‘Vincent & Sien - A Story Of Love and Art’ by Silvia Kwon
Two worlds collide when artist Vincent van Gogh scoops up the frail prostitute Siene and her young daughter from the cold Dutch cobblestone streets in Geest. It’s winter in 1882 and two lives are pulled together by fate.
Sien, streetwise and living on her wits to keep hunger and homelessness at bay. Vincent, a true impulsive artisan spurred on in compassion but afraid to live a life on his own. The two come from polarizing differences yet find a warmth in each other’s embrace. He lives an oblivious life, seeing the world through his artists’ eye – caught up in moments and egocentricity. Sien has been cruelly molded into the realities of life without the luxury of choices that have hardened her heart. Vincent not only brings a physical warmth of home and care but a warmth that starts to thaw her soul. From artists model to muse, Sien brings a stability that Vincent needs. But can she reconcile his full focus on art that makes him forget even his very existence to the stark financial need to live and exist?
Will their juxtaposition find a balance to endure and create a home that Sien desires and Vincent’s impulsive heart wants to give?
Author Sylvia Kwon was already an aficionado on Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh when she chanced upon his relationship with Sien Hoornik during his years in The Hague in 1882. Her fascination led to her writing a fictionalized version of their love in Vincent & Sien. She has captured the social stratas, circumstances and characters in a credible way that leads you to be ‘in the moment’ between the cold, harsh streets of Geest and the softer, warm life in nearby Schenkweg.
See? How can you deny what we have between us? It is just as Michelet said,’ Vincent tells her, turning his back.
‘Michelet?’
‘A French writer. He said life should not be lived alone but with another by one’s side.
- Vincent & Siene, Page 50
Delve into the mind of one of the best known and recognised artists of all time and the one he loved who dared to move from bleak survival.
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