Van Gogh. Crown Art Library

Crown Art Library

by René Huyghe

A discussion of Van Gogh's creative life as it relates to his troubled emotional existence supplements reproductions of his paintings and drawings

Genres: Art

96 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 1995

About the author

René Huyghe (3 May 1906 – 5 February 1997) was a French writer on the history, psychology and philosophy of art.

Huyghe was a curator at the Louvre's department of paintings (from 1930) and in 1974 was appointed director of the Musée Jacquemart-André, in Paris.

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a sad lonely life. Heartbreaking that he'll never know what an impact he had.

[Tim Nason · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars - A fine array of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings but the text by René Huyghe is a nearly abstract psychological commentary in the present-tense about the artist's goals anchored loosely on biographical landmarks. I think a reader would have to already know a lot about Van Gogh to gain very much from Huyghe's essay.

Here is an example of Huyghe's commentary, in reference to Van Gogh's early evangelical ambitions:

"His excessive ego is burned by a craving to give. His whole life is built upon an exaltation of his ego, which brings about anguish, then remorse, and finally the redemption of the ego through an act of love." (43)

And another:

"More and more Van Gogh is under the impression that art could be the eagerly desired solution. It is precisely the richest and most complete expression of the ego but sought through work, and often through suffering, so as to enrich others by its presence." (44)

The beauty, richness, delicacy and power of Van Gogh's work save the book.

[Dan]

Read the blurb to this! It's gadawful! "Discover..." this; "Explore..." that; yuck!
I took this out to show my young son Van Gogh's paintings--but for some reason, as I was about to return this to the library I fell upon a paragraph that made me pause and think about actually reading the text to this. It's passionately wrought stuff; the author is enmeshed with the energy--and occasional violence--of Van Gogh's creative life. Huyghe practically reached up from the page and nabbed me with a clawed hand. "You love Van Gogh? Liar! Bastard! Hypocrite! If you loved Van Gogh you wouldn't be totting him off to a child! You would've shoved your child aside! Neglected to feed and clothe and bathe him because you would have immersed yourself in this vibrant world that we doddering morons can only poke and preen at. Van Gogh is more than just artist--he is the Prophet! The trump of Heaven! Jehovah HIMSELF!"

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is what it is, a short biography of Van Gogh filled with examples of his art work. I enjoyed the art and the biography.