Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings (2012)

Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings by Ingo F. Walther (editor) and Rainer Metzger (author) was published by Taschen in 2012. Taschen is a German publishing house, but do not worry. The text is in English.

It is a huge and heavy volume: hardcover, large format (21 x 28 cm), with 740 pages, and with numerous illustrations; most illustrations are in colour, while some of them in black-and-white.

The book is divided into two parts. Part one covers the time from 1853 to 1888. There are three chapters, which follow a chronological line:

# 1. The Making of an Artist, 1853-1883

# 2. The Years in Nuenen, 1883-1885

# 3. City Life, 1885-1888

Part two covers the time from 1888 to 1890. There are three chapters, which follow a chronological line:

# 4. Painting and Utopia, Arles, February 1888 to May 1889

# 5. “Almost a Cry of fear,” Saint-Remy, May 1889 to May 1890

# 6. The End, Auvers-sur-Oise, May to July 1890

Each of the six chapters are divided into several shorter sections by subheadings. This layout is very reader-friendly.

At the end of the book there are five appendices:

** Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890: A Chronology

** Bibliography

** Comparative Table of Catalogue Numbers

** Index of Paintings

** Index of Names

There are many books about Vincent van Gogh. Many offer a brief biography as well as illustrations of his most famous paintings; maybe 100 or 200 pages. This type of book is excellent, if you want to have a quick account of the man and his work as an artist.

The volume under review here is different. As the title says, it has all the paintings made by van Gogh. There are literally hundreds of illustrations in this book. But it is not merely a picture book. Editor Ingo Walther and author Rainer Metzger also offer a detailed biography of the artist.

All the paintings are here and each painting is discussed in the text which follows a chronological line. What can we see in this painting? What does it mean? Why did Vincent paint this motive in this way? What does he want to say?

An important source for this account is the large collection of letters written by Vincent. Most of them are written to his brother Theo, but there are also some letters to other people (family and friends). Vincent often wrote a letter when he had completed a painting.

In his letters he explains what he did and what he wanted to show. His letters are an important source because in these letters he reveals his inner thoughts about his life and his work.

Vincent’s life was not very long and not very happy. But during his life he managed to create some great works of art.

Letter # 309, written in the summer of 1883, is quoted on pages 95-98. In this this letter, Vincent makes the following observation:

“I not only began drawing relatively late, but in addition I may well not have so very many years of life ahead of me… As far as the time that remains for my work is concerned, I believe that without being premature I can assume that this body of mine will still keep going, despite everything, for a certain number of years yet – say, between six and ten.”

Later in the same letter he adds the following remark:

“Something has to be created in these years; this thought is my guiding light whenever I draw up plans for my work.”

This letter is highly prophetic. In July 1890, only seven years later, he passed away. He sensed he did not have long to live. Therefore he wanted to make the most of the time he had left. And he did. During the last years of his life he was a very prolific artist and he created some of his best works.

These are my personal favourites:

# 1. The Langlois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing – and a carriage crossing the bridge; painted in March 1888. This painting appears on page 323.

# 2. The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum in Arles at Night; painted in September 1888. This painting appears on page 425. If you go to Arles, you will see that the café is still there. Today it is named after the artist who painted it more than a hundred years ago.

While he was alive, Vincent was not famous at all. He sold only one painting in his entire life. Today the situation is radically different. He is one of the most famous painters in the world. And sometimes his works are targeted by thieves.

On page 21 there is a painting called Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather. It was painted in 1882. The caption says “Whereabouts unknown,” because it was stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on 7 December 2002.

On page 53 there is a painting called Chapel at Nuenen with Churchgoers. It was painted in 1884. The caption says “Whereabouts unknown,” because it was stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on 7 December 2002.

This information was true when the book was published in 2012. Fortunately, it is not true anymore: in 2016 both paintings were found again after a police raid on a mafia location in Italy.

[For details, see the following item which is available online: Sophie Eastaugh, “Stolen van Gogh paintings found after 14 years in raid on Italian mafia group,” CNN News, 30 September 2016.]

The publisher has done a great job with this volume. The illustrations are excellent. The text is clear and informative. It is a beautiful book which deserves to be praised.

I noticed only one mistake. It appears in a passage on page 97 where the text reads as follows:

“This old city to win became Vincent’s base when he travelled to Amsterdam to make a last attempt Kee.”

The order of the words is confused. The two words “to win” are misplaced. They should be moved towards the end of the passage, so that it reads:

“This old city became Vincent’s base when he travelled to Amsterdam to make a last attempt to win Kee.”

[Kee is the nickname of Cornelia Adriana Vos-Stricker (1846-1918) who was Vincent’s cousin. He wanted to marry her, but she did not return his feelings. For details, see pages 62-63.]

This mistake is mentioned here, for the record. Obviously, it is a minor flaw, which does not disturb the overall quality of the book.

If you want a short account of Vincent’s life and work, this book is not right for you. It is far too long and far too heavy.

But if you want to see all his paintings, and if you want to know all the details about his life and his work, then this book is exactly what you need. As a detailed biography about a highly-acclaimed European artist, it is highly recommended.

PS. Taschen published a smaller version of this book in 2015. The format of the smaller volume is 14 x 20 cm. The text is the same, and it is much lighter, but the print is smaller and so are the illustrations. This means you have two options. If you wish to buy this book, make sure you get the version that is right for you.

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Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings

By Ingo F. Walther (editor) & Rainer Metzger (author)

Taschen (hardcover) 2012

Format: 21 x 28 cm, 740 pages

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