Book review: ‘Vincent’ by Barbara Stok

The graphic novel ‘Vincent’ has had a great effect on me. It has achieved what no art class, or visit to the van Gogh museum ever could: It made me understand the greatness of the artist Vincent van Gogh and the important role his brother Theo van Gogh played.

It just might be, that my mind has opened up for art and philosophy lately, that I first couldn’t understand. As if I was too busy trying to understand things, and by doing so, I missed out on so much truly great stuff.

Sure, I allways thought the work of Vincent van Gogh was an esthetic delight. However, It didn’t really ‘grab’ me on a deeper level. It was somehow meaningless. Eye candy…

Luckily, I’m a big fan of graphic novels. So when I found out that Nijgh & Van Ditmar published a graphic novel about Dutch art icon van Gogh, in cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum, I got intrigued.

Style
‘Vincent’ was my introduction to the work of Brabara Stok. A journalist, photographer, punk rock drummer, radio DJ and graphic novelist, (does it get any cooler?) living in the city of Groningen.

Barbara Stok manages to make complex situations look clear, bright and simple.

At first, I had to get used to her style of drawing, I thought it was a bit naive, almost childish. However, once I started reading the story, I realized how stunningly her style is. She manages to make complex situations look clear, bright and simple.

Stok simplifies, without compromising the story. On the contrary! Emotions and important happenings get the space they need. In doing so she has created a graphic novel that still leaves room for the readers’ own imagination.

The story
The story is about a very hectic, but productive period in the life of Vincent van Gogh, during his stay in Arles (1888-1889). In this period he creates famous paintings like ‘La chambre de l’artiste à Arles’ and he works with the famous Paul Gauguin. It is also the time in which he cuts of his ear and suffers from nervous disease.

Stok succeeds very well in setting up a character sketch of van Gogh. We also see how he behaved in the era of his life. It is not surprising that his work was not immediately understood. He went his own way, and created paintings the world, to say the least, had to get used to. One might ask himself: “If van Gogh had lived today, would he have been a successful painter?”

The structure of the story
This novel combines large pagewide drawings with a minimum of text. There is enough to read though. There there are parts of the correspondence between Vincent and his brother Theo included. Thanks to this structure of the book, it becomes clear how great the role was Theo played.
Without him, the paintings of Vincent wouldn’t probably be so famous. More important, without him, Vincent would have been a very lonely soul.

In conclusion

I’m very motivated to go to the Vincent van Gogh museum in Amsterdam again, and see what I’ve missed out on for so many years.

For me, this book means the reintroduction of Vincent van Gogh. I will re read it several times, that’s for sure! I probably will read the entire correspondence between him and Theo as well.

Also, I’m very motivated to go to the Vincent van Gogh museum in Amsterdam again, and see what I’ve missed out on for so many years. It’s on top of my todo list.

Not only did I rediscover van Gogh through this book, I also got to discover the great talent of Barbara Stok. I can’t wait to enjoy more of her work!

Tags: art, brabara stok, graphic novel, nijgh & van ditmar, review, theo van gogh, vincent van gogh
Geplaatst op: juni 15, 2013