Jo van Gogh-Bonger: The Woman Who Made Vincent Famous: Hans Luijten: Bloomsbury Visual Arts

Jo van Gogh-Bonger

The Woman Who Made Vincent Famous

Jo van Gogh-Bonger

The Woman Who Made Vincent Famous

Description

It is so good, after so many years of public indifference, even hostility towards Vincent and his work, to feel towards the end of my life that the battle is won.'
JO VAN GOGH-BONGER TO GUSTAVE COQUIOT, 1922

'It is a sacrifice for the sake of Vincent's glory.'
JO VAN GOGH-BONGER ON THE SALE OF 'THE SUNFLOWERS' TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY, UK, 1924

Little known but no less influential, Jo van Gogh-Bonger was sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, wife of his brother, Theo. When the brothers died soon after each other, she took charge of Van Gogh's artistic legacy and devoted the rest of her life to disseminating his work.

Despite being widowed with a young son, Jo successfully navigated the male-dominated world of the art market-publishing Van Gogh's letters, organizing exhibitions in the Netherlands and throughout the world, and making strategic sales to private individuals and influential dealers-ultimately establishing Van Gogh's reputation as one of the finest artists of his generation. In doing so, she fundamentally changed how we view the relationship between the artist and his work.

She also lived a rich and fascinating life-not only was she friends with eminent writers and artists, but she also was active within the Social Democratic Labour Party and closely involved in emerging women's movements.

Using rich source material, including unseen diaries, documents and letters, Hans Luijten charts the multi-faceted life of this visionary woman with the drive to shake the art world to its core.

Introduction: 'An Amsterdam girl'

Part One: A respectable middle-class family-the Bongers, 1862–88
1. A carefree childhood in a harmonious family
2. HBS and training as an English teacher
3. Translator, teacher and love for Eduard Stumpff

Part Two: Initiation into art-the Van Goghs, 1888–91
4. Prelude to her marriage to Theo van Gogh
5. Married life and motherhood in Paris
6. Life with the duality of Theo and Vincent

Part Three: Boarding house keeper with an attic full of art, 1891–1901
7. Back in the Netherlands-Villa Helma in Bussum
8. Contacts with Jan Veth, Jan Toorop and Richard Roland Holst
9. Playing with fire-Isaac Israëls

Part Four: Second marriage and concentrated promotion of Van Gogh's work, 1901–5
10. Johan Cohen Gosschalk-Villa Eikenhof in Bussum
11. Reviewing books and promoting Van Gogh-back in Amsterdam

Part Five: Van Gogh goes from strength to strength, 1905–12
12. A magnificent exhibition in the summer of 1905
13. The art dealers Gaston Bernheim, Paul Cassirer and Johannes de Bois
14. Contracts for publication of Van Gogh's letters

Part Six: Efforts for social democracy and publication of Van Gogh's letters, 1912–25
15. The Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij (SDAP)
16. The publication of Brieven aan zijn broeder (Letters to his Brother) (1914)
17. New York-translations of the letters into English
18. A sacrifice for Vincent's glory

Epilogue: 'An exceptional example for women'

Notes
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index of Names and Titles

Product details

Published	03 Nov 2022
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	544
ISBN	9781350299580
Imprint	Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Illustrations	63 colour & 67 bw illus
Dimensions	246 x 189 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

[Luijten] presents a fascinating and detailed account of [Jo van Gogh-Bonger's] astonishing life … [A] magnificent tribute.

Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper
Magisterial. . . . Luijten has produced the most significant addition to the Van Gogh literature in nearly forty years.

New Criterion
Thorough … from which [Jo van Gogh-Bonger] emerges as both formidable and fascinating in her own right.

New Statesman
Art historians say Luijten's biography is a major step in what will be an ongoing reappraisal - not only of the source of van Gogh's fame but also of the modern notion of what an artist is. For that, too, is something Jo helped to invent.

Russell Shorto, The New York Times
Compelling … The book brings a remarkable woman to wider notice … The van Gogh brothers were inseparable, in life and death, but thanks to this author's diligence, Jo now has her place alongside them.

Michael Prodger, Country Life
[A] superb biography of the … extraordinary Jo van Gogh-Bonger. So much has been written on Vincent van Gogh that you wonder what more can be said. It turns out much more on the woman who was the early driving force behind the Dutch artist's legacy.

Jacqueline Riding, The Art Newspaper (Books of the Year)