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Vincent van Gogh: Becoming Vincent (Part 2)
How did van Gogh find his signature style? And what inspired him to create his famous sequence of Sunflowers paintings in 1888? Join Alastair and James in the second of four episodes charting the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, as they explore a period of extraordinary creativity in the artist's career.
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Artworks in this episode: Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait as a Painter, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Adolphe Monticelli, Sunset, c. 1882-84, The National Gallery, London Utagawa Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, 1857 Vincent van Gogh, Père Tanguy, 1887, Musée Rodin, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Vincent van Gogh, A Pair of Shoes, 1888, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin, 1888, Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Harvard Vincent van Gogh, The Yellow House, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Vincent van Gogh, Café Terrace at Night, 1888, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo Vincent van Gogh, The Night Café, 1888, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhône, 1888, Musée d'Orsay, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888, The National Gallery, London Vincent van Gogh, Vase with Five Sunflowers, 1888, destroyed 1945 Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1889, Sompo Museum of Art, Tokyo Vincent van Gogh, Three Sunflowers in a Vase, 1888, Private Collection Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888, Neue Pinakothek, Munich Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1889, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1889, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Thanks to Thames & Hudson for Vincent van Gogh: A Life in Letters, 2022
Dr James Fox is a Cambridge art historian, bestselling author and multi award-winning broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. His critically-acclaimed books on art and culture have been translated into fourteen languages. His most recent title and best-seller Craftland: a journey through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades (2025) has been named Waterstones Book of the Year, BBC’s book of the week and shortlisted for the Nero Book Prize. James is perhaps best known for his many arts documentaries for the BBC, including A History of Art in Three Colours, The Art of Japanese Life The Age of the Image and Nature and Us: a history through Art
Alastair Sooke is an author and broadcaster, and chief art critic at The Telegraph, for which he has been covering art since 2003. He has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC (Modern Masters, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, An Art Lovers’ Guide) and written several books, including studies of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat, and a history of Pop art. He is a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and was educated at the University of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
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Trailer
Stories of Art brings together art historian Dr. James Fox and art critic Alastair Sooke to uncover the most inspiring and compelling stories from the history of art.
44:44
Monet and the Birth of Impressionism (Part 1)
In this episode Dr James Fox and Alastair Sooke tell first part of the story of Claude Monet's ‘Impression, Sunrise’ and the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874.
51:38
Monet and the Birth of Impressionism (Part 2)
In this episode Dr James Fox and Alastair Sooke conclude the story of Claude Monet's ‘Impression, Sunrise’ and the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874.