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auti_e's review
4.0
1. So much enthusiasm!! I thought Jonathan Richman's song about him must have been as idealized as Don McLean's, but it conveys the vibe of these letters really well. "The man loved life, folks, and he let it show" etc.
2. I'm not including the introduction in my rating because it's just hot garbage.
3. I'm into how much he was trying to get artists to make collectives to look out for each other and how he was all about taking care of people rather than extracting art from them.
4. He exoticizes just about everyone south of the bourgeoisie, including victims of colonialism. On the other hand, the way he talks about colonization shows how much of an excuse it is to say "they didnt know any better." He doesn't have any special insight on the subject and still understands that it's deplorable.
5. He often offers to drop painting entirely so he can take some of the money-making burden off his brother. They're really supportive of each other in general.
6. When people talk about Van Gogh as a tormented artist, I feel like they're ignoring the fact that pretty much all of the problems he talks about are from not having money. Painting itself does make him happy. He wouldnt have to burn himself out and exacerbate his mental condition repeatedly if he wasnt continually too broke to eat. The ""tragedy of van gogh"" isnt that the art world didnt reward how good he was before being too good at art got to him, it's that having enough to live on was the reward that was withheld. Plenty of everyday, mediocre, and maybe-someday artists die(d) from poverty, and they deserve to live longer too.
"When our relations with a painter are so strained as to make us say: “If that fellow exhibits any of his pictures by the side of mine, I shall withdraw mine,” and then proceed to abuse him, it seems to me that this is not the proper way to act; for, previous to arriving at such drastic conclusions one should make quite sure, and give the matter careful thought. After due reflection we are almost sure to find—particularly when we happen to be at loggerheads with the artist—that there is as much to criticize in our own work as in the other man’s. He has as much right to exist as we have. When it is remembered that this man or that—be he a pointilliste or a member of another school—has often done good work, instead of disparaging him, we should speak of him with respect and sympathy, more particularly if he happen to be in disagreement with us. Otherwise we become too narrow-minded and are no better than those who can say no good of others and regard themselves alone as right. The observance of this principle ought even to be extended to the academicians. Take one of Fantin-Latour’s pictures, for instance, or even the whole of his life-work! In any case he is not a revolutionary, and yet there is something restful and confident in his work, which elevates him to the rank of the most independent characters. For the good of all concerned, it is worth while abandoning the selfish principle: “Everyone for himself.”"
2. I'm not including the introduction in my rating because it's just hot garbage.
3. I'm into how much he was trying to get artists to make collectives to look out for each other and how he was all about taking care of people rather than extracting art from them.
4. He exoticizes just about everyone south of the bourgeoisie, including victims of colonialism. On the other hand, the way he talks about colonization shows how much of an excuse it is to say "they didnt know any better." He doesn't have any special insight on the subject and still understands that it's deplorable.
5. He often offers to drop painting entirely so he can take some of the money-making burden off his brother. They're really supportive of each other in general.
6. When people talk about Van Gogh as a tormented artist, I feel like they're ignoring the fact that pretty much all of the problems he talks about are from not having money. Painting itself does make him happy. He wouldnt have to burn himself out and exacerbate his mental condition repeatedly if he wasnt continually too broke to eat. The ""tragedy of van gogh"" isnt that the art world didnt reward how good he was before being too good at art got to him, it's that having enough to live on was the reward that was withheld. Plenty of everyday, mediocre, and maybe-someday artists die(d) from poverty, and they deserve to live longer too.
"When our relations with a painter are so strained as to make us say: “If that fellow exhibits any of his pictures by the side of mine, I shall withdraw mine,” and then proceed to abuse him, it seems to me that this is not the proper way to act; for, previous to arriving at such drastic conclusions one should make quite sure, and give the matter careful thought. After due reflection we are almost sure to find—particularly when we happen to be at loggerheads with the artist—that there is as much to criticize in our own work as in the other man’s. He has as much right to exist as we have. When it is remembered that this man or that—be he a pointilliste or a member of another school—has often done good work, instead of disparaging him, we should speak of him with respect and sympathy, more particularly if he happen to be in disagreement with us. Otherwise we become too narrow-minded and are no better than those who can say no good of others and regard themselves alone as right. The observance of this principle ought even to be extended to the academicians. Take one of Fantin-Latour’s pictures, for instance, or even the whole of his life-work! In any case he is not a revolutionary, and yet there is something restful and confident in his work, which elevates him to the rank of the most independent characters. For the good of all concerned, it is worth while abandoning the selfish principle: “Everyone for himself.”"
skrivena_stranica's review
4.0
Vrlo lijepo i u mnogim stvarima se divim Vincentovoj viziji umjetnosti i što bi ona trebala biti makar u nekim stvarima idem u suprotnom smjeru. Ali ipak, u različitim smo granama umjetnosti. Ovo izdanje izdvojilo je njegova pisma koja govore o slikarstvu, što je lijepo, ali nedostaju mi i neka druga promišljanja i svakodnevica. Svakako vrijedi pročitati, pogotovo ako ste ljubitelji van Gogha i/ili impresionizma u slikarstvu.
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