's a translation, it should basically be the same.
   
   Taschen has the nice habit of making great books for comparatively very cheap prices; and that is once again the case with this collection of all Van Gogh paintings. The paper is top quality (glazed is it? I forget how it's called, but it's the same as you find in every other taschen publication) and the size of the book ensures a good view on the paintings.
   
   I had read 2 books relating Vincent's life, so when it came to read another text on him and his work, I already knew most of of the bulk of that artist's life; however, this wasn't redundant at all. The authors have interesting things to say and usually do so in ways that won't kill you with boredom (even if I sometimes don't agree with the theories proposed). Substantial citations from Van Gogh's letters are used there, which is good, since Vincent wrote a lot. The book does a good work of setting Vincent Van Gogh in context, letting us know what authors he read, and what kind of human being he was. And Vincent was a particularly wonderful human being in my opinion, something this book does not fail to show.
   
   Now as to the pictures of the paintings, what can I say? If you like Van Gogh's art, you'll like them. And even though you may not like everything he's ever done, it's worthwhile to have the whole thing to see the evolution of his art from a very dark and gloomy universe to a violently colourful one.
   
   I definitely recommend this book for everyone interested in knowing more about Van Gogh than the basics. The book is a beautiful object as well, pretty heavy, but very classy.



5. This single volume edition ISBN 3822812153 published in 2001 containing 740 pages was originally issued in two separate volumes. It contains all of the about 870 paintings comprising the artist's complete output, reproduced in full colour with just a few exceptions where for any of several legitimate reasons a colour picture is not available.
   
   It is an admirable effort, the quality of printing is superb, and the standard of photography in many instances is excellent showing the texture of the paint and brush work. In the case of the latter the paintings truly sing out from the page. The pictures are presented chronologically, which in itself is very revealing. The text is extensive and very informative, and being largely based on Van Gogh's letters makes truly fascinating reading and lends an intimate edge. It provides a background to the artist's life and his work and influences.
   
   I should mention a couple of points. Many of the reproductions are quite small, less than post card size, some considerably less; there are of course some half page and full page size too. The other point is that while the text and illustrations are fully integrated there is little if any relationship between the text and image on each page. When there is a reference in the text to a picture the picture is invariably to be found many pages apart. Of course with the pictures presented chronologically this was bound to be a problem; but would it then not have been better to separate the two completely. One could also argue for a larger page size, but a least at this fairly modest size the book is at least not unwieldy.
   
   That aside this is a splendid book; and one of the best surprises is that while there are of course many very familiar paintings here, the less familiar are by no means overshadowed by them; it is in fact a revelation to find so many superb yet relatively unknown works. Tremendous value, a book not to be passed over.