""Through a glass, darkly" is the biblical phrase that Vincent van Gogh borrowed in a letter to his mother, Anna Cornelia, when reflecting on his clouded perception of those closest to him. Painting, on the other hand, was a more certain venture. Van Gogh's relationship to the object is tirelessly recounted in a number of paintings and drawings that privilege an intimacy between viewer and viewed. The close examination of objects in nature was one first explored in his youth. These early efforts and their subsequent development are here considered through the spirit of adventure suggested by Lewis Carroll's imaginative novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), focusing on the artist's childhood imagination and passion for nature, flowers and insects and the element of wonder and spontaneity in his work. The "enlarged" and detailed viewing and distortions in scale that Alice experiences in both novels provides a way in which to approach Van Gogh's imagery that reflects the "close-up" view. Considered in four parts, with titles drawn from Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, this thematic overview centers around the concept of the close-up and considers the impact of various developments in the fields of art, literature, science and technology, religion and popular culture on the artist's way of seeing and perceiving. Highlighted here are some key subjects relating to Van Gogh's engagement with objects and the natural world, such as the experience of the artist's youth, his childhood studies , the importance of flowers, plants, trees and insects, literature as a source of inspiration in his work, and the evolution of the detail in his paintings"--Provided by publisher.

Issued in connection with an exhibition held Feb. 1-May 6, 2012, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, and May 24-Sept. 3, 2012, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Includes bibliographical references and index.