MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW Plain text for smartphones & printers

Support us financially by purchasing this from

Vincent van Gogh - A Life Devoted to Art
Produced by van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam and Capital Data 2009
Region Code: 0
Picture Format: 16:9; DVD9 and DVD5/NTSC
ARTHAUS MUSIK 109260 [2 DVDs: 133 mins]

This is a departure for ArtHaus Musik, a documentary about a painter rather than a composer. Here, for art-lovers is coverage of van Gogh’s often tormented existence, his life and work from his childhood in Brabant through his apprenticeship in Nuenen and enlightenment in Paris. This leads on to his life's glorious climax in the south of France and his disappointing working relationship with Gauguin in Arles when he cut off his ear.

The film is cast in five parts, dealing with his early years, his work in Holland working at many locations there, plus his experiences in Antwerp and Paris and Arles. Movingly covered, is his period of slow recuperation at the Saint-Rémy hospital after his mental breakdown. Finally there's coverage of his last very brief creative period at Auvers-sur-Oise from May to July 1890.

The film, conceived and produced by the van Gogh museum, contains unique footage covering all the places in Europe where the artist lived and worked. The experts give an insight into the artist's sources of inspiration. They use his numerous letters to show how he struggled to forge a new modern artistic style. The film shows all the masterpieces as well as many lesser known paintings and sketches.

The short bonus DVD is very interesting in showing the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. We are told how it developed thanks to the sustained championship of the van Gogh family after Vincent’s brother Theo’s death shortly following Vincent’s own demise. The film also covers the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Holland in which are hung many more of the artist's canvases. There is also footage devoted to a short interview with two members of the van Gogh family.

The sections are seemingly separate entities as if they are to be seen separately (for a television series?) and some of the graphics are repeated rather too often for straight-through viewing. The music, sympathetic to the subject but of no real significance, is played by a small group of instrumentalists mainly violin, cello and trumpet with occasional contributions from piano woodwind and percussion.

Ian Lace
 


 

 



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing