A carefully selected edition of the letters of Van Gogh. For this great artist it is unusually difficult to separate his life from his work. These letters reveal his inner turmoil and strength of character, and provide an extraordinary insight into the intensity and creativity of his artistic life. Few artists' letters are as self-revelatory as Vincent Van Gogh's, and the selection included here, spanning the whole of his artistic career, sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and tortured man. Engaging candidly and movingly with his religious struggles, his ill-fated search for love, his intense relationship with his brother Theo and his attacks of mental illness, the letters contradict the popular image of Van Gogh as an anti-social madman and a martyr to art, showing instead that he was capable of great emotional and spiritual depths.