Jan Hulsker Boeken

De Van Gogh-specialist dr. Jan Hulsker geeft in deze groots opgezette 'artistieke biografie' een gedetailleerde beschrijving van de ontwikkeling die Vincent als kunstenaar afgelegd heeft, beginnend in de pastorie te Etten eindigend met zijn laatste landschappen in Auvers-sur-Oise. Via minutieuze bestudering van alle brieven en dokumenten zijn in dit standaardwerk, alle tekeningen en schilderijen in de juiste chronologische volgorde afgebeeld. Het boek bevat dan ook 2125 afbeeldingen, in zwart-wit. Omdat men de ware Van Gogh in kleur moet zien, zijn er gelukkig ook 40 fullpage platen in kleur. Hulsker volgt hem op zijn moeilijke weg, van standplaats tot standplaats, vermijdt alle geromantiseer. Juist, door die 'droge' objektiviteit rijst het gedoemde kunstenaarschap van Van Gogh uit tekst en beeld op.

'Conversations with Van Gogh' is an imagined conversation with this remarkable figure. But while the conversation is imagined, Van Gogh's words are not; they are all authentically his. 'Vincent van Gogh is best known for two things - his sunflowers and his ear-cutting. But there are many other ways of knowing this remarkable son of a Dutch pastor, who left his chill homeland for the sunshine of Arles in the South of France; and left us over a thousand frank letters of struggle and joy, to help us glimpse his inner world.Vincent came late to painting after spending time in London trying to be a Christian missionary. And though he is now amongst the most famous artists on earth, in his day, no one saw him coming - apart from one French art critic called Aurier. It is possible he never sold one of his paintings in his life time.When he discovered the sun in Arles, he also discovered energy. Yellow for him was the colour of hope, and in his last two years he painted almost a canvass a day. But hope ran out on July 27th , 1890 when he shot himself, aged 37. He was at this time six months out of a mental institution, where perhaps he experienced his greatest calm. Vincent compared himself to a stunted plant; damaged by the emotional frost of his childhood. 'Speaking with Vincent - which he insists on being called - was a privilege,' says Simon Parke. 'He's endlessly fascinating, contradictory, moving, funny, insightful and tragic. There's a fury in him; but also a great kindness. He found harmony in human relationships elusive; his love life was a painful shambles. But with colour, he was a harmonic genius, and he has much to say about this. And here's the thing: for a man who killed himself - he died in the arms of his brother on July 29th - spending time with him was never anything but life-affirming.'

Tato kniha je jedinečným pokusem o rekonstrukci životního a uměleckého příběhu Vincenta van Gogha, jedné z vůdčích postav moderního malířství. Jejím editorem a autorem zasvěcených komentářů k dopisům je přední světový znalec umělcova díla Jan Hulsker (1907-2002), který zároveň pro tento svazek vybrala chronologicky uspořádal přes 200 reprodukcí kreseb, maleb a skic vztahujících se k jednotlivým obdobím van Goghova života.