Lust for Life (film) scheme, noting the design team "consciously made the flow of color and the interplay of compositions and hues the most forceful devices for conveying a motion picture comprehension of van Gogh." "Variety" said, "This is a slow-moving picture whose only action is in the dialog itself. Basically a faithful portrait of Van Gogh, "Lust for Life" is nonetheless unexciting. It misses out in conveying the color and entertainment of the original Irving Stone novel." "Harrison's Reports" wrote that the film had been given "an excellent production" and that "Kirk Douglas does outstanding work as Van Gogh, and Anthony Quinn is
Vincent van Gogh (Russell painting) in the possession of his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, and then their son, William Vincent van Gogh. The portrait is now on permanent loan to Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum. Russell's portrait is unique among those of Van Gogh in that it is the only one by his contemporaries in which he makes direct eye contact with the viewer. Noting Van Gogh's sharp gaze, art critic Laura Cumming said Russell's portrait provides an "intimate and intense" encounter with the artist. In his 1939 autobiography, Hartrick called the portrait "an admirable likeness, more so than any of those by [Van Gogh] or