Van Gogh: The Life (2012)
by Steven Naifeh, Gregory White Smith
Motivation
It’s important to have some basic knowledge about the art, history, and culture of the destinations before the trip. The more context you have the more you can truly appreciate and enjoy learning on the actual trip.
During the summer before our Amsterdam-Paris trip in 2014 I wanted to know more about Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). We’d seen some of his work at the d’Orsay museum in Paris but now we were going to his homeland and wanted to be ready for the Van Gogh museum.
Reviews for the book were very enthusiastic. See book description here.
Overview
You may recognize the Starry Nights, his self-portraits, and Irises and have probably heard about how unsuccessful he was during his short lifetime. His story is the quintessential tragic genius artist, solidified by the infamous cutting off of his own ear.
Or so we thought.
Make no mistake, he was not a pleasant person to be around. He was a moocher extraordinaire and possibly the most ungrateful person we’ve ever heard of. BUT, the book really resonated with us as a story of two brothers. Vincent and his younger brother Theo form a heart-warming, one-sided, toxic relationship that ends with the brothers dying within months of each other.
What a downer, you say.
Yes, but…the authors had unprecedented access (including the archives of the aforementioned Van Gogh museum) to hundreds of letters between the brothers. The reader gets a deep look into the man Vincent was and how his life and art intertwined.
Recommended for
- anyone looking for a better understanding of Van Gogh
- fans of definitive biographies
- Preparation for Amsterdam, Paris travel
- (the book gained much media attention over the theory that Van Gogh may not have committed suicide and was instead murdered)
Considerations
- It’s a big read. 800+ pages (no audio version)
- The book is fantastic but Vincent can be infuriating and a bit depressing
- We recommend checking it out of your local library (or support this site and purchase here)
Kid factors
- Our kids love “Vincent”
- simple subject matter
- bright colors
- his “bumpy paint” (impasto is the fancy word for it)
- Print off images for kids to become more familiar (see also Not-quite flashcards post)
- Van Gogh museum is pretty tech savvy with a lot different types of media as seen below (check out super high resolution version of the same self-portrait on their website here
Other Options
Don’t feel like spending a month to read about a talented but selfish and potentially mentally ill artist?
Try these:
- Watch: Art Institute of Chicago panel with the authors (45 min)
- Watch: dramatically hosted by Simon Schama, the BBC documentary Power of Art has a Van Gogh episode on YouTube (54 min)
- Watch: the Art Institute of Chicago looks at the science of the bedroom paintings (9 min)
- Watch: Smarthistory video on Vincent’s portrait of fellow painter and roommate Paul Gauguin (3 min)
- Listen: episode 2 of Art Curious Podcast covers the controversy behind Vincent’s death (51 min)
- Read: anything from your library, mostly books with large rich colors
- Do: lay out some plastic, get the finger paints out, and make some Van Goghs!
Family Conversation topic: Take a poll of the family. Who is interested in Vincent? His art? His story? Is he worth a trip to the d’Orsay if you were in Paris? Worth a stop at his very own museum in Amsterdam?
Disclosure: We encourage you to shop around for the best deals and for families to utilize their local library. However, if you do plan to buy, if you use our links it sends a few pennies towards maintaining this website.