A new selection of letters by the post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, offers a deeply human portrait of one...

A new selection of letters by the post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, offers a deeply human portrait of one of the most haunting figures in modern Western culture. In this Penguin Classics edition, the letters are selected and edited by Ronald de Leeuw and translated by Arnold Pomerans.

Few artists' letters are as revealing as Vincent van Gogh's. Spanning his artistic career, this selection sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and troubled man. Writing candidly and movingly about his religious struggles, his unsuccessful search for love, his mental health struggles, and his relationship with his brother Theo, the letters challenge the popular image of van Gogh as an antisocial madman and martyr to art. Instead, they reveal a man of profound emotional and spiritual depth. Above all, they form an intensely personal account of his artistic development and offer a unique insight into the creative process.

The letters are accompanied by explanatory biographical passages that reveal both van Gogh's inner journey and the events of his life. This edition also includes the drawings that originally illustrated the letters.

Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853–1890) was born in the Netherlands. In 1885, he painted his first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, a haunting depiction of domestic poverty. A year later, he began studying in Paris, where he met Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Seurat, all of whom became important influences on his work. In 1888, he left Paris for the Provençal landscapes of Arles, which inspired many of his finest works, including Sunflowers.

If you enjoyed The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, you might also like 100 Artists Manifestos, available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'If there was ever any doubt that Van Gogh's letters belong beside those great classics of artistic self-revelation, Cellini's autobiography and Delacroix's journal, this excellent new edition dispels it' — The Times