I enjoyed and would recommend this graphic novel! I definitely learnt more about Vincent and his family and his life. I did feel a bit lost at times and did feel that perhaps the writer relied on the reader having some knowledge of art and artists from this time period and when I didn’t have this knowledge some elements and chapters were hard to follow. I enjoyed the art style and how it was similar to Vincent's personal style!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

I have always loved Vincent and consider him one of my favorite artists and while I knew the bare bones of his background, this story goes into much more depth in a very neat and artistic way. Everything is told from the POV of his sister-in-law Jo (Which makes sense) and I truly enjoyed the quotes that were sprinkled into the text from both her, Theo and Vincent. The renditions of the art were really interesting too and you can see a lot of depictions of Vincent's art in this novel. Learning more about Vincent's life through this novel made me cry a little. I knew he'd faced lots of hardships in his life but I didn't know the full extent of some of his bouts of illness and depression. I loved that through it all both Theo and Jo stood by his side as well as other friends Vincent had. I'll be forever grateful to Jo and her son (also named Vincent) for helping people see the importance of Vincent's work.

Thanks to the book in the 'Small People, BIG DREAMS' series, I rekindled my interest in one of my favorite painters, Vincent van Gogh. Despite having visited his museum and read about him in various art books, I felt the need for more detail, depth, and insight into his life and struggles.

Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law, played a crucial role in cementing his name and fame. This graphic novel narrates Vincent's story through Jo's eyes, covering the van Gogh family's journey up until the artist's death and Jo's subsequent efforts to gain critical approval and global recognition for Vincent's paintings. The story is complex and poignant, with illustrations and text that vividly convey the challenges and pain experienced by van Gogh. The novel delves into his problematic relationships, religious fervor, failures, and constant relocations, offering a multifaceted view of his life and work.

Although Jo didn't write the book herself, the narrative feels authentic and believable. Only towards the end do some parts feel slightly exaggerated or implausible, but overall, the "family member's perspective" provides an intimate and close account. The illustrations, inspired by Vincent's paintings, add a layer of authenticity and help the reader visualize the settings and subjects that captivated the artist. This detail enhances the reader's understanding and appreciation of van Gogh's work. After finishing the book, I felt a strong urge to revisit the van Gogh Museum to admire the artworks I had learned more about.

The graphic novel also piqued my interest in reading a more detailed biography and the letters that Jo translated and shared with the world. Jo van Gogh-Bonger was an incredibly brave and tenacious woman who changed the course of art history. If you prefer a concise and visually engaging account over lengthy biographies, this book is perfect. It's easy to read, relatively short, and filled with illustrations. I definitely plan to add a physical copy to my collection. Highly recommended!

Thank you so much, NetGallery and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion, for this wonderful reading experience and for the ARC copy!

Review in Estonian (Aug 29, 2024): https://brixieblog.wordpress.com/2024/08/29/vincent-a-graphic-biography-simon-elliott/

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Vincent: A Graphic Biography is a quick read, but if like me, you are easily undone by all things Van Gogh, this book might take an emotional toll on you.

While it is no surprise that Van Gogh experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows throughout his life, it is still devastating to read about it all. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent's sister-in-law, and the subsequent champion of his work, narrates this book. She presents a succient recounting of Van Gogh's life, from his upbringing in the Dutch countryside, all the way to his final days in Auvers-sur-Oise.

I wished this book included more details about Van Gogh's paintings, but apart from that, it serves as a great beginner's guide to anyone looking to delve into the exhilarating and tortured world of Vincent Van Gogh.

Told from the perspective of Vincent’s sister in law, this graphic memoir is truly captivating. I learnt things about the artist that I hadn’t before, and found it interesting that is was told in a story like way following his and his brothers death. The illustrations in this book are also lovely and I would greatly recommend this for a quick, factual read.

Biography Genre has always been my favourite. The name is someone whose art I grew up seeing in every part of art from accessories to any book covers. Especially his Starry Night art work is so popular that there is no artistic space where it has not been used. Although his name was known much later, I knew him only by the name of his art.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for making this book available for my honest review.

I started reading books about Vincent William Van Gogh, his artwork, his life. I didn't know much about him and thought he might have struggled and become famous like other artists. His life must have been tragic, he was plagued with mental health and other issues. But I wonder to know that in his lifetime he sold only one painting, he was not famous nor did he try. As I started reading his life was narrated by a woman. She is Johanna Van Gogh-Bongerr (Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law). Because of her, today's era knows about Vincent van Gogh and he became so famous. Of course, Vincent van Gogh's art style is known to the world, but Jo was the main in bringing his artwork to everyone. This is a fascinating story of not so much Vincent Van Gogh, but also the story of Jo van Gogh-Bonger. That's the reason, the last chapter of this book is for Jo named "The Woman Who Made Van Gogh: All for Vincent".

Also their family bonding especially between Vincent's brother Theo and him. Everything Vincent was doing and drawing was communicated by letter to his brother Theo, even when Vincent was in the asylum. The letters included explanations of his artwork, which later made Jo's job easier to convince people of how talented Vincent was. Vincent was so special to Theo that Theo and Jo's son was named Vincent Van Gogh. Their bonding was so strong that 6 months after Vincent's departure, Theo left Earth in Asylum!

The book is written in very simple and easy language. If you are interested in Vincent this book can be recommended. Every moment of his life has been tried to be expressed which can be called the strength of Graphic Nobel.

I have always been a huge fan of Van Gogh’s artwork. I think this book is a brilliant way to introduce children to Van Gogh’s artwork, while also making them aware of the hardship he suffered in his lifetime. It’s a beautiful way of honouring both Vincent and his sister-in-law Johanna, who worked so hard to get his work recognised posthumously.

I feel information was portrayed in an effective and informative way, and having it written from Johanna’s perspective adds personalization to the story.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Van Gogh or anyone who would like to learn about his life!

It is incredibly fitting to tell Vincent van Gogh’s life story in a graphic format. The artwork is beautiful yet simple; renderings of his actual paintings have that Vincent style while still retaining the style of the rest of the images as well. This graphic biography really paints the picture of his highs and lows. It is also so fitting for the artist who signed his work with his first name, forging a connection between artist and viewer, to have his story narrated by someone (his sister-in-law) who knew him closely so as to make it feel as though we are all old friends by the end. Vincent’s family strife, struggles with his mental health, and artistic studies are all outlined. In truth, this is not just a story of Vincent Van Gogh but also of Jo, Theo, and their son Vincent. The tragedies and triumphs of the lives and deaths of the van Gogh family will stick with you. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the eARC of Vincent: A Graphic Biography. I have always loved Van Gogh's work and have learned a lot about him over the years as I have studied his work. This graphic novel helped add some details about his life that I didn't know, and really portrayed his mental illness struggles in a respectful way. I also appreciated the colors and vibe of the illustrations and how they match well with Van Gogh's visions.

Oh goodness, I feel like a horrible outlier here… yes well researched, yes interesting POV, and yes some great images, but I thought this was just an ok book. I was a little confused who the target audience was. The write-ups, although informative, are written in short paragraphs as if targeted to a younger audience, yet the content is overwhelmingly depressing and included many kid-unfriendly themes.. I thought maybe junior high might be a good target audience, but the “graphic novel” element of this book is not as engaging as other more conversational books. The cover has such a beautiful bright uplifting cover, yet I felt very heavy and dark after reading it.

An enlightening insight into Van Gogh’s life. Beautifully illustrated and portrayed more of his life than I would ever have imagined knowing before

4 stars

Beautiful and heartbreaking... like Vincent himself.
I would never rate anything praising this marvelous artist.
I love the artwork and the way the story was told.
Jo as well as Theo are very much part of Vincent's life and I love it when they're highlighted.
Overall this was a wonderful graphic biography.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This Vincent van Gogh biography is far from comprehensive, but it is still a wonderful place to start when learning about this artist. It is narrated by his sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, who is the reason he is celebrated so extensively today. The book takes the reader through van Gogh’s life from birth until death, exploring both the good and bad moments. While the end does get quite detailed, I wish the beginning of his career had been more thoroughly explored. Another critical part of his life that could have been examined in more depth was his stay in Arles with Paul Gauguin. These nine weeks were crucial to how we perceive the post-impressionism movement today, as neither van Gogh’s nor Gauguin’s art would be what we know without that period. A perfect complementary read for this part of van Gogh’s life is Martin Gayford’s The Yellow House.

One thing worth congratulating the author for, in particular, is the final section of the book. The prose is incredibly well-written, allowing the reader to gain insight into how and why we know van Gogh’s work in the way we do today. This is all thanks to the aforementioned Jo van Gogh-Bonger, who preserved Theo van Gogh’s legacy and promoted Vincent’s work worldwide.

Regarding the graphic nature of the novel, I felt the reading order of the prose could have been clearer, as at times I didn’t know where to continue reading. The illustrations seemed rather lacklustre in the beginning, but Elliott’s style really develops and shines when depicting van Gogh’s paintings, which deserves applause. It feels like a perfect communion of both artists' styles.

Overall, it is an enjoyable read, definitely targeted towards people unfamiliar with or just beginning to explore the life of this legendary painter, though it may leave more seasoned art history lovers wanting more.

Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, for providing an ARC for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Amazing.

A fun graphic novel about the life of Vincent Van Gogh as told by his sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh-Bonger.

Lovely way to write a story about such a character. I learned many new thing I never knew about Van Gogh. Light and yet very informative.

Thank you Quarto Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC of this graphic novel.

I greatly enjoyed this title and anticipate that audiences of all ages will enjoy and appreciate it. Truly a beautiful read.

In this graphic biography of Vincent Van Gogh, the graphic biography is written from the point of view of Vincent’s sister-in-law, who was married to his brother, Theo. After Theo died shortly after Vincent, she inherited Vincent’s artwork and set upon a plan to establish his legacy and make the world aware of his art.
#VincentAGraphicBiography #NetGalley

I wanted this book to be much better than it ended up being, unfortunately. The cover made me think that maybe it would be drawn in the style of Vincent van Gogh, but instead the artwork was underwhelming. I liked the angle of having his sister-in-law Jo tell his story, and it was very interesting to learn about her role in Vincent's career - that wasn't something I had heard about before. I liked that the information was broken into easy-to-read chunks. I viewed this book as a quick crash-course in the man behind all the paintings. I was disappointed that his mental illness wasn't talked about more, beyond just "he was depressed". I know they didn't have the vocabulary then that we do now, but it would help readers now fully understand his actions better.

I think a more fitting title for this would be "van Gogh" - even though Vincent was the main focus, we also learned a great deal about Theo and Jo. I think this would be a great read for someone around 5th-8th grade who has an interest in art history.

I absolutely love Vincent, he's my favorite artist of all time, and this book has a very interesting format: an illustrated book, in which the pov is from Theo's wife, Vincent's younger brother. Quite a good book, which has several chapters dedicated to different parts of Vincent's life (even a separate chapter was devoted to his romantic relationships), and in general it tells about his whole life from birth to death (and even a little later events, when he finally became famous for his paintings).

The only thing that I personally lacked: firstly, there are few paintings by Vincent (a few of the most popular ones are mentioned, but there actually exist many more of them); and, secondly, all these paintings are not shown as real, but reproduced by the illustrator in his own style. Don't get me wrong, the style of the illustrator is pretty, and those illustrations are really cute, but it'd be better to see the artist's real paintings in his biography, no?

I recommend reading this book both even if you know absolutely nothing about Vincent, and even if you have been interested in him before (like me) because you might still learn some new information or just be reminded of something.

Such a troubled life...

Not sure exactly how I feel about this book. The writing style was a bit stilted and the art style was a bit more cartoonish and unpolished than I cared to see in a finished book. The colors are beautiful and brings a vibrancy to the book that it seemed to lack otherwise. I learned a lot about Vincent, but the tone felt rushed and aloof.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to this e-ARC.

I initially found the writing a bit wooden but persisted to learn more of Van Gogh and am glad that I did. It is an engrossing story of Vincent Van Gogh's life and struggles as well as Theo and Johanna Van Gogh's love and support for him. The art style isn't particularly to my taste but the illustrations of Van Gogh's work are very charming.