Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158490 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-29
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Synopsis
Two artistic giants. One small house. From October to December 1888 a pair of largely unknown artists lived under one roof in the French provincial town of Arles. Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh ate, drank, talked, argued, slept and painted in one of the most intense and astonishing creative outpourings in history. Yet as the weeks passed Van Gogh buckled under the strain, fought with his companion and committed an act of violence on himself that prompted Gauguin to flee without saying goodbye to his friend. "The Yellow House" is an intimate portrait of their time together as well as a subtle exploration of a fragile friendship, art, madness, genius and the shocking act of self-mutilation that the world has sought to explain ever since.

From the Back Cover
`[A] drily witty, original and profoundly absorbing book' The
Independent

`Wonderfully perceptive...revealing and touching book' Telegraph

`A story of such fascination on so many levels...Martin Gayford tells it
vividly, intelligently and intelligibly' Literary Review

`The Yellow House offers a masterly portrait...of the nine weeks in 1888
that Van Gogh and Gauguin lived together in a pokey house in the south of
France' Mail on Sunday

`Wonderfully well told...with the rising tension of an inescapable
nightmare' The Telegraph

The author `manages to get inside two complex minds, analysing their
thoughts, fears, ambitions, complaints and fantasies with admirable
clarity' The Guardian

`Unmannered, sensible and to the point' The Telegraph

About the Author
Martin Gayford has been Art Critic of the Spectator and the
Sunday Telegraph. He is currently Chief European Art Critic for Bloomberg.
Among his publications are The Penguin Book of Art Writing, of which he was
co-editor, and contributions to many catalogues for exhibitions at Tate,
the Hayward Gallery, the Courtauld Galleries, the Musée d'Art Moderne,
Paris. Martin Gayford lives in Cambridge with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

A great read
I do agree with the comments above re the pics, BUT it is so well written and engaging, it almost doesn't matter. It makes the research into the pics a bit more laborious but keeps you engaged with the book even when not reading it. An excellent book for biog and art lovers alike.

Publishing faux pas
Given that so much of this story is based around discussion and use of colour, the lack of colour reprints of all paintings thoroughly compromised the reading. A huge faux pas on the publisher's part. Can't think the author was very happy with the decision!

What a shame
What a shame that this book does not have prints of the paintings! It's a wonderful story, told supremely well, but I found myself struggling with the, frankly, pathetic illustrations most of which are so useless that they might as well not have been included. Monochrome illustrations of paintings that rely on colour for their impact - what was the author (or, more likely, his publisher) thinking of? Please Mr Gayford bring out a version with colour plates and I for one will buy it again!!