There has always been an interesting conflict when it comes to Vincent Van Gogh; of all the famous painters, it seems to be the hardest with him to separate the art from the artist. Then again, is there really any separation?

Still this book talks about a period of his life that greatly shaped Van Gogh and should serve as an interesting look at the man and the artist.

I get sent most of my review copies as digital versions and for the most part I do prefer that as otherwise I would slowly get buried under a mountain of paper. As soon as I started reading Starry Night I really wanted a hard copy of the book. The photographs and the paintings just don’t get the attention that they deserve if you aren’t physically holding the pages in your hand and this is a book that deserves close inspection.

Bailey has chosen to detail Van Gogh’s time at the asylum in Saint-Remy with beautifully detailed descriptions of the period when he created some of his best known masterpieces. The book covers how he came to be there and the inspiration that he found in the location that helped him to develop some of the most famous canvases in the world, including the cypresses, wheat-fields, olive groves and sunsets that became central to the Van Gogh style. Although he wrote prolifically to his brother Theo these letters barely touched on his time here so it is fascinating to get a feel for his struggles during this period.

For me the quality of the additional illustrations are what makes this book much more interesting than others that I have read on the subject. It becomes a social history of a French psychiatric institution of the time including early photographs of the area and a plethora of back up material that is compulsive reading for any Van Gogh fan. Even if you only really like MOMA’s “Starry Night” or have been exposed to Van Gogh via the classic “Vincent and the Doctor” episode of Doctor Who (Season 5 Episode 10) there is plenty in here to pique your interest and keep you reading. I’ll be adding the physical book to my Christmas wish list. It is a must have for anyone interested in Impressionist art.

Supplied by Net Galley and Quarto Publishing Group, Frances Lincoln in exchange for an honest review.

UK publication Date: Aug 2 2022. 224 pages.

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.” - Vincent Van Gogh

My thanks to Quarto Books White Lion Frances Lincoln for a temporary digital review copy of ‘Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum’ by Martin Bailey.

This is an account of Vincent Van Gogh's one year stay at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence during which he painted some of his most iconic works. These masterpieces were produced despite Van Gogh dealing with the challenges of his ill health and the institutionalised life at the asylum.

Martin Bailey is an art journalist and a Van Gogh specialist. He examines the crises that caused Van Gogh to admit himself to the asylum and the creative inspiration he found during his year there. Bailey notes that the isolation assisted Van Gogh to develop his idiosyncratic style as he was away from other influences and artists.

This lavish book provides images and details of many paintings that van Gogh produced while there. Many of these were new to me. Its chapters are organised by the themes that Van Gogh painted including cypresses, wheatfields, olive groves, almond blossoms, sunsets, and of course the night sky.

While Van Gogh wrote little about the asylum in letters to his brother Theo, Bailey seeks so provide an impression of daily life behind the walls of the asylum during this period, incorporating newly discovered material. It appears that the asylum itself was quite progressive in its attitudes and treatment methods including a garden and encouraging nature walks

Although I knew some details of Vincent Van Gogh’s life, I was unaware that he had painted so many pieces, including ‘Starry Night’, while an in-patient.

Martin Bailey is clearly dedicated to his subject and an art history detective. I was interested in his account of tracking down a lost case of Van Gogh’s art that had been transported to Russia after World War II and since ‘disappeared’. Following the main text is a chronology, endnotes, a select bibliography, an index, and picture credits.

Overall, a beautifully presented and fascinating book that expands on the life and work of this iconic artist.

I love Van Gogh’s paintings and have been lucky enough to see so many of his works in person, including the focus of this book, Starry Night. This book by Martin Bailey covers Vincent’s time at the asylum in Saint-Rèmy-de-Provence. While there Van Gogh painted many of the landscapes we are so familiar with including irises, almond trees, cypress tress, the fields, and Starry Night. Martin Bailey provides an extremely well researched narrative of Vincent’s experience and works from this time period. This book is filled with beautiful full color images of Vincent’s paintings as well as artifacts from the time period. This is not a book to be casually flipped through, but is meant for someone truly interested in Vincent’s life. I particularly found the story of the Russian soldier finding the Starry Night sketches in WWII and taking them back to the Soviet Union where they remain to this day to be extremely fascinating.
Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, Frances Lincoln, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I am having trouble with my computer-here is the link to my goodreads review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4961219791#

Martin Bailey has another in his series of books covering the life of Vincent Van Gogh. This one focuses on this Van Gogh’s one year at the Asylum in Saint-Remy. The book is well researched and written for people who have more than a casual interest in Van Gogh’s life and art. As in the other books by the author he includes much of Van Gogh’s own words. He was a prolific writer to his brother and other family members. There are photos of the asylum and discussions of where he roomed, conditions and his views. I was fascinated to learn that they have now identified names of many people that were also patients at the time. Additionally many of their medical conditions and can be matched them to descriptions written by Van Gogh himself.

The art he creates during this time is extremely important and the colorful photographs of his paintings are wonderful. There are photos of cypress trees and olive groves along with how Van Gogh saw and painted them. A whole chapter is focused on one of his iconic works Starry Starry Night. Researchers have gone so far as to recreate the nights sky in planetariums for the two days he spent painting his masterpiece. (He painted during the day from memory.) He paints self portraits because he lacks other models and they show him to be healthy. In one short two month period he paints 60 works. The stunning Almond Blossom (which I just complete in jigsaw puzzle form) is painted as a gift to newborn nephew Vincent. The book gives additional information about what become of the asylum after Vincent’s time there. It is a prison camp during WWI an asylum again and now an asylum museum. (Yup, on my list of places to visit.)

This book seems to be a reprint from 2018 and I don’t know if it has been updated or changed from the original publication. I’ve read and enjoyed the authors books, Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence and Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame. This book and series would be a welcome addition to anyone interested in Van Gogh and his works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for a temporary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful addition to any collection. It was interesting to read about Van Gogh’s experience and have the photos included for reference. I loved it.

Van Gogh was admitted to the asylum at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole after famously cutting his ear off. While there, he created some of his most brilliant work that featured cypresses, wheatfields, olive groves and sunsets.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A profound look into the beloved artist, Van Gogh. A perfect book for any Van Gogh or art lover. A detailed and in-depth look into a difficult time for the artist, but also a very creative and rewarding time for him as well. A new perspective of him helps everyone appreciate his art and genius even more. Most definitely recommend picking it up!


This ARC was kindly provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Starry night by Martin Bailey.
Van Gogh at the Asylum.
Despite the challenges of ill health and asylum life, Van Gogh continued to produce a series of masterpieces.
I loved the images. Well researched. Cleverly written. 5*.

Let me just start by saying that I love Van Gogh's paintings; Starry Night is my all-time favourite one.

In <I>Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum</i>, Martin Bailey delineates the year spent by the painter at the St Paul Asylum, when he produced a great part of his paintings and, most famously, Starry Night. The book is woven with quotes from Van Gogh himself, usually from the correspondence between him and his brother, Theo. Moreover, it illustrates all of the time spent at the asylum with all of the paintings produced there, chronologically.

I loved this book! I feel that I have a way better understanding of Van Gogh's work and person. I found it incredible to be able to read some of what the painter was saying about himself and his paintings from the extracts quoted throughout the book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

It was sad to be reminded again that most of Van Gogh’s well known paintings were completed when he was at the asylum, moving from one turmoil to another. Maybe it was his way of calming his mid suffering from abandonment and loneliness. Each curvy stroke on his canvases showed kinky roads down to rabbit holes his mind was going. After all he suffered, he got that recognition way too late.

This book talks about Van Gogh’s said asylum days: his conversations with his brother, who was in the process of starting his own family, and different sets of work that make even those who knows thing about art identify him. It truly made me sad that someone who should have tons of people around who could make him feel not alone (in theory) was struggling this much to hold onto the life. What should have been cheerful news to him was the main reason he went through crises. I wish he lived at a time where there are better treatments for mental issues.

The amount of detail went into each chapter was on point. It wasn’t like a PhD thesis. It was a good summary of Van Gogh’s psyche and effort went into each set of work. I have to thank Martin Bailey for reminding me to look at Van Gogh’s paintings with different lens again. If you like Van Gogh or interested in arts, you will enjoy this book a lot: it will give you all the feelings when telling you few thing about a lonely man.

Let me just start off by saying that this book had very gorgeous imagery. The pictures from the asylum gave such beautiful insight as to what Van Goghs life was like all those years ago.
The information in this book i found incredibly interesting. I love Van Gogh, I love learning about his life and why he painted the things that he did, and I learnt new things from this book that i’ve never seen anywhere else!
I really really enjoyed this one, and i’d recommend it to anyone who is an avid lover of Van Gogh.

*** I have received and read an e - ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

Van Gogh has always held a special place in my heart. I’ve used “Starry Night” as the basis for costumes in one of my design projects, and I used “Almond Blossom” blossom for one of my girls’ nights at a wine and paint class. ‘\

And the heartbreaking episode of Doctor Who will never leave my mind, so when I saw this book was available, I had to read it.

As expected, the paintings and sketches with him were absolutely stunning. Each one was perfectly placed within the book to really hammer home the emotions of what I was reading.

Book as well put together, and it was great to read little bits of history that I had never heard before. I wanted to get this review out of soon as possible, but I found the book to be some interesting, but I’m going back to immediately reread it. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a lover of art, history, Van Gogh, or any combination there of.

This was such a tremendously beautiful book and such a unique perspective of Van Gogh's work. Having done my undergraduate in Art History (heavily saturated with Van Gogh) I am always surprised when I learn new things. This book gives an incredible insight into Van Gogh's experiences and mind set during his stay in Saint-Remy as well as offering a great collection of his art works paired with photographs and anecdotes of the various people he encountered.

While I originally downloaded this for kindle (which I do not recommend) and highly recommend reading it on a tablet (OR buying it! It would be such a beautiful coffee table book!

Thank you to the publisher, Quatro Publishing Group and Netgalley for an advanced ready copy, all opinions shared in this review are my own

Informative and beautiful. The paintings are all prefaced with background information relevant to van Gogh's point of view. I would have liked to see more about the notes his doctors took during his stay at the asylum. I wanted to know more about the details of his psychological condition. It was heartbreaking to read about the way the patients were treated, especially knowing how far the fields of medicine and psychology have come. I can only wonder how different van Gogh's life would be if he lived in this day and age.

I found Starry Night by Martin Bailey to be a unique read amongst books about Vincent Van Gogh. Rather than following a traditional linear life timeline, Bailey focuses solely on Van Gogh’s time in the asylum in Saint-Remy and the vast amount of pieces he created there, including multiple of his masterpieces.

Starry Night is a fascinating read focusing on the asylum and it’s influence on Van Gogh’s creations. His work is broken down in sections of location (inside the asylum, outside the asylum) as well as people he encountered in the asylum such as workers and patients. Bailey gives readers details about each painting; initial background that gives perspective, as well as where the paintings went after completion and today. The author has taken a refreshing approach to a well covered painter that I found to be easy to read and very interesting.

Thank you very much to the publisher for the opportunity to review with my honest opinions.

Amazing book filled with illustrations of Vincent Van Gogh’s art. This is obviously not meant to be read on a kindle or digital device, but this would be a perfect coffee table book. Art enthusiasts would be blown away not just by the quality of the illustrations, but the history behind them as well as facts about the artist. The book offers deeper insights into Van Gogh’s life, tragic events and struggles that were not previously well-known. The paintings featured in this book was the highlight; I was only familiar with Starry Night prior to this. The art was beautiful, whimsical, very distinct and characteristically Van Gogh. The Olive Groves was my favorite. He was truly a genius. Thank you White Lion Publishing and The Quarto Group for approving my request to read this!

This book was not exactly what I was expecting. I thought it would read more as the story of the artist's time at Saint-Paul but instead, it focuses heavily on the facility and even devouts a later chapter to the facility after the artist's death. Though there is plenty of information that I've learned from this book it did read as somewhat dated and didn't bring me the emotional insight into this period in the artist's life that I was anticipating.

Van Gogh is an artist whose work is quite familiar. The Starry Night pictured on this book’s cover is one of his best known and most recognized paintings.

While Van Gogh was an icon who created gorgeous art works, he also struggled. Yes, many know about his ear but there is much more to his life story and works than that. In this book, a well-regarded art historian looks into Van Gogh’s experiences during the time that he was in the asylum. He offers much to think about for both art history students and others with an interest in this iconic painter.

This is truly a wonderful book. The author is an expert and relatable guide to Van Gogh’s life. From the beginning when Saint Remy is described, he invites the reader in. The book is beautifully illustrated with Van Gogh’s paintings. In addition, there are many photographs. Readers can see the page noting Van Gogh’s admission to the asylum for example as well as many of his works.

I highly recommend this title. I read an ARC and would love to see the finished book.

Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group-White Lion-Frances Lincoln books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Vincent Van Gogh is a man who both amazes me and breaks my heart all at once. Dealing with mental illnesses during a time period where these topics were mental health wasn't studied properly and the methods of treatment were questionable at best. Still, Van Gogh did his best to find beauty against all odds which is more than inspiring. This book takes a deeper look into Van Gogh's stay at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a mental institution. It was here where he worked on many paintings, the most notable one being Starry Night.

As someone who's a big fan of Van Gogh, both his work and his life, I thought this book was excellent. It provides more insight into the mental institution while being respectful of Van Gogh's struggles. There are also several illustrations that make the book feel more interactive and pleasing to the eye. Overall, I definitely recommend this to any Vincent Van Gogh fan and in the future I will hopefully get my own copy.