Why am I passionate about this?
I’m a writer and a teacher of writing who fell in love with France after my first visit fifty years ago. I was lucky enough once to spend a year in a small village about thirty miles west of Avignon in the south where I was able to observe, and eventually participate in, the daily life of this village. I wrote my book, French Dirt, about that experience. I have read intently about the South of France ever since with an eye for those books that truly capture the spirit and character of these people who are the heart of this storied part of France.
Richard's book list on the South of France
Why did Richard love this book?
Most everyone knows Vincent van Gogh spent time in the South of France. Most of us know he was a tortured soul and that he spent time in an asylum in Saint Rémy. And most of us know his wonderful painting, The Starry Night, which was painted in Saint Rémy. Since so much of the exquisite joy of the South of France is visual, who better to represent that visual beauty than Vincent van Gogh, one of the greatest painters to ever put brush to canvas? But what you may not know is that Vincent was one of our greatest letter writers as well. He wrote many to his brother, Theo, and reading these letters you cannot help but see Provence through Van Gogh’s remarkable eyes.
1 author picked The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
'I cannot help that my pictures do not sell. Nevertheless, the time will come when people will see that they are worth more than the price of the paint ...' Vincent van Gogh
Discover the moving story of Vincent van Gogh, with his artistic genius and emotional torment told through personal letters, sketches and paintings in this beautiful reissue of a previous bestseller.
Vincent van Gogh's letters are a written testimony to the artist's struggle to survive and work. This fascinating book's combination of deeply personal letters alongside rough sketches and finished paintings gives an intimate insight into the painter's…