Van Gogh: Struggle & Success

Product Description Developed in close collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, written by the museum's former chief curator dr. Fred Leeman, and narrated by Academy Award©-winner Dame Helen Mirren, this audio-biography provides you with a highly accessible and lively expert account of Van Gogh's life in just under two hours. The accompanying art booklets trace the development of his revolutionary work and its increasingly successful reception up to this day. Helen Mirren narrates the story of Vincent's struggle for recognition, and his existential doubts about the value of success. Vincent's quest to live an authentic, artistic, life is an endeavor that speaks to our shared human uncertainties and strengths. Here, for the first time, the artist's marketing acumen, his protracted struggle for recognition, and his ultimate refusal of that same recognition are put center-stage. The booklets allow you to reflect on Van Gogh's work while listening, and illustrate in lavish detail how his oeuvre was catapulted to ever greater fame after his tragically early death. Taken together, the audio-biography & art book lets you follow Van Gogh's challenging ascent from a late and unpromising start to the heights of his current reputation. About the Author About the Writer Dr. Fred Leeman (Leiden and Groningen Universities) was Chief Curator at the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from 1987 to 1997. He has published extensively on Van Gogh, Bernard, Cézanne, Mondrian, Redon and regularly curates and lectures in Europe and the US. He currently works as an independent Art Historian and Art Consultant. About the Narrator Academy Award © -winner Dame Helen Mirren is one of the best-known and most respected actresses of our time. Her 50-year international career spans the stage, screen and television, with scores of powerful and versatile performances that have won her numerous awards. She narrates the story of Vincent van Gogh’s struggle for recognition, and the uneasy relationship he had with the notion of ?success’: ?I had a wonderful time discovering the true story of Van Gogh. He is the most famous artist in the world, but the story of his life is not so well known. It was a great experience for me to get to know him intimately and to begin to understand his unlikely and difficult journey to the recognition he now has.”About the WriterDr. Fred Leeman (Leiden and Groningen Universities) was Chief Curator at the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from 1987 to 1997. He has published extensively on Van Gogh, Bernard, Cézanne, Mondrian, Redon and regularly curates and lectures in Europe and the US. He currently works as an independent Art Historian and Art Consultant.About the NarratorAcademy Award © -winner Dame Helen Mirren is one of the best-known and most respected actresses of our time. Her 50-year international career spans the stage, screen and television, with scores of powerful and versatile performances that have won her numerous awards. She narrates the story of Vincent van Gogh’sstruggle for recognition, and the uneasy relationship he had with the notion of ‘success’: “I had a wonderful time discovering the true story of Van Gogh. He is the most famous artist in the world, but the story of his life is not so well known. It was a great experience for me to get to know him intimately and to begin to understand his unlikely and difficult journey to the recognition he now has.”