Van Gogh and Gauguin: Electric Arguments and Utopian Dreams

Westview, 2001. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Hardcover book with dust jacket, neither ex-library nor marked as a remainder. Binding is strong and all signatures are intact. Text block is free of markings and highlighting. A few leaves have creased corners from an edge bump. 264 pp. <br /><br />Although Vincent van Gogh's and Paul Gauguin's artistic collaboration in the South of France lasted no more than two months, their stormy relationship has continued to fascinate art historians, biographers and psychoanalysts as well as film makers and the general public. Two great 19th century figures with powerful and often clashing sensibilities, they shared a house, worked side by side, drank, caroused and argued passionately about art. Their brief venture together, richly documented in the artists' letters and paintings, would be compelling enough even if it had not culminated in the catastrophe of van Gogh's life - his ear cutting. This traumatic climax to van Gogh's and Gauguin's weeks spent in the "Yellow House" in Arles has raised profound questions about the nature of their relationship and about their behavior before and after van Gogh's self-mutilation. Van Gogh and Gauguin will explore the artists' intertwined lives from a psychoanalytic perspective in order to draw a nuanced and sophisticated picture of the artists' dealings with each other. The book will also examine crucial art historical issues such as the aesthetic convictions that both united and divided the two men, and the extent to which they influenced each other's art. Heavy books or multi-volume sets will require additional postage. Send me a message before purchase if you want a quote; otherwise, I will contact you after purchase with the final shipping price. Ships from USA.