The Complete Paintings of Vincent van Gogh. The genius and the angst of a tortured talent

Meet Vincent van Gogh, one of the most famed tragic figures of 19th‑century art. This lush tome collects all his 871 paintings, alongside writings and essays, charting the life and work of a master who continues to tower over art to this day. From Sunflowers and The Starry Night to Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, celebrate an artist uniquely dexterous in the representation of texture and mood, light and place.

Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) are among the most well known and celebrated in the world. In paintings such as Sunflowers, The Starry Night, and Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, we recognize an artist uniquely dexterous in the representation of texture and mood, light and place.

Yet in his lifetime, van Gogh battled not only the disinterest of his contemporary audience but also devastating bouts of mental illness. His episodes of depression and anxiety would eventually claim his life, when, in 1890, he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday.

This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh offers a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings, alongside writings and essays, charting the life and work of a master who continues to tower over art to this day.

The authors:

Ingo F. Walther (1940–2007) was born in Berlin and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries. Walther’s many titles for TASCHEN include Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Art of the 20th Century, and Codices illustres.

Rainer Metzger studied art history, history, and German literature in Munich and Augsburg. In 1994, he earned his Ph.D. on the subject of Dan Graham, and subsequently worked as a fine arts journalist for the Viennese newspaper Der Standard. He has written numerous books on art, including volumes on van Gogh and Chagall. Since 2004, he has worked as Professor of art history at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe.

Part of a new series of beautiful gift art books, Van Gogh Masterpieces of Art features all of the best-known works of one of the most famous artists in the world, preceded by a fresh and thoughtful introduction providing lively commentary on his life, society, places and style and techniques, including the powerful animation of his strident brushwork.

Anguished Art. The tortured talents of a post-Impressionist master

A post-Impressionist pioneer, Vincent van Gogh is also one of the most quintessential “tortured artists” in history. Through his lurid colours and emphatic brushwork, this introductory book gathers van Gogh’s most famous paintings to explore his vibrant, feverish portrayal of mood and place and its influence on generations to come.

Today, the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853 –1890) are among the most well-known and celebrated in the world. In Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, and many paintings and drawings beyond, we recognize an artist uniquely dexterous in the portrayal of mood and place through paint, pencil, charcoal, or chalk.

Yet as he was deploying the lurid colours, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms that would subsequently make his name, van Gogh battled not only the disinterest of his contemporary audience but also devastating bouts of mental illness. His episodes of depression and anxiety would eventually claim his life, when, in 1890, he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday.

This richly illustrated introduction follows Vincent van Gogh’s story from his earliest pictures of peasants and rural workers, through his bright Parisian period, to his final, feverish burst of creative energy in the South of France during the last two and a half years of his life.

About the Author: 

Ingo F. Walther (1940 – 2007) was born in Berlin and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries. Walther’s many titles for TASCHEN include Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Art of the 20th Century, and Codices illustres.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Tortured talent. The genius and the angst of an Expressionist master

Vincent van Gogh’s story is one of the most ironic in art history. Today, he celebrated the world over as one of the most important painters of all time, recognized with sell-out shows, feted museums, and record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction.

Yet as he was painting the canvases that would subsequently become these sell-out modern masterpieces, van Gogh was battling not only the disinterest of his contemporary audiences but also devastating bouts of mental illness, with episodes of depression and paralyzing anxiety which would eventually claim his life in 1890, when he committed suicide shortly after his 37th birthday.

This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) pairs a detailed monograph on his life and art with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings.

The authors:

Rainer Metzger studied art history, history and German studies in Munich and Augsburg. He received his doctorate in 1994 and has worked as a fine arts journalist for the Viennese newspaper Der Standard. He has written numerous books on art, including volumes on Van Gogh and Chagall.

Ingo F. Walther (1940–2007) was born in Berlin and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries. Walther’s many titles for TASCHEN include Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Art of the 20th Century, and Codices illustres.

About the series:

Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!

Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together more than 100 of our all-time favourite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.

Bookworm’s delight — never bore, always excite!

One of the great forerunners of 20th-century painting

This richly illustrated and expert study follows the artist from the early gloom-laden paintings in which he captured the misery of peasants and workers in his homeland, through his bright and colourful Parisian period, to the work of his final years, spent under a southern sun in Arles. Here, at last, he found the light that produced the unmistakable Van Gogh style. At Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise, in the feverish burst of creative energy that marked his last two-and-a-half years, he produced the 465 paintings on which his immortality rests.

Van Gogh craved recognition during his lifetime but was denied it until after his self-inflicted death. Today he is universally seen as one of the great forerunners of painting of the 20th century, and one of the tragic masters of art.

About the Series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:

Ingo F. Walther (1940-2007) was born in Berlin and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries. Walther's many titles for TASCHEN include Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, Art of the 20th Century, and Codices Illustres.

Bold strokes of genius. The amazing work of a tormented soul

Vincent van Gogh’s story is one of the most ironic in art history. He lived an unhappy and difficult life during which his work received almost no appreciation — finally killing himself by a bullet to the chest, so great was his despair — and is now widely considered one of the most important painters of all time, his works fetching record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction. This comprehensive study of Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) represents a rarity in art history: a detailed monograph on his life and art combined with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings. These volumes also reproduce most of Van Gogh’s paintings in colour.

The author:

Rainer Metzger studied art history, history and German studies in Munich and Augsburg. He received his doctorate in 1994 and has worked as a fine arts journalist for the Viennese newspaper Der Standard. He has written numerous books on art, including volumes on Van Gogh and Chagall.

The editor:

Ingo F. Walther (1940–2007) was born in Berlin and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries. Walther’s many titles for TASCHEN include Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Art of the 20th Century, and Codices illustres.

Tragic genius. One of the great forerunners of 20th-century painting

This richly illustrated and expert study follows Vincent van Gogh from the early gloom-laden paintings in which he captured the misery of peasants and workers in his homeland, through his bright and colourful Parisian period, to the work of his final years, spent under a southern sun in Arles. Here, at last, he found the light that produced the unmistakable Van Gogh style. At Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise, in the feverish burst of creative energy that marked his last two and a half years, he produced the 465 paintings on which his immortality rests.

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) craved recognition during his lifetime but was denied it until after his self-inflicted death. Today he is universally seen as one of the great forerunners of 20th-century painting, and one of the tragic masters of art.

About the Series:

Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:

* a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
* approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
* a concise biography

Van Gogh in Provence and Auvers includes more than 300 works by Van Gogh in his most prolific years leading up to his tragic suicide.

Special printed papers and specially die-cut openers enhance the value of this excellent presentation. Van Gogh’s own words, placed together with preparatory sketches for his works and vintage postcards and photographs, enhance an insightful text.

Картины Ван Гога значительны в своей простоте и непосредственности, в экспрессии эмоционального воздействия. Их сила проистекает из любви и открытости художника по отношению к каждому предмету, видимому им подле себя, по отношению к человеку и природе. Радость, которую испытывал Винсент, идентифицируя себя с окружающим миром, омрачалась в его сознании глубоким эсхатологическим прозрением, ощущением быстротечности жизни и мрачным предчувствием смерти. Прожив сложную и неупорядоченную жизнь, Ван Гог много почерпнул из собственного опыта. Он был рожден в век, когда люди впервые в истории остро ощутили конечность своего существования, непреодолимое одиночество каждого в этом мире, утрату той трансцендентной силы, которая некогда была защитой и опорой.

Содержание

Том 1
Эттен, апрель 1881 - Париж, февраль 1888
Первый том "Ван Гог. Полное собрание живописи" содержит 381 цветную иллюстрацию и 97 черно-белых. На протяжении всех 300 страниц книги прослеживается творческая эволюция художника, начиная с октября 1881 года вплоть до его переезда в Париж. Там в течение 2 лет между мартом 1886 и февралем 1888 года он создал более 200 картин.

Том 2
Арль, февраль 1888 - Овер-сюр-Уаз, июль 1890
Второй том "Ван Гог. Полное собрание живописи" содержит 366 цветных иллюстраций и 60 черно-белых. 440 страниц книги повествуют об этапах жизни художника после его отъезда в Арль в феврале 1888 года, затем о плодотворном периоде в Сен-Реми, начиная с июня 1889 по май 1889 и вплоть до его трагической кончины 29 июля 1890 в Овер-сюр-Уазе. За эти 30 месяцев, работая на пределе человеческих возможностей, Ван Гог написал 463 работы, которые принесли ему всемирную славу.

Книга 1
Ван Гог. "Я нахожу счастье в творчестве..."
(переводчик: Л. Корнеева)

Он слишком любил мир, чтобы беспокоиться о том, как прожить день. Он чересчур ревностно проповедовал Библию, чтобы остаться в лоне церкви. Он настолько переживал одиночество, что не мог ни с кем ужиться. Его настроение было переменчиво, а постоянство касалось исключительно живописи. Он лелеял в себе неистовую, все выжигающую страсть к творчеству и щедро выплескивал ее в своих картинах и письмах. Эта книга содержит богатую коллекцию произведений Ван Гога и обширную переписку, в основном с любимым братом Тео, - увлекательнейший эпистолярий, позволяющий проследить становление Ван Гога как живописца и оценить всю глубину его обостренного мировосприятия, в котором угадывался великий художник.

Книга 2
Ван Гог. "...Я заплатил жизнью за свое искусство..."
(переводчик: А. Милосердова)

Его "Портрет доктора Гаше" был продан в 1990 году на аукционе Кристи за 82,5 миллиона долларов, став одной из самых дорогих картин всех времен, но при жизни случались дни, когда у Ван Гога не было ни одного франка в кармане, когда родные упрекали его в несостоятельности, а окружающие считали сумасшедшим. Биографы написали уже сотни книг, называя его могучим, ранимым, противоречивым... Однако ни одна из этих книг так и не смогла передать всей глубины внутреннего мира художника по той простой причине, что это уже было сделано... им самим. Он щедро выплеснул свое мироощущение на многочисленные полотна, дополнив его обширной перепиской с любимым братом Тео, родными и друзьями. Эта книга откроет почитателям его таланта истинного Ван Гога, потому что, по сути, ее автором явился сам художник.

In a single, elegant, opulently illustrated volume: the bewitching landscapes of Vincent van Gogh, painted with overwhelming creative energy.

The landscapes in which Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) lived had a profound influence on him and his art. In his encounters with nature, the restless artist attained a harmony and balance that was otherwise denied him. At the same time, he discovered his own completely unique artistic vocabulary and hence a radically new type of freedom in art.

This elegant, full-color volume is the first to provide a comprehensive survey of van Gogh’s work as a landscape painter. Essays by renowned art historians and van Gogh specialists explore this important aspect of his oeuvre. The reader becomes directly aware of how the earthy tones of his early Dutch phase were gradually replaced by a lighter style of painting in Paris . In the south of France , the artist then discovered the intense, brilliant colors and vital expression that have made his paintings so fascinating to this day. He was under the spell of creation throughout all the periods of his brief life and career; employing motifs such as the sower, fruit trees in blossom, the wheat harvest, or the reaper, he described the ever-renewing cycle of nature’s forces.

Bringing the life and work of a truly unique artist to life, Van Gogh is a comprehensive guide to one of the most unconventional and highly original artists of the nineteenth century. 

Perhaps the most famous artist in the world, Vincent Van Gogh is perceived by many as the ‘mad’ artist, the man who painted in a frenzy or simply the tormented soul who cut off his ear. His artistic genius is often overshadowed by those who see his paintings as mere visual manifestations of his troubled mind. Whilst in part this may be true, in reality, his innovative and unique artistic style was of enormous importance to a host of artists who followed in his wake. Even when openly influenced by his predecessors or contemporaries his art remained identifiably his own, developing a distinctive style that failed to be accepted by the art-buying public in his own lifetime. 

From his earliest watercolours depicting the plight of rural Dutch peasants, through his attempts to be accepted by the Parisian avant-garde, right up to his final paintings of the Auvers countryside, every aspect of his life is celebrated in this beautiful reference book.

Лишенный простого человеческого счастья и всю жизнь не имевший пристанища, он весь отдался неистовой любви к искусству, создав шедевры, которые ныне украшают лучшие музеи мира. Книга знакомит с основными периодами творчества Винсента Ван Гога и его драматической судьбой, ставшей живым воплощением трагедии художника, не понятого современниками. Для широкого круга читателей, интересующихся искусством.

Vincent van Gogh's story is one of the most ironic in art history. He lived an unhappy and difficult life during which his work received almost no appreciation - finally killing himself by a bullet to the chest, so great was his despair - and is now widely considered one of the most important painters of all time, his works fetching record prices of tens of millions of dollars at auction.

This comprehensive study of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) represents a rarity in art history: a detailed monograph on his life and art combined with a complete catalogue of his 871 paintings. This volume also reproduces most of van Gogh's paintings in colour for the first time.

"This man will either go mad or he will outstrip us all." Such was the fate that Camille Pissarro, the great Impressionist painter, predicted for his colleague Vincent van Gogh, a struggling artist still vainly seeking a buyer for his pictures. He was to prove right on both counts.

Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, near Breda, the eldest son of a Dutch pastor. He tried his hand at numerous professions, working as an art dealer, a teacher, a lay preacher and a book-seller before finally embarking, largely self-trained, upon a career as an artist. All his life, however, he remained a solitary and despairing figure, and his self-destructive nature drove him in his later years to the brink of madness.

Feeling himself alone in the world, his only true friend and source of moral and financial support was his brother Theo, who attended van Gogh's welfare throughout his life and who would ultimately follow him, within the space of six short months, to the grave. The recognition and admiration for which van Gogh fought so bitterly would only be granted him after the self-inflicted revolver shot which ended his tragic life.

Today, van Gogh is not only considered the most important pioneer of 20th-century art, but is widely regarded as one of the most significant and best-loved painters in the entire history of art.

Images included:
The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum in Arles, 1888
Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, summer 1887
Vase with Irises against a Yellow Background, Saint-Rémy, May 1890
Vincent's Bedroom in Arles, 1899
Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889
The Church at Auvers, 1890
Drawbridge at Arles. "Pont de Langlois", 1888
Sower (after Millet), 1888
Irises, 1889
Noon: Rest from Work (after Millet), 1890
The Yellow House (Vincent's House), 1888
Vase with twelve Sunflowers, 1888
Thatched Cottages in Cordeville, 1890
Starry Night, 1888

About the Series:
TASCHEN portfolios feature high quality prints that beg to be framed. Tucked in each portfolio are 14 large-format reproductions, each with a brief description. Guaranteed to brighten any day, they also make great gifts for art lovers!