Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)

About this book

Vincent van Gogh (18531890) believed that drawing was the root of everything. A self-taught artist he succeeded between 1881 and 1890 in developing an inimitable graphic style. This book traces the artists successive triumphs as a draftsman first in the Netherlands and later in France highlighting the diversity of his technical invention and the striking continuity of his vision. Given the pivotal role drawings played in Van Goghs artistic conception and the rich dialectic they enjoyed with his oil paintings a small selection of related canvases by the artist is also featured.This beautiful book presents approximately 120 works in charcoal ink graphite watercolor and diluted oils. The authors explore enduring questions that surround Van Goghs drawings including their manufacture artistic precedents and contribution to Modernism. In addition the text discusses the significance of the artists drawing practice to his development as a painter. The essays and entries feature the most current research on Van Goghs drawings and provide fresh interpretations of the motivating influences that shaped the artists contributions to the history of drawing.