This biography on Vincent van Gogh, written by his sister-in-law, who devoted her life to the preservation and exhibition of his paintings after the artist's death

Vincent van Gogh’s short, passionate life was driven by an almost unimaginable creative energy that eventually overwhelmed him. The outlines of his story—the early strivings in Holland and Paris, the revelatory impact of the move to Provence, the attacks of madness that led ineluctably to his suicide—are almost as familiar as the paintings. Few, however, knew Van Gogh as well as his sister-in-law. After Vincent’s death and that of her husband, his brother Theo, Jo van Gogh-Bonger devoted her life to preserving and exhibiting his paintings, and editing his letters. It is thanks to her tireless work that Vincent’s greatness as an artist (and indeed as a writer) came to be acknowledged. Jo’s short biography of Vincent is perhaps the closest we can come to Vincent the man, as seen by those who knew him.