AN INTIMATE Q&A We sat down with author Lin Arison and photographer Neil Folberg to discuss their upcoming Abbeville Press release, Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists: Discovering the Connections What inspired the writing of Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists? Lin Arison: By happenstance I discovered the enchanting little village where Van Gogh killed himself in the north of France and realized that most people thought he died in the South. It became apparent there were many other inaccuracies about this much beleaguered genius that I felt needed to be set straight. And so I began to trace his footsteps, which led me into the much bigger story of the Impressionists, all intertwined. (above) Photographer Neil Folberg's reinvention of Degas's famous dancers How did the manuscript change and develop from your initial conception of it? Lin Arison: I thought I was just going to do a travel book, but the relationships of the artists brought out a more personal dimension to the story. As their stories showed themselves to me, I began to identify with them, and so again the book took another track. How did the collaboration between the two of you change your understanding of the project? Neil Folberg: Lin's free-wheeling approach made it possible to try anything and to go to the limits, no-holds-barred. I knew that the further I pushed, the better she would like it. I know of no other book or project like this one, where there is a dialogue carried on so subtly — and yet so boldly — between an artist and a writer. Subtlety, creativity, and thought are not popular commodities in a culture which craves constant provocation and titillation. And I knew that ultimately, our work would mesh: we were working in parallel universes, but with the same event horizon, to borrow the language of physics.		Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists, to be published by Abbeville in September 2007, is a captivating memoir of author Lin Arison's journey through France with her granddaughter in search of the Impressionists and their art, interwoven with personal histories of the artists and illuminated with contemporary photographs from Neil Folberg that re-create and reimagine Impressionist work. To reserve your copy of Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists email reserve@abbeville.com and receive FREE shipping! What do you hope the reader will take away from Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists? Lin Arison: I would like the reader to fall in the love with artists and feel compassion for them. I would like the reader to enjoy their art and Neil's art.  I would be very happy if the reader came on the journey with me… whether it would be arm-chair travel or actually searching out these wonderful places that I have discovered. Neil Folberg: It is worth noting that the French Impressionists lived through a period of enormous political and social upheaval that involved much hardship. The hardships and events — such as the collapse of government, the barricades and slaughter, among many other disasters — are barely reflected in their work, which is ultimately a celebration of life, not a cynical post-modern sigh of boredom and meaninglessness. Guess what — that's why Impressionist art is still so compelling to so many people! Better to triumph over hardship than to wallow in it. Want to learn more about this title? Get book details here. (above and at left) From Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists: Neil Folberg's photo mirrors Morisot's classic painting (above)The back cover of Van Gogh and the Impressionists: Manet's Portrait of Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets