Jo van Gogh-Bonger

The Woman Who Made Vincent Famous

Hans Luijten, Lynne Richards

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781350299597
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: History of Modern Art

It is so good, after so many years of public indifference, even hostility towards Vincent and his work, to feel towards the end of my life that the battle is won.'
JO VAN GOGH-BONGER TO GUSTAVE COQUIOT, 1922 'It is a sacrifice for the sake of Vincent's glory.'
JO VAN GOGH-BONGER ON THE SALE OF 'THE SUNFLOWERS' TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY, UK, 1924 Little known but no less influential, Jo van Gogh-Bonger was sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, wife of his brother, Theo. When the brothers died soon after each other, she took charge of Van Gogh's artistic legacy and devoted the rest of her life to disseminating his work. Despite being widowed with a young son, Jo successfully navigated the male-dominated world of the art market-publishing Van Gogh's letters, organizing exhibitions in the Netherlands and throughout the world, and making strategic sales to private individuals and influential dealers-ultimately establishing Van Gogh's reputation as one of the finest artists of his generation. In doing so, she fundamentally changed how we view the relationship between the artist and his work. She also lived a rich and fascinating life-not only was she friends with eminent writers and artists, but she also was active within the Social Democratic Labour Party and closely involved in emerging women's movements. Using rich source material, including unseen diaries, documents and letters, Hans Luijten charts the multi-faceted life of this visionary woman with the drive to shake the art world to its core.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction: ‘An Amsterdam girl’
• Part One A respectable middle-class family—the Bongers, 1862–88
• 1 A carefree childhood in a harmonious family
• 2 HBS and training as an English teacher
• 3 Translator, teacher and love for Eduard Stumpff
• Part Two Initiation into art—the Van Goghs, 1888–91
• 4 Prelude to her marriage to Theo van Gogh
• 5 Married life and motherhood in Paris
• 6 Life with the duality of Theo and Vincent
• Part Three Boarding house keeper with an attic full of art, 1891–1901
• 7 Back in the Netherlands—Villa Helma in Bussum
• 8 Contacts with Jan Veth, Jan Toorop and Richard Roland Holst
• 9 Playing with fire—Isaac Israëls
• Part Four Second marriage and concentrated promotion of Van Gogh’s work, 1901–5
• 10 Johan Cohen Gosschalk—Villa Eikenhof in Bussum
• 11 Reviewing books and promoting Van Gogh—back in Amsterdam
• Part Five Van Gogh goes from strength to strength, 1905–12
• 12 A magnificent exhibition in the summer of 1905
• 13 The art dealers Gaston Bernheim, Paul Cassirer and Johannes de Bois
• 14 Contracts for publication of Van Gogh’s letters
• Part Six Efforts for social democracy and publication of Van Gogh’s letters, 1912–25
• 15 The Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij (SDAP)
• 16 The publication of Brieven aan zijn broeder (Letters to his Brother) (1914)
• 17 New York-translations of the letters into English
• 18 A sacrifice for Vincent’s glory
• Epilogue: ‘An exceptional example for women’
• Notes
• Illustrations
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgements
• Index of Names and Titles
• Plate
• Copyright