Piles of French Novels, 1887 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Vincent van Gogh also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Piles of French Novels is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

The painting presents an array of paperbound volumes scattered across a modestly sized table, each displaying subtle variations in hue and form. They are arranged not with rigid precision but in a manner suggesting the habitual accumulation of one who immerses himself in text. This is no neat bookshelf; rather, it offers a glimpse of a personal ritual, an unguarded moment of daily life. At the forefront lies a book left open, beckoning the viewer to step into the author’s world, a silent invitation to dwell within these pages.

The chosen palette is primarily warm, dominated by rich ochres and muted yellows punctuated by accents of salmon and pale, bluish-grey. These tones gently shift throughout the composition, creating a harmony that resonates with the overarching sense of quiet reflection. The soft pinkish ground upon which the books rest adds a layer of intimacy, while the bold swaths of color marking each tome lend a certain gravity to their presence. In effect, the viewer perceives a tableau that balances gentle coloration with a palpable sense of weight, elevating these novels from simple objects to subjects of keen attention.

Close observation reveals that the artist’s technique here is markedly different from his more turbulent works; the brushstrokes, though visible, remain subdued. The surfaces of the books appear carefully modulated, the edges delineated with poised, deliberate lines. This more measured approach underscores the intimate nature of the composition. While the paint application retains a characteristic texture, the interplay of controlled strokes and understated tonal shifts accentuates the painter’s commitment to conveying the object’s essence rather than merely its form.

Compositionally, the eye is guided in a circular motion, captured first by the red-toned volumes at right, then traversing toward the more subdued yellows and greens at left. The open book in the foreground emerges as a natural focal point, inviting curiosity and hinting at hidden narratives. This device also disrupts any static reading of the work, reinforcing the idea that these books have just been put down, ready to be resumed at a moment’s notice.

Created in an era when French literature was embracing realism and modernity, these paperbacks stand as testament to the painter’s admiration for authors such as Émile Zola and the Goncourt brothers. The yellow covers, so instantly recognizable to contemporary readers, evoke a collective fascination with social discourse and personal introspection. Through these assembled novels, the painting honors the quiet dialogue between reader and text, a conversation that persists beyond the canvas.