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Theo Van Gogh 1857-1891
by Chris Tsolwijk and Richard Thomson.
Van Gogh Museum, and Zwolle:
Waanders Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; distributed by
University of Washington Press, 2000.
ISBN: 90-400-9363-6.
Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens, Department of Art, University of Northern
Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50613-0362, U.S.A. E-mail: ballast@netins.net
Throughout much of his life the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh suffered
from emotional extremes, alternating from violent excitability to
melancholic withdrawal, moods that are often observable in his
self-portraits, landscape paintings and so on. As the quintessential
expressionist, he has always overshadowed his younger brother, Theo, who
supported him both emotionally and monetarily, but who, as this book
documents, also pursued a successful career as a Paris-based art dealer.
Vincent took his own life in 1890; while Theo died a year later (at age
33), apparently of dementia paralytica, the last stage of syphilis. This
beautifully produced book, which consists of three scholarly essays, a
chronology and nearly 200 reproductions of historic photographs and
works of art, presents an account of the life of the two, while
emphasizing the larger context of Theo's activities as a dealer, who
was, like his brother, ahead of his time. It was published in
conjunction with an exhibition at museums in Amsterdam and Paris in 1999
and 2000 of works bought, sold and/or collected by Theo Van Gogh.
(Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review 15, No. 4, Summer
2000.)
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