The World According to Vincent van Gogh

by Nienke Bakker, Anne Blokland, Esther Darley

Genres: Art

176 pages, Hardcover

Published January 28, 2025

Reviews

[Thomas Vos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Toch licht teleurgesteld toen bleek dat het boek niet over Van Quickenborne ging...

[Nikolay Georgiev · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Someone who strives for feeling in his work must first feel and live with his heart."

"I have a more or less irresistible passion for books, and I have a need continually to educate myself, to study, if you like, precisely as I need to eat my bread."

"It is no easier, I'm convinced, to make a good painting than to find a diamond or a pearl."

[Sandra Wibisono · Rating 4 out of 5]

in this book, you’ll see vincent appearing in glimpses: in his letters, in the cracks of his brushwork, in the way he names colors like they’re emotions.

this book reads like walking through a gallery alone. you stop. you look. you think you understand something. then you turn the page, and it shifts. it’s not linear. it’s not loud. it’s not trying to explain van gogh (it’s trying to feel, and understand him).

his words appear like constellations, scattered in the prettiest way. the quotes, paired with his paintings, remind you that art was never separate from who he was. and that beauty (real beauty) is often tangled up in ache.

this book is vincent’s love letter to seeing the world differently.

[Molsa Roja(s) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm unbelievably pleased with this. Before buying it I thought it to be slightly expensive for its length, perhaps unnecessary, but the truth is I couldn't help it and got it anyway. And well, if one has read van Gogh's letters to his brother, and if one loves van Gogh's paintings, one will surely enjoy this colorful pocket-sized piece of art. I'd like to make emphasis on the editor's work: every van Gogh cite is accompanied by one of his sketches or paintings so well chosen among his extense corpus that you will find the message glowing in a life of its own, the painting acquiring a new, deeper meaning. Really, I can't wait to read Hockney's.

[mint · Rating 5 out of 5]

bought this impulsively while at a van gogh art exhibition yet it is worth every single penny! the illustrations are beautiful and the edition is well curated. loved seeing the paintings but moreover i enjoyed reading the bits and pieces of van gogh's life itself. the quotes were beautifully chosen & i think i'll find myself with this book in hand again and again in the future.

[Emily Shearer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little book of encouraging sayings (rants?) about art and the creative life. Interestingly, I learned a week after reading this book (and YEARS after having been a huge VVG fan) that he had hypergraphia. What a fascinating mind!

[Audrey Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book, a quick read with highlighted quotes from his letters.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mix of quotes and paintings 🖼 🎨 🖌

[Cassie Donoghue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes/Summary/etc:
A book compiled of some quotes from Van Gogh in his letters (mainly to Theo).
A short read but was interesting to see how Vincent thought about things and how deeply connected to nature he was.