Books by Bregje Gerritse

Van Gogh and the Avant-Garde: Along the Seine

by Bregje Gerritse, Jacquelyn N. Coutre

An examination of the innovative portrayals of industry and leisure created by five avant-garde artists working at Asnières in the late nineteenth century

From 1881 to 1890, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Emile Bernard, and Charles Angrand chose Asnières, a suburb of Paris, as a site of artistic experimentation. Located on the Seine, Asnières became a popular destination for Parisians thanks to aquatic sports and festivals starting in the 1850s, facilitated by the arrival of new train stations and bridges earlier in the century. This convenient new transportation system had beckoned Parisians to more distant destinations like Argenteuil and Bougival, resulting in the river scenes depicted by Impressionists like Monet and Renoir. At the same time, the idyllic landscape of Asnières increasingly contrasted with the factories appearing on the opposite side of the river. Homing in on the tensions between leisure and work, the avant-garde artists at Asnières sought to capture the feeling of this starkly modern landscape by developing innovative motifs, styles, and techniques that pushed their work in new directions. Offering an unprecedented in-depth look at the work produced by the artists at Asnières, this handsomely illustrated volume includes scholarly essays on each of the artists as well as a map detailing the locations where the artists painted.

Exhibition Schedule: Art Institute of Chicago
(May 14–September 4, 2023)

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(October 13, 2023–January 14, 2024)

Van Gogh The Roulin Family Portraits

by Nienke Bakker, Bregje Gerritse, Lydia Vagts, Katie Hanson, Christopher D. M. Atkins, Rachel Childers, Richard Newman, Muriel Geldof, Erin Mysak, Kathrin Pilz

With vibrant colors and imaginative backgrounds, Van Gogh's affectionate renderings of an entire family underscore his love of portraiture

Vincent van Gogh once wrote, "What I'm most passionate about...is the portrait, the modern portrait." This passion flourished between 1888 and '89 when, during his stay in Arles, in the South of France, the artist created a number of portraits of a neighboring family that had agreed to sit for him. The family included the local postman Joseph Roulin; his wife, Augustine; and their three children, Armand, Camille and Marcelle. Over the course of his year in Arles, the artist created an astonishing 26 painted portraits of the family members, both in groups and individually, as well as multiple drawings.
Van Gogh's tender relationship with the postman and his family and his groundbreaking portrayals of them are at the heart of this book, the first dedicated to the Roulin portraits. Drawing on letters from the artist, archival material, contemporary criticism and technical studies, The Roulin Family Portraits features insightful essays on Van Gogh's practice, his beliefs about portraiture, his personal relationship with the Roulins and his admiration for his contemporaries as well as 17th-century Dutch portraitists.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) began his painting career in his late twenties, influenced first by his work as a missionary in a mining region of Belgium, and later by his exposure to Impressionism while living in Paris. His bright signature style emerged after relocating to the South of France, where he produced more than 2,000 artworks in just over a decade.