Van Gogh: 99 Watercolors

Nice collection of van Gogh watercolors. When he decided to pursue art full time, van Gogh insisted on working in monochrome, with pencil, charcoal, ink, and brush with ink wash. Are highly prominent sNitch painter Mauve insisted that van Gogh work in color, starting with watercolor then moving to oils. His brother Theo, an accomplished art dealer, offered the same advice. Van Gogh grudgingly took up watercolors in the late 1870s. He was not particularly good in this medium. But it was an important step in his development, because it got him working in color. In 1882, he began working in oils, a medium he excelled using. Still, his work tended to be monochromatic. It wasn't until he moved to Paris, where he lives with Theo and was exposed to the avant garde work of the time, that he adopted the color theory principles and stippling techniques of the pointilists that he surged forward in his maturity as an astonishingly creative painter who in a sense reinvented how we see form and color presented in an emotional context. The 99 watercolors in this collection provide great insights into the clumsy steps Van Gogh took to begin incorporating color in his work ... And to become one of the great colorists of all time. And he did this in a period of one decade, one of the most impressive creative transitions in art ever.

I bought this awhile ago in Kindle version. When I finally took time to read the whole thing, I was very impressed with this book! I was initially more interested in Van Gogh’s Watercolors, but then my heart was touched by the story of his life and of how these watercolors evolved... I appreciate this book. And the neat part, soon after that a friend gave me the Van Gogh WC box as a Christmas gift! And she had no idea I was reading and thinking a lot of Van Gogh at the time. :) So yeah, great book!

I like his watercolor and mixed media paintings better than his oils. I had never seen any of his other works before this book. So for that reason I think this book is a must have for anyone who is interested in studying the complete works of Van Gogh.

First of all, know Van Gogh for his beautiful oils and this was an amazing transition that I did not know about. Thinking these were all done before oil works and pieces. I still liked the pages and will go back to review his style many times as I paint with watercolor and always looking for hints of something different. Van Gogh does surprise.

Wonderful story through his watercolors which seem to have been done loose in a happier mood. Nice paintings which I hadn't seen most

Enjoyed the insights on his life and letters to Theo, would have liked more of that. Book ended kind of abruptly.

This is a nice collection of Van Hogg’s lesser known pieces. The book is frustrating to read though. Each description is written as a stand alone piece, so there are redundancies of his life story in the text, and it jumps around chronologically rather than telling a cohesive story.

Felt I was watching Vincent grow and advance in his artistry as well as experiencing the ever changing emotional challenges....the ups and downs. This reading and the many illustrations created a marvelous connection to an exceptional and complex man, artist, brother. Most pleased to have read!

Not much text but many drawings and watercolour paintings which gives a clear picture of the artist's surroundings, and the emergence of Van Gogh's distinctive style.

Van Gogh is a master ! What else can one say !