He becomes depressed, taking comfort in religion.Įventually, Vincent decides to become a Calvinist pastor. However, he falls in love with his landlady’s daughter, Eugenie, and his proposal is rejected. His work goes well, and for a while, he is happy. With his family’s help, Vincent secures a position at an art dealer’s in London. During these years, he suffers the first of many unrequited passions, for a local girl, Ursula. Vincent’s father is a predikant, a Dutch Calvinist minister, and his upbringing is strict and religious. Stone begins his story with Vincent’s teenage years. The book devotes many pages to the genesis of van Gogh’s most famous paintings, including Sunflowers, Bedroom in Arles, and Wheat Field with Crows. In each place, the artist learns something that feeds into his work. It is divided into nine sections, each titled after its setting: London, the Borinage, Etten, The Hague, Paris, Arles, St. In writing the novel, Stone drew heavily on the more than 700 surviving letters between van Gogh and his beloved brother Theo in the author’s own assessment, his story is “based 98 percent on documentary evidence.” The novel is structured around the places of van Gogh’s life.

American author Irving Stone’s Lust for Life (1934) is a biographical novel based on the life of Vincent van Gogh, the great Dutch Impressionist painter.

Lust for life irving stone review