When Johanna’s brother Andries introduces her to the Van Gogh brothers, she is thrust into a bizarre world. The couple exchanged many letters prior to their marriage, published as Brief Happiness: The Correspondence of Theo Van Gogh and Jo Bonger, [8] where they got to know each other better.

It is a very good novel, however if it could have had the same intensity throughout as it had in the last 100 pages it would be an excellent novel. The addendum at the end of the book explains how much was based on fact and what was poetic licence, and there was a lot of the latter.I wasn't so keen on the bizarre triangle created between Theo, Johanna and Vincent because Vincent 's behaviour was often so strange that I could not understand why Johanna would go along with his whims, putting herself repeatedly into compromising situations. While there Van Eeden viewed Vincent's paintings in Jo and Theo's apartment and wrote glowingly about them. The story is written from Jo's perspective, from the time she arrives in Paris to live with her brother, to just a few short years later when she makes it her mission to promote her brother-in-law's art so that he becomes world-renowned. Jo is subject to various lewd advances and trickery by Vincent, which she makes worse by acting stupid. She became custodian of Vincent's work after the death of her husband, Vincent's brother, not long after his death.

only a few years from Jo arriving in Paris, meeting and marrying Theo, having his child, the death of Vincent and then the death of her husband. But what shines from this novel is the undeniable all encompassing love between Vincent and his brother Theo. Despite the dismissal by the establishment of the art world, she worked tirelessly and successfully to bring art critics and the public to her view of Vincent as a suffering artistic genius both in painting and in literature through his letters. She makes it so with vivid descriptions of late 19th century Paris and populates her novel with, for the most part, real people and excellent characterizations. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

She was left with only an apartment in Paris filled with a few items of furniture and about 200 then-valueless works of her brother-in-law Vincent. To access your ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose. She spread him over the world, selling at least 195 paintings and 55 drawings by Van Gogh, including Sunflowers to London’s National Gallery of British Art in 1924, the year before she died. Andries has many connections within the art world of Paris, male and female, and is more than happy to introduce and show off his sister.

As a lover of Vincent's artwork I was interested to read a story telling of his sister-in-law's efforts to bring his paintings to the attention of the art world. Johanna is a disgraced woman, after being caught having relations with another teacher at the exclusive schol where she taught (whilst he is largely unaffected and allowed to continue teaching! After the turmoil of Theo's decline in his mental health and death, Johanna's real strength of character emerges with her creating her own name in ensuring that the world becomes aware of the talent of Vincent alongside his brother who had always supported him. She also played a key role in the growth of Vincent's fame and reputation through her strategic lending some of Vincent's work to various early retrospective exhibitions, while retaining ownership. In the personal arena, he certainly is seen as having non-traditional relationships and sometimes humour was his safeguard.Un uomo malato, depresso, sofferente a causa della solitudine e della costante sensazione di essere incompreso.

After a recent affair which left her disgraced and jobless, Jo finds herself in Paris, to stay with her brother, Andries, while things blow over. All this along with Vincent's obvious jealousy of his brother causes added problems and his heightened disturbed mind forces Theo to move him to the country giving Jo and himself space to live their lives but as it so happens the unstable Vincent moves to his first act of self harm.Disclaimer: My posts often include affiliate links, which means that I receive a small commission for any purchase made through my links, but with no extra charge to you.