La lutte intérieure de Van Gogh : Sa vie, son œuvre et sa maladie mentale

by Liesbeth Heenk, Angélique Olivia Moreau (Translator)

>> Une exploration fascinante de la vie d'un génie torturé <<

Puisant ses informations à la source dans les propres lettres de Van Gogh, l'auteur disserte sur la vie de l'artiste, sa vision de son propre travail et sa maladie mentale. Les lettres montrent clairement que la vie de l'artiste ne fut pas une partie de plaisir. Alors que Van Gogh savait pertinemment ce qui se vendait ou non, il continua de produire un art honnête, « véridique », sans se soucier du goût du jour. Il ne s'attendait pas à ce que les acheteurs comprennent l'apparence brute de son travail. Van Gogh reconnaissait que le fait d'être artiste supposait tout simplement un combat quotidien, mais il était convaincu qu'il tirerait profit de l'adversité, à la fois personnellement et professionnellement. « Pas de victoire sans bataille, pas de bataille sans souffrances ». Dans le cas de Van Gogh, ce fut une bataille sans trêve contre la précarité, l'isolement et l'adversité. Compte-tenu de ses circonstances – il était financièrement dépendant de son frère Théo, ne vendait rien et était à peine reconnu – ses réalisations sont purement extraordinaires. Ceci n'est pas un livre sur l'art de Van Gogh, mais sur sa vie en tant qu'artiste et être humain. Le lire vous permettra d'apprécier et de comprendre encore mieux son travail. La lutte intérieure de Van Gogh fait partie de la série « Les secrets de Van Gogh ».

Les secrets de Van Gogh 1 : Une heure avec Van Gogh
Les secrets de Van Gogh 2 : La lutte intérieure de Van Gogh : Sa vie, son œuvre et sa maladie mentale
Les secrets de Van Gogh 3 : Van Gogh durera toujours - nouvelles

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Audiobook, Mental Health, Art History

44 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Private account of Liesbeth Heenk, author of books on Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam Museums, and the Howard Hodgkin catalogue raisonne of prints.

Owner of Amsterdam Publishers.

http://viewAuthor.at/LiesbethHeenk

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but powerful presentation of Van Gogh's struggles with the melancholy and depression which afflicted him for much of his life, told mostly in his own words taken from his letters ... I have always been fascinated by Van Gogh's work and his tragic life ... one summer when we lived in France, Pat and I visited all of the places Van Gogh lived (including Arles and St-Rémy), and the village where he died (Auvers) ... it was a journey of great emotion.

In addition to my long interest in Van Gogh, I'm reading his words to help me capture the condition of my character Berthold Becker, completing his fourth year in prison, devoid of purpose, depressed and wondering whether his continued existence has any value.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The isolation that made up Vangoh's life was sad. His words, taken from letters, was so poetic, I read only a few pages at a time.

[Una Tiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Van Gogh's life was sad. Still, although he seemed to give up on a regular basis, he had the ability to spring back, until he didn't. His letters were as magnificent as his paintings.

[BookChampions · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, but solid introduction into Vincent's many, many letters. She insists upon Vincent's suicide at the end of her book, a death that is inconclusive at best. I'm glad I got this glimpse before I will read the whole collection of letters, unfiltered, later this year.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of Vincent Van Gogh since hearing the song, Starry Starry Night, when I was a teenager. I remember going to the library and looking up more info on him. This was in the days before we had Google!

This book gives you a look at the struggles he had in his life through letters he wrote. You will also get to know him through his quotes. I look forward to reading more of the authors books on Van Gogh.

The author gives us an excellent tribute to Van Gogh. Through this well written story, I learned so much more about his personal life and his battle with mental illness. His brother who was with him when he died said his last words were..."Sadness will last forever".

I highly recommend this touching book if you have ever wanted to know a bit more about Vincent Van Gogh.

[Angélique Moreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cette étude rédigée par l'historienne d'art Liesbeth Heenk utilise les lettres écrites par Vincent Van Gogh lui-même pour parler de la vie de l'artiste, mais aussi de son œuvre et de la maladie mentale dont il souffrait, avec ses propres mots.

Bien plus qu'un guide artistique ou qu'une biographie, ce guide acoquine le lecteur à l'immense correspondance d'un homme qui s'exprimait de façon visionnaire. Ces lettres n'illustrent pas seulement son développement artistique, elles permettent aussi d'avoir accès aux sentiments les plus profonds d'un être asocial et qui est resté dans une situation assez précaire durant toute sa vie, espérant un amour et une reconnaissance qui ne sont jamais venus.... ou du moins pas de son vivant.

On en apprend beaucoup sur les difficultés rencontrées par Van Gogh, de son incapacité à garder un travail à sa vie sentimentale désastreuse, en passant par ses addictions et son travail acharné pour développer son talent. Les lettres regorgent parfois d'une poésie inattendue.

En réaliser la traduction m'a permis de découvrir ces lettres magnifiques et mon admiration pour l’œuvre picturale de Van Gogh est renforcée par le sentiment profond d'amitié que j'ai ressenti à leur lecture.

[monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got the book in a goodreads giveaway. It even came with a lovely Van Gogh postcard!
The book is short(considering the difficult subject), but it gives us a very interesting glimpse of Van Gogh's dilemmas and some of the hardships of his life. I only knew he had great paintings and cut his own ear off, so even with the book having only 60 pages I feel like I understand him much better now(although not completely, he certainly was a complex person).
I'd love to read a longer version, with the opinions of other Van Gogh scholars in addition to the letters as source.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of van Gogh's work this did give me some insights that I did not know. I was impressed with his writing abilities. He stated on many occasions that the true value of an artist's work came in later generations. He could not have been more correct with his own work

[Chi]

Good read

This is a very interesting book to read about the life of Van Gogh and his illness. Knowing more about all of the physical, mental, and financial struggles that the artist had, I appreciate his work even more now.

[Liesbeth Heenk · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR FREE on 20 JUNE 2014! Enjoy!!

This is one of my favourite books. I've had it translated into Japanese and French. A Spanish version is on its way!

[Tnjrichter · Rating 4 out of 5]

VanGogh's letters were interesting. How he describes how his life is at "the moment", I will be funding more to read on him!

[Aza · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars only because I wish it were longer! This was an easy and enjoyable read. I greatly enjoyed the author's insights and her seamless integration of Van Gogh's letters.

[Emily-Jane Orford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dutch Post-Impressionist artist, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), was a troubled soul, one that sought to identify himself through his art. Part of the lure, the attraction, the mystery and the myths that attracts people to Van Gogh’s paintings is the myths that surround him. Was he mad? Was his childhood troubled? Or did he suffer some unexplained affliction, something not understood during his lifetime? Did he cut off his ear? Or was it an accident, part of some rough-housing with his artist friend, Paul Gauguin? Did Van Gogh kill himself? Was that the ultimate tragedy that defined him for generations of artists who followed? Or was the artist hiding some facts, that perhaps some children had accidently shot him, causing his early death?

So many unanswered questions about a powerfully creative, but sadly disturbed mind. Art historian, Liesbeth Heenk, opens the door to a deeper understanding of this very troubled artist. Her book, “Van Gogh’s Inner Struggle: Life, Work and Mental Illness”, uses academic studies by other historians as well as the wealth of correspondence, particularly between the artist and his younger brother, Theo. This book outlines, not just the artist’s life, but, more significantly, the illness that plagued him and drove him to create and paint as he did. The author/ art historian has allowed the artist to speak primarily for himself through all the papers she sourced. With years of study and research behind her, including her PhD thesis on the topic of Van Gogh’s drawings, the author has altered her initial opinion on this artist, allowing, through the artist’s own words, to draw yet another conclusion into the inner workings of this creative mind. This is a very valuable and insightful work, written to instruct both the academia and the art enthusiast. Fascinating.

Reviewed for Readers' Favorite.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"Sadness will last forever."
Socially inept, Can Gogh failed in his earlier employment and it wasn't until a suggestion that he tried his hand at draughtsmanship that, supported financially by his brother, Theo, he found his calling as an artist. But throughout his life he suffered physical disability and mental instabilities including terrible nightmares, seizures, melancholy and remorse.

Using quotations from Van Gogh's own letters, author Lisbeth Heenk, a Dutch art historian, let's the artist speak for himself through them. She writes sympathetically and without artistic jargon, a!lowing his own thoughts and fears to shine through.
Denise Kahn reads clearly, matching the text in clarity and simplicity, differentiating the voice of Van Gogh from that of Ms.Keen

An excellent book, succinct but packed with information to better understand the man behind the masterpieces. My sincere thanks to the rights holder who freely gifted me a complimentary copy of Van Gogh's Inner Struggle, via FAFY, at my request.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost feel wrong being so interested in van Gogh's life, when he had so much difficulty and died so young. However, I really appreciate the opportunity to read his own words about his life and troubles. I'm glad to know that he wasn't completely unknown in his own lifetime, as I seem to remember having read in other books (mostly children's books, admittedly), and that he did have success. I had heard before that he may have had a form of epilepsy rather than only mental health issues, so the confirmation of that potential is also both good to know, but also sad. I will probably review this book again, as it's so short and chock full of good insight into his life.

[Neera Kapahi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo provide a wealth of information about his work, feelings and his life. His letters are fascinating because he was able to express himself beautifully.

The author does a good job writing about his troubled life mainly by giving us excerpts from his letters to Theo. I am a fan of Van Gogh’s work and familiar with his life. I was hoping for more insights into his life but did not find anything new.

The subject matter is interesting but the writing was choppy and the book did not flow easily.

[Nila Novotny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having recently visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, this was particularly interesting, but in the end it was exerpts from the many letters he wrote. Most were to his brother, Theo, an art dealer. Van Gogh had seizures, mental illness and problems to qualify his as "struggles". He even voluntarily entered and asylum for his mental illness. Things came to a head after a fight with a friend when he cut off his ear. The writing wasn't particularly captivating and only because I know something about Van Gogh already was it worth reading.

[Lewis Corbett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very informative and gives you a quick run-through of Van Gogh's life, work, and mental illness with extracts from a collection of his letters. I liked reading this book, Van Gogh being my favorite artist, I did find that I know quite a bit of the information already.

I would recommend this book to people who would like to understand the man behind the art.

[ANDREW TODD SHACHAT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important Book for Artists

As an Artist with serious mental illness reading Van Gogh's diary was very helpful. He talked about the terrible suffering of clinical Depression that is not uncommon in Artistic geniuses. It's a tough life to be a painter in a World that doesn't care about you. Doesn't support your work.

[Fiona Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been immersed in Van Gogh books for ages and maybe found this a little lacking in detail and choppy. I understand it is aiming to focus on a particular element of Van Gogh's life, but it didn't work as well for me as other books I have read. Still worth a read if you are a Van Gogh lover...

[Julie Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gave me some insight into the artist's thoughts as the author uses actual letters of Van Gogh.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly gifted artist!

Finally, an author who reveals the fragile man, who was so unhappy, yet made such beautiful and sensitive art. I want to read the whole series!

[DubaiReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Van Gough booklet.
This is Part 2 of a 5 part series of narratives about the life of Van Gough. This booklet is only 48 pages long, so I'm wondering why they were even separated and not published as an entire book. There is also cross referencing from this volume into others, which is meaningless if you only have the one. Only this one appears to be available as an audiobook, which is how I came across it.

I listened to this last summer, around the time that I visited the Van Gough Interactive Exhibition in Genoa. For some reason I never wrote the review at that time, so I just listened to half of it again to remind myself. Obviously I was in the right frame of mind last year as I gave it 4*, on a re-listen I found it rather dry and treatise-like, but I will stick with my original grading.

Van Gough is a fascinating character. He created artwork that has transcended the test of time, yet he only sold one painting during his life. As we are informed, he was aware of the type of art that would sell, yet he chose to go against the grain. If it weren't for the many letters he wrote at the time, we would presumably know a great deal less about this fascinating man. We think that depression and anxiety is a modern affliction, but Van Gough obviously suffered too.

This audiobook quotes many of the artist's original letters and several of the responses he received. Although I found it a bit dry, this is the most accurate source of insider information and the author is undoubtedly an expert on the subject.
The narrator, Denise Kahn, spoke clearly, in somewhat of a slow monotone, but I had no problem understanding her.

[Pedro Barrento · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Van Gogh's Inner Struggle" is a short book that gives you a very detailed view of the painter's states of mind during his life and how he viewed his own lack of success and permanent financial problems and dependence on his brother.
I find that it raises very interesting philosophical questions relating to work and success. If I spend two years promoting full time a book that doesn't sell, am I lazy and self-indulgent or hard working, proactive and full of initiative?
The book is full of these paradoxes and, to be honest, I can't make up my mind on them because even if history ended up deciding that Van Gogh was a hard working genius that was much ahead for his time, the question remains: if his paintings had never been recognised as brilliant works of art would he still have been right in spending / wastings his whole life painting them or not?
If someone has an easy answer to that I would be very thankful if they could let me know.

[Yuuki Nakashima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is a short book, it has a lot of new knowledge about Van Gogh for me. I knew famous episodes of him, and this book fleshed it out. Interstingly, the letters Van Gogh wrote show us his life in this book. I hadn't seen his stories from such an angle, so everything in it was new and intriguing for me and actually, there were some good words in his letters. They became my favorite quotes.

[Heelqueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

i won this book as one of the first read giveaways so was excited to read it.
the hand written postcard inside to me was a lovely touch.
despite this book being extremly short (only 49) pages long. i really enjoyed it. the only thing i ever knew about van gogh before was that he cut off his ear but this book really explains van gogh. the torment he went through and how he was actually sick with a mental illness. well written and really enjoyable. wish it was longer.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the first van Gogh book I'd pick up

probably better books on van Gogh. this book didn't flow very well.
I got this book as part of my monthly free Amazon prime. I would not pay for this.

[Patrick SG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brief work tells of Van Gogh's inner struggles largely through the artist's letters. It presumes a general knowledge of his work and life, but is worthwhile at exploring the inner man and the physical ailments that affected him.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. I learned so much about Vincent

Very good book. I learned so much about Vincent



well written and informative and.intense. did not.want to pause reading it. a very tortured soul.
but he produced many good.paintings.

[Selinalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's nice to read about Van Gogh's life. I appreciate that it was referenced by many of his own quotations found in his letters.