Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh: A Portrait of the Compassionate Life

Carol A. Berry

May 2019 · InterVarsity Press

About this ebook

Carol Berry and her husband met and befriended Henri Nouwen when she sat in his course on compassion at Yale Divinity School in the 1970s. At the request of Henri Nouwen's literary estate, she has written this book, which includes unpublished material recorded from Nouwen's lectures.As an art educator, Berry is uniquely situated to develop Nouwen's work on Vincent van Gogh and to add her own research. She fills in background on the much misunderstood spiritual context of van Gogh's work, and reinterprets van Gogh's art (presented here in full color) in light of Nouwen's lectures. Berry also brings in her own experience in ministry, sharing how Nouwen and van Gogh, each in his own way, led her to the richness and beauty of the compassionate life.

About the author

Carol A. Berry is an artist, art educator, and lecturer. She is also the author of Vincent Van Gogh: His Spiritual Vision in Life and Art. She has been studying Vincent van Gogh since 1979, and spent years under the instruction of Henri J. M. Nouwen. She has traveled throughout Europe retracing van Gogh's life, visiting the towns and villages in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France, where van Gogh lived and worked.