- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: Fig Tree; First Edition / First Impression edition (6 April 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670914975
- ISBN-13: 978-0670914975
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.8 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 589,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
From October to December 1888, Paul Gauguin shared a home in Arles with Vincent van Gogh. This was, without doubt, the most celebrated cohabitation in art history: never, before or since have two such towering artistic talents been penned up in so small a space. They were the Odd Couple of art history. Predictably, the results were explosive. The denouement of their life together has entered into folk lore. Two months after Gauguin arrived in Arles, Van Gogh suffered a psychological crisis. He spent most of the rest of his life in a mental institution. Gauguin fled from Arles, and they never saw each other again. But in the brief period during which they worked together a stream of masterpieces was created within the studio they shared, including Van Gogh's paintings of his own chair and Gauguin's. Meanwhile his Sunflowers decorated Gauguin's bedroom wall. Here for the first time, the full story of their life together is told. Making use of fresh research and new evidence, Martin Gayford describes not only how they painted and exchanged ideas, but also the texture of their everyday life. As well as the great pictures, he considers the way these two geniuses cooked, and drank, their clothes and daily routine - and also their inner thoughts, hopes, fears and dreams. The book culminates in a persuasive analysis of Van Gogh's mental illness and the swirling thoughts that led him to slice off an ear and present it to a prostitute. This is a novel type of biography, more drama than epic. Its aim is to put you, the reader, inside the little four-roomed dwelling which these two turbulent men inhabited: the Yellow House.
From the Back Cover
`[A] drily witty, original and profoundly absorbing book' The
Independent
Independent
`Wonderfully perceptive...revealing and touching book' Telegraph
`A story of such fascination on so many levels...Martin Gayford tells it
vividly, intelligently and intelligibly' Literary Review
`The Yellow House offers a masterly portrait...of the nine weeks in 1888
that Van Gogh and Gauguin lived together in a pokey house in the south of
France' Mail on Sunday
`Wonderfully well told...with the rising tension of an inescapable
nightmare' The Telegraph
The author `manages to get inside two complex minds, analysing their
thoughts, fears, ambitions, complaints and fantasies with admirable
clarity' The Guardian
`Unmannered, sensible and to the point' The Telegraph --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
While it was still dark, shortly after five o'clock in the morning, a train clanked into the station at Arles and a solitary, exhausted passenger got out. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
While it was still dark, shortly after five o'clock in the morning, a train clanked into the station at Arles and a solitary, exhausted passenger got out. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An excellent read with an insight not only into what transpired between Van Gogh and Gauguin in the nine weeks covered by the story but also into the relationships with many other contemporary artists and the art world. Difficult to put down.
BUT, the illustrations are useless as you cannot begin to see what these artists were doing by looking at not very good grey illustrations. Fortunately I have books containing colour reproductions of many of the VanGogh and Gauguin paintings. I recommend any reader to supplement the text in this way.
BUT, the illustrations are useless as you cannot begin to see what these artists were doing by looking at not very good grey illustrations. Fortunately I have books containing colour reproductions of many of the VanGogh and Gauguin paintings. I recommend any reader to supplement the text in this way.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a shame that this book does not have prints of the paintings! It's a wonderful story, told supremely well, but I found myself struggling with the, frankly, pathetic illustrations most of which are so useless that they might as well not have been included. Monochrome illustrations of paintings that rely on colour for their impact - what was the author (or, more likely, his publisher) thinking of? Please Mr Gayford bring out a version with colour plates and I for one will buy it again!!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Penetrating and sensitive analysis of the intensely creative and volatile relationship between Van Gogh and Gaugin in Van Gogh's tiny house in Arles, Provence. Full of insight into the glorious and innovative paintings that the two men produced and the events which are likely to have inspired them, with enough social and psychological context to really bring the work alive. And in the end, a deeply moving as well as educational read.
Others have criticised the poor quality of the illustrations and it is true that the experience would have been greatly improved by full colour glossy prints. But it would also have made for a much more expensive book - as it is, this is cheap enough to be accessible, and the smudgy grey prints are so poor that they really drive you to seek out good reproductions elsewhere - or even to track down the originals - which may be no bad thing.
Others have criticised the poor quality of the illustrations and it is true that the experience would have been greatly improved by full colour glossy prints. But it would also have made for a much more expensive book - as it is, this is cheap enough to be accessible, and the smudgy grey prints are so poor that they really drive you to seek out good reproductions elsewhere - or even to track down the originals - which may be no bad thing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Starry starry night of crazed genius
I thoroughly enjoyed this biography, which conveyed very clearly Van Gogh's tortured personality, with all the classic symptoms of manic-depression, which nevertheless seemed... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Antenna
Gripping read
I really enjoyed this book. By concentrating on a relatively short time in their lives it made me want to go away and read more about them. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2010 by Great happy harmony
Very interesting read. A real page-turner!
I read this when I was working on a project at college for my Art & Design course. I was basically researching Van Gogh's work and life, and I had even seen both Vincent & Theo and... Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2008 by Gabbi
A great read
I do agree with the comments above re the pics, BUT it is so well written and engaging, it almost doesn't matter. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2008 by Caitlin G
Publishing faux pas
Given that so much of this story is based around discussion and use of colour, the lack of colour reprints of all paintings thoroughly compromised the reading. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2007 by London SW18
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