Van Gogh, Face To Face: The Portraits Book

A new turn in a well-worn path, this catalog accompanies an exhibit of portraits painted by Van Gogh and currently traveling to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The text consists of a series of individual essays by leading art historians exploring various factors contributing to this astonishing body of work. These factors include the significant early influence of Dutch painters, particularly Rembrandt and Frans Hals; the teachings of Anton Mauve, leader of the Hague School; and Van Gogh's admiration of Millet and the Barbizon school. The artist's years in Paris, in the south of France, and with Gauguin at the height of his powers and his working methods, relationships, intensity, and illness are all discussed as they relate to the development of his portraiture. Finally, his influence on artists of succeeding generations is highlighted. The essays are accessible to the interested lay reader but deep enough for the scholar, and the more than 200 color illustrations will attract many browsers. Recommended for public, school, and special art book collections.DEllen Bates, New York Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.