Van Gogh et le Japon

Dans les estampes japonaises, qui l'émerveillaient et l'enchantaient, Van Gogh retrouvait une part de ses idéaux.

Le souvenir des grands artistes se perpétue souvent grâce à une seule oeuvre, qui conjugue pour ainsi dire en elle l'ensemble de leurs qualités artistiques. Chez Léonard de Vinci, il s'agit de La Joconde, chez Rembrandt de La ronde de nuit et chez Van Gogh des Tournesols. En réalité, Van Gogh a peint pas moins de onze natures mortes mettant ces fleurs en scène, dont les cinq plus célèbres ont vu le jour pendant sa période arlésienne. Que représentait ce motif à ses yeux? Le tournesol revêtait-il une forte dimension symbolique ou était-il simplement prétexte à des expérimentations inédites sur la couleur? Dans cet ouvrage, Louis van Tilborgh évoque l'une des quêtes de Van Gogh, celle d'un art profondément humain et consolateur, et le rôle joué par le tournesol dans cette démarche. Biographie de l'auteur Louis Van Tilborgh est conservateur au Van Gogh Museum, en charge de la recherche scientifique sur Van Gogh.

De quoi Van Gogh souffrait-il exactement et comment sa maladie a-t-elle influencé son oeuvre ? Dans l'exposition et l'ouvrage qui l'accompagne, le Musée Van Gogh étudie les manifestations de la maladie de Van Gogh de sa jeunesse à sa mort, la manière dont il l'a gérée, les réactions de son entourage et les répercussions de sa condition mentale dans ses tableaux et ses dessins. Le premier livre d'art exclusivement consacré à la maladie de Van Gogh.

This important publication accompanies the first ever exhibition devoted to Vincent van Gogh's self-portraits across his entire career. The exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery and accompanying catalogue feature world-famous and lesser known works from the great artist. The myth of Van Gogh today is linked as much to his extraordinary life as it is to his stunning paintings. His biography has often shaped the way that his self-portraits have been (mis)understood. Van Gogh. Self-Portraits reconsiders this aspect of his production and places the artist's self-representation in context to reveal the role it plays in his oeuvre. It also explores the power and profound emotion of these highly personal paintings. Van Gogh. Self-Portraits is the first time this theme has been exclusively addressed. Self-portraits painted during Van Gogh's time in Paris (February 1886 - February 1888) have been the subject of two exhibitions (in 1960 at Marlborough Fine Arts in London and in 1995 at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg) but never has the full chronological range been explored. The exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery features paintings from both the Parisian and Provençal periods. It brings together half of Van Gogh's thirty-five known self-portraits to examine the ways the artist approached this particular subject-matter. On a practical level, painting himself provided Van Gogh with the cheapest and most patient of models and represented an important conduit for stylistic experimentation. He also used self-portraiture as an homage to his illustrious Dutch predecessor Rembrandt, as well as a way of fashioning his own identity and presenting himself to the outside world. Of particular interest is the striking way the evolution of Van Gogh's self-representation over the short years of his artistic activity can be seen as a microcosm of his development as a painter. In addition to the world-famous Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear in The Courtauld's collection, the exhibition showcases a group of major masterpieces brought together from international collections, including the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. among others. This beautifully illustrated catalogue includes detailed entries on each work, an appendix illustrating all of Van Gogh's self-portraits and three insightful essays on the theme.