Vincent Reviews

Vincent O'Brien is the author of this informational piece on stained glass. He caught my attention because most books that I have read on stained glass put great emphasis on copperfoil, lead, and mosaic techniques. Yet, the information O'Brien shares in Techniques of Stained Glass encompasses faceted and laminated techniques as well. The author uses language that ammatures can understand and benefits masters too. O'Brien explains each process well and includes photographs to illustrate the different techniques and multiple lighting effects on the glass. As a beginning stained glass artist, I found inspiration in reading O'Brien's book, and I look forward to using these new techniques.

This book should be read by every county commissioner and township trustee not to mention mayor & govenor. THESE are the majority of the decision makers out in the hinterlands and many are volunteers who have little or no knowledge of the impact their decisions will have on generations to come. This book is a valuable tool and blueprint to making better land planning decisions and encouraging the best kind of development possible - all by way of models.

I found the Authors writing to be in a pure and warmhearted fashion so the majority of today's (me) spiritual readers can relate to the story as it penetrates the heart and soul of everyday people. The book offered hope and comfort for those of us suffering from life's everyday afflictions. It makes for very entertaining reading.

This book discusses most aspects of stormwater hydrology, provides theory of various competing methods, AND many worked examples. The format is very readable, and the explanations helpful. While I found the book very useful, and would buy it again, it has very little information on infiltration basins, and the TR-20 program included has been outmoded by commercially available programs.

Vincent Starrett is remembered primarily for his contributions to Sherlockiana, but he was also an accomplished writer of detective stories for newspapers and the pulps, many of them featuring Chicago sleuth Jimmie Lavender. Pop-culture expert Peter Ruber has gathered together many forgotten stories from yellowing pages, and produced a vooume which captures the 1920's and 1930's. Well-worth the time of anyone who enjoys the leisurely unfolding of clues.

REASON FOR 4 STAR RANK: This book is definitely worth purchasing if you love giant photos of Vincent's work-- a great coffee table book! The only thing that keeps me from giving this book 5 stars is it does not have a table of contents! It just goes right into "whatever." I like to know what I am reading before I just plunge into a 160 page book! The photos though truly make it a 5 star book! I wish I could give it a 9 of 10 stars!

ENORMOUS PHOTOS OF VINCENT'S ART: Here are the LARGE illustrations of Vincent's work that you are sure to enjoy:

THE SOWER, 1888 Oil on canvas [I haven't seen this one before] / IRISES, 1889 Oil on canvas [ Beautiful piece] / SUNFLOWERS Oil on canvas [Incredible] / THE RETURN OF THE MINERS, 1881 Pen, pencil & brush [WOW] / THE GREAT LADY, 1882 Graphite & ink / THE HARROWER, 1883 Letter in pen / THE POTATO EATERS, 1885 Oil on canvas [Fantastic use of backlighting and texture] / STILL LIFE WITH BIBLE, 1885 Oil on panel [Speaks to me] / THE QUAY, 1885 Oil on panel [Delightful texture and light even in darkness] / VIEW OF PARIS SEEN FROM MONTMARTRE, 1886 Oil on canvas / 5 small self portraits approx 3" x 5" (I wish these were full page!) / PORTRAIT OF PERE TANGUY, 1887 Oil on canvas / BRIDGE AT ASNIERES, 1887 Oil on canvas / A PAIR OF SHOES, 1886 Oil on canvas [I have never seen such beauty made from a pair of beaten up, old shoes in my entire life!] / VIEW FROM VINCENT'S WINDOW RUE LEPTIC, 1887 Oil on canvas / AGOSTINA SEGATORIIN THE CAFE DU TAMBOURIN, 1887 Oil on canvas / RESTAURANT DE LA SIRENE AT ASNIERES, 1887 Oil on canvas / THE ITALIAN WOMAN, LE SEGATORI, 1887 Oil on canvas / VIEW OF ARLES, 1888 Oil on canvas/ LA CHARCUTERIE, 1888 Oil on canvas / THE OLD MILL, 1888 Oil on canvas / BOATS AT SAINTES-MARIES, 1888 Oil on canvas [in my bathroom] / ENCAMPMENT OF GYPSIES IN CARAVANS, 1888 Oil on canvas / HARVEST AT LA CRAU, 1888 Oil on canvas / PORTRAIT OF MILLIET, 1888 Oil on canvas / PORTRAIT OF ARMAND ROULIN, 1888 Oil on canvas / STARRY NIGHT OVER THE RHONE, 1888 Oil on canvas / SELF-PORTRAIT, 1888 Oil on canvas / VINCENT'S BEDROOM IN ARLES, 1888 Oil on canvas / L'ARLESIENNE, 1888 Oil on canvas [amazing use of color--as always] / GAUGUIN'S CHAIR, 1888 Oil on canvas [perfect complementary colors and tones combined with his backlighting techique I adore] / HOSPITAL IN ARLES, 1889 Oil on canvas / HOSPITAL GARDEN, ARLES, 1889 Oil on canvas [amazing detail and intricasy] / SAINT-PAULS HOSPITAL, 1889 Oil on canvas / IRISES, 1890 Oil on canvas [my favorite Iris piece] / THE VESTIBULE OF SAINT-PAUL'S HOSPITAL, 1889 Black chalk & gouache on pink Ingres paper / PORTRAIT OF TRABUC, 1889 Oil on canvas / GARDEN OF SAINT-PAUL'S HOSPITAL, 1889 Oil on canvas / WHEATFIELD, 1889 Oil on canvas [fantastic texture and color] / WHEATFIELD, 1889 Black chalk, red & brown pencil on paper / BRANCHES OF AN ALMOND TREE IN BLOSSOM, 1889 Oil on canvas / DR. GACHET'S GARDEN, 1890 Oil on canvas [lots of black accents] / FIELD UNDER THUNDERCLOUDS ["My present, almost excessively calm frame of mind is just the state I needed to paint this." Truly magnificient] / MARGUERITE GACHET AT THE PIANO, 1890 Oil on canvas [lovely tones with dots and gorgeous strokes] / THATCHED FARMHOUSES, 1890 Oil on canvas / THATCHED SANDSTONE COTTAGES AT CHAPONVAL, 1890 Oil on canvas / CHURCH AT AUVERS-SUR-OISE, 1890 Oil on canvas [ My second favorite, only to STARRY NIGHT ; in my living room ] / CHATEAU DE AUVERS, 1890 Oil on canvas [so much beauty, brings tears to my eyes: this piece plus the previous have a black and white photograph of the subject and Vincent turned it all to GOLD in comparison!] / THE PLAIN WITH FARM NEAR AUVERS, 1890 Oil on canvas / CROWS IN THE WHEATFIELDS, 1890 Oil on canvas [extraordinary use of color and brushwork.] Keep in mind these are just the LARGE PIECES!

MORE REASONS TO BUY: The end of the book has a "Catalogue of essential works" (thumbnail sketches including title, year, dimensions and location.) Also helpful is a spreadsheet of "The Life of Van Gogh" with the year, Principal works, Artistic and literary life, and History.

EVEN MORE REASONS TO BUY: There are many more of his most renowned pieces including "Starry Night" [ my personal favorite,] "Night Cafe", and "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" but they aren't full page spreads. Another wonderful feature this book has is photographs of Vincent and his entire family!

I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates Vincent on any level--beginner to advanced!

Van Gogh and Millet is an excellent book comparing the works of Vincent van Gogh with those of the painter that had a huge influence on him: Jean-Francois Millet. This interesting and well researched book is a must for any Van Gogh scholar and is now of particular interest with Van Gogh and Millet retrospectives taking place around the world. The graphics are excellent and help to make this a fine resource for any arts enthusiast.

From 2000-2001 this exhibition, devoted specifically to Van Gogh's portraits and self-portraits, will travel to Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia. This book is well written and provides graphics of superb quality. My only misgiving comes from the fact that seven different writers contributed to the commentary of the book which makes the flow of the text somewhat disjointed. While very well researched, other exhibition catalogues (those by Ronald Pickvance, for example) take a work-by work, single author approach and, as a result, the commentary is more clear and concise. Still, it's a minor criticism of an excellent book.

We went to the Van Gogh exhibit in Toledo entitled "Fields" so we wanted to find a book that showed the fields that were in the exhibit. Unfortunatley, this book has more flowers than fields although some from the exhibit were represented. However, it is still a well-done book at a reasonable price. The book is smaller than one of the large coffee table sized books.

I found this book very appealing. It touched on both his art and his emotional side. This might of been the happiest time of his life and it was all to breif. I tottaly recomend this book if you enjoy Vincent's works.