The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters: The Artists and His Letters Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 Feb. 2010

Excellent selection of VG's paintings and real insight into his life through his own letters. Highly recommended.

Written to accompany a Tate exhibition, it is well-written, beautifully illustrated and full of fascinating biographical information written about and, more importantly, by Vincent himself.For many, Vincent is the obsessive, mad-artist who cut off his ear and gave it to a prostitute after a fight with Gauguin. Yes, he did all of this but this is not Vincent.In these letters to and from his brother, Theo, we begin to understand how intelligence, erudite and knowledgeable Vincent actually was. Far from instant impressions, he was very thoughtful about his paintings, usually planning them out careful prior to beginning to paint. Multi-lingual, deeply spiritual and passionate, he comes across as misunderstood, shy and introverted genius who, having considered and tried different styles of painting, pursued his own style, apparently without success; during his own life, he sold only one painting.In May 1990, one of Vincent's paintings,"Portrait of Dr. Gachet", of his friend, Dr Gauchet, sold for $82,500,000. With Picasso, he is the most represented artist on the most expensive paintings list:$71,500,000 "Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe"$57,000,000 "A Wheatfield with Cypresses"$39.700,000 "Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers"$47.500,000 "Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat"To many people, Vincent van Gogh is just the obsessive, mad artist who cut off his ear. This book provides a rare chance to read Vincent himself and broaden one's understanding and appreciation of this unique artist.

I have been after a book by my favourite artist for a while and finally decided on this. It is a large and heavy book with many very good illustrations. I was disappointed that there was no sign of my favourite painting ' Starry Night Over The Rhone' but really that is being a bit churlish on my part.With segments from many of Vincent's letters to his brother Theo this really is a fine book that I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is a great book, and not just purely for Van Gogh fans, it's an inspiring book for anybody who has ever had a dream or ambition of any kind, as Van Gogh's story is about a man striving to realise his dreams. It's tinged with poignancy, because as we know, sadly, Van Gogh died poor and without the recognition he craved. It's only after his death that he became a superstar.My only criticism really (and hence 4 stars instead of 5) is that I thought the actual letters themselves would be included, in full, and having skimmed through, this appears not to be the case. There are extracts from the letters, but not the whole text. This is probably due to the fact that the letters would have required translation.However, it's only a small disappointment in what is otherwise an exemplary publication.

THis is a fantastic book to accompany the exhibition on this year.I was deighted to findit on Amazon as I didn't buy it at the RA and thought I'd missed my chance.The exhibtion itself it fascinating but very busy and it was difficult to get close to read most of the letters.Havin the book means I can browse at my leisure and really discover moeabout this tortured soul.As an added bonus it was quite significantly cheaper!

I did not get the chance to see the exhibition at the Royal Academy so this book was a good alternative. Excellent content and also cheaper than from the Royal Academy. Prompted me to consider a trip to Amsterdam to see the Van Gogh museums.

great reproductions, not too much blurb, good descriptions for the art lover this book is intended for.

Great book about a great artist. Love it