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Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers
The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers' lives. Confidant, champion, sympathizer, friend, Theo supported Vincent as he struggled to find his path in life. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions. Meticulously researched, drawing on the 658 letters Vincent wrote to Theo during his lifetime, Deborah Heiligman weaves a tale of two lives intertwined and the love of the Van Gogh brothers.
454 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2017
About the author
Deborah Heiligman
43 books157 followersDeborah Heiligman has been writing for children since she worked at Scholastic News soon after college. Since then she has written more than thirty books for children and teens. Her books include picture books, both fiction and nonfiction, and young adult nonfiction and fiction. Some titles: Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith, a National Book Award finalist; The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos, a Cook Prize Winner and Orbis Pictus honor; Intentions, a Sydney Taylor Award winner, and a picture book series about Tinka the dog. Her latest book is Vincent and Theo: The van Gogh Brothers. For more information please visit www.DeborahHeiligman.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,516 reviews
March 6, 2018
I have an issue with this work described as "meticulously researched." The author may have spent a lot of time on research, but in reality, the final result is not more than Cliff Notes of letters between Van Gogh brothers (just look at the list of citations). Because of the material Heiligman chose to use to present lives of Theo and Vincent, the finished work is an intimate but very narrow portrait of their relationship, often dull and repetitious. Years of letters seem to focus on endless discussions of finances (most often, Vincent asking for money from Theo), romantic trials with various ladies of ill repute, and health issues (including those caused by venereal deceases).
What Heiligman decided not to write about is the larger historical and cultural backdrop of Van Goghs' lives - for example, state of mental health care (after all, both brothers ended up in mental institutions at some points of their lives) or the intricacies of the art scene. The influences of these factors on lives of the brothers are mentioned only in passing and without any kind of expertise.
I was also often put off by the writing style itself. Heiligman chose the tone of sentimentality and naiveté, presenting brothers almost exclusively in a saccharine light of brotherly love.
P.S. Needed much more artwork and illustrations. It's not effective, IMO, to describe a work of art/portrait/photograph without including it in the book itself.
What Heiligman decided not to write about is the larger historical and cultural backdrop of Van Goghs' lives - for example, state of mental health care (after all, both brothers ended up in mental institutions at some points of their lives) or the intricacies of the art scene. The influences of these factors on lives of the brothers are mentioned only in passing and without any kind of expertise.
I was also often put off by the writing style itself. Heiligman chose the tone of sentimentality and naiveté, presenting brothers almost exclusively in a saccharine light of brotherly love.
P.S. Needed much more artwork and illustrations. It's not effective, IMO, to describe a work of art/portrait/photograph without including it in the book itself.
February 23, 2018
5/5stars
So, I obviously really loved this, but I'm going to tell you why literally ANYONE could love this book.
Six months ago, I wouldn't have been able to tell you who Vincent Van Gogh was. I know next to nothing about art - I lowkey thought Van Gogh was a musician I'm not even gonna lie, mostly cause I knew he got his ear chopped off at some point and I thought it had something to do with music - IDK. But, back in November a few of my friends asked if I wanted to come to a little movie theater in our town and see a movie that was only being played in a handful of theaters across the country. I said sure on a whim and went and saw "Loving Vincent" where I got my first insight into who Vincent Van Gogh was.
I had NO interest in Van Gogh - I still have very little interest in his art, mostly cause I just don't care that much for visual art in the realm of paintings and drawings and such. Why would I care about some painter that I couldn't even remember what paintings he had done? After the movie, I thought he seemed like a pretty interesting guy (and now I finally recognized him as the person who did "Starry Night" lol). Then, for no other reason than to show said friends this book, I grabbed it from the library. I honestly wasn't planning on even really reading it - then I read the first few pages and I was HOOKED.
Again, I knew nothing about Van Gogh a few months ago, and after reading this book, I feel like I know him like I know my family and my friends. Heiligman puts you right into the story of Vincent and his brother Theo and their family and their bond.
Her writing is BEAUTIFUL. I've never before read a nonfiction book with such beautiful prose, and never have I read a nonfiction book that is so easily accessible! I hate nonfiction - I've not had good luck with it in the past - but this felt just like reading a novel.
Even though I knew what the ending was, it ripped me apart.
Please just go read this book. If you want insight into a famous painter, if you want beautiful writing, if you want a heart wrenching story, you'll get all of those things in these pages.
So, I obviously really loved this, but I'm going to tell you why literally ANYONE could love this book.
Six months ago, I wouldn't have been able to tell you who Vincent Van Gogh was. I know next to nothing about art - I lowkey thought Van Gogh was a musician I'm not even gonna lie, mostly cause I knew he got his ear chopped off at some point and I thought it had something to do with music - IDK. But, back in November a few of my friends asked if I wanted to come to a little movie theater in our town and see a movie that was only being played in a handful of theaters across the country. I said sure on a whim and went and saw "Loving Vincent" where I got my first insight into who Vincent Van Gogh was.
I had NO interest in Van Gogh - I still have very little interest in his art, mostly cause I just don't care that much for visual art in the realm of paintings and drawings and such. Why would I care about some painter that I couldn't even remember what paintings he had done? After the movie, I thought he seemed like a pretty interesting guy (and now I finally recognized him as the person who did "Starry Night" lol). Then, for no other reason than to show said friends this book, I grabbed it from the library. I honestly wasn't planning on even really reading it - then I read the first few pages and I was HOOKED.
Again, I knew nothing about Van Gogh a few months ago, and after reading this book, I feel like I know him like I know my family and my friends. Heiligman puts you right into the story of Vincent and his brother Theo and their family and their bond.
Her writing is BEAUTIFUL. I've never before read a nonfiction book with such beautiful prose, and never have I read a nonfiction book that is so easily accessible! I hate nonfiction - I've not had good luck with it in the past - but this felt just like reading a novel.
Even though I knew what the ending was, it ripped me apart.
Please just go read this book. If you want insight into a famous painter, if you want beautiful writing, if you want a heart wrenching story, you'll get all of those things in these pages.
April 11, 2020
We are so lucky that we can witness the love that the Van Gogh brothers had for each other through the hundreds of beautiful letters shared between them. Although Vincent was constantly enduring his chaotic mental health, was in and out of mental institutions, and had very little to live on: he just kept painting. Theo was his livelihood, his rock, and his best friend. Not only did Theo support him financially – but he also reassured him (not too often) that his work would be recognized some day for the genius it was. Although neither of the brothers were able to witness just how prestigious their art became, they seemed to know between them, what the future held.
April 24, 2020
Una historia hermosa que se quedará por siempre en mi corazón.
La relación de los hermanos es muy bonita, sientes el vínculo y sientes su amor.
Theo siempre estuvo ahí para su hermano y este a su vez también estaba ahí.
Su diseño es hermoso y su estructura es delicada y llena de arte.
Si te gusta el trabajo de Vincent amarás este libro y su historia.
"No hubiera existido un Vincent sin Theo, ni un Theo sin Vincent"
La relación de los hermanos es muy bonita, sientes el vínculo y sientes su amor.
Theo siempre estuvo ahí para su hermano y este a su vez también estaba ahí.
Su diseño es hermoso y su estructura es delicada y llena de arte.
Si te gusta el trabajo de Vincent amarás este libro y su historia.
"No hubiera existido un Vincent sin Theo, ni un Theo sin Vincent"
September 7, 2018
I was so fascinated by the bond and relationship between these two brothers. It really shows how some of the most successful people get where they are because of the solid support system of someone else. I loved that it was Vincent’s brother Theo that was his support. It was a great read. Loving this author’s work.
My quick and simple overall: interesting read with a great brother bond.
My quick and simple overall: interesting read with a great brother bond.
February 16, 2024
“Vincent’s life was not finished when it ended, either. But it was a work of art. So was Theo’s. And their relationship was a masterpiece.”
I read that and burst into tears : )
I read that and burst into tears : )
May 18, 2017
Heiligman’s elegant biography for 14- to 18-year-olds focuses on the key relationship of Vincent van Gogh’s life: that with his younger brother, Theo. It opens in the present tense, which recurs in much of the book, and Heiligman intersperses more standard narrative chapters with short scenes that are almost like sketches. The language is highly visual throughout, inviting readers to imagine the view for themselves. The contents are arranged under headings—Threshold, Gallery One, Gallery Two, and so on—so the book functions like a museum tour. The book powerfully conveys the way mental illness clusters in families. However, there is a fair bit here that will feel familiar to those who have read about Vincent before. Yet it is beautifully written and succeeds in being much more creative than your average biography. Likely to foster a deep and abiding appreciation for art, especially in teens.
See my full review at BookBrowse. (See also my Van Gogh reading list.)
See my full review at BookBrowse. (See also my Van Gogh reading list.)
February 22, 2023
3.5
being a fan of vincent van gogh and of biographies this was an interesting book. wasn't aware of vincent's relationship with his brother
it's written for ya and it's a bit basic in writing and in narrative
being a fan of vincent van gogh and of biographies this was an interesting book. wasn't aware of vincent's relationship with his brother
it's written for ya and it's a bit basic in writing and in narrative
September 14, 2021
While this is written for teens, not knowing the story, it held my attention. Kudos to the book designers. The cover shows the hats worn in the famous portraits of the two men. Its short chapters are grouped into sections, each with a b/w Van Gogh sketch. The brothers look alike such that the Theo portrait has often been mistaken for the artist.
As a YA book, the sentences are reasonably simple but the vocabulary will send all but the spelling champions to the dictionary. The content, which would never be included in a YA book two generations back, (both brothers have STDs and visit brothels) is not so different from the innuendo you hear on network TV.
For teens in a class or a book discussion club there is a lot to observe and discuss. First, there is the striking loneliness of both young men. Their youthful; pastime is walking, later it’s the pubs. How do they know the person they are in love with since there little opportunity to talk? Are family bonds equally strong today? If they were Vincent, what would you like to ask Theo? If they were Theo, what would you like to ask Vincent? Without Theo and Jo, would we know of VanGogh today?
The sad ending is beautifully told: Vincent’s final days. Jo’s visits to Theo; Theo’s illness; The aftermath.
In the bibliography, there are books for adults on this relationship. Adults, who appreciate the simplicity, can enjoy this for the beauty of the prose and the design of the book.
As a YA book, the sentences are reasonably simple but the vocabulary will send all but the spelling champions to the dictionary. The content, which would never be included in a YA book two generations back, (both brothers have STDs and visit brothels) is not so different from the innuendo you hear on network TV.
For teens in a class or a book discussion club there is a lot to observe and discuss. First, there is the striking loneliness of both young men. Their youthful; pastime is walking, later it’s the pubs. How do they know the person they are in love with since there little opportunity to talk? Are family bonds equally strong today? If they were Vincent, what would you like to ask Theo? If they were Theo, what would you like to ask Vincent? Without Theo and Jo, would we know of VanGogh today?
The sad ending is beautifully told: Vincent’s final days. Jo’s visits to Theo; Theo’s illness; The aftermath.
In the bibliography, there are books for adults on this relationship. Adults, who appreciate the simplicity, can enjoy this for the beauty of the prose and the design of the book.
February 23, 2018
I am really shocked, but despite much anticipation, this book was a rare DNF for me. I really tried, but I just found it boring, choppy, had no flow, and not the least bit engaging.
And that really surprises me because (1) I almost never fail to finish a book, but I have so many demands on my time now that I just can't waste time on books I'm not enjoying unless I feel they are really significant for some reason, (2) I usually enjoy biographies, (3) it has been mentioned by some as a potential Newbery finalist, and most of all, (4) I'm a huge fan of Van Gogh's work! I just love his style of painting, and have reproductions of "A Starry Night" and one of the "Sunflowers" hanging in my house, and a coffee-table biography with lots of full-page photos of his work.
So given all that, I really thought I'd get into this book, but I just couldn't. There is no flow, it is broken up into a million short 3=4 page chapters, the writing is just clunky and odd, and the book has a serious identitiy crisis; the author doesn't seem to know who her intended audience is.
My library has it in the children's section, so for ages 10-14 ish, but I would never recommend it for someone of that age. I mean, this thing is almost 500 pages long! And while the Harry Potter books gradually became very long tomes, they were full of action and adventure, and highly engaging so the reader raced through them to see what happens. Not only is it long, difficult to read, and dull, there are topics within it that are not appropriate for this age range. While I certainly would not tell a 14 year old they couldn't read it, I most definitely would not suggest it or assign it.
But at the same time, it doesn't quite read as a teen or adult, book, either. Though overall it is a ponderous read, at the same time the writing comes across as a bit patronizing for an adult or older teen. I really can't figure out who this book was written for, or who would want to read it. Whatever the author's intentions, it clearly misses the mark.
Again, I'm surprised and disappointed I couldn't finish it. Admittedly, I'm under a huge time crunch and not feeling that great, so if I have a chance, I'll give it another try sometime when I'm in a different frame of mind.
I loved the cover, though :)
Edited to add: Much to my surprise, this book ended up being honored by two awards, the Printz and the YALSA Non-fiction for YA. The Printz honor is particularly shocking, because I just don't find this book engaging at all. I will have to revisit it later, when I have more time and have not been on a marathon reading binge and see if I have a different view of it then.
And that really surprises me because (1) I almost never fail to finish a book, but I have so many demands on my time now that I just can't waste time on books I'm not enjoying unless I feel they are really significant for some reason, (2) I usually enjoy biographies, (3) it has been mentioned by some as a potential Newbery finalist, and most of all, (4) I'm a huge fan of Van Gogh's work! I just love his style of painting, and have reproductions of "A Starry Night" and one of the "Sunflowers" hanging in my house, and a coffee-table biography with lots of full-page photos of his work.
So given all that, I really thought I'd get into this book, but I just couldn't. There is no flow, it is broken up into a million short 3=4 page chapters, the writing is just clunky and odd, and the book has a serious identitiy crisis; the author doesn't seem to know who her intended audience is.
My library has it in the children's section, so for ages 10-14 ish, but I would never recommend it for someone of that age. I mean, this thing is almost 500 pages long! And while the Harry Potter books gradually became very long tomes, they were full of action and adventure, and highly engaging so the reader raced through them to see what happens. Not only is it long, difficult to read, and dull, there are topics within it that are not appropriate for this age range. While I certainly would not tell a 14 year old they couldn't read it, I most definitely would not suggest it or assign it.
But at the same time, it doesn't quite read as a teen or adult, book, either. Though overall it is a ponderous read, at the same time the writing comes across as a bit patronizing for an adult or older teen. I really can't figure out who this book was written for, or who would want to read it. Whatever the author's intentions, it clearly misses the mark.
Again, I'm surprised and disappointed I couldn't finish it. Admittedly, I'm under a huge time crunch and not feeling that great, so if I have a chance, I'll give it another try sometime when I'm in a different frame of mind.
I loved the cover, though :)
Edited to add: Much to my surprise, this book ended up being honored by two awards, the Printz and the YALSA Non-fiction for YA. The Printz honor is particularly shocking, because I just don't find this book engaging at all. I will have to revisit it later, when I have more time and have not been on a marathon reading binge and see if I have a different view of it then.
March 28, 2022
An easy read packed with a lot of information about the brothers and their deep love and connection. The author made interesting choices on how to present the story, short little vignettes and sketches done as an artist’s croquis. She’s appreciative of the art and sympathetic to the pathos, but it’s not a book to look for analysis of art, technique or cultural significance. If anything, it’s an amazing portrait of a unique fraternal bond whose legacy gave the world treasures still loved and appreciated across the globe over decades, even centuries, later. We wouldn’t have Vincent if he hadn’t had Theo.
February 12, 2018
2018 Printz honor, my committee year!
December 16, 2020
This was such an incredible book.
June 24, 2022
My husband and I went to the Vincent Van Gogh immersive experience recently so this seemed like a great audiobook to pick up. It was really good. I cried a bunch.
March 28, 2022
Vincent And Theo
“Theo is the invisible glue that holds Vincent together. But Vincent also holds Theo together, even if it doesn’t always seem that way…”
This book was a phenomenal read revealing the dearly loved and beloved Van Gogh brothers packed together in an accessible and light read, with their life journeys constructed around their fiery correspondence. The book itself is presented in the present-tense, with the length of chapters perhaps emulating that of the letters to keep interest alive and thriving, even for children. The brothers were joined forever under the canvas of life, from all its mixtures of sunlight yellows, hot reds and ochres, melancholy blues, all cobbled together in their palette aided by an assortment of vast and vibrant, harmonising and contrasting, colours of character and behaviour: one could not conceivably be without the other.
While they started down somewhat within the same path, as both relished being successful art dealers in Goupil’s as well as experiencing the sting of unrequited love, their separate outlooks on life and ambitions forced their paths to diverge. The quest for Vincent to find purpose in his life, finding it in his Bible studies and later manifesting in his art, took him on the journey full of spiralling and perilous winds of change that included intensely bright and colourful moments of productivity, with equally harsh and earthy irrevocable arguments: yet he managed to transform his solitary pain and passion into paintings of excitement, ecstasy, and magnificence. His only support - and income - coming from his brother, Theo, whose mind and heart fully looked up to Vincent. Theo was every bit as important to keeping Vincent’s aspirations going, and keeping his image alive – with the help of his wife, Jo, who also saw in Vincent’s paintings – as did other artists at the latter end of his life – something incredible and special. This is shown by respect and remembrance to Vincent, as Theo’s and Jo’s apartment literally became littered with many hundreds of crates and canvases of Vincent’s paintings. To stand as tribute to his brother, and fulfil his belief in Vincent as a painter, Theo opened his apartment in Paris to exhibit to the public Vincent’s artwork; Jo took that further in the following decades, and exhibited his work to the world.
“Theo is the invisible glue that holds Vincent together. But Vincent also holds Theo together, even if it doesn’t always seem that way…”
This book was a phenomenal read revealing the dearly loved and beloved Van Gogh brothers packed together in an accessible and light read, with their life journeys constructed around their fiery correspondence. The book itself is presented in the present-tense, with the length of chapters perhaps emulating that of the letters to keep interest alive and thriving, even for children. The brothers were joined forever under the canvas of life, from all its mixtures of sunlight yellows, hot reds and ochres, melancholy blues, all cobbled together in their palette aided by an assortment of vast and vibrant, harmonising and contrasting, colours of character and behaviour: one could not conceivably be without the other.
While they started down somewhat within the same path, as both relished being successful art dealers in Goupil’s as well as experiencing the sting of unrequited love, their separate outlooks on life and ambitions forced their paths to diverge. The quest for Vincent to find purpose in his life, finding it in his Bible studies and later manifesting in his art, took him on the journey full of spiralling and perilous winds of change that included intensely bright and colourful moments of productivity, with equally harsh and earthy irrevocable arguments: yet he managed to transform his solitary pain and passion into paintings of excitement, ecstasy, and magnificence. His only support - and income - coming from his brother, Theo, whose mind and heart fully looked up to Vincent. Theo was every bit as important to keeping Vincent’s aspirations going, and keeping his image alive – with the help of his wife, Jo, who also saw in Vincent’s paintings – as did other artists at the latter end of his life – something incredible and special. This is shown by respect and remembrance to Vincent, as Theo’s and Jo’s apartment literally became littered with many hundreds of crates and canvases of Vincent’s paintings. To stand as tribute to his brother, and fulfil his belief in Vincent as a painter, Theo opened his apartment in Paris to exhibit to the public Vincent’s artwork; Jo took that further in the following decades, and exhibited his work to the world.
February 14, 2022
"He should have the satisfaction of knowing he was one of those few great men who have discharged their duty to the full, without any reward"
A few months ago I became obsessed with the life of Vincent Van Gogh and his struggle with mental illness. Luckily for me, where I live, Vangogh the Immersive Experience arrived and I became more interested in his life.
I had this book on my bookshelf for almost 2 years and decided that now was the time to grab this book along with a box of kleenex.
The book collects hundreds of letters between Vincent and his brother Theo. I loved the bond that the two brothers had and how much they admired each other, it made me cry most of the book.
Overall, Vincent and Theo is a good introduction for young and old readers who want to learn about Van Gogh's tragic life.
5 stars
A few months ago I became obsessed with the life of Vincent Van Gogh and his struggle with mental illness. Luckily for me, where I live, Vangogh the Immersive Experience arrived and I became more interested in his life.
I had this book on my bookshelf for almost 2 years and decided that now was the time to grab this book along with a box of kleenex.
The book collects hundreds of letters between Vincent and his brother Theo. I loved the bond that the two brothers had and how much they admired each other, it made me cry most of the book.
Overall, Vincent and Theo is a good introduction for young and old readers who want to learn about Van Gogh's tragic life.
5 stars
December 3, 2019
I spent part of the Thankfully Reading Weekend immersed in the lives of the Van Gogh brothers, Vincent and Theo. The two were much alike; they also had many differences. This book provides an ideal venue for doing a compare/contrast with the two.
Both brothers suffered greatly from poor health and both were dead before forty. Both were part of the art world, Vincent as an artist and Theo as an art seller. Neither had much success with women; both fell in love many times but their love was not reciprocated. Vincent was the more social, but he also, paradoxically, was the one who was more difficult to get along with.
It was a sad story, of course, but I'm terribly glad I read it.
Both brothers suffered greatly from poor health and both were dead before forty. Both were part of the art world, Vincent as an artist and Theo as an art seller. Neither had much success with women; both fell in love many times but their love was not reciprocated. Vincent was the more social, but he also, paradoxically, was the one who was more difficult to get along with.
It was a sad story, of course, but I'm terribly glad I read it.
July 26, 2017
A magnificent work, an engrossing read.
My review can be found here, on my blog: http://bookgargoyle.blogspot.com/2017....
My review can be found here, on my blog: http://bookgargoyle.blogspot.com/2017....
April 8, 2021
Io e Chandler una cosa sola. 
April 28, 2024
Vincent Van Gogh is my all time favorite artist so I will read anything I can about him.
After just finishing a prior book about mental illness this just made me so much sadder that in the time Vincent lived mental illness was not better understood… not to say we don’t still have a long way to go in today’s world but at least its a bit better.
This was a YA book and I felt it covered all the important parts of Vincent and Theo’s relationship.
After just finishing a prior book about mental illness this just made me so much sadder that in the time Vincent lived mental illness was not better understood… not to say we don’t still have a long way to go in today’s world but at least its a bit better.
This was a YA book and I felt it covered all the important parts of Vincent and Theo’s relationship.
November 20, 2020
Vincent and Theo is aimed for young readers, but I find it readable too. This book is a double biography. Each brother takes up half of the book. The author focuses on the unshakable bond between them. The writing is simple and effective.
"There is only so much you can do to save a loved one from harm." So true. Mental illness runs in Van Gogh's family. Theo was prone to depression. Two other Van Gogh siblings were succumbed to mental illness too. Vincent likely had bipolar disorder, his health worsened by years of self-neglect. A popular view is that Van Gogh's creativity was somehow helped by his unstable mind. However, I believe he made his art despite of his illness, not because of it.
Life is unfair. Vincent Van Gogh nearly made it. If he (and Theo) lived for a few more years, he would have had tasted the sweet fruit of success.
A small historical detail: in 1889, Theo and Johanna married not in a church, but in the Amsterdam town hall. This is because Theo had lost all religious feelings so he thought it hypocritical to be married in a church.
"There is only so much you can do to save a loved one from harm." So true. Mental illness runs in Van Gogh's family. Theo was prone to depression. Two other Van Gogh siblings were succumbed to mental illness too. Vincent likely had bipolar disorder, his health worsened by years of self-neglect. A popular view is that Van Gogh's creativity was somehow helped by his unstable mind. However, I believe he made his art despite of his illness, not because of it.
Life is unfair. Vincent Van Gogh nearly made it. If he (and Theo) lived for a few more years, he would have had tasted the sweet fruit of success.
A small historical detail: in 1889, Theo and Johanna married not in a church, but in the Amsterdam town hall. This is because Theo had lost all religious feelings so he thought it hypocritical to be married in a church.
June 9, 2021
Brilliant, honest, and gracious. I appreciate how, with a story so tragic, Heiligman focuses instead on the love and intimacy of the Van Gogh brothers' relationship. It's a wonderful family portrait that would be interesting even without the eccentricities of Vincent Van Gogh. Through the frame of their written correspondence we see them so clearly and uniquely, without compromising for any guesswork. Truly great.
January 10, 2023
Renací
June 7, 2020
The first time I saw Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers in a bookstore, I knew it was a story that young readers needed. Deborah Heiligman made a name for herself eight years earlier with Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith, an in-depth treatise on how Charles and Emma Darwin's relationship affected his science theories. Ms. Heiligman would bring those same powers of insight to the sibling relationship of Vincent and Theo van Gogh, a tempestuous bond between two opinionated artistic minds. We know Vincent as an artiste plagued by existential claustrophobia and mental illness, darkness consuming him as he illuminated our fallen world through paintings like none seen before or since, but rarely is the most important person in his life discussed: his brother Theo. Patron, friend, and rescuer from the roiling ocean of Vincent's stormy emotions, Theo helped define Vincent even when they lived in separate countries, corresponding on an almost daily basis as siblings who recognized their dependence on each other to endure the trials of life. Though their connection was tested to the breaking point, it survived. Could Deborah Heiligman have written her biography about only Vincent, the brother renowned for his art? Not if she wanted to preserve his true story. Without Theo, there would not have been the Vincent known to history.
Vincent van Gogh is not the first of that name. There's Uncle Cent and others in the family lineage, but Vincent also had an older brother named Vincent who died at birth and was buried near the Van Gogh home in Zundert in the Netherlands. Our Vincent is the second try for Theodorus (Dorus) and Anna at having a child, but they would wonder what might have been if the first boy had survived instead. The second Vincent is followed by several healthy siblings; first a brother, Theo, and the two are close from early on. Pa works as a pastor and sends Vincent to boarding school when he comes of age. Ma loves art, teaching her children to draw from when they're young. There are few stories indicating special ability in Vincent at this age. The one time his drawings attract praise, he destroys them, foreshadowing his mercurial temper later in life. When Vincent is nineteen and Theo fifteen, they go on a long walk to the polder windmill at Rijswijk and discuss their futures, striking a pledge that they'll remain as close as they are today, sacrificing everything for each other if necessary. It's a watershed moment, a day when Vincent and Theo see the world with optimism and clarity, and they both prove willing to hold themselves to the pledge even when everything goes wrong between them.
"It is better to be fervent in spirit, even if one accordingly makes more mistakes, than narrow-minded and overly cautious."
—Vincent, Vincent and Theo, P. 30
Normal life doesn't come naturally to Vincent. Getting hired for a steady job and performing it to the boss's satisfaction are skills that elude him, even as Theo embarks on a career as an art dealer. Vincent dabbles in preaching, following his father's example as a Christian leader, but he's not suited to speak on the Bible all his life. Vincent's passions usually burn out after a short time, and his zeal for theology doesn't last. His family grows nervous as Vincent enters his mid-twenties with no professional success. He's quick to anger, habitually irresponsible, and his lifestyle choices hurt him physically and emotionally. Vincent leaves home and returns, leaves and returns, adopting a bohemian lifestyle while on his own and then feuding with his parents and siblings about it. Even Theo insists it's time to get a job and support himself. As Vincent moves into his late twenties, Pa still bankrolls him, but Theo takes up the burden with the money he earns as he moves up in the art world. At this point, the only Van Gogh brother respected in art society is Theo.
"How do you balance your feelings with the way you look to society? And what if the honorable thing actually would look bad to others? Would it be better to act in a way that goes against your conscience but is better for your appearance?"
—Vincent and Theo, P. 179
Life is perpetual drama for Vincent and everyone pulled into his orbit. He falls in love with women who reciprocate and others who have no interest, and Theo experiences the same array of hit or miss relationships. Vincent's family regards him as a misfit, but they don't want him hanging around women of ill repute, so they sabotage more than one relationship Vincent has high hopes for. Vincent uses his spare time developing his drawing skills and learning to paint. Maybe this could be his career path; does Theo believe he has talent? Their correspondence begins, letters sent back and forth daily, sometimes two or three per day. Theo includes money for Vincent to purchase art supplies so he doesn't have to ask their father, and Vincent hones his talent. But Theo isn't impressed by the work his brother sends for evaluation. Vincent uses the dark, gloomy palette of the old Dutch masters, whereas Theo is interested in the modern trend of vibrant color coming out of Paris. Could Vincent change his perspective on color? He can, he promises, but everything he sends Theo is as dull as before. He's not grasping his brother's critique.
Vincent and Theo quarrel often through their letters. Theo wavers between believing his brother can be a great artist and pressuring him to pursue a real job. Vincent, susceptible to frightening bouts of depression, doesn't take care of himself properly. His health deteriorates as he frets over the future. What if Pa disowns him, or Theo has enough of their disputes and starts ignoring Vincent as his own reputation in the art world expands? What if Vincent is swallowed by his own dark passions or the disappointment when he's rebuffed by a woman he loves? What if he pours his soul into his art and it's dismissed as amateurish? Vincent's eccentricities become more pronounced and troubling. A fevered argument with his housemate, famous artist Paul Gauguin, ends with Vincent slicing off his own left ear and wrapping it up as a gruesome gift for a prostitute named Rachel he's frequented in the past. Vincent almost dies from blood loss, but Theo won't lose him just yet.
"But precisely because love is so strong, we are, especially in our youth...usually not strong enough to maintain a straight course."
—Vincent, P. 55
It takes years for Vincent to absorb Theo's constructive criticism of his art and use brighter colors. Vincent wasn't born a master, perfect brushstrokes showing up on canvas with as little effort as if he'd thought them into existence. He works hard to develop perspective and learn to render humans so their emotions are evident at a glance and express deep truth to the viewer. It requires visits to prestigious art galleries with Theo for Vincent to see what his brother is saying about color. When Vincent learns to be a colorist, he flies past his contemporaries as one of the best on the scene. His paintings draw interest at galleries for the first time, and Theo is able to justify displaying his brother's work in art shows alongside the cream of the Impressionism crop. Theo's faith in Vincent is finally bolstered by results; maybe the money he's poured into his whimsical brother's ventures won't be wasted after all.
Theo's personal life has never held more promise. He courted Johanna (Jo) Bonger some time ago, and it didn't end well. Jo had been surprised when Theo declared his love after they were acquainted only a short time; how could he expect her to return such feelings? Jo consented to a correspondence friendship suggested by Theo, and his idea worked. Jo reenters Theo's life and admits she's grown to love him, and they decide to marry. Vincent is pleased and wants to meet Jo, but his mood blackens as he tries to create meaningful art on his own. Vincent is in his mid-thirties, and years of not taking care of his body have aggravated his depression. Slicing off his ear was a sign of serious psychological disturbance, but more are to come. As Theo settles down with Jo, Vincent attempts suicide by eating his paints. He's placed in a mental institution, where he's still free to paint, and here he creates some of his enduring masterpieces. Surrounded by madness and uncertainty, with reason to doubt he'll see age forty, Vincent captures the sacred human experience on his canvas. Within these walls he paints perhaps his greatest piece, The Starry Night, a swirling night landscape so swollen with feeling that one who views it in person can hardly help but weep tears of raw emotion. Vincent van Gogh, the artist, is in full bloom.
"(D)ying is hard, but living is harder still."
—Vincent, P. 385
Vincent's life isn't a storybook where a happy ending can be crafted. Madness ravages him even as his brother flourishes. Theo and his wife have a son, and name him Vincent. The distressed artist visits the family and immediately loves Jo and her baby, but it's not enough to clear the stormy skies inside his mind. Vincent survives breakdown after breakdown, checking out of the mental hospital and having to return, but he's dodging bullets, and that can only go on for so long. Eventually an apparent suicide attempt does more harm than the doctors can repair, and beautiful Vincent exits our world that never appreciated his art or the man behind it. Shellshocked by the loss, Theo tries to reconnect with Vincent by championing his paintings to a public that is waking up to their brilliance, but it's too late for Vincent to be warmed by the affirmation. Years of drama, trauma, anxiety, and syphilis have taken their toll on Theo, whose ending is perhaps more bitter than Vincent's. An artistic legacy that enriches the world is no guarantee the artist won't end his days in unrelenting madness.
Have you ever had a moment when all seemed clear: the purpose of your life, what you want from the future, your relationships with people who mean the most to you? Maybe you stay sane through the hard times by recalling that moment when you didn't feel lost and overwhelmed by life, and trying to regain a portion of the feeling. Vincent's moment is his walk with Theo to the windmill at Rijswijk, when their relationship felt invincible, the future a bonanza waiting to be taken. Vincent references that day again and again in his letters to Theo. He reminds his brother of the solemn pledge they made to each other. He even tries to recreate the moment once or twice, beseeching Theo to go on a walk with him and reenter the frame of mind he was in that blissful day, but the present can never be made perfectly identical to a snapshot of the past. Rijswijk creeps into Vincent's art in nostalgic images that show what the day meant to him. Even if you're not an artist, you can appreciate this by thinking of your own Rijswijk moment, when life seemed exactly what you wanted it to be. You wished you could hit a pause button and stay there the rest of your life, a glorious procession of halcyon days brimming with contentment. Much of an artist's task is distilling those beautiful moments on canvas, moving us not through form or technique, but by getting us to feel the truth of the scene. That's what Deborah Heiligman has done in this book, unlocking the defining moments of Vincent's life so we feel why he was a transcendent artist.
Financial aid from family kept Vincent afloat all his life, but he had an independent streak that emerged from time to time, such as on one occasion when he came home from boarding school for a visit. A neighbor met him at the train station to walk home with him. When he offered to carry Vincent's things, Vincent replied, "Everyone must carry his own parcel." A pithy statement of individual responsibility, even if it hardly typified Vincent's life. All artists are made up of conflicting thoughts, feelings, and actions. We get only a glimpse of Vincent in his early twenties, as he enters the workforce. He's employed by an art dealer, but he's not happy or thriving on the job, and his family worries. His sister Anna comes to stay with him for a visit, but she has difficulty getting along with Vincent and always would. According to her, he "has illusions about people and judges people before he knows them, and then when he finds out what they're really like and they don't live up to the opinion he formed of them prematurely, he's so disappointed that he throws them away like a bouquet of wilted flowers." Many (if not all) of us have this problem, romanticizing someone into more than a human could be and reacting with disillusionment when they don't rise to our impossible standard. Better to love a person for everything they are, the annoying along with the sublime, than to lionize one or two aspects of their personality and ignore the rest. Is this not the way Theo loves Vincent, with no illusions? It's a lesson every artist must learn if they're to see the world they wish to portray as it is, problems and all.
Prodigy isn't the word for Vincent. He learns painstakingly, and gets into fights over criticism of his art. His friendship with painter Anthon van Rappard is broken permanently when Van Rappard scorns Vincent's The Potato Eaters, one of his first paintings to meet with approval by other artists. Vincent senses that his art is starting to express what he wants it to, so he doesn't internalize Van Rappard's negativity. "I'm too absolutely and utterly convinced that I am, after all, on the right path—when I want to paint what I feel and feel what I paint—to worry too much about what people say of me." When what you create fills your inner needs, you shouldn't stew over negative comments. No one knows better than you what you're trying to accomplish through your art. Vincent knows he isn't yet skilled enough to achieve his ambitions, but attempting to do so is the only way to get there. As he puts it, "I keep on making what I can't do yet in order to learn to be able to do it." It took years of labor before Vincent made Starry Night.
One of the great tributes to Vincent's art is Don McLean's 1971 song "Vincent", which Deborah Heiligman acknowledges as a source of inspiration. The song tells of an artist too brilliant for the world to understand until he's gone, and several quotes in Vincent and Theo reflect the song's emotion. When Theo starts corresponding with Jo, he warns her what a big part Vincent plays in his life. He's sad at his brother's lack of success. Theo writes that "everyone, without exception, people who are considered pious, those he himself loved dearly, even his father & mother, condemned him for his disregard of more temporal matters & his refusal to yield to society as it is, be it at the expense of what was best in him". As Don McLean sang, "But I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you." Only an artistic soul could paint the world like Vincent, and how could such a soul aspire to a dead-end job to feed himself to continue working for money that will only keep the cycle going? An artist can't be separated from their temperament; it's wrong to love the beauty of their work but despise the fact that the artist thinks differently than others. Who would Vincent have been without his non-conforming mind?
Theo continues telling Jo about Vincent later. He "had for so long been preoccupied with things our society today has made impossible to solve & which he, with his kind heart & tremendous energy, nevertheless fought against. His efforts have not been in vain, but he may never be able to witness their fruits, for it will be too late by the time people understand what he was expressing in his paintings." Theo's words are again reflected in Don McLean's: "They did not listen, they did not know how. Perhaps they'll listen now." How hard it is to comprehend an artist in their own time, speaking to things we encounter daily but don't ponder in the same way as a genius like Vincent. From Don McLean: "Now I understand what you tried to say to me, and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free..." It must have been excruciating to live as Vincent, with a gift to impart to the world and unquenchable passion to do so even when they showed no interest. How difficult to be chained in the dungeon of your own untreated depression away from life and love, only able to escape to the surface and soak in their light for brief moments before melancholy recaptures you. We see the profundity of Vincent's suffering just before he dies, in his final words to his brother: "(T)he sadness will last forever." Again, Don McLean: "And when no hope was left in sight on that starry, starry night, you took your life as lovers often do." After thirty-seven painful years of life, the flame of Vincent's incomparable lust for life had gone out. Only his art was left, an immutable extension of his soul. What is Vincent trying to say to you today?
In a departure from most biographies, Deborah Heiligman relates Vincent and Theo's story in the present tense. What better way to insert us into their lives than letting us feel as though the drama is happening this very minute, that Vincent is struggling to hold on to his sanity and make meaning of life as we're reading the words of the book? Vincent's existence was messy from start to finish. He didn't mind using crude, cheap paint; it reflected the unrefined nature of life, and he considered everything he created a work in progress. The same was true of his friendship with Theo, as Ms. Heiligman writes in the concluding phrases of this book. "Vincent's life was not finished when it ended, either. But it was a work of art. So was Theo's. And their relationship was a masterpiece." Vincent and Theo is first-rate biography, and I give it three and a half stars. If ever you've felt lost in the crowd among people whose thinking isn't compatible with yours and who look down on you for it, you'll identify with Vincent. There's something for everyone to take from this biography.
Vincent van Gogh is not the first of that name. There's Uncle Cent and others in the family lineage, but Vincent also had an older brother named Vincent who died at birth and was buried near the Van Gogh home in Zundert in the Netherlands. Our Vincent is the second try for Theodorus (Dorus) and Anna at having a child, but they would wonder what might have been if the first boy had survived instead. The second Vincent is followed by several healthy siblings; first a brother, Theo, and the two are close from early on. Pa works as a pastor and sends Vincent to boarding school when he comes of age. Ma loves art, teaching her children to draw from when they're young. There are few stories indicating special ability in Vincent at this age. The one time his drawings attract praise, he destroys them, foreshadowing his mercurial temper later in life. When Vincent is nineteen and Theo fifteen, they go on a long walk to the polder windmill at Rijswijk and discuss their futures, striking a pledge that they'll remain as close as they are today, sacrificing everything for each other if necessary. It's a watershed moment, a day when Vincent and Theo see the world with optimism and clarity, and they both prove willing to hold themselves to the pledge even when everything goes wrong between them.
"It is better to be fervent in spirit, even if one accordingly makes more mistakes, than narrow-minded and overly cautious."
—Vincent, Vincent and Theo, P. 30
Normal life doesn't come naturally to Vincent. Getting hired for a steady job and performing it to the boss's satisfaction are skills that elude him, even as Theo embarks on a career as an art dealer. Vincent dabbles in preaching, following his father's example as a Christian leader, but he's not suited to speak on the Bible all his life. Vincent's passions usually burn out after a short time, and his zeal for theology doesn't last. His family grows nervous as Vincent enters his mid-twenties with no professional success. He's quick to anger, habitually irresponsible, and his lifestyle choices hurt him physically and emotionally. Vincent leaves home and returns, leaves and returns, adopting a bohemian lifestyle while on his own and then feuding with his parents and siblings about it. Even Theo insists it's time to get a job and support himself. As Vincent moves into his late twenties, Pa still bankrolls him, but Theo takes up the burden with the money he earns as he moves up in the art world. At this point, the only Van Gogh brother respected in art society is Theo.
"How do you balance your feelings with the way you look to society? And what if the honorable thing actually would look bad to others? Would it be better to act in a way that goes against your conscience but is better for your appearance?"
—Vincent and Theo, P. 179
Life is perpetual drama for Vincent and everyone pulled into his orbit. He falls in love with women who reciprocate and others who have no interest, and Theo experiences the same array of hit or miss relationships. Vincent's family regards him as a misfit, but they don't want him hanging around women of ill repute, so they sabotage more than one relationship Vincent has high hopes for. Vincent uses his spare time developing his drawing skills and learning to paint. Maybe this could be his career path; does Theo believe he has talent? Their correspondence begins, letters sent back and forth daily, sometimes two or three per day. Theo includes money for Vincent to purchase art supplies so he doesn't have to ask their father, and Vincent hones his talent. But Theo isn't impressed by the work his brother sends for evaluation. Vincent uses the dark, gloomy palette of the old Dutch masters, whereas Theo is interested in the modern trend of vibrant color coming out of Paris. Could Vincent change his perspective on color? He can, he promises, but everything he sends Theo is as dull as before. He's not grasping his brother's critique.
Vincent and Theo quarrel often through their letters. Theo wavers between believing his brother can be a great artist and pressuring him to pursue a real job. Vincent, susceptible to frightening bouts of depression, doesn't take care of himself properly. His health deteriorates as he frets over the future. What if Pa disowns him, or Theo has enough of their disputes and starts ignoring Vincent as his own reputation in the art world expands? What if Vincent is swallowed by his own dark passions or the disappointment when he's rebuffed by a woman he loves? What if he pours his soul into his art and it's dismissed as amateurish? Vincent's eccentricities become more pronounced and troubling. A fevered argument with his housemate, famous artist Paul Gauguin, ends with Vincent slicing off his own left ear and wrapping it up as a gruesome gift for a prostitute named Rachel he's frequented in the past. Vincent almost dies from blood loss, but Theo won't lose him just yet.
"But precisely because love is so strong, we are, especially in our youth...usually not strong enough to maintain a straight course."
—Vincent, P. 55
It takes years for Vincent to absorb Theo's constructive criticism of his art and use brighter colors. Vincent wasn't born a master, perfect brushstrokes showing up on canvas with as little effort as if he'd thought them into existence. He works hard to develop perspective and learn to render humans so their emotions are evident at a glance and express deep truth to the viewer. It requires visits to prestigious art galleries with Theo for Vincent to see what his brother is saying about color. When Vincent learns to be a colorist, he flies past his contemporaries as one of the best on the scene. His paintings draw interest at galleries for the first time, and Theo is able to justify displaying his brother's work in art shows alongside the cream of the Impressionism crop. Theo's faith in Vincent is finally bolstered by results; maybe the money he's poured into his whimsical brother's ventures won't be wasted after all.
Theo's personal life has never held more promise. He courted Johanna (Jo) Bonger some time ago, and it didn't end well. Jo had been surprised when Theo declared his love after they were acquainted only a short time; how could he expect her to return such feelings? Jo consented to a correspondence friendship suggested by Theo, and his idea worked. Jo reenters Theo's life and admits she's grown to love him, and they decide to marry. Vincent is pleased and wants to meet Jo, but his mood blackens as he tries to create meaningful art on his own. Vincent is in his mid-thirties, and years of not taking care of his body have aggravated his depression. Slicing off his ear was a sign of serious psychological disturbance, but more are to come. As Theo settles down with Jo, Vincent attempts suicide by eating his paints. He's placed in a mental institution, where he's still free to paint, and here he creates some of his enduring masterpieces. Surrounded by madness and uncertainty, with reason to doubt he'll see age forty, Vincent captures the sacred human experience on his canvas. Within these walls he paints perhaps his greatest piece, The Starry Night, a swirling night landscape so swollen with feeling that one who views it in person can hardly help but weep tears of raw emotion. Vincent van Gogh, the artist, is in full bloom.
"(D)ying is hard, but living is harder still."
—Vincent, P. 385
Vincent's life isn't a storybook where a happy ending can be crafted. Madness ravages him even as his brother flourishes. Theo and his wife have a son, and name him Vincent. The distressed artist visits the family and immediately loves Jo and her baby, but it's not enough to clear the stormy skies inside his mind. Vincent survives breakdown after breakdown, checking out of the mental hospital and having to return, but he's dodging bullets, and that can only go on for so long. Eventually an apparent suicide attempt does more harm than the doctors can repair, and beautiful Vincent exits our world that never appreciated his art or the man behind it. Shellshocked by the loss, Theo tries to reconnect with Vincent by championing his paintings to a public that is waking up to their brilliance, but it's too late for Vincent to be warmed by the affirmation. Years of drama, trauma, anxiety, and syphilis have taken their toll on Theo, whose ending is perhaps more bitter than Vincent's. An artistic legacy that enriches the world is no guarantee the artist won't end his days in unrelenting madness.
Have you ever had a moment when all seemed clear: the purpose of your life, what you want from the future, your relationships with people who mean the most to you? Maybe you stay sane through the hard times by recalling that moment when you didn't feel lost and overwhelmed by life, and trying to regain a portion of the feeling. Vincent's moment is his walk with Theo to the windmill at Rijswijk, when their relationship felt invincible, the future a bonanza waiting to be taken. Vincent references that day again and again in his letters to Theo. He reminds his brother of the solemn pledge they made to each other. He even tries to recreate the moment once or twice, beseeching Theo to go on a walk with him and reenter the frame of mind he was in that blissful day, but the present can never be made perfectly identical to a snapshot of the past. Rijswijk creeps into Vincent's art in nostalgic images that show what the day meant to him. Even if you're not an artist, you can appreciate this by thinking of your own Rijswijk moment, when life seemed exactly what you wanted it to be. You wished you could hit a pause button and stay there the rest of your life, a glorious procession of halcyon days brimming with contentment. Much of an artist's task is distilling those beautiful moments on canvas, moving us not through form or technique, but by getting us to feel the truth of the scene. That's what Deborah Heiligman has done in this book, unlocking the defining moments of Vincent's life so we feel why he was a transcendent artist.
Financial aid from family kept Vincent afloat all his life, but he had an independent streak that emerged from time to time, such as on one occasion when he came home from boarding school for a visit. A neighbor met him at the train station to walk home with him. When he offered to carry Vincent's things, Vincent replied, "Everyone must carry his own parcel." A pithy statement of individual responsibility, even if it hardly typified Vincent's life. All artists are made up of conflicting thoughts, feelings, and actions. We get only a glimpse of Vincent in his early twenties, as he enters the workforce. He's employed by an art dealer, but he's not happy or thriving on the job, and his family worries. His sister Anna comes to stay with him for a visit, but she has difficulty getting along with Vincent and always would. According to her, he "has illusions about people and judges people before he knows them, and then when he finds out what they're really like and they don't live up to the opinion he formed of them prematurely, he's so disappointed that he throws them away like a bouquet of wilted flowers." Many (if not all) of us have this problem, romanticizing someone into more than a human could be and reacting with disillusionment when they don't rise to our impossible standard. Better to love a person for everything they are, the annoying along with the sublime, than to lionize one or two aspects of their personality and ignore the rest. Is this not the way Theo loves Vincent, with no illusions? It's a lesson every artist must learn if they're to see the world they wish to portray as it is, problems and all.
Prodigy isn't the word for Vincent. He learns painstakingly, and gets into fights over criticism of his art. His friendship with painter Anthon van Rappard is broken permanently when Van Rappard scorns Vincent's The Potato Eaters, one of his first paintings to meet with approval by other artists. Vincent senses that his art is starting to express what he wants it to, so he doesn't internalize Van Rappard's negativity. "I'm too absolutely and utterly convinced that I am, after all, on the right path—when I want to paint what I feel and feel what I paint—to worry too much about what people say of me." When what you create fills your inner needs, you shouldn't stew over negative comments. No one knows better than you what you're trying to accomplish through your art. Vincent knows he isn't yet skilled enough to achieve his ambitions, but attempting to do so is the only way to get there. As he puts it, "I keep on making what I can't do yet in order to learn to be able to do it." It took years of labor before Vincent made Starry Night.
One of the great tributes to Vincent's art is Don McLean's 1971 song "Vincent", which Deborah Heiligman acknowledges as a source of inspiration. The song tells of an artist too brilliant for the world to understand until he's gone, and several quotes in Vincent and Theo reflect the song's emotion. When Theo starts corresponding with Jo, he warns her what a big part Vincent plays in his life. He's sad at his brother's lack of success. Theo writes that "everyone, without exception, people who are considered pious, those he himself loved dearly, even his father & mother, condemned him for his disregard of more temporal matters & his refusal to yield to society as it is, be it at the expense of what was best in him". As Don McLean sang, "But I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you." Only an artistic soul could paint the world like Vincent, and how could such a soul aspire to a dead-end job to feed himself to continue working for money that will only keep the cycle going? An artist can't be separated from their temperament; it's wrong to love the beauty of their work but despise the fact that the artist thinks differently than others. Who would Vincent have been without his non-conforming mind?
Theo continues telling Jo about Vincent later. He "had for so long been preoccupied with things our society today has made impossible to solve & which he, with his kind heart & tremendous energy, nevertheless fought against. His efforts have not been in vain, but he may never be able to witness their fruits, for it will be too late by the time people understand what he was expressing in his paintings." Theo's words are again reflected in Don McLean's: "They did not listen, they did not know how. Perhaps they'll listen now." How hard it is to comprehend an artist in their own time, speaking to things we encounter daily but don't ponder in the same way as a genius like Vincent. From Don McLean: "Now I understand what you tried to say to me, and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free..." It must have been excruciating to live as Vincent, with a gift to impart to the world and unquenchable passion to do so even when they showed no interest. How difficult to be chained in the dungeon of your own untreated depression away from life and love, only able to escape to the surface and soak in their light for brief moments before melancholy recaptures you. We see the profundity of Vincent's suffering just before he dies, in his final words to his brother: "(T)he sadness will last forever." Again, Don McLean: "And when no hope was left in sight on that starry, starry night, you took your life as lovers often do." After thirty-seven painful years of life, the flame of Vincent's incomparable lust for life had gone out. Only his art was left, an immutable extension of his soul. What is Vincent trying to say to you today?
In a departure from most biographies, Deborah Heiligman relates Vincent and Theo's story in the present tense. What better way to insert us into their lives than letting us feel as though the drama is happening this very minute, that Vincent is struggling to hold on to his sanity and make meaning of life as we're reading the words of the book? Vincent's existence was messy from start to finish. He didn't mind using crude, cheap paint; it reflected the unrefined nature of life, and he considered everything he created a work in progress. The same was true of his friendship with Theo, as Ms. Heiligman writes in the concluding phrases of this book. "Vincent's life was not finished when it ended, either. But it was a work of art. So was Theo's. And their relationship was a masterpiece." Vincent and Theo is first-rate biography, and I give it three and a half stars. If ever you've felt lost in the crowd among people whose thinking isn't compatible with yours and who look down on you for it, you'll identify with Vincent. There's something for everyone to take from this biography.
January 25, 2022
The Newbery reading begins with this nonfiction work. At least - I found this via a Newbery blog, but I can't imagine this will actually garner serious Newbery discussion. It centers too much on prostitutes and syphilis. Also, it's too long - and too simply written (obvious prose! present tense!) - and it's too speculative - and the author takes one of those shortcuts in discussing one of Vincent's more prolific periods, where the names of the paintings swirl across two pages in arced text. If you're going to write (and you are, if you're producing a doorstopper nonfiction work), then you can figure out a way to incorporate these works of art into the written narrative, can't you?
The writing tells, over and over. It doesn't show. It reiterates a loving brotherly relationship; Heilingman lays that on pretty thickly, but I didn't get a good sense of it until the end of the book. The aspect that sticks most is the financial aspect, and that reads as begrudging. Really, the loving brotherly relationship is strained most of the time, and they seem to have led miserable lives, which this books details excruciatingly.
Also, the treatment of mental illness feels too matter of fact: out of place and not of its time. There's a lack of stigma that doesn't feel true. I'd like it to be true - I think all modern readers would - but I don't trust that it could be true, that the telling isn't tainted by contemporary wishful thinking.
My main reaction to this book is that I did not need to read 400+ pages on Vincent van Gogh.
The best part is Vincent's almost naive response to his new critical acclaim:
The writing tells, over and over. It doesn't show. It reiterates a loving brotherly relationship; Heilingman lays that on pretty thickly, but I didn't get a good sense of it until the end of the book. The aspect that sticks most is the financial aspect, and that reads as begrudging. Really, the loving brotherly relationship is strained most of the time, and they seem to have led miserable lives, which this books details excruciatingly.
Also, the treatment of mental illness feels too matter of fact: out of place and not of its time. There's a lack of stigma that doesn't feel true. I'd like it to be true - I think all modern readers would - but I don't trust that it could be true, that the telling isn't tainted by contemporary wishful thinking.
My main reaction to this book is that I did not need to read 400+ pages on Vincent van Gogh.
The best part is Vincent's almost naive response to his new critical acclaim:
He writes to Aurier, sending Theo the letter first to read and pass on to the critic. "Thank you very much," he writes. The article surprised him, and he thinks of it "very much as a work of art in itself, I feel that you create colours with your words; anyway I rediscover my canvases in your article, but better than they really are - richer, more significant."And then he sends the critic a painting. The modern implications make me laugh.
September 30, 2019
Que belleza caray.
Vincent Van Gogh ha sido mi pintor favorito por ya bastantes años y desde que se anuncio este libro lo he tenido en mi radar. Es una biografía que, obviamente, cuenta la vida del pintor pero más que nada trae más relevancia a la relación que tenía con su hermano, Theo, y lo mucho que vivieron y compartieron hasta el día de sus muertes, y fue una pinche belleza.
Este libro me enseñó demasiado, y aprendí muchísimo acerca de el trabajo y vida de Vincent. Sabía uno que otro dato pero este libro trajo a la luz muchos elementos que no conocía pero son bastante intrigantes y necesarios para conocer lo más posible a Van Gogh.
La última frase del libro me parece algo necesario de recordar siempre, además de estar extremadamente bien escrita. Dice: "Johanna no podría haber tenido a Theo sin Vincent. Vincent no podría haber sido Vincent sin Theo. Y el mundo no hubiera tenido a Vincent si no fuera por Jo." y me parece sumamente importante que se hace hincapié y se resalta la importancia de Jo en la historia de Vincent porque, literal, si no hubiera sido por ella, no conoceríamos la obra de este pintor.
Definitivamente es uno de mis libros favoritos del año y de siempre, y se los recomiendo altamente si quieren conocer más del autor. Sí, esta biografía es un poco "nivel de superficie" pero es un punto excelente para iniciar.
Vincent Van Gogh ha sido mi pintor favorito por ya bastantes años y desde que se anuncio este libro lo he tenido en mi radar. Es una biografía que, obviamente, cuenta la vida del pintor pero más que nada trae más relevancia a la relación que tenía con su hermano, Theo, y lo mucho que vivieron y compartieron hasta el día de sus muertes, y fue una pinche belleza.
Este libro me enseñó demasiado, y aprendí muchísimo acerca de el trabajo y vida de Vincent. Sabía uno que otro dato pero este libro trajo a la luz muchos elementos que no conocía pero son bastante intrigantes y necesarios para conocer lo más posible a Van Gogh.
La última frase del libro me parece algo necesario de recordar siempre, además de estar extremadamente bien escrita. Dice: "Johanna no podría haber tenido a Theo sin Vincent. Vincent no podría haber sido Vincent sin Theo. Y el mundo no hubiera tenido a Vincent si no fuera por Jo." y me parece sumamente importante que se hace hincapié y se resalta la importancia de Jo en la historia de Vincent porque, literal, si no hubiera sido por ella, no conoceríamos la obra de este pintor.
Definitivamente es uno de mis libros favoritos del año y de siempre, y se los recomiendo altamente si quieren conocer más del autor. Sí, esta biografía es un poco "nivel de superficie" pero es un punto excelente para iniciar.
July 9, 2021
O biografie poetică a lui Van Gogh dar ma ales povestea de interdependență a celor doi frați, Vincent și Theo. A, da și despre efectele degradante al Treponemei pallidum asupra oamenilor secolului XIX, în general,și a artiștilor, boemi, în special. Doar și poetul nepereche a murit într-un azil de bolnavi mintal, atacat de acceași bacterie a iubirilor deșănțate. O steluță pentru reproduceri ale desenelor pictorului.
October 14, 2017
There is no doubt this book is brilliant. Perhaps a little draggy at time. But damn, it gave me PTSD. Loving people with mental illness is brutal.
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September 4, 2017Really engaging and fascinating look at the life of an artist we all know but only know through some of his most successful paintings and lowest lows in dealing with his mental health. Loved the way we see he and his brother become close, as well as drift apart.
My only wish were that we saw more of the mental health issue explored, but what I loved is how Heiligman went to the primary sources -- the letters between Vincent and Theo -- to construct this story, and through that, we also know she can only share so much because of what was available to share. There are times in the book where it's noted that something happened and the letters suggest one thing, popular lure tells another, and the truth probably lies somewhere in between (this is the case with the ear incident and another incident involving Vincent and a gun shot).
Clever execution and style, presenting the book as a series of galleries for readers to explore.
My only wish were that we saw more of the mental health issue explored, but what I loved is how Heiligman went to the primary sources -- the letters between Vincent and Theo -- to construct this story, and through that, we also know she can only share so much because of what was available to share. There are times in the book where it's noted that something happened and the letters suggest one thing, popular lure tells another, and the truth probably lies somewhere in between (this is the case with the ear incident and another incident involving Vincent and a gun shot).
Clever execution and style, presenting the book as a series of galleries for readers to explore.
October 20, 2017
What a beautiful biography of brothers and art, pain and joy, life and death! Looking at Vincent and Theo Van Gogh, through such an artistic lens as an art gallery, is pure genius. Deborah Heiligman has created a lovely book, with poetry in the writing, and so much emotion.
I thought I knew a lot about Vincent Van Gogh—he has long been my favorite artist: I have one of his olive trees as my phone case and the Almond Blossoms he painted for Theo’s son on my iPad case. I love his color and texture, and the motion you feel in his art. But I did not know so much about him. I knew he was dependent on his brother Theo, but I had always assumed Theo was older. I had assumed he was healthy, and “normal”, and annoyed with his artist brother. It was eye-opening to read about their deep bond, the way their lives were intertwined, and the ways they suffered—separately and together.
I truly hope to see this book recognized in all the ways it deserves.
I thought I knew a lot about Vincent Van Gogh—he has long been my favorite artist: I have one of his olive trees as my phone case and the Almond Blossoms he painted for Theo’s son on my iPad case. I love his color and texture, and the motion you feel in his art. But I did not know so much about him. I knew he was dependent on his brother Theo, but I had always assumed Theo was older. I had assumed he was healthy, and “normal”, and annoyed with his artist brother. It was eye-opening to read about their deep bond, the way their lives were intertwined, and the ways they suffered—separately and together.
I truly hope to see this book recognized in all the ways it deserves.
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