The Yellow House
by Martin Gayford
Published by Little, Brown and Company
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Reviewed by Michele Heather Pollock
Subtitled: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles
A not-yet-famous Vincent Van Gogh rents a small yellow house in Arles in the south of France, hangs his paintings on the walls, sets up a studio, and invites a not-yet-famous Paul Gauguin to stay with him there and paint. Gauguin moves in, and a turbulent nine-week period of artmaking and everyday life begins.
In The Yellow House, Martin Gayford has combined thorough biographical research of two of the most important artists in history with moving and suspenseful storytelling. He invites readers to live, briefly and chaotically, with Van Gogh and Gauguin. Covering a short period of both artists' lives, the book focuses on details of the everyday, taking the reader into the very small space the two artists shared until it is possible to feel equally the mild claustrophobia and the exhilaration of watching a masterpiece being painted.
This period of time is a crucial one for both artists, and Gayford shows how their living and working together deeply affected both of their development. They shared ideas and meals, disagreed and mimicked one another, and each created some of his greatest masterpieces during this time: Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Gauguin's Vision of the Sermon among them. But all was not well. Less than two months after Gauguin arrived in Arles, Van Gogh suffered the famous breakdown which led him to cut off his own ear.
With masterful storytelling, Gayford builds toward this crisis, describing the tension between Van Gogh and Gauguin, while sensitively exploring Van Gogh's developing mental illness. The result is a vivid and dramatic glimpse into the minds and hearts of two of history's greatest painters.
Armchair Interviews says: Observe these famous artists through this book.