This book is both educational and entertaining as it delves into the financial life of Van Gogh. As the epitome of the struggling artist one assumes that he was destitute but that was only half of the story. The book is filled with letters between himself and his brother Theo. These show us a side of Van Gogh that is remarkable and entertaining. It is so sad to see how much he was tortured by his financial problems but interesting how family was so important for not just him but other artists. This book also gives a great insight into his life and what he found important as he would often forgo food for art supplies. I found his found his opinion of living like a monk most amusing and the things that he could not live without certainly show us a world very different to ours. The book is written in an easy to read style that does not preach but simply shows us the colorful life of an amazing man.

Vincent van Gogh is the poster child for the starving artist who would rather live in penury than compromise his artistic principles. It's a lovely legend, but not quite true. To be sure, van Gogh sold few of his paintings and lived off an allowance from his brother Theo, but his life was more complicated than the legend. Their father's three brothers were all art dealers, and Theo went into the same business. The emotionally unstable Vincent had a fair amount of business acumen himself. What he lacked more than anything else was self-discipline. Liesbeth Heenk has looked through the correspondence between the two brothers and quotes from it at length. Rather than covering his finances over his entire career, she focuses on two periods--early in his career when he lived in The Hague and late in life when he lived in Arles. Vincent received an allowance from Theo from 1881 till his death in 1890. After 1884, they agreed that all of Vincent's paintings would be Theo's property, and Theo would take responsibility for promoting them. Occasionally, however, Vincent exchanged paintings with other artists and sent those paintings to Theo. He knew that the paintings would become more valuable over time. He also encouraged Theo to invest in Japanese wood block prints, which like Vincent's paintings, hardly anyone else appreciated. Theo gave Vincent enough money for him to live on comfortably, if he had spent it wisely. Of course, he had to purchase paint, canvases, and other supplies and complained about how much they cost. He had to pay his models and wound up feeding them as well. He also spent lavishly on friends, including Paul Gauguin, who took shameful advantage of him. As for other "necessities," it's enough to note that late in his life he economized by visiting the brothel only once a week. Heenk has written a fascinating and highly readable account of some very interesting personalities. This book is one of a series of examinations of specific aspects of van Gogh's life and career. This structure allows her to highlight developments and relationships that could easily get lost in a general book on his life and works. It is also profusely illustrated.

A very interesting look into the financial life of the well-known, supposedly starving-artist, Vincent van Gogh. Traced through letters between Vincent and his brother, as well as other historical documentation, you will learn a different side to the story. Money is always tight when you spend more than you need, and that seems to have been the case with Vincent. You will learn of his reliance on his brother for funding, but also how significant that funding indeed was.

Liesbeth Heenk is a Dutch art historian specializing in Vincent Van Gogh (her PhD thesis from Courtauld Institute of Art in London was on Van Gogh's drawings). Beginning her career in international museums and auction houses she started her own company - Amsterdam Publishers - a primary resource for museum catalogues and art related eBooks. It is with considerable research into the life and art of Vincent Van Gogh that she is presenting 5 books on varying aspects of the artist's oeuvre and life. VAN GOGH AND MONEY dispels the myth that Van Gogh was the prime example of the starving artist who led a penniless life producing great art that never sold in his lifetime but that has become the highest valued art in the auction house at present. Heenk provides an Introduction that is a rich in historical veracity as any written to date and then proceeds to examine Van Gogh's life, the relationship to this often misconstrued helpful brother Theo, how he survived on a monthly income from Theo, sold some of his drawings and at least one of his paintings during his life, and was always in need of finances to but canvases and paint and stretchers - and models. Heenk divides her book into the two significant periods of Van Gogh's life between The Hague and Arles - the accompanying descent into mental illness and the life needs of a man of enormous ambition whose ability to support such goals was hindered by his embarrassing dependency on his brother Theo's financing. The book is rich in letters and conversations and archives that provide excellent support for Heenk's postulates. The book does have reproductions of some of Van Gogh's pertinent paintings, but they alas are in black and white and not in color (a problem with financing this book to be published no doubt) - and Van Gogh in black and white does little to lighten the book's content. Doubtless this series of books with take the upper role in the published information about Vincent Van Gogh, and written in the conversational style of Liesbeth Heenk may make these books best sellers to the art loving public!