Vincent van Gogh - an insatiable reader.

One of the most famous artists in history, Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was also a man with another powerful passion—for books.

An insatiable reader, Van Gogh spent his life hungrily consuming as many books as he could. He read, reread, and copied out books in Dutch, English, and French. He knew many passages by heart from works by Dickens, Zola, Shakespeare, and Maupassant, among many others. As he wrote to his brother, Theo, in one of their hundreds of letters:

“I have a more or less irresistible passion for books.”

He enjoyed a direct style of writing, ranging from simple action stories and rebellious characters to books about everyday life and humanity. Even as a child, Vincent devoured stacks of books. In general, the books he read reflected what was going on in his life.

Of all the books he read, there are four that played an important role in his life:

1.) Vincent read and reread works of Charles Dickens throughout his life, especially the kind that stressed the importance of charity and humanity.

2.) In 'L'amour' by Jules Michelet (1858), Vincent van Gogh found wisdom he could apply to his own love life. Vincent used it to justify his choices and how he lived his life. When he fell in love with his cousin Kee Vos. And as he lived together with Sien Hoornink, a prostitute.

3.) As Emile Zola ‘painted’ with his pen, Vincent ‘wrote’ with his brush. Zola’s stories like 'L'Oeuvre' (1886) were rooted in reality. He described life as rough and direct as it was lived in Parisian slums and miners’ villages.

4.) When Vincent went to live in Arles in the south of France (in 1888), he had a need for reading humour and satire. He read 'Tartarin de Tarascon' by Alphonse Daudet (1887). The book deals with an entertaining caricature of the Southern Frenchman. In this farce, Vincent could identify with life in southern France. Its humour impressed him.