P t it

or ra o f t he Art ist at hi s Ease] , o il , 1 8 8 8 .

 VA N G O G H
A Se Portrait

Lett ers rei reali n g hi s life

as a
p ai n t er, selec t e d by

W H A UD E N
.

N ew Y k G rap hi c S o eiet y
'

or

G reenw i c h , Co g n ect i c ut
’

»
,
P R I N TE D IN H LL
O AN D 1 96 1
FO R E W O R D

In mo st h ro u h a man s c o rres o n d en c e an d mak e t h e

’
c as es ,
g t to g o p p p
r o e r

s el ec ti on for p u bli c a ti o n woul d b e easy O ne w oul d merely have t o p i ek

.

ou t th e few l ett er s w hi c h w ere i n t eres ti n g an d di s c ard t h e many whi c h w e r e

dull or uni n t elli g i bl e t o the g eneral reader wi thou t el ab ora t e edi t ori al no t es .

Bu t th ere i s sc arc ely on e l ett er b y V an G o g h w hi c h I wh o am c ertai nl y n o

,

exp ert d o n o t fi n d fa sc i n ati n g A ny on e w h o c an afford th em will w an t t o

,
.

o ssess an d o u g h t t o b uy th e mag ni fi c en t three v olu mes edi t ed b y V i n c en t

p
W van G o g h .

”
Wh at I asked my self i s the si ng l e mo s t i mp ortan t fac t ab ou t V an
, ,

”
G og h ? To tha t there seemed onl y on e an sw er
“
Tha t h e p ai nt ed p i c
”
tures .

I h av e t herefo re c onfi ned my selec ti on t o tho se of hi s l ett ers w hi c h

, ,

c on t ai n reflec ti on s u p on t h e art o f p ai n ti n g an d t h e p ro bl ems of b ei n g a

i n t er an d h av e onl y i n c l u d ed l ett ers c on c ern ed wi th hi s ers on al rel a

p a , p
ti ons t o hi s father an d hi s b ro th er for exampl e i n so far a s these throw
, , ,

di rec t li g h t up on hi s c areer as a p ain t er .

V an G og h w as su c h an ex traordi n ary c harac ter h ow ev er that I hav e

, ,

al so en erou sly sel ec t ed fro m th e desc ri ti on s i en of hi m b y ac u ain t

g p g v q
an c es at v ari o u s ti mes in hi s life w hi c h are p ri n t ed i n t h e c o mp l ete edi ti o n
,
.

W . H . A UD EN
G E N EA L O G I CA L N O T E S

The family name van Gogh occurs a s early as the fifteenth century i n conn ecti on ,

wi th reli gi ous i nsti tuti ons in The Netherl ands The earli est ancestor wh o can be
.

traced di rectl y t o Vi ncent the pai nter w a s al so cal led Vi ncent van Gog h He was .

born in September 1 6 74 at The Hagu e ; he w as a Protestant and hi s godfather

, ,

bore the same name .

From father to son the famil y went as follows

Vi ncent van Gogh 1 6 74— 1 7 4 6

Davi d van Gogh 16 9

97
Jan van Gogh 1 7 2 2— 1 7 6
9
Johan nes van Gogh 1 7 6 3 — 1 8 40

Vin cent van Gogh 1 78

9
-
4 8 74

Theodorus van Gogh 1 8 2 2— 1 8 8 5

Vi ncent van Gogh 1 8 5 3 —1 8 9 0

Up t o the painter s grandfather these forefathers were tradespeop l e and ci tizens

’
,

of The Hague They al l marri ed i n their own c i rcl e ; one of the wi ves came from
.

Belgi um .

h 1 7 2 2 — 1 7 6 had a brot h er Vi n c ent 1 7 2 0 c

j an van Gog ( 9 ) ( w h o was hil d
l ess He had acqui red some wealth whi ch Vin cent the pai nter s grandfat her
’
.
, , ,

i nh eri ted and use d t o study theol ogy at the Uni versi ty of Lei den and to become
a clergyman He marri ed Eli sabeth Huberto Vri j dag whose grandfather had come
.
,

from Swi tzerl and ; her famil y bel onged to the same class a s the Van Goghs .

Thi s coupl e had el even chil dren of whom Theodorus ( 1 8 2 2 — 1 8 8 the pai nter s
,
’

father was the el dest He studi ed theol ogy at the Uni versi ty of Utr e cht and b e
,
.

came a clergyman at Zundert (in the provin ce of North Brabant near the Bel gi an ,

border) where Vi ncent and Theo were born Thei r mother was Anna Corneli a
.

Carb ent us ( 1 8 1 9 Her famil y name seems t o i ndi cate a Fren ch ori gi n
(Charpenti er) but in 1 6 7 2 her d irect forefather already li ved i n The Netherl ands
, .

Her fami ly were al so townspeop le and s i nce the begi nni ng of the ei ghteenth
,

century they had li ved in The Hague .

I N T R O D UC T I O N

On March 5 0 I 8 5 z a son was born in the rectory at Zundert he lived onl y a few
, ,

weeks A year later on the same date a heal thy son w a s born wh o recei ved the
.
, ,

names of hi s tw o grandfathers Vi ncent Will em Tw o years l ater a daughter was ,

.

born and on May 7 1 8 5 9 another s on Theodorus named after hi s father ; he

, , , , ,

w as to p lay a great rol e in Vi ncent s li fe Th ese chi l dren were foll owed by t w o
’
.

more daughters and another son In l ater years the youngest si ster w as the onl y .

on e wi th whom Vi ncent c orresp on de d

I
.

The grave of the li ttl e brother wh o w as born a year before Vi ncent i s si tuated
near the chapel where hi s father preached Even i n hi s earli est chil dhood Vi ncent .

had seen i t often and thi s may have caused an unconsci ous i nn er guilt Thi s may
, .

have been partly reli eved by the comin g of another brother (Theo) who w as ,

there as l ong as Vi ncent coul d consci ous ly remember Most li kel y thi s consti tutes .

a basi c factor in the two brothers lifel ong fri ends hi p and their mutual support ’
.

Zundert w a s a vi ll age i n the mi ddl e of a poor country worked by small farmers

wh o were predominantl y Roman Catholi c For a short whi l e Vi ncent w as en .

roll ed i n the publi c school but as hi s parents thought he had become too rough
,

through hi s contact wi th the boys they took hi m home and engaged a governess ,

t o teach the chi l dren .

According to two of hi s si sters the chil dren l oved the country life in whi ch , ,

they were i sol ated among thei r own li ttl e group Contrary to ol der opi ni ons .
,

recent i nvesti gati ons have brought out the fa ct that Vi ncent started drawi ng earl y .

Four sketches of 1 8 6 2 (when he w a i

s n ne years ol d ) have been preserved ; two of
2

t hem are from nature the others copi es S ome known l andscapes date from 1 8 6 5
, ,
.

t o 1 8 7 3 ; i n them hi s great power of observati on i s al ready apparent .

When he was twelve years ol d he was sent t o a small private boarding school ,

at Zevenbergen a town some fifteen mi les away from Zundert Accordi ng to the
,
.

principal who was i ntervi ewed around 1 9 5 0 there w a s nothi ng speci al about the
, ,

boy as he di d not remember hi m Vi ncent hi mself wrote l ater on i n a l etter to

,
.

Theo t hat he l earned very h ttle there After that he seems to have been at another .

boardi ng school at Ti lburg (a l arger town) but nothi ng i s known of that peri od ,
.

A t G oup zl
’
’
r

Vi ncent s paternal grandfather (also named Vi ncent) was a clergyman in the town
’

of Breda where he was al so attached t o the lV

,
Iili tary Academy He had el even .

chil dren the oldest of whom was Theodorus Vi ncent and Theo s father One s on
, ,
’
.

entered the navy and eventually became a rear admi ral then the hi ghest rank ,

1
Vin c ent S letters t o hi s youn gest sister W ill emi en (Will ) are pu bl ished l n T H E COM P LETE
’

LETTER S OF VI NC ENT V AN G O G H an En gli sh transl ti on pu bli shed m 1 9 5 8 by N ew Y o rk G ra

,
a

h i e S o c i ety G reen wi h Co nn ec ti c ut 3 v o l s w i th 2 00 fac si mi le rep ro du ti on s O f s ketc h es c

p , c , ,
.
,

in t h e l ett ers .

S ee Th e b e gin ni n gs of Vin en t s art by Prof ssor J G v an Gelder Utre ht in th e D E

2 “ ’
c e . .
,
c ,

TAI LE CATAL G E W ITH LL D ENTAT I N 7 W R S VIN ENT G GH

,

D O U FU O C UM O OF 2 2 O K BY C V AN O ,
BE
L N GIN G THE S TATE M SE K
O To M LLER ( Ott l U UM R O LL E R - U at er o , T h N th l d ) p b l i
e e er an s ,
u she d
i E gli h J ly
n n 96 sill t t d
,
u , 1 0, u s ra e .
 V ncent l ater li ved fo r a whil e at hi s house i n Amsterdam) Another son be came
( i .

a civi l servant Tw o of the daughters marri ed hi gh ranki ng military men ; three

.
-

remai ned unmarri ed But for Vi ncent and Theo the most i mportant fa ct was that
.
,

three of thei r uncl es (Corneli us Hendri k an d Vi ncen t) chose the art dealing , ,
-

business as thei r professi on .

Coll ege educati on bei ng rather rare i n those days these uncles made thei r own ,

w ay Uncl e Vi ncent started as an apprenti ce i n a p aint store i n The Hagu e whi ch

.
,

he l ater transformed into an establi shment dealing i n p ai nti ngs He then became .

affi li ated wi th the Goupi l fir m of Pari s Wi th the soci al changes i n the first half of .

the ni neteenth century the nobili ty were n o l onger the onl y ones w h o were
,

i nterested i n painti ngs Among the new commerci al and i ndustri al cl asses some
.
,

very ri ch peop l e became buyers Furthermore there was a growin g demand for .
,

reproducti ons As photography was sti ll unknown the procedure was t o make a
.
,

drawing on stone after an oi l pai ntin g or a woodcut and print therefrom The , .

demand for these reproducti ons became i nternati onal Goupi l s of Pari s was a .
’

l eader i n thi s fiel d and i t w a s al so among the great deal ers in pai ntin gs It ha d
, .

branches i n Brussel s Berlin London The Hag ue and N ew York 3

, , , ,
.

’
’
Uncl e Vi ncent marri ed a si ster of the p ai nter s mother H e became very ri ch . _

and after reti ring from busi ness lived on an estate at Pri nsenhage (near Breda) , ,

not far from Zundert Hence a rather cl ose conta ct devel oped wi th hi s namesake
.
,

who at s ixteen became an apprenti ce at Goupi l s i n The Hague (Jul y 3 0

, ,
’

Uncl e Hendri k (Hei n) w as then head of Goupi l s at Brussel s where Theo went i n ’
,

January 1 8 7 3 when he was fifteen years O ld Uncl e Cornelius establi shed hi msel f
, ,
.

i ndependentl y at Amsterdam where Vi ncent l ater vi s i ted hi m frequentl y ,

.

In I 8 7 3 Vin cent w as transferred to Goupi l s i n London whi ch j obbed rep ro du c ’

,

ti ons onl y and no pai nti ngs Then the di fficul ti es began So far he had enj oyed
, . .

li fe li ke any young man who enters the worl d and has an i nteresti ng j ob and few
cares He w a s attracted by all the new thi ngs he saw and got p leasur e from the
.

feeli ng of learni ng and of devel op i ng hi mself The peopl e for whom he worked .

were sati sfied wi th hi m and mu ch l ater he hi mself menti oned i n a l etter that up
,

to that ti me he was a good sal esman .

In London he fell in l ove wi th the daughter of hi s l andlady a cl ergyman s ,

’

wi dow but the gi rl refused hi m Thereupon he l eft hi s boardi nghouse and went
,
“
.

to li ve in furni shed rooms ; he kept hi s own coun ci l more and more l ost hi s j oy ,

of li fe and became more and more reli gi ous At hi s parents request hi s un c l e g ot

,
.
’

hi m transferred t o Pari s for a S hort whil e (from October to De c ember a ,

ges t ur e whi ch made hi m angry In May 1 8 7 5 he went t o Pari s permanentl y He .

, ,
.

felt di spl aced and when n ot at work he stayed in hi s room readi ng the Bi bl e
, , , .

At Chri stmasti me the busi est season he went home for a holi day ; after hi s return
, ,

thi s led to hi s di smi ssal as of Apri l 1 1 8 7 6 It shoul d be noted that duri ng hi s ,

.

associ ati on wi th Goupi l Vincent saw many pai nt ings whi ch he absorbed in ,

mi nute detai l He read a lot and l earned Engli sh and Fren ch t o perfecti on
. .

Fo r t he
3 Am e ri c a n a c ti vities o f th e G pil fi m
ou h C l mb i H i t i l P
r s ee t e o u a s or c a or rai t t of
N ew Y o r , k p . 1 9 7 ; t he G pi l
ou s w ere ti v i f di g h Am i
ac e n ou n A U i n t e er c an rt n on .

8
A deentarer a
f
ter lea ving Goup i l

Vi ncent li ked Engl and and returned there i n Apri l 1 8 7 6 a s a teacher in a boardi ng , ,

s chool in Ramsgate ; the establi shment w a s soon moved to Is l eworth near Lon ,

don He received board an d l odging onl y no sal ary so that he soon accepted a
.
, ,

posi ti on at another boar di ng school i n the same l ocality H i s reli gi ous zeal con .

ti nu ed At the end of the year seei ng no poss i bi li ty fo r advancement he gave up

.
, ,

England al together H i s uncl e Vi ncent helped hi m find emp l oyment i n a book

.
-
w
i

store i n Dordr echt However he had no i nterest whatsoever in the work and
.
, ,

finally formul ated hi s wi sh to devote hi mself to religi on by becomin g a min i st eg

of the gospel l i ke hi s father That requ i red s t udyi ng for the uni versi ty s entranc
’

e)
.
,

examinati on but hi s family helped hi m He li ved wi th the un cle w h o w a s then

,
.

comman der of the naval establi shment at Amsterdam H i s uncl e Stri cker a .
,

clergyman marri ed t o on e of hi s mother s Si sters found hi m a good teacher of ’

Lati n and Greek and he coul d go on seei ng pai nti ngs at hi s uncl e Corneli us art
,
’

g all ery .

It w a s n ot much use though Vi ncent studi ed the classi cal l anguages for over a
,

year He woul d puni sh hi mself for not advanci ng suffi ci ently for exampl e by
.
, ,

Sleepi ng on the fl oor but soon he began t o realize that i t was n ot the s tudy of
,

grammar he w a s after but doing somethi ng benefici al for other peop l e He gave
, .

up hi s studi es and soon after di scovered a chance ofgett i ng to the colli ery di stri ct
w
, ,

w The requi rement wou l d

be a three month course at a mi ssi onary school in Brussel s where one had t o pay
-

for board and l odgi ng onl y Though he was the most i ntelli gent of the very few
.

pupil s hi s behavi or di d not qui te fit i n ; furthermore he had di fficulty speaki ng i n

, ,

publi c from memory At the end of the course he fai led to get the coveted appoi nt
.

ment .

n hi s own gi vi ng Bi bl e l essons vi s i ting the si ck , , ,

ouse where he boarded When .

the evangeli cal commi ttee met agai n i n January he recei ved a six month tri al ,
-

acti vi ti es 3 .

When hi s contract expi red i t was n ot renewed Duri ng thi s ti me there was a great
, .

ac ci dent in one of the mi nes and i t made an enormous i mpressi on on hi m,

.

Tbe firrt y ea rr as a draferwafl ‘

Vi ncent S tayed on i n the Borin ag e the whol e wi nter I 8 79—1 8 8 0 wi thout an y fixed ,

empl oyment an d li ving on the li ttl e hi s parents and Theo coul d provi de hi m
,
.

Then i n the summ er he reali zed that he coul d no t do anythi ng for others any
, ,

more He compared hi mself wi th a bi rd i n a cage li vi ng wi thout care li ke a

.
, ,

gentleman at l arge (a queer ki nd at that l) t o get to freedom he had to change hi s

p lumes And then he started to draw anew— the beginni ng of hi s becoming a
.

9
 professi onal— wi th Theo helpi ng hi m financiall y Having found a perma nent .

occupati on w hi c h l ib erated hi s spi ri t he grew constantl y despi te hi s difficul ti es

, , .

Durin g the next winter he lived i n Brussel s where he became acquai nted wi th
the Dutch pai nter Van Rap p ard a fri endshi p whi ch l asted fiveyears 4 He worked, .

hard but th e expenses were t oo hi gh and he wanted t o l eave and get i nto the
,

country once more Therefore he moved to hi s parents at Etten where he stayed

.
,
’

for ei ght months Duri ng the summer he fell i n l ove wi th hi s cousi n a young
.
,

wi dow wi th a baby s on wh o had come for a short vi si t wi th hi s parents She di dn t .

’

wan t hi m and that was another bl ow He reproached hi s parents for not having
,
.

helped him i n thi s matter became i ncreasingly nervous and finally l eft for The
, ,

Hague at the end of 1 8 8 1 .

The stay i n thi s ci ty marks the first great peri od of Vincent s work ; there he ’

made a number of magni ficent drawings and hi s fir st pai nti ngs As before hi s .
,

relati ons helped hi m After he had l eft Goupil hi s uncles ha d helped hi m in

.
,

Amsterdam ; i n the Borin ag e hi s father had stood behi nd hi m ; in Th e Hagu e hi s

cousi n Anton Mauve and other pai nters took an i nterest i n hi m as well as H C , . .

Tersteeg then head of the Goupi l fi rm But as always Vi ncent s fri endshi ps (wi th
,
.
, ,
’

the excepti on of the one wi th Theo) soon came to an end as he was too cri ti cally ,

outspoken .

The gulf between Vi ncent and those w h o meant hi m well wi dened when Vi n
cent began t o li ve wi th a woman he had pi cked up i n the street She al ready had .

o n e chi l d and w a s soon to have another Theo was the onl y on e w h o cont inued .

to support hi m ; hi s father w as not in a pos i ti on t o do more than gi ve some cl othes .

Vincent worked hard and made beauti ful dr awi ngs but the househol d d et eri o ,

rated and soon became unbearabl e ; the i llusi on of havi ng a home and fami ly of hi s
o w n cou l d not l ast .

Fi rrt y earr as a
p a i nter

In November 1 8 8 3 the household was broken up and Vincent l eft for the prov
, ,

i nce of Drenthe (i n the northeastern Netherlands) a sparsely pop ul ated regi on ,

where peat di ggin g w a s the only occupati on The poverty an d bl eakness appealed .

t o Vi ncent and he made a l ot of sketches and some small p ai nti ngs However
,
.
,

when the wi nter came wi th i t s early darkness he felt very forl orn and di d what
, ,

many people have done i n s i mi lar ci rc umstances : he retur ned to hi s parental home .

H i s father was now a clergyman at Nuenen (in the eastern p art of the provin ce
o f North Brabant) a vi ll age as s m all as those where he had l ived before Vincent s ’
. .
,

stay at the parsonage was not a p leasant arrangement for any of the parti es c on
cerned H i s not being understood and hi s work n ot being appre ci ated was a
.

great hards hi p for Vi ncent On the other si de the presence of an un soci al intruder
.
,

( wh i ch was what the i nmates cons i dered hi m) created a str ai n Ve ry li ttl e remai ned .

of the old admi rati on for hi s father H i s bond wi th the spiri t ual worl d of hi s .

mother was as s li ght as ever though he cared for her wi th great devoti on when
,

4 Vi n c en t s lette rs
’
to V an Rapp ard are al so p bli h d i
u s e n t he C OM P LETE LETTE R S OF VIN ENT
C
V AN G GH (
O s ee n o e t
 she broke her leg an d was i n bed for a few months Next door t o hi s parents lived .

x
t h e onl y woman w h o ever cared for Vi ncent ; she was o lder than he ; through the
i nfluence of the famili es nothi ng came of thi s attachment .

In Nuenen Vi ncent became a full fledg ed painter He made a great number of -

.

portrai ts of farm l aborers and peas an t women but al so scenes on the l and sti ll , ,

li fes etc H i s l arge drawi ngs of peop l e at work rank among hi s most cel ebrated
,
.

ones The pai nti ngs were all very dark though he experi mented wi th col or from
.
,

the begi nni ng Thei r text ure i s al ready the same as that of the l ater col orful p i c
.

“ ”
tures H i s work s peak at Nuenen i s the sp l endi d canvas The Potato Eaters
.
’

whi ch S hows the resul t of hi s efforts i n portrai t p ai nti ng He made i t shortly after .

the sudden deat h of hi s father whi ch made a great i mpressi on on hi m ; i t meant

,

al so that once more hi s home was broken up .

Wi th Theo helpi ng financi ally Vi ncent moved to Antwerp to become a pupi l ,

at the Academy Notwi thstan di ng the l arge seri es of pai ntin gs whi ch he had ma de
.

wi th S O great an effort he wanted to l earn from others and to work after model s
, ,

whi ch he coul d seldom pay for hi mself The professor i n drawi ng consi dered hi s .

work i nadequate and had hi m put back i nto the preparatory class ! Vi ncent carri ed
o n however and al so j oi ned drawi ng clubs wi th hi s comrades so he coul d work
, ,

of the li ghtening of hi s whol e p al ette .

Vi ncent spent most of the money Theo sent hi m on model s and p ai nt negl e ct ,

in g hi s food comp letely Together wi th the hard work thi s brought hi m to ex

.
,

h au sti on and l ongi ng for another change .

E xp eri menting at P a rir

One morni ng a small note was brought t o Theo in the Goupil gallery on the
Boul evard M ontmartre where he w as in charge ; i t was wri tten by Vi ncent and
, ,

s ai d that he was wai ti ng for Theo i n the ani on aarre of the Louvre museum Vi ncent '

then went t o live wi th Theo in hi s apartment on the Rue Laval ; because he needed
a s t udi o they moved after a coup l e of months to the Rue Lepi c al so on the
, ,

Montmartre hi ll Vi ncent started work i n Cormon s studi o where he met Tou

.
’
,

l ouse Lautrec Emil e Bernard and others Theo had been on e of the advocates of
-
, ,
.

the i mpress i oni sts in hi s gallery and Vi ncent w as i nfluenced by them The work,
.

of these pai nters w as a revel ati on to hi m He made a number of experi ments and .
,

hi s pal ette became l i ghter but he di d n o t foll ow thei r techni cal methods of rep re
,

sen t at i on He consi dered that they dep i cted the superfici al aspe ct of thi ngs onl y
.
,

and he wanted t o d o more Havi ng foun d hi s own w ay hi s p ai n ti ngs at the end of

.
,

hi s stay in Pari s are al most as ful l i n c ol or and express i on as the famous ones done
in the South .

Vincent stayed i n Pari s for tw o years ; then the strain of ci t y life became t oo
much for him and he l onged agai n for the country For Theo i t was a diffi cul t ti me .

II
because of Vi ncent s endl ess di s c ussi ons whi ch few of hi s fri ends coul d bear
’
, .

Theo w as at that ti me very cl ose to Andri es Bonger w h o was hi s age and w as ,

emp l oyed commerci ally ; he later marri ed the l atter s si ster Johanna ’
.

Tbe g lori onr 5 anti:

In February 1 8 8 8 Vi ncent moved to Arles in the South of France on the Rh one

, , , ,

Ri ver W hen he arri ved the or chards were just i n bl oom an engagi ng si ght
.
, ,

anyw here and especi ally for someone from the bi g ci t y He p ai nted them el even
,
.

ti mes Wh en the summer advanced he was struck by the bri ght sunshi ne and the
.
,

gl owi ng col ors He worked extremely hard i n the full sun and in the wi nd In
.
, .

Pari s he had already i nfluenced those around hi m ; here in the South wi th n o ,

pai nters or other direct i nfluences from th e past even Theo hi s creati vi ty w a s , ,

sti mul ated t o the utmost H i s fri ends were mostly p l ai n peop l e an d therefore
.
,

Vi olent di scussi ons on arti sti c matters di d n ot occur In the subj ects he p ai nted .
,

remini scences from Holland Often come to the fore (roads i n the l andscape th e ,

bri dges The same subj ects recur thr oughout hi s pai nti ngs During the h o t
,
.

“ ” “
months he produced some of hi s b est kn own works : The Sunflowers The -
,
” “ ” “ ” “ ”
Yell ow House The Harvest ,
The Drawbri dge The Boats on the Beach
, , ,

etc the last of whi ch w a s pain ted at nearby Saintes Mari es de la Mer
.
,
-
.

Theo continued t o send hi m an all owance as well as colors and canvas ; Vin cent
spent most of hi s money on pai nt and brushes and compl etely negl ected hi s
bodily needs He w a s very proud of havi ng a li ttl e abode of hi s own an d dreamed
.

of estab li shi ng a c o operati ve soci ety o f pai nters for mutual arti sti c an d materi al
-

support Wi th Theo s help the first and last one t o try the exp eri ment was Paul
.
’
,

Gaugui n At that ti me he was livi ng i n Bri ttany and he al so had finan ci al di ffi c ul

.
,

ti es Tw o months of these powerful characters worki ng under the same roof ended
.

in a quarrel and Gaugui n l eft imme di atel y after V an Gogh suffered the first of hi s
,

cri ses Thi s happened at the ti me Theo became engaged to be marri ed Vi ncent
. .

might have worri ed about thi s ending hi s materi al support but Theo did not even ,

consi der wi thdrawi ng However Vincent wa s overw orked and g ot i nto diffi c ul
.
,

ti es wi th the nei ghbors and the authori ti es because of hi s alleged queer condu ct .

He hi mself deci ded i t woul d be wi se to be cared for permanently and he entered ,

the Asylum St Paul at St Remy en —Provence not far from Arl es Thi s i nsti tuti on
. .
-
,
.

was sp lendi dl y l ocated but i t s i nmates must have made Vi ncent s li fe extremely
,
’

di ffi cul t .

Around the ti me of Theo s marri age after the announcement of the c omi ng of
’
,

a baby and after i t s bi rth Vi ncent passed through seri ous cri ses ; however he
, , ,

recovered each ti me He may uncons ci ous ly have feared l osing hi s support but
.
,

actual ly there never wa s any questi on on thi s matter Vi ncent s creat ivi ty c on .
’

tinn ed to grow to the end ; only during the cri ses di d the old passi vi ty seem t o
recur .
I n tbe N ortb ag a in

In J anuary 1 8 9 0 the i mportant French monthl y Mertare de France publi shed an

, ,

enthusi asti c art i cl e on Vi ncent s work by a well known art cri ti c Albert A uri er
’
-
, ,

wh o had seen hi s p ai nt ings at Th eo s Wi th the comi ng of the spri ng Vi ncent

’
.

fel t better and l onged t o l eave the depressi ng asylum He came to Pari s staying a .
,

few days wi th Theo wh o lived wi th hi s wi fe and baby at no 8 Ci té PIg all e He met

,
. .

some of hi s ol d acquai ntances but soon he wanted t o be i n more qui et sur

,

roundi ngs where he coul d g o on wi th hi s painting

,
.

Theo h ad heard from Camil l e Pi ssarro whose works he handl ed at Goupil s ,

’

ga lery on the Boul evard Montmartre about Auvers sur Oi se at one ti me a

l
-
, ,

p ai nters col ony where famous men li ke Daubi gny (of the Barbiz on school)
’
,

Cézanne an d Pi ssarro hi mself had worked A fri end of all these men Dr Gachet
,
.
, .
,

hi mself an amateur pai nter sti ll li ved there and Vi ncent w a s recommended to
, ,

hi m Dr Gachet w as reputed to be famili ar wi th mental heali ng as practi ced in

. .

those ti mes and Pi ssarro and Theo supposed he could help Vi ncent if i t were
,

necessary The t w o men met frequently ; Vi ncent pai nted hi s portrai t and that
.

of hi s daughter as well as some other famous canvases Though Vi ncent was

,
.

most i ndustri ous the number of p ai nti ngs and dr awi ngs that he coul d make in the
,

ten weeks he lived at Auvers at best fall s bel ow the number that cur rent literature
ascri bes to hi m .

The physi ci an fai led t o exert a steadyi ng i nfluence ; perhaps i t was the opposi te .

On July 2 7 Vi ncent attempted t o end hi s li fe ; he di ed on the twenty—ni nth Hal f .

a year l ater on J an uary 2 1 1 8 9 i) Theo al so passed away They rest next t o each
, , ,
.

other in the cemetery of Auvers sur Oi se - -

.

Vi ncent W van Gogh .

1 3
Vin c en t as seen by himself in a group of penc il s ketc h es dra wn in th e pi g
s rn of 1 8 8 6 , at th e

b gi
e nn in g of hi s P a ri s p eri o d .
N O T E S O N T H E I LL U S T R A T I O N S

Imm di t ly f ll wi g
e twenty seven representati ve d raw i ngs by Vin c ent v an G ogh
a e o o n are -
,

p d d f m b th
re ro u c e ro o t he l ette rs and th o se in t h e c o llec ti on o f t he S t edelijk Mu seu m in

Am t d m A mb
s er a nu er of c ol o r plates of hi s maj o r p ai nti n g s a re sc att ere d thr o u gh o u t th e
.

t t Th
ex mb
e nu .d
ere ann otati on s b el ow refer t o th e d raw in gs

1 O ne of Vin c en t s first attempts

’
, d on e d on e d i g thi p ur n s eri o d d f w hi h an o c

fro m pyb k w h
a co oo en h e w as a b oy o f d ra wi g 9 w d
n as a es c r i pti v kth e s e c .

t en , p b bly ft
ro a a er an ill u strati on i n a S kthe c of Tbe P ota to E a ters fro m l e tter
ma g azine .

3 9 9, Ap ril 1 885 .

2. Vi ew fro m i n c en t s w i n o w i n V p i g 885’

th d f Vi th e I O. N u en en , s r n 1 an o er o n
s c h o o l w h er e h e ta u ht a t R ams
,

g gt t d pl y ymp th ti t di f h a e, c en
’
s ee s a e c s u es o t e
g d Ap
En lan L
ril 2 1 , 1 8 7 6 , ( ette r
.
p t f h gi l tt 4 9 f ea san s o t e re on , e er 0 o ,

3 . A l i L k sa oon b b fB l n ae whi h h w i t
en , a su pit v d l tur o russe s, c e r es :
“
e n a ec e a erre
”
.

f m l t ro 6 N v mb e t er 1 2
5 878 i II N , J —J l y 8 8 5 I l t 4 5
o e er 1 ,
1 ,
n . u en en , un e u 1 . n e t er 2

whi h Vi t w it Th li ttl d w Vi t w it I m w b y p i ti g “ “
c n c en r es : e e ra n c en r es : a no us a n n
i g A Ch b g i p ti l ly till lif f my bi d t I thi k
‘ ’ ’
n u ar onn a e s not ar c u ar s es o r s n es s n
m k bl b
re ar Imd i b a e, ut m p pl wh a e g d b v f
t e c au se o n e so e eo e o are oo O se r ers o
h
see s m y p pl wh w k i
ere so an t mi ght li k th m b
eo e f ho or n n a ure e e ec au se o t e
h t e l mi c oad th y th
n es , l an f h m h d y l v
e are d h a ra er c o ors o t e o ss , t e r ea e s an t e
di ti ti v typ ; i i m ll i whi h
s nc e ge t s a s a nn c ras s es .
”

dj i h b i g l h d d h w k
a o ns t e
A kth f
c oa s
f Vi e ,
t m t i mp
an t e or
12. s e c o one o n c en
’
s os or
m m
en c o th i b d d d i k
e t o ea t
t t ti ll lif Tb B kf T bl m
e r rea an r n
an s es , e rea as t a e, en
th i gl e r fb d i g h l hh
ass o eer
i d i ur n
l t t e un c
4 8 9 w i tt i Al our .
t one n e t er , r en n r es,

4 . D w i T h H g J —J l y 8 8
ra n n e M y a 888 ue , un e u 1 2. a 2 0, I .

F m l ttro 7 h wi g e f Si
er 2 1
3 d 4 Th
,
s o
w m g ifi n t d wi g
on e o en s
’

1 an 1 e se t o a n c en ra n s
whil Vi
.

hi ld
c ren t w li vi g wi th e w b th t hi p i t f i d
n c en as n ere o s en to s a n er r en
Wh t I w t v i S i lif ,
“
h er : a B an d f m A l l tt B 6
t o sa e s
h en s
’
e ern ar ,
ro r es , e er t e
d th t f h
an w hil d
a o Id er t d h lf f J o c 888 ren . o n ot sec on a o un e 1 .

w t h f ll b k i t th t t i bl
5 54 O t b
an er to a ac n o a err e
5 I l tt 5 888 1 n e er c o er 1 —2 0 1 to
t t f ill
s a e d mi
o y i whi h n e ss
Th Van
i t b g i A
ser
t l t I
n c
.

eo , n c en
,

e ns :
“
,

as
,

c an
If dh ou n er .
”
dy li ttl S k t h gi v y sen ou a e e c to e o u at
5 . O f h v y f w d wi g i
ne o t e h er l t e id f h w y h w k i
ra n s n t e c or e as an ea o t e a t e or s
re s p d giv titl S w F m
on en c e
S h pi g p F t d y I m ll i ght g i
en a e, orro . ro a n u or o a a a r a a n.
Th H g p i d O t b N v mb
.

er—
e a ue My y
er o , till ti d b th I h v
c o o e er e es ar e s re ,
ut en a e a
88
1 It w 2 k t h f li th g ph
. as a
w id
s i my h d
e c d h
or a i Sk t h o ra .
ne ea n ea an ere s a e c
(L tt e 44 er 2 f it Thi tim i j t impl y my b d o t . s e t s us
’
s e

6 . N D mb 8 8 5 p b bly h
u en en , ec e m ly h
er 1 l i ,
d v ythi g
ro a t e ro o , on e re c o or s to o e er n ,

p g w h h l d V G gh
arsona e ere d gi vi g by i
t e e i mpli fi ti er g d an o s an n ts s ca on a ran er

li v d D w h tl y ft Vi t tyl thi g i i b gg tiv h ’

e . ra n s or a er nc en s s e to n s, t s to e su es e ere

t
r e urn h m f m D th H i t di
o e rof t f l p i g ren l I
e. w d s s u o o res or o s ee n en era . n a or ,

w ias h d b hi d h hn a s ( L tt
e l e ki g h pi
n t e gh t ou s e t h . e er oo n at t e c t ure o u t o re s t e

b i th h i m gi ti It i ra n , o r ra er t e a na on s

7 d 8
an S t h f t di f
c ra c h d p
g
es o i g b s u t es o
t f i t ea s— er o n to e a c on ras t o, or n s a nc e ,
T
.

h p y a w ld fi d
s m thi g i th m
ou ou h n dili g
so e d h n i ght n e ,
t e arasc on en c e an t e n

p hp er I t h lp i I p t I
a s not, fé
c an
’
e t . re ea c a e.
,

k w no th w y F m l t no o 3 93 er Thi i a k t h f h l t t aI m
.
”
ro e t ers
“
s s a s e c o t e a es c an v s a

94 N , J y F b y 885 I
u en en , w ki g
an u ar — th S w A i mm
e r uar 1 . n or n o n , an o er o er . n en se

d wi g th St di f p t w m
ra n ese it u y ll w di k f h
es o easan Ag o en c r on - e o s or t e sun . reen

Vi t w p p i g hi m lf f hi
n c en as y ll w ky with pi k l d Th fi ld
re ar n se or s e o s n c ou s . e e

fi t g t p i ti g T P
rs rea E a nvi l t h wn ,
d h t P i
ota to a ters , o e ,
t e so er a n t e ree ru ss an

1 5
 bl ue . S o w ro e t V
i n c en a t t he en d t of c an es b d
, ehi n th ese t he lu e Basses A lp es b
Otb c o er 1 8 8 8 fro m rles , l e t er 5 5 8 a A t .
[Alp ill es ] , an ol d in n wi th ell ow li h te y g d
A Sk t h e c sen t to his t
si s e r W i lhelmi n a ,
d
win ow s, and a er tall c y ress, v y er p v y
le tter W 9 of N v mb
o e er 1 8 8 8 , in w hi c h str ai ht g v ery s o m e r
, b .

he d ib h es c r i m gi y es t e s c en e as an a n ar T h e foll ow i n ei ht raw in s g g d
2 0 —2 ,
7 g ,

g d i whi h hi m th d i t
ar en n c s o er an s s e r a re n ot fro m t h e c orres o n en c e are in t hep d ,

w l ki g
a i p m i d m
n ,
as n a oe or n a rea .
g p
l ar e an d i m o rtan t c oll ec ti on of V an

I nM h 8 8 9 Vi t h d
arc hi 1 n c en a s een s
Gg o h ma te ri al i n t h e S t e d eli jk u s eu m M .

f i d
r en h p i t P l S i g (l tt
,
t e a n er au n ac e er O ld m an g i vi g p
r e n ,
en c il , 1 882, Th e
w h m h w t i Ap il l tt
to o e ro e n r ,
e er Hg a ue .

5 83b I h v j t m b k with w
,
“
a e us co e ac t o O l d man w i h t op h at , t bl k ac c ra y o n an d
t di f h d H i
s u es o o r c
”
d Sk t h ar s . ere s a c ru e e c i nk , 1 8 8 2 , T h e a ue Hg .

of t he m .

fi
In an u n n i sh e l e er ( 6 4 3 ) t o d
au u i n , tt G g T h e w ea v er at hi s l oom , p en h ei hten e g d
t
w i h whi te 1 8 8 4 , N u en en
whi c h w as fo u n a m on his a e rs ,d g pp g d
,

p
.

g
w ri en at tt A
u v ers- su r-O i se , u n e 1 8 9 0, J T he ar en o f th e ars on a e, p en an d

V i n c en w ri es : t “
t
s ill h a v e a c ressI t yp p en c il , 1 8 8 4, N u en en .

t t
w i h a s ar fro m ow n h ere , a l as at d t t D i ggin g p nt bl k y ea sa ,
ac c ra on , 1 88 5 ,
tem pt gt t t
a n i h s ky w i h a m o o n w i th ou N u en en .

d
ra i an c e, d t b y
t h e sl en er c re sc en arel
P nt w m n di ggi g bl k
ea sa o a n ac c ra y on ,
g g
e mer in p fro m t he o a q u e S h a ow c as
d t ,

1 8 8 5 , N u enen
by t t
t h e ear h t o n e s ar w i h an e xa g g era t
.

ed b k tb
ri lli an c e , if y ou l i e , a s of rilli an c e
t
T h e foun ai n in th e h o s i al pt g d p ar en , en

an d in k , 1 8 8 9 , S t R em y
p k g
of i n an d t reen i n t h e Ul ra m ari n e s k ,
y
. .

d y g
a c ro ss w hi c h s o me c l o u s are hu rr in . Cotta g e with c a bb g p t h d y
a e a c an c

db d d t t y
Below , a ro a or ere wi h all ellow p r e sses, b k
lac c ra y 8 8 9 S Remy
on , 1 ,
t . .

A C K N O W LED G M EN T S

V AN G G H A S EL P RTRA IT i l t d d ti by W H A d f T C LETE
O ,
F- O s a se ec e c on en sa on . . u en o HE OM P

LETTE R S V G H p bli h d i 9 5 8 by h N w Y k G phi S i ty i

OF 1N C E N T V A N OC ,
u s e n 1 t e e or ra c oc e n

th v l m with m th
r ee o u ti pp d f
e s,i mil p d ti f ll h d w i g
o re a n 2 00 e -
ou , ac s e re ro uc on s o a t e ra n s

an d w t l f m h p d
a er c o ors A y l tt f d b v by mb
ro t e c orres on en c e . n e ers re erre to a o e nu er, n o t

p bli h d i A S EL P RTRA IT will b f d i h th v l m diti f T C LETE

u s e n F- O , e oun n t e r ee - o u e e on o HE OM P

LETTE R S .

Th dit f thi
e e v l m l ti wi h ors o p th i th k d pp i ti
s o n e— o u e se e c on s t o ex re ss e r an s an a re c a on

to Vi t W G gh f hi
nc en t t d d v t d h lp h gh t i p p ti
. van o dor s c on s a n an e o e e t r ou ou ts re ar a on an

p ti l ly f hi t ib ti f h I t d i d G l g i l N
ar c u ar or s c on r hi l h u on o t e n ro uc t on an enea o ca otes on s u n c e, t e

p i t D J H l k f h Mi i t y f Ed ti A t d S i
a n er . r . an u s Th H g
er, o t e n s r O uc a on , r s an c e nc e s a t e a ue ,

h d
as e arn e p i l th k f p mi t i g hiour s t vi i i
ec a h d ti g f h an s or er t n s rec en re s on s n t e a n o t e c or

p d
re s on b d th gh t F ll dit i h by gi
en c e t o e u sed h k w ml y ro u ou . u c re s e re v en an t an s . ar ex

t d d h S d li jk M
en e m i Am t d m f
to t e h f i
te e p i ti g bl k d h u se u n s er a or t e u se o ts r n n oc s an t e

p mi i
er p d ll h l pl t d i ght f h d wi g th t f ll w d
ss on t o re ro u c e a t e c o or a e s an e o t e ra n s a o o an are

sc att d th gh t h t t Fi ll y N w Y k G phi S i y i l m t g t f l
ere rou ou t e ex . na ,
e or ra c o c et s a so os ra e u

to W H A d f h i th gh f l l ti
. . u f h m t i lf
en thi b k f m m g m
or s ou t u s e ec on o t e a er a or s oo ro a on so e

75 ti f h
0 en r es o ti p d t e en re c o rres on en c e .
que de talent [as yet more modesty than talent] Mr Post in The Hague has . .

thi s p i cture If you should ever come to our shop ask them t o S how y ou hi s (V an
.
,

Muy den s) Réfectoi re There are no more th an four or five copi es of thi s
’
.

photograph in exi stence as the negati ve i s broken Show i t to Mr Tersteeg ,

. .

some ti me .

“
The Lune de Mi el [Honeymoon] i s after Eug ene Feyen one of the few ,

pai nters who pi ctures i ntimate modern life as i t really i s and does not turn i t i nto ,

fashi on plates .

I know the photograph Der W i rthin T o c h terlein [The Landlady s Li ttle ’

Daughter] and I admi re i t very much It i s a good thi ng y ou appre ci ate

,
.

Bourg uereau Not everybody i s capab l e o f percei vin g the good and the beautiful
.

as keenly as you do .

And n ow I am going t o stop ; I encl ose another pi cture of autumn thi s on e by ,

Mi chelet .

I hope you will be able t o read thi s ; I have wri tten on wi thout consi deri ng tha t
one must take care a l etter i s i ntelli gi b l e a Di eu ; the best of l uck t o y ou all ; many .

ki nd regards t o all at the Poten and any other fri ends you may meet , .

12
Dear Theo ,
London 1 9 N ov 1 87 3 , .

I want to be sure y ou hear from me soon after your arrival at The Hague I am .

eager to hear what your first impressi ons were of your new posi ti on and home .

I heard that Mr Schmi dt gave y ou such a beautiful souveni r Tha t proves you have
. .

been very sati sfactory in every respect I am glad that we now work in the same
'
.

house of Goupi l Latel y w e have had many pi ctures and drawi ngs here ; w e sol d
.

a great many but not enough yet— ir must become something more establi shed
,

and soli d I thi nk there i s st ill much work t o do i n Engl and but i t will not be
.
,

successful at once Of course the first thing necessary i s to have good pi ctures and
.
, ,

that will be very di fli c u lt Well we must take thi ngs as they are and make th e best
.
,

of i t .

H ow i s bus iness i n Ho ll and ? Here the ordi nary engravi ngs after Bro c hart d o n ot
“
sell at all, the good buri n engravings sell prett y well From the Venus An ady o .

” ’
mene after Ingres we have already sold twenty épreuves d arti st e It i s a p leasure t o .

see h o w well the photographs sell , espe i ally the col ored ones , and there i s a b i g c
profit in them We sell the Musée Goupil CO photographs onl y en p ap illottes,
. .

on an average of a hundred a day .

I thi nk you will li ke the work in the house at The Hague as soon as you have g ot
used to i t I am sure y ou will li ke your home wi th the Roos famil y Walk as much
. .

as your time wi ll all ow Give my best l ove t o everybody at Roos s .

’
.

Y ou must wri te me someti me whom you l i ke best among the older p ain ters as
well as among the modem s Don t forget as I am curi ous t o know Go to the .
’

,
.

museum as often as you c an ; i t i s a good thi ng t o know the ol d pain ters al so If .

y ou have the chance read about art espe cially the art magazi nes Ga zette des
, , ,

Beaux A rts etc As soon as I have the opportuni ty I will send y ou a book by
-
, .
,

34
Burger about the museums at The Hague and Amsterdam Please send i t back .

when you have read i t .

Ask Iterson to wri te me when he ha s t ime and especi ally to send me a li st of the ,

painters who have w on awards at the Pari s exhi bi t i on Is S omerwill s till i n the .

offi ce or di d he l eave when you arrived ?

I am all ri ght I have a pleasant home and al though the house here i s not so in
.
,

t ere st ing as the one in The Hague i t i s perhaps well that I am here Later on , .
,

especi ally when the sal e of pi ctures grows more i mportant I shall perhaps be of ,

use An d then I cannot tell you how interestin g i t i s to see London and Engli sh
.
,

busi ness and the way of li fe whi ch di ffers so much from ours ,
.

Y ou must have had p l eas an t days at home ; how I shoul d li ke to see them all
agai n Gi ve my compliments t o everybody w ho i nqui res after me especi all y at
.
,

T erst eeg s H aan eb eek Aun t Fi e Stockum and R OOS and tell Betsy Tersteeg some
’
, , ,

thi ng about me when y ou see her And now boy good luck to you wri te to .
, ,

me soon .

D o Y on have mY room at Roos s or the one Y ou sl e t in last summer ?

’

13
Dear Theo ,
London Jan 1 8 74 ,
.

Thanks for your letter I wi sh you a happy New Year wi th all my heart I know
. .

that y ou are doin g well at The Hague for I heard i t from Mr Tersteeg From ,
. .

your letter I see that y ou take a great i nterest in art ; that i s a good thi ng boy , .

I am glad y ou li ke Millet Jacque Schr eyer La mbi net Frans Hal s etc for as , , , , ,
.
,
”
Mauve says That i s i t
“
,
.

Yes that p i cture by Mi ll et The Angelus that i s i t— that i s beauty that i s

, , , ,

poe try H ow I shoul d li ke to talk wi th you about art ; i nstead we must wri te
.
,

about i t O ften A dmire as much as you c an ; mos t p eop le do not admire enong b The
. .

foll owi ng are some of the pai nters whom I li ke especi ally : S c hefler Delaroche , ,

H ebert Hamon Leys Ti ssot Lag y e Boughton Millai s Thi js [M atthijs] Mari s
, , , , , , , ,

D e Groux D e Braekeleer Jr Mi ll et Jul es Breton Feyen—Perrin Bug en e Feyen

, ,
.
, , , , ,

Bri on Jundt Ge org Saal Israel s Anker Knaus Vauti er Jourdan Compte Calix
, , , , , , , ,
-
,

Ro c hu s sen Mei ssoni er M ad razo Zi em Boudi n G er ome Fromenti n Decamps

‘
‘

, , , , , , , ,

Boni ngton Di az Th Rousseau Troyon Dupr e Corot Paul Huet Jacque Otto
, ,
.
, , , , , ,

Weber Daubi gny Berni er Emil e Breton Chenu César de Cock Mll e Collart
, , , , , ,
.
,

Bodmer Koekkoek S c h elflaout Wei ssenbruch and last but n ot least Mari s and
, , , , ,

Mauve But I mi ght g o on li ke that for I don t know how long Then there
.
’
.

are the o l d masters and I am sure I have forgotten some of the best mo dern
,

ones .

Try to ta ke as man y walks as you c an and keep your l ove of nature for that i s the ,

true way to learn to un derstand art more an d more Pai nters un derstand nature .

and l ove her and teacly as to see leer Then there are pai nters w h o can onl y make .

good thi ngs w h o cannot make an yth i ng bad just a s there are ordinary peopl e
, ,

w h o cannot do anything that doesn t t urn out well

’
.

I am doi ng very well here I have a deli ghtful home and i t i s a great pleasure t o .
,
me to study London the Engli sh w ay of life and the Engli sh peopl e themselves
, .

Then I have nature and art and poetry If that i s n ot enough what i s ? Still I d o
.
, , ,

not forget Holland— espe ci ally The Hague and Brabant We are very busy in th e .

office just n ow takin g i nventory However i t lasts only five days so i t i s much
,
.
, ,

easi er for us than for y ou at The Hague .

I hope y ou had as happy a Chri stmas as I had .

Well boy I wi sh you a ll happi ness and wri te t o me soon In thi s l etter I have
, , , .

just wri tten what came i nto my min d and I hope i t i s n ot t o o confused aDi eu my
,
.
,

regards to everybody espe ci all y at Aunt Fi e s and H aan eb eek s

,
’ ’
.

Vincent

67
Dear Theo ,
Ramsgate 3 1 May 1 8 7 6 ,

Bravo on going to Etten May 2 1 so four of the six chil dren were at home Father
, .

wrote me in detail h ow the day was spen t .

Than ks al so for your l ast letter .

Di d I tell you about t he storm I watched recentl y ? The sea w as yell owi sh ,

especi ally near the shore ; on th e horizon a strip of li ght an d above i t i mmense ,

dark gray clouds from whi ch the rain poured down in s l anti ng streaks The .

wind blew the dust from the li ttl e whi te path on the rocks i nto the sea an d bent
the bl oomi ng hawt horn bushes and w allflow ers that grow on the rocks T o the .

ri ght were fiel ds of young green c orn and in the di stance th e town l ooked like
,

the towns that Albrecht D ii rer used t o etch A town wit h i t s t urrets mill s s late .
, ,

roofs and houses buil t in Gothi c s t yl e and bel ow the harbor between two , ,

j etties whi ch proj ect far into the sea .

I al so saw the sea l ast Sunday ni ght Everyt hi ng was dark an d gray but i n
.
,

the horizon the day began t o dawn It was still very early but a lark was already
.
,

singi ng S O were the ni ghtingal es i n the gardens near the sea In the di stan ce
. .

shone the li ght from the li ghthouse the guard shi p etc , ,
.

From the window of my room that same ni ght I l ooked on the roofs of the
houses that can be seen from there and on the tops of the elm trees dark against ,

the ni ght sky Over those roofs on e si ngle star but a beautiful large fri endl y
.
, , ,

on e And I thought of you all and o f my o wn past years an d o f our home an d

.
,

in me arose the words and the emoti on : Keep me from bei ng a son t hat maketh
ashamed ; give me Thy bl essing not because I deserve i t but for my mother s
, ,
’

sake Thou art l ove cover all thi ngs Wi thout Thy cont inued blessi ngs we
.
,
.

”
succeed in nothi ng .

Enclosed i s a li t tle drawi ng of the Vi ew from the school window t hrough

whi ch the boys wave good b y t o thei r parents when they are going back t o the
-

stati on after a vi si t None of us wi ll ever forget the Vi ew from the window Y ou

. .

on bt to bare seen i t t hi s week when i t rained especi all y i n the twi li ght when the
g ,

lamps were lit and thei r li ght w a s reflected i n the wet street .

On such days Mr Stokes i s someti mes in a bad temper and when the boys
.
,

make more noi se than he li kes they o cca s i onally have to g o without thei r supper
,
.

I wi sh you c ould see them looking from the wi ndow then i t i s rather melan choly ,
they have so li ttle el se ex cept thei r meals t o l ook forward to an d to help them
pass thei r days .

I should al so li ke y ou to see them goi ng from the dark stai rs and passage t o
the di ni ng room where the bri ght sun i s shi ni ng Another curi ous place i s the
,
.

room wi th the rotten floor It has six washbasi ns i n whi ch they have to wash
.

themselves a di m li ght fil ters onto the washstand through a wi ndow wi th broken

panes It i s a rather melancholy si ght
. .

I should li ke to spend a winter wi th them or to have spent a winter wi th them

in the past to kn ow what i t i s li ke The boys made an O i l stain on your drawi ng
.
,

p lease exc use them .

Encl osed i s a li ttle note for Uncle J an And n ow good ni ght ; if anybody .

shoul d ask after me give them my kind regards Do you vi si t Borchers now and
,
.

then ? If you see hi m say hell o t o him for me al so Willem V alki s and all at Roos s ,
’
.

A handshake from
Your l oving brother Vincent ,

A 7
DORD RE C H T
Letter wr i ten by P C Gorli tz to Frederi k van B ed en ]
[
J
t . .

Your arti cl e in D e N i enn/e G i ds about the painter Vi ncent van Gogh i nduces me
to gi ve y ou some informati on about thi s man I hel d regul ar i ntercourse wi th .

hi m fo r a year now approxi matel y fifteen yea rs ago at Dordrecht where both he
, , ,

and I were emp l oyed and where we boarded in the very same house
,
.

I was an assi stant teacher at Dordre cht and fifteen years ago wa s li ving in ,

T olb rug straat je there a nei ghborhood of n o hi gh standing when on e day my

, ,

landl ord tol d me that a young man a cl ergyman s son from Et ten and Leur had
’
, ,

appli ed for board and l odging i n hi s house Seei ng that he had already taken in .

thr ee young peop l e he begged me to d o hi m the favor o f shari ng my room wi th

,

the newcomer as otherwi se he coul d not take hi m in I agreed to thi s ; the newly
,
.

arri ved young man was M r Vi ncent van Gogh wh o had got the posi ti on of
.
,

bookkeeper in Blu ss é 8 c V an Braam s bookshop ’

.

He w a s a man totall y di fferent from the usual ty pe of the children of man .

Hi s face was ugly hi s mouth more or l ess awry moreover hi s face w a s densely
, ,

covered wi th freckl es and he had hai r of a reddi sh hue A s I sai d hi s face w a s

, .
,

ugly but as soon as he spoke about reli gi on or art an d then became excited
, , ,

whi ch w as sur e to happen very soon hi s eyes woul d sparkl e and hi s features , ,

woul d make a deep i mpressi on on me ; i t wasn t hi s ow n face an y l onger : it had ’

become beauti ful .

A S we li ved i n on e room hardl y any of hi s doi ngs coul d escape my at tenti on

,
.

When he came back from hi s offi c e at ni ne o clo c k i n the eveni ng he woul d ’

,

i mmedi ately li ght a lit tl e wooden pi pe ; he woul d take down a b i g Bi bl e an d si t

“

down to read assi duously to copy text s and t o l earn them by heart ; he woul d
,

I
F d ik
re er Ee en w ro e
v an d t pp
an a ti ve arti cle o n Vin cent i n D IVi euwe Gi ds (t he literary
re c i a e

t y
mo n hl Tbe N ew Gui de) o f D mb
ec e er 1 1 8 9 0 I n c o nn ec ti o n w ith thi s M r G orli tz wrote hi m
, . .

t he foll o wi n g
le er tt .
al so wri te all kin ds of reli gi ous composi ti ons When I sai d to hi m on such o c .

“
casi ons Van Gogh my b oy you re working yourself t oo ha rd you had better g o
, , ,
’
,
”
rest for a while he would answer wi th a peculi ar smile half melanchol y half
, , ,
“
humorous whi ch made hi s S harp ugly features so attra cti ve so beautiful Oh
, , ,

dear G the Bi bl e i s my comfort the staff of my li fe It i s the most deli ci ous book
, , ,
.

I know and to foll ow what Jesus taught manki nd will be the purpose of my li fe
, .

Thu s evenin g after eveni ng he would S it readi ng hi s b i g foli o volume or a

, ,

small Engli sh N ew Testament o r the j nn/eeltfes [Li ttle Jewel s] by the Rev Mr
'

. .
,

Spurgeon (the onl y three books he used to read as l ong as I knew hi m ) and , ,

when he went to bed about on e o clock he woul d go on reading the Bi bl e until ’

,

he fell asleep And early i n the morning I woul d find hi m lying on hi s bed wi th
.

hi s bel oved book on hi s pill ow and then I woul d wake hi m up so that he mi ght,

o where hi s humdrum li ttl e j ob as a bookkeeper called hi m

g .

He w as so modest so ti mi d i n some respe cts One day— w e had known each

, .

other about a month— he asked me again wi th hi s i rresi sti bl y charmi ng smil e , ,

“
G y ou coul d do me such an enormous ly great favor if you wanted to
.
, .

”
I rep li ed Well by doi ng what ? S ay the word
“
, , .

Oh you see thi s room i s really your room and n ow I shoul d so very much
, , ,

li ke to have your permi ss i on to paste some li ttle Bi b li cal pi c tures on th e wall

”
paper Of course I i mmedi atel y acceded to thi s request an d he went to work
.
,

wi th feveri sh haste An d wi thi n half an hour th e whol e room was decorated

.

wi th Bi bli cal scenes an d ecce homos and Van Gogh had wri tten under each -
,
“ ”
Head of Chr i st Ever sorrowful but always rej oi cing
, ,
.

Thi s scri ptural expressi on reflected the state of hi s ow n mind as cl early as .

anyt hi ng could On one of the Chri sti an holy days I think it was Easter he
.
, ,

framed every pi cture of Jesus i n palm branches I am not a reli gi ous man but .
,

I thought hi s reli gi ous devoutness touchi ng to contemplate .

Wh en Sunday came Van Gogh woul d go to church thr ee times ei ther to the ,

Roman Catholi c church or t o the Protestant or O ld Epi scopal church whi ch

, ,

was commonl y call ed the Janseni st church When once w e made th e remark .
,
“
But my dear Van Gogh how i s i t possi ble that y ou can go to three churches
, ,
“
of such di vergent creeds he s ai d Well in every church I see God an d i t s all , , ,
’

the same to me whether a Protestant pastor or a Roman Catholi c pri est preaches ;
i t i s not real ly a matter of dogma but of the spi ri t of the Gospel an d I find , ,
”
thi s spi ri t i n all churches .

T o the pres ent day I have a cl ear memory of the p l eased i ntensely sat i sfied ,

expressi on on hi s face when he succeeded at l ast i n induci ng us to accomp any

hi m to chu r ch When we went home he asked Di dn t you feel finer beneath ’
.
,

those beautiful vaul ts wi th that stately organ than if you had been si tting in
, ,

your room smokin g ci gars ? Are you goi ng to come wi th me next week ? Y ou
”
wi ll won t y ou he wheedled an d I could not refuse hi m ; I went wi th hi m again
,
’
, ,
.

He would often ask us if he mi ght read somethi ng to us ; an d thi s he woul d

do not at all to the sati sfacti on of the youngest on e among us who woul d t ry
, ,

to set us laughi ng by offering absurd observati ons o r maki ng faces On one occa .

“
si on I drew Van Gogh s attenti on to thi s an d told hi m Don t do such usel ess
’

, ,
’
work my dear fell ow ; the si mpl e fact
,
i s that he thinks i t ri di cul ous ; he i s laughi ng

But the man answered Never mi nd G l et hi m laugh I shan t l ose my temper

, , .
, ,
’

because of that ; he doesn t know better yet someday he will l earn t o see i t ; if
’
,

I succeed i n in spi ri n g hi s mi nd to seri ousness if onl y for a quarter of an hour , ,

”
I shal l thi nk my troubl e rewarded .

V an Gogh ou t of temper ! Never n ot once did I observe i n hi s ch aracter the ,

l east li ttl e bi t of an i n d i cati on of an evil quali ty or i nclinati on He lived li ke a .

s ai nt and was as frugal as a hermi t In the afternoon at the tab le the three of
,
.
, ,

us woul d eat wi th the appetite of fami shed wolves ; not he he woul d not eat ,

meat only a li t tl e morsel on S undays and then only after being urged by our
, ,

landl ady fo r a l ong t i me Four potatoes wi th a suspi ci on of gravy and a mouthful

.

of vegetab l es consti tuted hi s whol e di nn er To our insi stence that he make a .

“
hearty di nner and eat meat he woul d answer To a human being physi cal life , ,

ought to be a paltry detai l ; vegetabl e food i s suffi ci ent all the rest i s luxury , .
’

How sensi tive a man he w a s will become evi dent to y ou from the tw o i nci dents
I am n ow going to relate .

One Saturday afternoon w e went o ut for a walk ; suddenl y he saw an emaci ated ,

mi serabl e deserted street dog a poor hungry beggar of a dog He searched hi s

, ,
.

“ ”
purse and i n i t found a dubbe tj e [twopence] i t was a ll the money he had for
l —
,

i t was the l ast days of the month Then he bought tw o roll s fo r a penny t o give .

t o the dog and S tood l ooki ng at the ani mal full of comp l acency as i t devoured
,

the bread i n a few swallows Going back to hi s comp ani ons Van Gogh s ai d .
, ,
“
What do you thi nk thi s ani mal tol d me just now ? That he woul d li ke to have
another couple of roll s li ke that and followi ng hi s i mp ul se he bought two more , ,

and gave them to the yearni ng dog N ow he di dn t even have the money to .
’

buy a pack of tobacco the onl y luxury he permi tted hi mself ,

.

The second inci dent was of a more seri ous nature .

It was agai n on a Sat urday that he came to me wi th hi s own s mi le and sai d ,

G I need y ou perhaps you can help me I m i n a bad fix I just got word from
’
. .
, , ,

home that an Old peasant I ve known fo r years and who has always been a ’
,

fai thful follower of my father i s dyi ng I m so fond of that man and I shoul d , .
’
,

li ke so much to see hi m once more ; I want to cl ose hi s ey es but I can t pay for
’

the journey t o Breda I haven t got any money l eft Shoul d you think i t queer
,
’
.
,

G to advance me the money for such a purpose ? —a n d I don t dare a sk our

’
.
,
”
landl ord fo r i t .

“
I thi nk i t que er V an Gogh ?— n ot on your li fe but I shall not be ab l e to
, ,

manage the whol e ; here i s somethi ng ; the boss wi ll l end y o u the rest ; I ll ask ‘ ’ ’

hi m to put i t down o n my bill then we ll settl e ou r account in due t i me fo r

’
, ,
”
i nstance o n the Day of Atonement .

He went an d on Sunday ni ght came home again and when I asked hi m

, , ,
” “ ’
Well V an Gogh h ow di d i t go ? he answered When I came to that peasant s
, , ,
”
house i t w a s t o o l ate ; he had di ed a few hour s earli er .

“ ”
God b less me Vincent that was a rotten thing for you ! But he repli ed hi s
, , ,
“
Smi le a li ttl e more melancholy than at other ti mes Y ou u se the wrong expressi on , ,
 G .
,
wasn t a rotten thi n g ; i t was certain ly a di sappointment but these thi ngs
it
’
,

are there to strengthen man on hi s way thr ough li fe ; yet I m glad I was there ’
,

for I di d n ot go there in vai n ; I sat down wi th the members of the o ld man s

’

family and prayed wi th them I ll tell you what my words to them were : Let .
’

Jesus and hi s teachin gs be unto you the li ght on your path and the l amp for
”
your feet then you will learn to he resi gn ed
,
.

But although thi s man tri ed to do hi s job wi th an i ron zeal and as cheerfully
as was possi bl e for hi m thi s job wei ghed upon him li ke a l eaden bur den ; th e
,

poor fell ow was unfit for hi s professi on Whi l e bookkeepi ng he woul d wri te .

sermons or read them and psal ms o r texts from the Bi bl e ; he struggled ag ai nst
,

i t but i t was too much for hi m Besi des i t w a s as clear as dayli ght that hi s were
, .
,

n o t th e quali ti es o f a bus i nessman It was hi s j ob n o t onl y to keep the books but .

al so to attend to the sale of the art i sti c prints in the shop For in stance he advi sed .

some ladi es to buy a cheaper engraving whose arti sti c value he exp l ained rather , ,

than a more expensive on e whi ch w as l ess beautiful according to hi m but for

, ,

whi ch the ladi es showed a preference He drew unpleasant comments on hi s .

method o f worki ng and doi ng busi ness and thi s w a s painfu l to hi m ; for a t ime ,

he managed to hi de hi s pent u p feelin gs— why ? T he why became cl ear to me-

when during a conversati on I had wi th hi m he tol d me that he thought i t

so ni ce that he was n o l onger a burden t o hi s parents— that he n ow earned hi s

ow n bread an d that i n the past he had found thi s di ffi cul t in London and in
, ,

Pari s where (if I am not mi staken) he had tri ed to quali fy for the art dealing
,
-

busi ness .

During the same conversati on he remarked wi th great sati sfacti on Yes G , , .

,
”
I earn as much as my predecessor here Thi s was an i llus i on on hi s part for he .
,

rec ei ved 1 2 0 g ui lders l ess than hi s predecessor who had had experi ence ; but
I
,

fortun atel y fo r him hi s emp l oyer w as consi derate enough to let hi m keep hi s
ill us i on .

He used t o speak rather often about London and hi s stay there Many a ti me .

on ou r ramb l es he woul d poi nt out to me a p i cturesque back yard wi th a l e an to -

“
near th e waters i de or somethi n g li ke that and woul d then say Look h ow
, , ,

exqui si tely beauti ful thi s i s ; i t reminds me o f London ; there I used to wander
aroun d a lot in the s lum di stri cts an d many a ti me I found a spot just as beautiful
,
”
as here in Dordrecht He also deep ly enj oyed the fine river vi ews in t he nei gh
.

b o rh o o d of Dord recht then hi s face would bri ghten wonderfu lly hi s melanchol y ,

expressi on w a s gone and i t seemed as though he w a s breathi ng in thi s beauty

, .

But on th e whole during thi s peri od he was n ot domi nated by hi s art but by hi s
mysti cal religi ous feelings .

”
One evening he asked me What ki nd of school do you teach in ? I rep lied
, ,
“ ”
A chari ty school .

Then you have a spl endi d j ob Don t you thi nk i t delight ful t o teach those .
’

poor creatures somethin g good an d to lift them out of thei r mi sery and evil ,

ways ? When I was i n London I taught a cl ass a few ti mes a week at ni ght in a , ,

school for the down and o ut for pleasure That ti me i s unforgettab le for me ; a
- -
,
.

O r 0 guil d ers ; thi s c an n ot b e d ec i phere d wi th an y c ertain ty [H van Ee d en]

2 . .
Van Gogh at Amsterdam if I am ri ghtly informed ; at hi s age he ha d to l ea rn
, ,

Lati n etc I never saw hi m agai n ; but later on I heard that he ha d chucked Lat in
,
.
,

etc (tha t a person shoul d have t o l earn Latin an d Greek in order to preach the
.

teachi ng s of the Gospel w a s somethi ng wholl y out of keeping wi th hi s c onvi c

ti ons) and that he had become an evangeli st i n Belgi um in the mi ni ng di stri cts
, ,
.

I was not at all surpri sed at thi s ; I thi nk he may have comforted man y a poor
devi l by the power of hi s ri ch mind .

I am afrai d most respected Mr V an Eeden that I have bored you wi th thi s

,
.
,

l engthy story ; shoul d thi s be the case p l ease d o not take i t ill of me for I felt i t , ,

would be wrong for me to refrai n from telling you all I know about thi s good man .

P C Gorli tz . .

100
Dear Theo ,
Amsterdam 4 June 1 8 7 7 ,

Y ou remember that ni ght at Dordr echt when we wal ked together thr ough the
town around the Great Church and through so man y s t reets and al ong the
, ,

canal s— i n whi ch the ol d houses and the lights from the wi ndows were reflected ?
You spoke then about the descri pti on of a day in London by Th eophil e Gauti er ,

the coachman fo r a weddi ng party i n front of the door of a church on a stormy

foggy day : I saw i t all before me If that struck you y ou will al so appreci ate the
.
,

a es I encl ose I read them on a very stormy day l ast week i t was i n t h e eveni ng
I
p g .
,

and the sunset threw a ruddy gl ow on the gray evenin g cl ouds agai nst whi ch ,

t h e masts of the shi ps an d the row of ol d houses and trees stood out ; and every
thi ng was reflected in the water and the sky threw a S trange li ght on th e b la ck
,

earth on the green grass wi th dai si es and buttercups and on t he bushes of whi te
, ,

and purpl e li l acs and on the el derberry bushes of the garden in the yard
,
.

In London I had read that book of La mart in e s and I w as very much struck ’
,

by i t ; the l ast pages especi all y made a deep i mpressi on on me agai n Tell me .

what you thi nk of i t These p laces menti oned in i t— Hampton Court wi th i t s

.

avenues of li nden trees full of rookeri es Whi tehall overgrown wi th ivy at the
back ; and the square bordering St James s Park where one can see Westminster .
’

Abbey— they are all before me and the weather and the gl oomy atmosphere ,

cela m emp éc he de dormir [i t keeps me from sleepi ng]

’
.

Were you i n Etten Sunday ? I certai nl y hope so an d that you had a p leasant ,

day I gathered thi s from a sentence in the last letter from Etten We expect
.
,
”
Theo probably next Sunday .

Thi s evening I have to go to Uncl e Stri cker s Went to early servi ce yesterday ’
.

“ ” —
morni ng heard a sermon on th e text : D O y ou want to be heal thy ? how they
,

t hat be whol e need not a phys i ci an but they t hat are s i ck After that I heard ,
.

Uncl e Stri cker in the well known Amstel Church on II Cor 4 1 8 : For th e
-
.

things whi ch are seen are temporal ; but the things whi ch are not seen are eternal .

Toward the end there w a s a passage i n whi ch he spoke wi th muc h rapture

“ ”
and exclai med But l ove remai ns ; how we are ti ed together by God wi th
,

La ma rti n e
’
s C romwell . Vi n c en t c opied th r ee fu ll pg p
a e s, ar t o f whi c h is a dd de to thi s l tt
e e r.
bonds tha t are in Hi s han d and in them li es ou r str eng th for they are old and
, ,

d o n ot easil y break .

I am very busy so a Di eu ; perhaps I will cont in ue thi s l etter toni ght a hand
, ,

shake from
Your l ovi ng brother Vi ncent ,

Today when I passed the flower market on the S ingel I saw somethi ng very ,

pretty A peasant w as standi ng sellin g a whol e bun ch of pots wi th all kinds of

.

flowers and p lants ; ivy was behi nd i t and hi s li ttle gi rl was si tting between i t all
, ,

such a chil d a s Mari s woul d have pai nted s o simpl e in her li t tl e bl ack bonnet , ,

and wi th a pai r of bri ght smiling eyes She w a s kni tti ng ; the man prai sed hi s
,
.

ware— an d if I coul d have spared the money I shoul d have li ked only too well
to buy some— and he sai d poi nting uni ntenti onally at hi s li ttle daughter al so
, ,
“ ”
Doesn t i t l ook pretty ?
’

119
Dear Theo ,
Amsterdam 1 8 February 1 8 7 8 ,

Thanks for your l etter of February 1 7 ; i t made me very happy a s I had been ,

l ooki ng forward to i t so much And I am answering i t at once boy for I thi nk

.
, ,

of you and l ong for you so often and every morni ng the prints on the wall of ,

— “ ”
my li ttle study remi nd me of y ou Chri stus Consol ator ; the woodcut after
“ ” “
Van Goyen Dordrecht ; Le Four by Rousseau etc fo r I recei ved them all
, , .
-
.

from you So the pot was calli ng the kettl e bl ack when y ou wrote me that I
.

ought n ot to send y ou a pri nt for your room sometimes when I find one that I
think you will li ke In my turn I say Enough of that ; but tell me if you have
.
,

got some new acqui si ti ons for your coll ecti on l ately .

Last even in g at Uncle Cor s I saw a whol e volume of t hat magazi ne L A rt ;

’
,
’

you have the i ssue wi th the wood engravi ngs after Corot I w a s especi ally struck .

” “
by wood engravi ngs after drawi ngs by Mill et i ncludi ng Falli ng Leaves The , ,
” “ ” “ ” “
Ravens Weddi ng ’
Donkeys in a Marsh
,
The Woodcutters Housewife , ,
” “
Sweeping Her Room A Farm Courtyard (ni ght effect) etc Al so by an
, ,
.

“ ” “ ”
etchi ng after Corot The Dune ; and St John s Eve after Breton ; and
, .
’

”
others by Chauvin ; and another after Mill et The Beans , .

Last Sunda y Un cl e Jan and I spent the whol e afternoon and eveni ng at Uncl e
Cor s It w a s a very pl easant day for me I got up very earl y and went t o the
’
. .

French church in the mornin g A cl ergyman from the nei ghborhood of Lyons .

preached here— h e had come to collect money for an evan geli cal mi ssi on H i s .

sermon was mainl y stori es from the lives of the worki ng peopl e in the factori es ,

an d though he was not parti c ul arl y el oquent and o n e coul d even hear that he

spoke wi th some diffi cul t y and eflort hi s words were still effective because they ,

came from the heart— onl y su ch are powerful enough to touch other hearts .

At one o cl ock I had to be at the Sunday school Of an Engli sh cl ergyman

’
,

Adl er i n th e Bam desteeg ; he h a s a small but very neat old chur ch there H ow
,
.

ever the school was hel d in a li ttle room where even at t hat hour i n the mi ddle
, ,

of the day the gas li ght had t o be turned on There were perhaps twenty chil dren
, .

from that poor secti on Though he i s a forei gner he preaches in Dutch (but
.
,

43
 the servi ce i s in Engli sh) ; he teaches hi s Bi ble class in Dutch t oo and does i t ,

very well I had brought wi th me a sketch of the map of the Holy Land whi ch
.

I made for Father s bi rthday in red crayon and o n strong brown paper and I
’
, ,

gave i t to hi m ; I thought that li ttl e room woul d be a ni ce p la ce for i t and I ,

am glad i t hangs on th e wall there n ow I had met hi m at Mr M c Farlan e s the

_ . .
’
,

i ncumbent of the Engli sh church i n the Beguinage whom I ha d ventured t o call

on ; he recei ved me kin dl y and I hope t o repeat my vi si t someday .

Besi des thi s Engli sh clergyman I al so vent ured to call on the Reverend Mr , .

G ag n ebi n He took i t in good part and tol d me to come agai n some eveni ng ;
.

as he suggested toni ght I must g o there in a li ttl e while I hope t o wri te y ou all
, .

about i t Father had al so advi sed me t o try an d make some acquai ntan ces I was
. .

so glad t o speak French and Engli sh again — i r i s a peculi ar sensati on when on e

hasn t for a l ong t ime
’
.

The l ast t wo morni n gs I got up very earl y t o work on a sketch of the ma p of

Paul s travel s whi ch I ha d begun and have n ow fini shed ; i t l ooks well n ow
’

(wi th the n ames in Fren ch) even better than those I made for Father and for,

my own room I plan t o give i t to the Reverend Mr G a g neb in as I want to

. .
,

emphasi ze that Vi si t if possi b le : he i s a l earned man who can perhaps give me

some good advi ce l ater on if he reali zes that my i ntenti ons are seri ous .

I have just been to G ag n ebin s but I was tol d that he was too busy to rec eive
’
,

me (yet he had fixed thi s hour and thi s day for my vi si t) I heard musi c i n the .

house so probably there was something going on I l eft what I had made for
, .

G ag neb in wi th the servant requesti ng that i t be given to hi m I want to do

,
.

such thi ngs now and then for i t certainl y i s very doubtful that I shall ever succeed
, ,

I mean shall ever pass all the examinati ons Five years at the least i s a very l ong
, .

ti me ; if one begins earli er it i s S O much easi er It i s true I can work l onger an d

, .

concentrate better and thi ngs that many others care about have no attra cti on
,

fo r me ; but after all the work costs me greater effort Even if I fail I want t o
, ,
.
,

l eave my mark here and there behi nd me .

There are so many man y thi ngs one has t o kn ow and though they t ry to
, ,

reassure me i t constantly gi ves me a terri bly anxi ous feeli ng There i s n o remedy
,
.

but to set to work again si nce i t i s clearl y my duty t o do thi s whatever i t c osts
, ,
.

So I must push on for standing still o r going back i s out of the quest i on : i t
,

would make thi ngs even more di ffi cult and cause confus i on— and the end woul d
mean the necessi ty of begi nni ng all over agai n .

I had a ni ce letter from home ; the j ourney seems not to have done Father
an
y harm It i s pretty
. l ate an d I a m n o t a li ttl e ti red fo r,
I have wal ked qui te a ,

di stance today Have a good ti me an d blessin gs on your work and on all y ou

.
,
’
undertake ; wri te soon if y ou c an My regards to all at the Rooses and a warm .
,

handshake in thought Good ni ght an d sleep well beli eve me

.
, ,

Your l oving brother Vincent ,

Tuesday morni ng It i s beauti ful weather thi s morning I have t o

.
, g o to Men des s ’

i n a few min utes .

1 878 — 1 8 8 0 T H E BO RI N A G E

Vi nc ent mi ssi on t o t he miners

’
s

1 27 Peti tes Wasmes

6 December 1 8 7 8 ,
2

Dear Theo, Bo ri nag e, Hainaut

It i s time for me to wri te you agai n, fir st, t o send you my very best wi shes at
the beginni ng of the New Year May your share be everythi ng that s good, and
.
’

may God s bl essing rest on your work in the year w e n ow begi n

’
.

I am eager t o receive a l ett er from you , t o hear how y ou are and what you are
doing, and al so to hear perhaps if y ou have seen any beautif ul and remarkable
things lately .

A s for me, I am sure y ou realiz e tha t here in the Bo ri n a g e there are no pi t ur es c

generall y speaki ng, they d o n ot even know what a pi cture i s S o of course I have .

not seen an yt hi ng in the w ay of art since I l eft Brussel s Notwi thstandin g , the .

c
country i s very pi t uresque and very uni que here : everythi ng sp eaks, a s i t were,
u
c
and i s f ll of chara ter Latel y, during the dark days before Chr i s t mas , the ground
.

was covered wi th snow ; then everyt hi ng reminded one of the medi eval pi ct ures
by Peasant Brueghel , for i nstance, and of those by the many w h o have known
c
how t o express s o remarkably well that pe uliar effect of red and green, black
and whi te At every moment I am reminded here of the work of Thi js Mari s or
.

of Albrecht D urer There are sunken roads , overgrown wi th thornbushes , and

.

o l d , gnarl ed trees wi th thei r fantasti c roots , whi ch perfectl y resemb l e that road
“ ”
on the etchi ng by D ii rer, Death and the Kni ght S o , a few days ago, i t was an
.

i nt ri gui ng s i ght to see the mi ners goi ng home i n the whi te snow in the evenin g
at twili ght Those people are qui te black When they come out of the dark mines
. .

i nto dayli ght, they l ook exa tl y li ke chi mn ey sweeps Thei r houses are very small,
c .

an d mi ght better be called huts ; they are scattered al ong th e s unken roads , and

S
i n the wood , and on the l opes of the hi ll s Here an d there on e an see moss
. c
covered roofs , an d in the evenin g the light shi nes kindl y through the small paned -

windows .

In our Brab an t we have the underb rush of oak and i n Holland, the pollard
will ows here b lac kth om hedge s surround the garden s , fiel ds and meadows N ow , .

c c
wi th the snow, the effe t i s li ke black chara ters on whi te paper— like pages of
the Gospel .

I have alr eady spoken in publi c here several times , in a rather large room
c
espe i all y arranged for reli gi ous meeti ngs , as well as at the meet ings they hol d
i n th e eveni ngs in the mi ners cotta ges , which may best be call ed Bi bl e l asses c
’
.

Among other thi ngs , I spoke about the parabl e of the mustard seed, the barren
45
fig tree the man born blin d On Chr i stmas of course about the stabl e in Bethl e
,
.
, ,

hem and peace on earth If wi th God s blessi ng I get a permanent appointment

.
’

here I shall be very very ha ppy

, ,
.

Everywhere around one sees the b i g chi mneys and the i mmense heaps of coal
at the entrances to the mi nes the so c alled charbonnages Y ou know that large
,
-
.

“ ”—
drawing by Bo sb oom Chaudfontaine i t expresses the character of the country
,

well onl y here i t i s all coal ; the stone quarri es are in the north of Hainaut an d
, ,

in Chaudfontain e i t i s i ron .

I still thi nk so Often of the day y ou spent in Brussel s and of our vi si t t o the
museum And I often wi sh that y ou were nearer so we coul d be together more
.

“ ”
often Wri te again soon I l ook at that etchi ng of A Youn g Ci ti zen over and
. .

over agai n .

The l anguage of the mi ners i s not so very easy t o un derstand but they under ,

stand ordi nary French well provi ded it i s spoken qui ckly and fluently ; then of
, ,

course i t resemb les thei r patoi s whi ch i s spoken wi th great rapi di ty

, ,
.

“
At a meeti ng thi s week my text was A ct s 1 6 9 And a vi si on appeared t o ,

Paul in the ni ght ; There stood a man of Macedoni a and prayed hi m saying , , ,
”
Come over in to Macedoni a and help us A n d they li stened att entively when I
,
.

tri ed to descri be what the Macedoni an w ho needed and l onged for the comfort
of the Gospel and for knowl edge o f the onl y true G o d w a s li ke How we must .

think of hi m as a laborer wi th lines of sorrow and suffering and fati gue in hi s

face— wi thout splendor or glamour but wi th an i mmortal soul— who needed the ,

food that does not peri sh God s word H ow Jesus Chri st i s the Master who
,
’
.

can comfort and strengthen a man li ke the Macedoni an— a laborer an d working
man whose life i s hard because He i s the Great Man of Sorrows Who knows
-

o u r ill s Who was call ed a carpenter s son though He was the S on of G o d W h o

’
, ,

worked for thi rty years in a humbl e carpenter s S hop to fulfill God s will And ’ ’
.

G o d wi ll s that i n i mi tati on of Chr i st man shoul d live humbl y an d go through

life not reachi ng fo r the sky but adapti ng hi mself t o the earth bel ow l earnin g
, ,

from the Gospel to be meek and s i mpl e of heart .

I have already had o c casi on to Vi si t some pati ents as there are many si ck ,

peopl e here .

I wrote today t o the Presi dent of the Commi ttee Of Evangeliz ati on aski ng ,

hi m if my case coul d be brought up at the next meeti ng Of the comm ittee .

It has been thawing toni ght ; I cannot tell y ou h ow pi cturesque the hill y
country i s in the thaw n ow that the snow i s melt in g and the black fiel ds wi th
,

the green wi nter wheat are Vi si ble agai n .

For a forei gner the vi llage here i s a real labyri nth wi th i nnumerabl e narrow
streets and all eys of small mi ners huts Si tuated at the foot of the hill s as well as
’
,

on the s lopes and on the top Y ou can best compare i t to a Vi llage li ke Scheve
.

ni ngen especi ally the back streets or to those Vill ages in Bri ttan y whi ch w e know
, ,

from pi ctures But you have traveled through thi s part of the c ountry on your
.

w ay t o Pari s and perhaps you remember i t somewhat The Protestan t churches

, .

are small— li ke the one at De Hoeve onl y a li tt l e larger— but the place where I ,

spoke i s only a large bare room whi ch c an accommodate a hundr ed peop le at

46
th e most I al so assi sted at a religi ous servi ce in a stable or shed so you see i t i s
.
,

qui te si mpl e and ori gi nal .

Wri te soon if y ou have time and know that you are agai n and agai n aye , ,

constantly i n my thoughts May God s blessing be yours i n th e New Year

,
.
’
.

Beli eve me wi th a handshake always

, , ,

Your so l oving brother Vi ncent ,

My regards t o everyone at Roos s and al so to everyone w h o inqui res after me ’

, .

When you wri te please address your l etter : M van der Haegen colporteur a
,
.
,

Paturages pres de Mons Borinag e Hai naut

, , ,
.

I have just vi si ted a li ttl e ol d woman in a charcoal burner s family She i s very -
’
.

ill but pati ent and full of fai th I read a chapter wi th her and prayed wi th them
,
.

all Peop l e here have a characteri sti c Si mp li ci ty and good nature li ke th e Brabant
.
,

peop le at Zundert and Etten .

129
Dear Theo , Wasmes April 1 8 79 ,

It i s ti me that y ou heard from me agai n From home I heard that y ou had been .

i n Etten for a few days an d t hat y ou were on a business tri p I certai nl y hope .

ou ha d a good j ourney I suppose ou will be in the dunes some of these days

y y .

and occasi onally in Scheveningen It i s l ovel y here i n spri ng t oo ; there are spots .
,

where on e coul d almost fancy oneself in the dunes because of the hill s , .

N ot l ong ago I made a very interest ing expedi ti on spendi ng six hours i n a ,

mine It was Marcasse on e of the Ol dest and most dangerous mi ne s i n the nei gh
.
,

b o rh o o d It has a bad reputati on because many peri sh i n i t ei ther goi ng down o r

.
,

comi ng up or through poi soned air firedamp expl osi on water seepage cave in s
, , , ,
-
,

etc It i s a gloomy spot and at first everyt hin g around l ooks dreary and desolate
.
, .

Most of the mi ners are thi n and p al e from fever they l ook tired and emaci ated ,

weather beaten and aged before thei r t ime On the whol e the women are faded
-
.

and worn Around the min e are poor mi ners huts a few dead trees black from
.
’
,

smoke thorn hedges dunghi ll s ash dumps heaps of usel ess coal etc Mari s
, , , , , .

coul d make a wonderful pi cture of i t .

I will try t o make a li t tl e sketch of i t presently to gi ve y ou an i dea of how

i t l ooks .

I had a good gui de a man w h o has already worked there for thi rty thr ee years
,
-

kind and pati ent he explain ed every thi ng well and tri ed t o make i t clear to me
, .

So together we went down 700 meters an d expl ored the most hi dden corners
of that un derworl d The main t en a e s o r gredins cell s where the mi ners work]
g .
[
whi ch are si t uated farthest from the exi t are call ed des ca cbes [hi ding places places ,

where men search] .

Thi s mi ne has five level s but the t hree upper ones have been exhausted and
,

abandoned ; they are n o l onger worked be cause there i s no more coal A pi cture .

of the mai nt en a e s woul d be somethi ng new and unheard of— o r rather never
g ,

before seen Imagin e a row of cells in a rather narrow l ow passage shored up

.
, ,

wi th rough timber In each of those cell s a miner in a coarse linen sui t fil thy
.
,

47
an d black as a chi mney sweep ,
is busy hewin g coal by the pal e li ght of a small

l ess li ke the cell s in a beehi ve , o r li ke a dar k, gl oomy passage in an underground

pri son, or li ke a row of small weavi ng l ooms , or rather more li ke a row of baki ng
o vens such as the peasan ts have , or li ke the parti ti ons i n a crypt The tunnel s .

t hemselves are li ke the b i g chi mneys of the Brabant farms .

The water l eaks thr ough in some, and the li ght o f the miner s lamp makes a
’

curi ous effect, reflected as in a stalactite cave Some of the miners work i n the .

maint en ag es, others l oad the cut coal i nto small carts that run on rail s , li ke a street
car Thi s i s mostly done by chi ldren , boys as well as gi rl s There i s al so a stab le
. .

yard down there, 700 meters underground, wi th about seven Old horses whi ch
c
pull a great many of those carts to the so alled accrochage, the place from whi h
-
c
they are pull ed up to the surface O ther miners repai r the ol d galleri es to prevent
.

thei r coll apse or make new galleri es in the coal vein A S the mariners ashore are .

homesi ck for the sea, notwi thstandi ng all the dangers an d hardshi ps whi ch
threaten them, so the mi ner woul d rather be under the groun d than above i t .

The vi llages here l ook desolate and dead and forsaken ; li fe goes on underground
in stead of above One mi ght li ve here for years and never know the real tate
.
“

S
o f thi ngs unl ess on e went down i n the mines .

Peopl e here are very i gnorant and untaught—r mo st of them can not read— but at
the same ti me they are i ntelli gent an d qui ck at thei r di ffi ul t work brave an d fran k,c
they are short but square shouldered , wi th melancholy deep set eyes They are skill
- -
.

ful at many things , and work terri b ly hard They have a nervous temperament— I
.

do n ot mean weak, but very sensi tive They h ave an innate, deep rooted hatred
.
-

and a strong mi strust of anyone w ho i s domi neeri ng Wi th mi ners o ne must have .

a mi ner s character and temperament, and n opretenti ous pri de or mastery, or on e

’

wi ll never get al ong wi th them or gai n thei r confidence .

Di d I tell you at the t i me about t he mi ner w h o was so badly hurt by a fi re da mp

expl osi on Thank G od , he has recovered and i s goi ng out again, an d i s begi nni ng
c
to wal k some di stance just for exer i se ; hi s hands are still weak and i t will be
some time before he can use them for hi s work, but he i s out of danger Si nce .

that ti me there have been many cases of typ hoi d and mali gnant fever, of what
they call la sotte fi évre , whi ch gi ves them bad dreams li ke ni ght mares an d makes
them deli ri ous S o agai n there are many si ckl y an d bedri dden people— e ma i ated ,
. c
weak, and mi serabl e .

In on e house they are all i ll wi th fever and have li ttl e or no help , so that the
”
pati ents have to nurse the pati ents Ic i c est l es malades qui soi gnent les malades
.
’

“
[here the si ck tend the si ck] , sai d a woman, li ke, Le pauvre est l ami d u pauvre
’

[the poor man i s the poor man s fri end]

’
.

c
Have you seen an y beautiful pi t ures lately ? I am eager for a letter from y ou .

Has Israel s done much l atel y and Mari s an d Mauve ?

A few days ago a colt was born here in the stabl e, a pretty lit tle an imal that
soon stood firm on hi s legs The mi ners keep man y goats here, and there are
.

ki ds in every house ; rabbi ts are al so very common here in the miners houses
’
.

48
 I often read in Uncle Tom s Ca bin these days There i s S till so much slavery
’
.

in the worl d and in thi s remarkab l y wonderful book tha t i mportant questi on i s
,

treated wi th so much wi sdom so much l ove and such zeal and i nterest i n the , ,

true welfare of the poor oppressed that on e comes back to i t agai n and again ,

al ways findin g something new .

I sti ll can find no better defini ti on of the word art than thi s L art c est l homm e ,
’ ’ ’

”
aj outé a la nature [art i s man added to nature]— nature reali ty truth but wi t h a , , ,

si gni ficance a concepti on a character whi ch the arti st brings out i n i t and to
, , , ,
“ ”
whi ch he gives expressi on qu i l dégage whi ch he di sentangles sets free and
,
’

, ,

i nterprets A pi ct ure by Mauve o r Mari s o r Israel s says more and says i t more
.
,

clearly than nat ure herself It i s the same wi th books and i n Uncle Tom s Ca bin
,
.
,
’

especi ally the arti st has put thi ngs in a n ew light ; in thi s book though i t i s
, ,

becomi ng an ol d book already— that i s wri tten years ago— a ll things have b e ,

come new The sentiment in i t i s s o fine so elaborate so masterly It i s wri tten

.
, ,
.

wi th so much love so much seri ousness so fai thfull y It i s humbl e and si mp le

, , .
,

but at the same ti me so trul y subli me so noble and refined ,

.

Recently I read a book about the Engli sh coal di stri ct but i t di d not gi ve ,

many parti cul ars Enclose d i s a wood engravin g for your collecti on
. .

The other day I made the acquai ntance o f somebody wh o has been a foreman
over the mi ners for many years Of humble ori gi n he i s a self made man N ow .
,
-
.

he has a lung di sease seri ous enough and c an no l onger stand the terri bly fat i
, ,

g ui n g work down i n the mi ne It i s very i nteresti ng to hear hi m speak

. about all

those thi ngs relating t o the mi nes He has always remai ned a fri end of the mi ner .

(unli ke so many others who have al so got on but more for the sake of money ,

than real di stin cti on and prompted by l ess noble and very often mean moti ves)
,
.

He has the heart of a l aborer— fai thful and honest and brave— but he i s far superi or
to most of them in i ntellectual devel opment More than once during a stri ke he .

has been the onl y person wi th an y influence on the mi ners They woul d li sten to .

nobody they woul d follow nobody s advi ce but hi s ; and he al one w a s obeyed
,
’

in the cri ti cal moment When I met hi m for the first ti me I thought of th e etchin g
.
,
“ ”
by Mei ssoni er whi ch we know so well The Reader One of the Deni s boys i s ,
.

about to become engaged to hi s daughter that i s w h y he Vi si ts the house here ,

now and then though rarel y and so I made hi s acquai ntance S ince then I vi si ted
, ,
.

hi m a few ti mes Have you ever read Leg ouV é L es P eres et les E nfants ? It i s a
.
,

remarkabl e book I found i t at hi s house and read i t wi th i nterest

. .

A few days ago I received a l etter from the Reverend Mr Jones of Isleworth .

i n whi ch he wri tes about buil din g lit tle wooden churches here in the Bo rin a g e - .

Is that practi cab le i s i t desi rabl e He i s ready to work for that end that i s for
, , ,

the erecti on of the first of such li ttle buildi ngs He even speaks of coming here .

i n the autumn to tal k i t over ; I certainl y hope i t happens If you have time wri te .
,

me a li ne and if you can stop here when you go to Pari s At all events let me
, ,
.

kn ow if possi ble on what trai n you wi ll be passing the stat i on nearest to Wasmes
, , ,

fo r then I wi ll try to be there B l essi ngs on your work beli eve me always.
, ,

Your l ovin g brother Vincent ,

13 3
My Dear Theo , Cuesmes July 1 8 8 0 ,

I am wri ting y ou wi th some reluctance not having done so i n such a l ong ti me , ,

for many reasons .

To a certai n degree y ou have become a stranger to me and I have become ,

the same t o you more than you may thi nk ; perhaps i t woul d be better for us not
,

to c onti nue i n thi s way Probably I woul d not have wri tten you even n ow if I
.

were not under the ob li gati on an d necessi ty of doi ng so if y ou yourself had not ,

given me cause At Etten I l earned tha t y ou had sent 5 0 francs for me ; well I
.
,

have accepted them Certai nl y wi th relu ctance certainl y wi th a rath er melancholy

.
,

feeling but I am up agai nst a stone wall and in a sort of mess How can I d o
,
.

otherwi se S O I am wri ti ng y ou to thank you .

Perhaps you know I am back in the Borin ag e Father woul d rather I stay in .

the nei ghborhood of Etten ; I refused and i n thi s I thi nk I acted for the best , .

Involuntaril y I have become more or l ess a kin d of i mpossi bl e and suspect

,

personage in the family at least somebody whom they d o n ot trust so how coul d
, ,

I in any w ay be of any use to anybody ? Therefore above all I thi nk the best and , ,

most reasonable thi ng for me to do i s to g o away and keep at a conveni ent di stance ,

so that I cease t o exi st for y ou all .

As molti ng ti me— when they change thei r feathers— i s for bi rds so adversi ty ,

o r mi sfort une i s the di ffi c ul t ti me for us human bei ngs One c an stay i n i t — i n .

that ti me of molting— on e can al so emerge renewed ; but anyhow i t must not be

done i n pub li c and i t i s not at all amusing therefore the only thi ng t o do i s t o ,

hi de oneself Well so be i t
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,
.

Now though i t i s very diffi cult al most i mpossi ble to regai n the confidence of
, , ,

a whol e famil y whi ch i s not qui te free from prejudi ces an d other qualit ies as
,

fashi onable and honorab l e I d o n o t qui te desp ai r that by and by s l owly but
, ,

surely a cor di al understandi ng may be renewed between some of us And in the

, .

very first place I shoul d li ke to see that entente cordi ale n ot t o put i t stronger
, , ,

re estab li shed bet w een Father and me ; and I desi re no l ess to see i t re estab li shed
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between us t wo An entente cordi al e i s i nfini tel y better than mi sunderstandin gs

. .

Now I must bore you wi th certai n abstra ct things but I hope you wi ll li sten ,

to them pati ently I am a man of passi ons capabl e of and subje ct to doing more
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,

or l ess fooli sh things whi ch I happen t o repent more o r l ess afterward Now
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.

and then I speak an d a ct too hastil y when i t woul d have been better to wai t ,

pati entl y I t hink other peopl e someti mes make the same mi stakes Well thi s
. .
,

bei ng the case what s t o be done Must I consi der myself a dangerous man
,
’
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i ncapabl e of anythi ng I don t thi nk so Bu t the prob lem i s t o try every mean s t o
’
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put t hose selfsame passi on s to good u se For i nstance to name one of the pas .
,

si ons I have a more or l ess i rresi sti bl e passi on for books and I continually want
, ,

to i nstruct myself t o study if y ou li ke just as much as I wan t to eat my bread

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.

Y ou certai nl y will be ab le t o understand thi s When I was i n other s urroun dings .

,

i n the surroun di n gs of pi ct ures and works of art you know how I had a Vi ol ent ,

passi on for them reaching the hi ghest pi tch of enthusi asm An d I am n ot sorry
,
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about i t for even n ow far from tba t land I a m often bomesi c/é for tbe land of p i ctures
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 Y remember perhaps that I knew well (and perhaps I know still) w h o
ou

Rembrandt was or Mill et or Jul es Dupre or Delacroix or Millai s or M Mari s

, , . .

Well now I do not have those surroundin gs any more— yet that thi ng c a lled
,

soul they say i t never di es but li ves on and conti nues t o search forever an d ever
, ,

an d ever S o i nstead of gi vi ng way t o thi s homesi ckness I sai d to myself : That

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l an d or the fatherland i s everywhere S o i nstead of giving in to despai r I chose

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the part of acti ve melancholy— in so far as I possessed the power of acti vi ty— in
other words I preferred the melancholy whi ch hopes and aspi res and seeks to tha t
,

whi ch despai rs i n stagnati on and woe S o I studi ed somewhat seri ousl y the books .

wi thi n my reach li ke the Bi ble and the Frencb Revoluti on by Mi chel et and l ast wi nter
, , ,

Shakespeare and a few by Vi ctor Hugo and Di ckens and Beecher Stowe and , ,

l atel y E scbj lus an d then several others l ess classi cal several great littl e masters
, , , .

”
Y ou kn ow those li ttl e masters i nclude peopl e li ke Fabri ti us or Bi da
, .

N ow he w h o i s absorbed in all thi s i s someti mes choquant shocki ng t o others , , ,

and someti mes unwi t tin gly sins agai nst certai n forms and customs and soci al
conventi ons It i s a pi ty however when thi s i s taken in bad part For instance
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, ,
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,

y ou know t hat I h ave often neg l ected my appear ance ; I adm i t i t and I a dmi t ,

that i t i s shocking But l ook here poverty an d want have thei r share in the
, ,

cause and also profound di scouragement ; and then i t i s someti mes a good way
, ,

t o assure the soli tude necessary for c oncentrating o n whatever study preoccupi es
one A very necessary study i s that of me di ci ne ; there i s scarcel y an ybody who
.

does not try t o know a li ttle of i t who does n ot try to understand what i t i s ,

about and y ou see I do not yet know o ne word about i t Al l thi s absorbs an d
,
.

preoccupi es one— all thi s gi ves one something t o dream about to reflect on and ,

to thi nk about .

N ow fo r more than five years— I do not know exactly how l ong— I have been
more or l ess wi thout empl oyment wan deri ng here an d there You say S ince ,
.
,

a certai n ti me y ou have gone down you have deteri orated you have not done , ,

anyt hi ng Is thi s qui te true ?

.

It i s true tha t occasi on lly I have earned my crust of bread o c c a si on all y a

a ,

fri end has given i t t o me in chari ty I have lived as I coul d as luck woul d have .
,

i t haphazar dl y It i s true that I have l ost the confidence of many i t i s true that
, .

my finan ci al affai rs are in a sad state ; i t i s true that the future i s onl y too gl oomy ;
i t i s true that I mi ght have done better ; i t i s true that I ve l ost ti me i n terms o f
’

earni ng my bread ; i t i s true that even my st udi es are i n a rather sad and hopeless
condi ti on and that my needs are greater infini tely greater— than my possessi ons
,
-
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“ “ ”
Bu t i s thi s what you call goi ng down i s thi s what you call doin g nothin g ?
You wi ll perhaps say But wh y di dn t y ou continue as they wan ted y ou t o
,

they wanted you to g o through the uni versi ty

My only answer i s the expenses were too heavy and besi des that future was
, , ,

not much better than the one on the road n ow before me .

But I must continue on the path I have taken now If I d on t do an yt hing if .

’

,
’
I don t study if I don t g o on seeki ng an y l onger I am l ost Then w o e i s me
,
’

,
. .

That i s how I l ook at i t : to conti nue t o continue that i s what i s necessary , ,

.

But y ou wi ll ask What i s your defini te ai m ? ,

 That aim becomes more defini te will stand ou t sl owly and surel y as the rough
, ,

draft becomes a sketch and th e sketch becomes a pi cture— li ttle by li ttl e by

, ,

worki ng seri ously on i t by pondering over the i dea vague at first over the
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thought that was fleeting an d passi ng t ill i t gets fixed , .

I must tell you that wi th evangeli sts i t i s t h e same as wi th arti sts There i s an .

o l d a cademi c school often detestab le tyranni cal the accumul ati on of horrors
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men w ho wear a cui rass a steel armor of prejudi ces and conventi ons ; when
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these peopl e are in charge of affai rs they di spose of posi ti ons and by a system
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of red tape they try t o keep thei r protégés in thei r p l aces and t o excl ude the other

man Thei r God i s like the G o d of Shakespeare s dr unken Fal staff le dedans d une
.
’

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’

eg li se [the i nsi de of a church] i ndeed by a curi ous chance some of these evangel
'

i cal gentl emen find themselves wi th the same poi nt of Vi ew on sp iri tual
thin gs as that drunken character (perhaps they woul d be somewhat surpri sed to
di scover thi s if they were capable of human emoti ons) But there i s li ttl e fear of .

thei r bli ndness ever chan ging to cl ear si ghtedn ess in such matters -
.

Thi s state of affai rs has i t s bad si de for hi m who does not agree but protests ,

against i t wi th all hi s soul and all hi s heart and all the indi gnati on of whi ch he i s
capable For my part I respect academi ci ans w h o are not li ke these but the respect
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,

abl e ones are rarer than on e woul d first beli eve One of the reasons why I am .

un empl oyed n ow why I have been un emp l oyed for years i s si mp ly that I ha ve
, ,

di fferent i deas than the gentlemen w h o give the p laces to men w h o thi nk as
they do It i s not merely the questi on of dress whi ch they have hypocri ti cally
.

reproached me wi th ; i t i s a much more seri ous questi on I assure you ,

.

W y h do I te ll you a ll thi s — n ot t o comp lai n not to excuse myself for thi ngs ,

in whi ch I may o r may not have been wrong but s i mpl y t o answer you Durin g ,
.

your Vi si t l ast summer when w e wal ked together near the aban doned p i t whi ch
,

they call L a S orciere y ou remi nded me that there had been another time when
,
“
w e t w o had wal ked together— near the ol d canal and mi ll o f Ri j swi j k And .

” “ ” “
then y ou sai d we agreed in many thin gs But y ou added Si nce then you
, , .
,
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have changed so much y ou are not the same any l onger
, .

Well that i s n ot qui te true What has changed i s t hat my life then w as l ess
,
.

di ffi cult and my future seemed l ess dark ; but the i nner state my way of l ooki ng ,

at thin gs and my w ay o f thinki ng has not changed If there has been any change
,
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at all it i s that I thi nk and beli eve and l ove more seri ously now what I al ready
,

thought and beli eved and l oved then .

So you would be wrong i n persi sti ng in the beli ef that for instance I shoul d now , ,

be l ess enthusi asti c for Rembrandt or Millet or Dela croix o r whoever i t may be ;
, , ,

the contrary i s true But y ou see there are many thi ngs whi ch one must beli eve
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, ,

and l ove There i s somethi ng of Rembrandt i n Shakespeare and of Correggi o in

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Mi chel et and of Delacroi x in Vi ctor Hugo ; and then there i s somethi ng of Rem
,

brandt in the Gospel or somethi ng of the Gosp el i n Rembrandt— whi chever it

, ,

comes to the same if onl y one understands i t properly wi thout mi si nterpreti ng ,

i t an d cons i deri ng the equi valence of the compari sons whi ch do n o t pretend to ,

l essen the meri ts of the ori gi nal personali ti es And in Bunyan there i s somethi ng .

of Mari s or of Mill et and i n Beecher Stowe there i s somethi ng of Ary Scheffer

,
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5
 If now y ou c an forgive a man for making a thorough s t udy of pi ctures admi t ,

al so tha t the l ove of books i s as sacred as the l ove of Rembran dt— I even thi nk
the two complement each other I am very fond of the portrai t of a man by .

Fabri tius whi ch one day when we were wal ki ng together we stood l ooki ng at
, ,

for a l ong whi le in Haarlem Museum Yes but I am as fond of Sydney Carton .
,

i n Di ckens s Ta le of Twe C i ti es and I coul d S how y ou other figures as curi ously

’
,

stri king i n other books wi th a more or l ess remarkable resemblance And I

,
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thi nk that Kent a character i n Shakespeare s King L ear i s a s nobl e and di sti ng ui shed
,
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a personage as a figure by Th de Keyser though Kent an d Ki ng Lear lived .

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i n a much earli er peri od Not t o say more My G o d how beautiful Shakespeare

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,

i s ! W ho i s mysteri ous li ke hi m ? H i s l ang uage and styl e c an i ndeed be compared

to an arti st s bru sh qui verin g wi th fever and emoti on But on e must l earn to
’
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read just as on e must l earn to see and l earn t o li ve

,
.

So you must n ot think that I di savow thi ngs— I am rather fai thful in my
unfai thfulness and though changed I am the same ; my onl y anxi ety i s How
, , ,

can I be of u se i n the world ? Can t I serve some purpose and be of any good ’

H o w can I l earn more and s t udy certai n subjects profoundl y You se e tha t i s ,

what preoccupi es me constantl y ; an d then I feel i mpri soned by poverty excluded ,

from parti cipatin g in certai n work and certai n necessi ti es are beyond my reach , .

That i s on e reason for bei ng somewhat mel anchol y And then on e feel s an .
“

empt in ess where there might be fri endshi p and strong and seri ous affect i ons ,

and one feel s a terri ble di scouragement gnawin g at one s very moral energy ’
,

and fate seems to put a barri er to the instin cts of affe ct i on and a choki ng flood ,
“ ”
of di sgust envel ops on e And on e excl ai ms . How l ong my God ! , ,

Well what shall I say Do ou r i nner thoughts ever S how outwardl y There
,

may be a great fire i n ou r soul yet no one ever comes to warm hi mself at i t and
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the passers b y see onl y a wi sp of smoke comi ng through the chi mney and go
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al ong thei r w ay Look here n ow what must be done ? Must on e tend that i nner
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fi re have sal t in oneself wai t pat i entl y yet wi th h ow much i mpati ence for the
, ,

hour when somebody wi ll come and si t down near i t— maybe t o stay Let hi m
w ho beli eves i n God wai t fo r the hour that wi ll come sooner o r later .

For the moment i t seems that thi ngs are going very badl y wi th me and i t has ,

already been so for a consi derabl e ti me and may conti nue awhil e i n the future ;
but after everythi ng has seemed to g o wrong perhaps a time will come when ,

thi ngs wi ll g o ri ght I don t count on i t perhaps i t will never happen ; but if
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there i s a change for the better I shoul d consi der i t so much gai n I shoul d be
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contented I should say At l ast ! you see tbere was sometbing after all
, ,

But you will say Yet you are an intolerable being because you have i mpossi b l e
,

i deas about reli gi on and chil di sh scruples of consci ence .

If my i deas are i mposs i b le or chi ldi sh I hope to get ri d of t hem— I ask n o ,

better But thi s i s approxi mately what I thi nk on the subj ect In Un Pbi losop be
. .

sous les toi ts by S ou ve st re you will find how a man o f the peop le a s i mp l e mi ser
, , ,
“
ab le laborer i magines hi s own country Perhaps y ou have never t hought what
, .

” “
your own country reall y i s he sai d putti ng hi s hand on my shoulder It i s
, ,
.

everythi ng around you everything that has brought you up an d nouri shed y ou
, ,
everyt hi n g you have l oved ; those fiel ds that you see those houses those tr ees , , ,

those young gi rl s laughi ng as they pass— that i s your country ! The laws that
protect you the bread whi ch rewards your l abor the words you speak the joy
, , ,

and the sorrow that come to you from the peopl e and the things among whi ch
you live— that i s your country ! The li ttl e room where you used to see your
mother the memori es whi ch sh e has l eft you the earth in whi ch she reposes
, ,
:
\

that i s your country ! You see i t you breathe i t everywhere ! Fi gure to yourself
, ,

the ri ghts and the duti es the affecti ons and th e needs the memori es and the
, ,
”
grat it ude ; gather i t all under one name an d that name will be your country
, .

In the same way I thin k that everythi ng whi ch i s really good and beautiful
O f in ner moral sp iri t ual and sublim e beauty in men and thei r works— comes
,

from G o d and that a ll whi ch i s bad and wrong i n men and i n thei r works i s n ot
,

of God and God does not approve o f i t

,
.

But I always thi nk that the best way to know God i s to l ove many thi ngs .

Love a fri end a wi fe something— whatever you li ke you will be on the way
, ,
-

t o kn owi ng more about H im ; that i s what I say t o myself Bu t on e must l ove .

wi th a l ofty and seri ous inti mate sympathy wi th str ength wi th intelli gence ; and
, ,

on e must always try to kn ow deeper better and more That l eads to G o d that
, .
,

l eads to unwaveri ng fai th .

To gi ve you an example someone l oves Rembrandt but seri ously— that man ,

will know there i s a G o d he will surely beli eve i t Someone s t udi es the hi story
, .

of the French Revoluti on— h e will not be unbeli evi ng he will see that in great ,

things al so there i s a soverei gn power manifesting i tself Maybe for a short time .

somebody takes a free course at the great uni versi ty of mi sery and pays attenti on ,

to the thi ngs he sees wi th hi s eyes and hears wi th hi s ears and thinks them over ; ,

he too will end i n beli eving and he will perhaps have learned more than he
, , ,

can tell T o try t o understand the real si gni fican ce of what the great arti sts the
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,

seri ous masters tell us in thei r masterpi eces tba t leads to God ; on e man wrote
, ,

or tol d i t i n a book ; another in a pi cture Then simply read the Gospel and
, .

the Bi ble : i t makes y ou thi nk and thi nk much and think all th e time Well
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thi nk much and thi nk all the time i t rai ses your thoughts above the ordi nary
,

l evel wi thout your knowi ng i t We know how t o read— well then let us read !
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,

It i s true that there may be moments when on e becomes somewhat absent

minded somewhat vi si onary ; some become t oo absent mi nded to o Vi si onary
,
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Thi s i s perhaps the case wi th me but i t i s my own faul t ; maybe there i s some
,

excuse after a ll— I w a s absorbed preoccupi ed troub l ed for some reason but
,
—
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one overcomes thi s The dreamer someti mes fall s i nto a well but i s sai d to ger
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,

ou t of i t afterward And the absent mi nded man al so has hi s luci d i nterval s i n

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compensati on He i s sometimes a person who has hi s reasons for bein g a s he i s

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,

but they are not always understood at first or are unconsci ously forgot ten most,

of the ti me from l ack of i nterest A man w h o has been tossed back and forth
, .

fo r a l ong ti me as if on a stormy sea at l ast reaches hi s destin ati on ; a m an who

, ,

has seemed good for nothi ng and i ncapable of any empl oyment any fun cti on
- -
, ,

ends in findi ng one and becomi ng acti ve and capabl e of acti on— h e shows hi mself
qui te different from what he seemed at first .
 I wri te somewhat at random wha tever comes to my pen I should be very .

glad if you could see in me somethi ng more than an i dl e fell ow Be c ause there .

are t wo ki nds of i dl eness whi ch are a great contrast to each other There i s the
, .

man w h o i s i dl e from l aziness and from lack of character from the baseness of ,

hi s nature If y ou li ke y ou may take me for such a o n e

.
, .

On the other hand there i s the i dl e man w h o i s i dl e in spi te of hi mself wh o i s

, ,

i nwardly consumed by a great l onging for a cti on but does nothi ng because i t i s ,

i mpossi bl e for him to do anythi ng because he seems t o be i mpri soned i n some ,

cage because he does n ot possess what he needs to become produ cti ve because
, ,

ci rc um stances bri ng him i nevi tabl y to that poi nt Such a man does not al ways .

know what he coul d do but he i nst inc tivel y feel s I am good fo r somethi ng my
, , ,

life has a purpose after a ll I know that I coul d be qui te a di fferent man ! H ow
,

can I be useful of what servi ce can I be ? There i s somethi ng i nsi de of me what

, ,

can i t be ? Thi s i s qui te a di fferent kind of i dl e man ; if you li ke y ou may take ,

me for such a one !

A caged bi rd in spring knows qui te well that he mi ght serve some end ; he
i s well aware that there i s somethi ng for hi m t o do but he can not d o i t What , .

i s i t ? He does not qui te remember Then some vague i dea s occur t o hi m and .
,
“
he says to him self The others build thei r nests and lay thei r eggs and bring
,
”
up thei r little ones ; and he knocks hi s head agai nst the bars of the cage But .

the cage remains an d the bi rd i s maddened by angui sh

,
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“ ”
Look at that lazy ani mal says another bi rd i n passing he seems to be
, ,

li vi ng at ease .

Yes the pri soner lives he does not di e ; there are no outward si gns of what
, ,

passes wi thin hi m— hi s health i s good he i s more or l ess gay when the sun ,

shi nes But then the season of mi grati on comes an d attacks of melancholia
.
,
“ ”
But he has everyt hi ng he wants say the childr en that tend him i n hi s cage ,
.

He l ooks through the bars at the overcast sky where a thunderstorm i s gathering ,
“
and inwardl y he rebel s against hi s fate I am caged I am caged and y ou tel l .
, ,

me I do not want anythi ng fool s ! Y ou thi nk I have ever ything I need ! Oh !

,
”
I beseech y ou li berty that I may be a bi rd li ke other bi rds 1
,

A certai n i dl e man resembl es thi s i dl e bi rd .

And ci rcumstances often prevent men from doing thi ngs pri soners in I do ,

n ot know what horri b l e horri b le most horri b l e cage There i s al so— I know i t
, ,
.

the deliverance the tardy deliverance A justl y or un just ly ruined reputati on

,
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poverty unavoi dabl e ci rcumstances adversi ty— that i s what makes men
, ,

pri soners .

One cann ot al ways tell what i t i s that keeps u s shut in confines u s s eems to , ,

bury us neverthel ess one feel s certai n barri ers certai n gates certain walls Is all
, ,
.

thi s i magination fantasy ? I don t think so And one asks My God ! i s i t for
,
’
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,
”
l ong i s i t forever i s i t for all eterni ty ?
, ,

Do you know what frees on e from thi s captivi t y It i s every deep seri ous ,

affecti on Being fri ends being brothers l ove that i s what opens the pri son by
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, , ,

some supreme power by some magi c force Wi thout thi s one remains i n pri son
,
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.

Where sympathy i s renewed life i s restored , .

56
correct and di sti nguée wi th a somewhat decorati ve effect (dec ora tive used here i n a
,

favorabl e sense) S o I know somethi ng of hi s work and y ou speak of someone

.
,

w h o i s not qui te unknown to me I l ove the portrai t of Vi ctor Hugo ; i t i s very

.

consci enti ously done wi th the evi dent i ntenti on of portrayi ng the truth wi thout
,

an
y stra ini ng after e ffect .

Thi s wi nter I have st udi ed certain works by Hugo i ncludi ng L e D erni er f our ,

d un C onda mne and a very beaut iful book on Shakespeare I sta rted studying that
’ ’

.
,

a uthor l ong a g o ; he i s as beauti ful as Rembrandt Shakespeare i s to Charles .

Di ckens or Vi ctor Hugo what Ruysdael i s to Daubi gny and Rembrandt to , ,

What you say i n your l etter about Barbizon i s qui te true and I will tell y ou a ,

few thi ngs whi ch will prove I S hare the opini on I have not seen Barbiz on but .
,

though I h ave not seen i t la st wi nter I saw Courri eres I had un derta ken a walki ng
,
.

tour mostl y in Pas de—Calai s not La Manche [The Channel] but the department
-
, ,

o r provi nce I had undertaken the tri p hop i ng to fin d some ki nd o f work there
.

i f poss i b l e I wou l d have accepted anyt hi ng But after all perhaps I went i n
. .
,

v o luntaril y I can t exactly say why

’
.
,

I had sai d to myself Y ou must see Courri eres I had onl y 1 0 fr ln my pocket
,
. .
-
,

a n d havi ng started by taki ng the trai n I was soon ou t of money ; I was on the ,

road for a week I had a l ong weary walk of i t Anyhow I saw Courri eres and
, , .
, ,

the outsi de of M Jul es Breton s studi o The outsi de of the stu di o w as rather
.
’
.

di sappointin g : i t was qui te newly b uil t o f bri ck wi th a Methodi st regul ari ty an , ,

i nhospi tabl e chill y and i rri tatin g aspect If I coul d onl y have seen the i nteri or
,
.
,

I woul d certainly not have given a thought to the exteri or I am sure of that ,
.

Bu t what s hall I say o f the i nteri or ? I was not ab l e to catch a gli mpse for I ,

l acked the courage t o enter and introduce myself .

I l ooked el sewhere in Courri eres for traces of Jules Breton or some other
arti st ; the onl y thi ng I was able t o di scover w as hi s pi cture at a photographer s ’
,
“ ”
and i n a dark corner of the ol d church a copy of Ti t ian s Buri al of Ch ri st ’
,

whi ch in the shadow seemed to me to be very beauti ful and of wonderful tone .

W a s i t by hi m I do not know as I w a s un abl e to di scern an y si gnature

,
.

But no trace of any livi ng arti st ; there w as onl y a café called Café des Beaux
Arts al so bui lt of new bri cks equall y i nhospi table chill y and repell ent ; the
, , ,

sai d café was decorated wi th a kind of fresco or mural pai nti ng representin g
epi sodes in the li fe of th e famous kni ght Don Quixote Confi den t ially those ,
.
,

frescoes seemed to me a poor consolati on as they were of a rather i nferi or quali t y ,

.

I do not know who pai nted them .

But I have at l east seen the country around Courri eres the haystacks the , ,

brown earth or almost coffee col ored clay wi th whi ti sh spots here and there
-
,

where the marl appears whi ch seems very u nusual to those of us w h o are accus
,

t o me d to b l ack earth And the Fren ch sky seemed to me very much clearer and
.

more limpi d than the smoky foggy sky of the Bo rin ag e Besi des there were farms
, .
,

and sheds whi ch the Lord be prai sed sti ll retai ned thei r moss covered that ched
, ,
-

roofs I also saw flocks of crows made famous by the pi ct ures of Daubi gny an d
.

Mi ll et Not to menti on as I ought t o have in the first p lace the chara cteri sti c and
.
, ,

58
p i cturesque figures of the di fferent travel ers di ggers woodcutters peasants dri v, , ,

i n g horses and here and there the sil houette o f a woman in a whi te cap Even in
, .

Courri eres there w a s a charbonnage or mi ne I saw the day shi ft comi ng up i n the .

twili ght : there were no women in men s cl othes as i n the Borin ag e onl y miners
’

wi th ti red and mi serabl e faces blackened by the coal dust clad in tattered mi ners
, ,
’

c l oth es and on e of them in an ol d sol di er s cape

’
.
,

Th ough thi s tri p w as al most too much for me and I came back overcome by
fati gue wi th sore feet and qui te melanchol y I do not regret i t for I have seen
, , , ,

i nteresti ng thi ngs and on e l earns to take a di fferent but correct Vi ew of the
,

ha rdshi ps of real mi sery Occasi onally I earned some crusts of bread al ong the
.

road in exchange for some drawi ngs whi ch I had i n my vali se But when the .

1 0 fr were all gone I had to spend the l ast ni ghts i n the open ai r once in an
.
, ,

abandoned wagon whi ch was whi te wi th frost the next morni ng— rather a bad
,

res ting place ; once in a pil e of fagots ; and on e ti me t hat w a s a little better in a ,

haystack where I succeeded in maki ng a rather more comfortabl e berth— but

,

then a dr izzling rai n di d not exactly further my well being -

.

Well even i n that deep mi sery I felt my energy revi ve an d I s ai d to myself

, , ,

In spi te of everythi ng I shall ri se agai n : I will take up my pencil whi ch I have ,

forsaken i n my great di scouragement and I will go on wi th my drawing From

, .

that moment everyt hi ng ha s seemed tran sformed for me ; and now I have sta rted
an d my pen cil ha s become somewhat doci l e becomi ng more s o every day The ,
.

t o o l ong an d too great poverty had di scouraged me so much that I coul d not do

Another thi ng whi ch I saw duri ng that excursi on w as th e vi llages of the

weavers .

The min ers and the weavers still consti t ute a race apart from other laborers
and arti sans and I feel a great sympathy for them I shoul d be very happy if
, .

someday I could draw them so that t hose unknown o r littl e known types woul d
,
-

be brought before the eyes of the peop l e The man from the depth of the abyss
.
,

de p rofundi s— that i s the mi ner ; the other wi th hi s dreamy ai r somewhat absent

, ,

minded almost a somnambuli st— that i s the weaver I have been li vi ng among
, .

t hem for t wo years and have l earned a li t tl e of thei r uni que character at l east
, ,

t hat of the mi n ers especi ally And i ncreasi ngl y I find something tou chi n g and
.

almost sad in these poor obscure laborers— of the l owest order so to speak
, , ,

and the most despi sed — w h o are generally represented as a race of cri mi nal s and
thi eves by a perhaps Vi vi d but very fal se and unjust i maginati on Of course one .

can find cri mi nal s dr unkards and thi eves here just as anywhere el se but none
, , , ,

o f them are the true type .

In your l ett er you menti oned vaguel y my comi ng eventually to Pari s or i n the ,

nei ghborhood if i t were p o smble and if I wan ted to It woul d certainly be my

, .

great and ardent wi sh to g o to Pari s or to Barbi zon or el sewhere But h ow ,

.

coul d I when I do not earn a cent ? Though I work hard i t will be some ti me
, ,

before I reach the point where I can consi der such a thi ng as coming to Pari s ,

fo r i ndeed t o be ab l e t o work as i s necessary I shoul d need at l east 1 00 fr a ,

.

month— one can li ve on l ess but then i t i s hardshi p even want

, ,
.
 Poverty keeps the good spiri ts from arriving an old Pali ssy proverb whi ch is
has some truth in i t ,
and whi ch i s perfectly true if one understa nds i t s real meani ng
and depth .

For the moment I d o not see how the thi ng would be practi cable ; i t i s better
fo r me to stay here working as much as I c an— and after al l i t i s cheaper But
, , , .

i t i s certai n that I cannot remai n very much l onger in the li tt le room where I am
n ow It i s a small room anyw ay and then there are two beds one for the chil dren
.
, ,

and one for me And now that I draw those rather large sized Bargues I cannot tell
.
,

you how i nconveni ent i t i s I don t wan t to upset the peopl e s househol d arrange .
’ ’

ments and they have already tol d me that I coul d by no means have the other
,

room in the house even if I pai d more for the woman needs i t for her washi ng
, , ,

whi ch has to be done almost every day in a miner s house So I shoul d just like ’
.

t o take a small worker s house ; i t costs about 9 fr a month

’
. .

Though every day di ffic ulti es crop up and new ones will present themselves I ,

cannot tell y ou how happy I am t o have taken up drawi ng agai n I had been .

thi nking of it for a l ong ti me but I always consi dered the thing i mpossi bl e and
beyond my reach But n ow though I feel my weakness and my p ai nful depend
,

.
,

ence in many things I have recovered my mental balance and day by day my
, ,

energy i ncreases .

N ow I will tell y o u my opi ni on about c oming to Pari s If I had an opportuni ty .

to devel op a fri endship wi th some good and worthy arti st i t woul d be of great ,

advantage to me But abruptl y goi ng there woul d onl y be a l arge scale repeti ti on
.
-

of my tri p t o Courri eres where I had hoped to meet some li ving specimen of an,

arti st but found none The thi ng for me i s to learn to draw well t o be master o f
,
.
,

my pencil or my crayon or my brush ; thi s gai ned I shall make good thi ngs an y ,

where and the Bo rin ag e i s just as pi cturesque as ol d Veni ce Arabi a Bri ttany
, , , ,

Normandy Pi cardy o r Brie , .

If my work i s bad i t i s my ow n fault But certainly at Barbi zon on e woul d

, .

have more chance than anywhere el se of meeti ng some more advanced arti st ,

wh o woul d be as one of God s angel s to me I say thi s in all seri ousness and
’
.

wi thout exaggerati on S o if y ou eventuall y fin d the means or opportuni t y for i t

.
, ,

think of me In the meantime I ll stay here qui etl y in some littl e min er s hut
.
’ ’
,

where I shal l work as well as I can .

You wrote about M éry on and what y ou say about hi m i s qui te true I kn ow hi s , .

etchi ngs a li ttle Woul d y ou li ke to see a curi ous thing Put one of hi s correct
.

and masterly drawi ngs al ongsi de some print by V i ollet—le Duc or some other -

archi tect Then y ou wi ll see M éry on in hi s full strength because the other etchi ng
.
,

wi ll serve to set off hi s work to form a contrast Well what do y ou see Thi s , .
,

M éry on even when he draws bri cks or grani te or i ron bars or a rai ling of a
, , , ,

bri dge puts i nto hi s etchi ngs somethi ng of the human soul moved by I do n ot know
, ,

what i nner sorrow I have seen drawi ngs of Gothi c archi tecture by Vi ctor Hugo
. .

Well wi thout having M éry on s force and masterly techni que there was some
,
’
,

thi ng of the same sent iment What i s t hat sent iment ? It has some relati on to .

what Albrecht D urer expressed in hi s M elancholi a an d in our day James

“
, , ,

Ti ssot and M Mari s (di fferent as these two may be) ; s ome profound cri ti c
.

60
rightly s ai d of James Ti ssot He i s a soul in angui sh However thi s may be , .
,

there i s somethi ng of the human soul i n hi s work ; for that reason al one i t i s
gran d i mmense i nfini te : put V i ollet le Duc al ongsi de and i t i s Stone whil e
, ,
- -
,

M éry on i s Spi ri t M éry on i s sai d t o have had such a capaci ty for l ove tha t li ke
.
,

Di ckens s S ydney Carton he l oved even the stones of certai n pl aces In M ill et
’
, .
,

in Jul es Breton i n Jozef Israel s t o o thi s preci ous pearl the human soul i s even
, , , ,

more i n evi dence— expressed i n a nobl er worthi er tone more evangeli cally if I , , ,

can say i t that w ay .

But to return to M éry o n he al so has a di stant relati onshi p wi th Jongki nd I

, ,

think and perhaps wi th Seymour Haden for at certain ti mes these two arti sts
, ,

ha ve been very strong Wai t perhaps someday you will see that I too am an
.
,

arti st ; I d o not now know what I c an d o but I hope I shall be able t o make some ,

drawings wi th somethi ng human i n them But first I must draw the Barg ues .

and d o other more o r l ess di ffi cul t thi ngs The path i s narrow the door i s narrow .

and there are few wh o fin d i t

, ,

Thanki ng you for your kindness especi all y for Le Bui sson I Shake hands , ,

wi th you in thought ,

Vi n cent
N ow I have taken your who le coll e c ti on but you will have another on e I hope ; , ,

besi des for your colle cti on of wood engravi ngs I have some very good thi ngs
,

from the two volumes of the M usée Uni vers el whi ch I i ntend for you ,
.

143 a
[Repri nted from Loui s Pi erard , L a vi e trag ique de V incent van G og b Edi ti on
, revue .

Pari s Edi ti ons Correa

,
Ci e, I

Readi ng an arti cl e by M Pi erre Godet in L A rt D ecora tif and the comments i t ’ ’

prompted from a certai n Protestant publi cati on Foi et V i e induced me on e day , ,

to start i nvesti gati ng i n my native country thi s d isturbing peri od of Vi ncent

v an Gogh s li fe I knew that Vi n c ent had once been sent as a mi ss i onary to the
’
.

Bo rin ag e ; nothing more I have pati entl y i nterrogated the pastors of numerous
.

vill ages and a certai n number of thei r congregati ons And at last I had the informa .

ti on I sought .

It was during a stri ke Before the Vi ll age Hall an O ld miner squat ting wi th
.
,

hi s knees drawn up to hi s chin a pi pe between hi s teeth— ln the favori te resti ng ,

“ ”— “
posi ti on of tap eurs d la veine sai d in hi s r ude patoi s L p asteur V i ncent ? S i ,
’

mein sauvi er ?
j e l croi s be
[P astor V ncent D I remember hi m ? I shoul d
’ ’
i ?
’ ’

j o

thi nk so l] I did my best to make him specify hi s memori es more preci sely .

In hi s mind s eye he saw Van Gogh agai n si ttin g on a campstool in the

’

yard at the mi ne (at p i t N O 1 0 G ri soeul ) makin g sketches of the cage and.

, ,
“ ”
la belle fleur the i ron framework and then of the emergi ng mi ners b lack
, , ,

wi th coal dust thei r eyes b li nki ng at the sudden daylight t hei r lamps i n thei r
, ,

At last I l earned that Van Gogh had boarded at the house of a certai n Jean
“ ”
Bapti ste Deni s a baker and had preached in the old Salon de Béb é (in t he
, ,

61
Borin ag e , a hall fo r danci ng and meeti ngs i s always alled a sa lon) The ol d c .

house , whi ch at the ti me was somethin g bet ween a farm and a sa lon, has been
much al tered duri ng the last thi r ty years But when I foun d the vast ki tchen i nta t,
. c
wi th i t s mi ghty beams covered wi th whi te stucco the bi g open hearth and in a , ,

corner the stone table at whi ch Vi ncent li ked to eat I was The S alon , ,

o r as some s ai d L ti m e [the temp l e] of Béb é w a s s i tuated at th e edge of the

’

p , ,

Colfontain e forest The whi tewashed wall s of the meeting hall were blui sh whi te
.
-
.

Behi nd the preacher on e coul d see the s l opi ng gardens the square vegetab l e ,

pl ots through the

,

So here Van Gogh li ved after November 1 8 7 8 in the Borin ag e vast minin g di stri ct
i n the nei ghborhood of Mons The Reformed reli gi on ha s always possessed
"

and does to thi s day i mportant n

.
,

uclei here In every mini ng vill age o r in nearl y

,
.
,

every on e there i s a Protestant church and i n some two (one of the Nati onal
, , ,

Church and the other of the Free Church whi ch refuses State
, ,

At l ast after a l ong search I found i n the Toum ai si s di stri ct an ol d pastor

, , ,

M Bonte who w as i nstalled in Warqui g ni es a village in the nei ghborhood of

.
, ,

Wasmes in 1 8 7 8 and recei ved Vi ncent van Gogh wi th the greatest kin dness
, , .

Here are the notes he w as good enough t o send me

I should li ke to sati sfy y ou as much as possi ble by puttin g together some remi n i s
cences of Vincent van Gogh In fact I knew hi m some fort y five years ago in
.
,
-

the Borin ag e where he w as an evan geli st (not a pastor as he had no theol ogi cal
, ,

degree) He worked at Wasmes about one year

. .

He was the son of a Dutch mini ster I remember well hi s arrival at Pat urages .

he w as a bl ond young man of medi um stature and wi th a p l easant face ; he w as

well dressed had excellent manners and showed in hi s personal appearance al l
, ,

the characteri sti cs o f Dutch cleanliness .

He expressed hi mself in French correctly and w as able t o prea ch qui te sati s ,

fac t o ri ly at the reli gi ous gatheri ngs o f the lit tl e Protestant group in Wasmes
whi ch they had entrusted t o hi s care An other communi t y i n Wasmes had a .

pastor He worked near the edge of the forest in the di recti on of Warqui gni es ;
.
,

he led di vi ne servi ce in a former dance hall .

Our young man took lodgings i n an old farm at Peti t Wasmes The house was -
.

relati vely pretty— i t diflered consi derabl y from th e dwellings in the nei ghborhood ,

where on e saw onl y li ttle mi ners cottages ’

.

The fami l y whi ch had taken Vi ncent in had Si mple habi ts and li ved li ke ,

worki ng people .

But o ur evangeli st very soon showed toward hi s l odgings the peculi ar feeli ngs
whi ch dominated hi m : he consi dered the accommodati on far t oo luxuri ous ; i t
S hocked hi s Chri sti an humili ty he coul d not bear bein g l odged c omfortably in
, ,

a way so di fferent from that of the min ers Therefore he l eft these peopl e w ho .

had surrounded hi m wi th sympathy an d went to live in a li ttl e hovel There he .

was all al one ; he had no furni ture and people sai d he slept crouched down i n a
,

corner of the hearth .

Besi des thi s the cl othes he wore outdoors reveal ed the ori ginali ty of hi s
,
aspi rati ons ; peopl e saw hi m i ssue forth clad in an o l d sol di er s tun i c and a ’

sha bby cap and he went about the vill age in thi s attire The fine sui ts he had
, .

arrived i n never reappeared ; nor di d he buy any new ones It i s true he had onl y .

a modest salary but i t was suffi ci ent to permi t hi m to dress i n accordance wi th

,

hi s so ci al pos i ti on Why had the b o y changed thi s w ay ?

.

Faced wi th the desti tuti on he encountered on hi s vi si ts hi s pi ty had i nduced ,

hi m to gi ve away nearly a ll hi s cl othes hi s money had foun d i t s way into th e

hands of the poor and one mi ght say that he had kept nothi n g for hi mself H i s
, .

reli gi ous sent im ents were very ardent and he wanted to obey the words of
,

Jesus Chr i st to the l etter .

He felt ob li ged to i mi tate the early Chri sti ans to sacri fice all he could li ve ,

wi thout and he wanted to be even more desti tute than the maj ori ty of the
,

miners to whom he preached the Go spel .

I must add that al so hi s Dutch cl eanli ness w as sin gularly abandoned ; soap w a s
bani shed as a wi cked luxury ; and when our evangeli st w a s not wholl y covered
wi th a l ayer of c oal dust hi s face was usuall y di rti er than that of the mi ners
,
.

Exteri or detail s did n o t troubl e hi m ; he w a s absorbed i n hi s i deal of self deni al -

,

but for the rest he showed tha t hi s atti t ude was not the consequence of laisser—a ller ,

but a c onsi stent pra cti ci ng of the i deas governing hi s consci ence .

He no l onger felt any in ducement to take care of hi s own well bei ng— hi s -

heart had been aroused by the si ght of others want ’

.

He preferred to go to the un fortun ate the wounded th e si ck and always stayed

, , ,

wi th them a l ong ti me he w a s willi ng to make any sacri fice t o reli eve thei r sufferi ngs
In addi ti on hi s profound sensi ti vi ty was not limi ted to the human race Vin cent
, .

v an Gogh respe cted every creature s li fe even of those most despi sed
’
.
,

A repul si ve caterpill ar di d n ot provoke hi s di sgust ; i t was a li ving creature ,

and as such deserved protecti on .

The family wi th whom he had boarded tol d me that every ti me he found a

,

caterpill ar on the ground i n the garden he carefully pi cked i t up an d took i t to

,

a tree Apart from thi s trai t whi ch perhap s will be consi dered i nsi gnificant or
.
,

even fooli sh I have retained the i mpressi on that Vin cent van Gogh was act uated
,

by a hi gh i deal self forgetfulness and devoti on to all other beings w a s the gui din g
.
-

pri nci pl e whi ch he accepted whol eheartedly .

It will not revil e the memory of the man t o confess that in my opi ni on he
retai ned on e weakness : he w as an i ncorri gi bl e smoker At t imes I teased hi m about .

i t ; a l oather o f tobac co myself I tol d him that he di d wrong not t o gi ve i t up but

, ,

he i gnored me— Pai nters cannot do wi thout a li t tle spot of shade in the pi ctur e .

As far as hi s p ainting i s concerned I cann ot speak as a connoi sseur ; besi des

, ,

he w as not taken seri ously .

He woul d squat i n the mine fiel ds an d draw the women pi ckin g up pi eces of
c oal and goin g away laden wi th heavy sacks .

It w as observed that he di d not reproduce the pretty thi ngs t o whi ch w e are
wont to attri bute beauty .

He made some portrai ts of ol d women but for the rest nobody attached any , ,

i mportance t o an a c tivi t y that w a s consi dered a mere hobby .

 But i t woul d seem that as an arti st al so our young man had a pre dil e cti on fo r
, ,

a ll that seemed mi serab l e t o hi m .

These si r are a few remi ni scences whi ch my aged memory ha s tri ed to collect
, ,
.

Here i s another letter I did not have the heart to make any alterati on i n i t The
. .

good baker w ho wrote i t and who had lived on intimate terms wi th Vincent van
Gogh wi ll not take i t ami ss i f I reproduce i t comp l etely an d fai thfully .

Monsi eur Pi erard ,

One fine spring day when I saw our young fri end Vincent van Gogh arrive
, ,

ri chl y dressed I coul d not stop l ookin g at hi m next day he pai d a vi si t to the
, ,

pastor M Bonte Immedi ately puttin g hi mself on a l evel wi th the worki ng class
,
. .
,

o u r fri end sank away i nto the greatest humili ati ons and i t was not l ong before ,

he had di sposed of all hi s clothes .

Havi ng arri ved at the stage where he had no shi rt and n o socks on hi s feet ,

we have seen hi m make Shi rts ou t of sacking I myself was too young then . .

My kind hearted mother s ai d t o hi m : Mons i eur Vi ncent why do you depri ve

'

-
,

yourself of all your cl othes li ke thi s— you wh o are descended from such a noble
famil y of Dutch pastors ? He answered : I am a fri end of the poor li ke Jesus was .

She answered : You re no l onger in a normal condi ti on

’
.

The same year there was a fir edamp expl osi on in Pi t N O I of the Charbonnage .

Belge and man y min ers were burned Our fri end Vi ncent di d not give hi mself a
, .

’
moment s rest day and ni ght cutt ing up the last remnan ts of hi s li nen to make
b andages wi th wax and oli ve oil on them and then ran to the wounded to dress ,

thei r burns .

The humani ty of our fri end conti nued to grow day by day and yet the p ersec u ,

ti ons he suffered grew t oo And sti ll th e reproaches an d i nsul ts an d stoni ng by

, .

the members of the Consi story though he always remai ned in the deepest ,

abasement ! One day when he came to o ur house he started vomi ti ng on the

basement floor It had been too great a luxury for hi m he ought t o have stayed
.
,

in a thatched hovel H i s food consi sted of ri ce and treacl e no butter o n hi s bread

.
, .

Yet he was always at hi s s t udi es ; in a sin gle ni ght he read a volum e of 1 00

'

pages ; during the week he taught a school he had foun ded for the chil dren
teachi ng them to fear God and at the same ti me he w a s busy making dr awings
,

o f photography an d the mines .

On a very hot day a Vi ol ent thunderstorm burst over ou r regi on What di d .

ou r fri end do ? He went out t o stand i n the open fiel d t o l ook at the g reat marvel s

of God an d so he came back wet t o the ski n S O i t came about th at ou r fri end
, .

w a s turned out of hi s mini s t ry he went away to Pari s an d we have n o t heard

,

from hi m s i nce And when he wal ked [i t was al ways] o n the edge of the road
.
,

dear fri end Monsi eur Pi érard I coul d not tell you more I was only four teen
, , ,

years at the ti me .

Some of hi s characteri sti cs have been remembered vi vi dl y When the mi ners of .

Wasmes went to the pi ts they put ol d vests made o f sacking over thei r linen
,

64
to send us M Vincent ; after hi m came M H u t on both of them evangeli sts
. .
,

during four years or thereabouts .

We have been powerfully assi sted i n the work of evangeli zati on .

And here i s the 1 8 79— 8 0 report of the Uni on of [Protestant Churches in

“ ”
Belgium chapter Wasmes [t wenty thi rd report o f the Synodal Board of Evan
,
-

elizat i on ( 1 8 7
g 9

The experiment of accepting the servi ces of a youn g Dutchman Mr Vi nc ent , .

van Gogh wh o fel t hi mself called to be an evangeli st i n the Bo ri na g e has n o t

, ,

produced the anti ci pated results If a talent for speaki ng i ndi spensab le to anyone
.
,

p laced at the head of a congregati on had been added to the admirabl e quali ti es
,

he di sp layed in ai di ng the s i ck and wounded to hi s devoti on to the spi ri t of ,

self sa c rifi c e of whi ch he gave many proofs by consecrati ng hi s ni ght s rest to

-
,
’

t hem and by stri pp i ng hi mself of most of hi s cl othes and li nen in t hei r behalf
, ,

Mr Van Gogh would certainl y have been an accomp li shed evangeli st

. .

Undoubtedl y i t woul d be unreasonable to demand extraor di nary tal ents But .

i t i s evi dent t ha t the absence of certai n quali ti es may render the exerci se o f
an evangeli st s pri nci pal functi on wholl y i mposs i b l e
’
.

Unfortunately thi s i s the case wi th Mr Van Gogh Therefore the probati onary . .
,

peri od— some months— having expi red i t has been necessary t o abandon the ,

i dea of retaini ng hi m any l onger .

The evangeli st M Hutton (si c) who i s n ow i nstalled took over hi s ch arge

, .
, ,

on October I 1 8 7 9 ,
.

1 87
9 the
,
trag i c year : ep i demi cs of typhoi d fever the mad fever broke out , , ,

and then a great catastrophe cast a pall of gri ef over the countr y (the fi redamp
exp los i on in the A g rapp e at Frameri es) Wi thout a thought for hi mself Vincent.
,

devoted hi mself to nursi ng the s i ck and the men sufferi ng from burns wi th their ,

faces black and swollen .

A stri ke broke ou t ; the muti nous miners woul d n o l onger li sten to anyone
“ ”
except l p a steur Vincent whom they t rusted
’

, .

In the meant ime Van Gogh w as i ncreasi ngly busy wi th hi s drawi ngs One day .

he started for Brussel s on foot He arrived at Pastor Pi etersen s house i n rags

.
’
,

hi s feet b l eedi ng but carry ing wi th hi m some of hi s drawi ngs (Pi etersen was an
,

amateur water col ori st) The recepti on w a s cordi al and soothi ng It was de ci ded
-
. .

that Van Gogh woul d go back to the Bori nag e but thi s t ime to another pari sh , ,

Cuesmes .

One of my Protestant fell ow ci tizens M G Del saut w h o knew hi m at ,

. .
,

Cuesmes in I 8 8 0 sent me some notes whi ch I reprodu ce wi thout a word c hanged

,

He w a s an i ntelli gent young man speaki ng li ttle— al ways pensive He li ved very
,
.

soberl y : when he g ot up i n the morni ng he breakfasted off two s li ces of dr y ,

bread and drank a cold cup of black coffee .

Apart from hi s meals he dr ank onl y water He al ways had hi s meals al one
, .
,
and took pain s to avoi d eatin g i n company Whil e eati ng he made drawi ngs i n .
,

hi s lap or he read A ll hi s spare ti me w a s gi ven to drawi ng He often went to

. .

Ghli n Wood to the cemetery of Mons or i nto the country

, , .

He drew chi efly l andscapes castles a shepherd wi th hi s flock cows i n the

, , ,

meadows .

The most stri king pi ct ure whi ch my Si ster in law wi th whom he boarded
,
- -
, ,

S till remembers w a s a drawing S howing the fami ly gathering in the crop of

,

potatoes some di ggi ng others (the women) pi cking up the potatoes

, , .

He l eft hi s drawings and hi s books behind but now they have all di sappeared ,

because the famil y was scattered .

H i s board was pai d by hi s father who sent hi m money He spent much money
, .

on B i b l es and New Testaments whi ch he gave away when he went out to draw
, .

Once hi s father had to come to Cuesmes to put a stop to hi s spendi ng money

on books .

He woul d set out to draw a campstool under hi s arm and hi s box o f drawi ng
,

materi al s on hi s back li ke a peddler , .

When he w as annoyed he r ubbed hi s hands as if he coul d not stop .

[In the G reene A msterda mmer (Amsterdam weekly) of September 1

9 ,
1
9 25, Pi éra rd
added the foll owi ng t o hi s account ]
I thbu g h t I had coll ected all the parti culars until ol d Mr Deni s whom I met , .

some days ag o tol d me that one fine morni ng when as he put i t the dew had
, , , , ,

as i t were strewn the trees and flowers i n th e garden wi th pearl s of si lver he

, ,

w a s on the poi nt of crushing a caterpi llar underfoot when Van Gogh stopped
“
hi m wi th the exclamati on Why do you want to ki ll that li ttle ani mal ? G o d
,

created i t .

Loui s Pi érard used to be the soci ali st senator for Hai naut the provin ce to whi ch ,

the Bo rin ag e bel ongs ; after the liberati on ( 1 9 1 8 ) he w a s someti mes call ed the
cul tural ambassador of Belgi um To my questi on as to what grounds he had for
.

hi s statements about Vi ncent s alleged endeavors t o calm the stri kers he wrote
’

the foll owi ng l etter a few weeks before hi s death .

C lub des belg es de lang uefranfa i se

’

ecri va ins .

Pen Club
Pr esi d en t
Loui s Pi érard :

4 7 aV Vi ctor Rousseau Forest (Brux )

, .
,
.

tél éphone

Dear Mr Van Gogh

.
,
B russel s October 8 1 9 5 1 , ,

I hasten to answer your l etter of October 4 I am happy to hear that you are .

preparing a new edi ti on of Tbe L etters of V incent Thank y ou fo r ki ndly conferri ng .

i mportance o n the parti culars I gave i n my book on Van Gogh s soj ourn i n the ’

Bori na g e .
 The catas trophe to whi ch I referred and i n the course of whi ch Vi ncent
,

exerted hi mself wi th the utmost un selfi shn ess (whi ch i s confi rmed by Pastor
Bo nte s l etter) was on e of those fi red amp exp l os i ons that oc curred agai n and
’
,

agai n in the A g rapp e Pi t at Frameri es near Wasmes There were hun dr eds of
, .

vi cti ms Most of them were miners kill ed on the spot by the exp l osi on But
.
, .

others the wounded were possi bl y burned by i gni ti on of the coal dust
, , .

Vi ncent tri ed to reli eve the atroci ous sufferings of these un fortunate wretches ,

applying compresses drenched i n olive O il to thei r burns .

These frequent min ing di sasters (there had been th ree on e after the other at
, ,

the A g rap p e and at the Boul e) at last prompted an outbreak of anger and muti ny
among the mi ni ng populati on They beli eved that the i nspe cti on of the mines
.

was n ot conducted i n such a w ay as to protect the miner and guarantee hi s safety .

S o there were stri kes whi ch were i n fact stri kes of despai r Because of thi s the .
,

stri kers were tempted t o commi t acts of vi olence and destructi on The gendarmes .

and even the army were mobili zed to maintai n order It i s hi ghly probabl e that
.
,

i n order to p revent b l oodshed Vi ncent i ntervened and used hi s great moral

,

authori ty to restore the mi ners self control

’
-
.

I woul d al so allude t o the depth at whi ch peopl e have to work i n the mi nes .

Do y ou know that there i s a pi t at Quaregnon in whi ch a t tbis very bour peop l e

are worki ng at a depth of 1 400 meters ( about ft ) .

Will y ou p lease give my ki nd regards to Mrs Van Gogh . .

Bi en a vous

Loui s Pi érard ,

4 7 av V Rousseau B r uxell es
,
. .
,
1 88 1 BR U S S EL S A N D ET T EN

V i nc ent s c areer a s an arti st beg i ns i n

’
earnest

140
My dear Theo ,
Boul evard da Mi di Brussel s Jan 8 1 72 , , .
’

Y ou will qui te forgi ve me when you know that I wrote my l ast l etter i n a moment
o f sp l een My drawi ngs went all wrong and n ot k nowi ng what t o do I began
.
, ,

to wri te I certainly ought to have wai ted for a better moment and thi s will
.
,

Show y ou that I myself undoubtedl y belong to that class of people of whi ch I

spoke i n my l ast l etter namely that class of peopl e who d o n ot always reflect
, ,

on what they say or do Thi s bei ng so l et us drop i t .

, .

I can tell you on e thi ng ; duri ng these l ast days there ha s been a change for
the better I have fini shed at l east a dozen drawin gs or rather sketches i n penci l
.
,

and i n pen and i n k whi ch seem to me t o be somewhat better They vaguely

, .

resembl e certai n drawings by Lan con or certai n Engli sh wood engravi ngs but , ,

a s yet they are more clumsy and awkward They represent a porter a mi ner .
, ,
“ ”
a snow shovel er a wal k i n the snow old women a typ e of O ld man ( Ferragus
, , ,
“
from Balzac s L bis toire des trei ze) etc I am sending you two small ones En
’ ’
,
.
,
” “ ”
Route and Devant l es Ti sons [in front o f the wood fire] I see perfectly well .

that they are n ot good but they are beginni ng to l ook li ke somethi ng
,
.

I have a model almost every day an ol d porter or some working man , , ,

some b o y w h o poses for me Next Sunday perhaps on e o r t wo sol di ers will si t

, .

for me And because now I am n o l onger in a bad humor I have qui te a different
.
,

and better opini on of y ou and of the world in general Al so I have agai n d rawn
,
.

a l andscape— a heath— a thi ng I had not done for a l ong t ime .

I l ove l andscape very much but I l ove ten ti mes more t hose s t udi es from life
, ,

sometimes of startli n g reali sm whi ch have been drawn so masterft by G a ,

varni Henri Monn i er Daumi er De Lemud Henri Pi lle Th Schul er Ed Mori n

, , , , ,
.
,
.
,

G Doré (e g i n hi s
. . . A Lan c on De Groux F élic i en Rop s etc etc .
, , ,
.
,
.

Now wi thout in the least preten di ng to compare myself to those arti sts still by , ,

contin ui ng to draw those types of working peopl e etc I hope to arri ve at the ,
.
,

point of bei ng abl e to ill ustrate papers and books Especi ally when I am abl e t o .

take more model s al so femal e model s I shall make more progress— I feel i t
, , ,

and kn ow i t And I shall al so probably l earn to make portrai ts But the condi ti on
. .

”
i s t o work hard Not a day wi thout a line as G avarni sai d
, ,
.

S O i t i s understood that fo r the present I shall stay here till you perhaps find ,

somethi ng better for me Only wri te me n ow and then I am for the moment . .

busy drawing for the thi rd ti me all the E x erci ces au Fusa in by Bargue .

Y ou tol d me of a change i n the staff of the house Goupil Co and al so of .

,

69
 another change i n your own posi ti on I congratul ate y ou and as t o those gen .
,

tlemen Goupi l Co I am i nclined to beli eve that they are to be congratul ated
.
,

o n having got ri d of some o f the staff I have al ways thought that those gentl emen
.

themselves were ani mated by a superi or and nobler spi ri t than that of those w h o
have now l eft Perhaps the posi ti on the latter ha ve occupi ed so l ong in the firm
.
,

the i nfluence and domi nati on whi ch Messrs Goupil 8 : Co put up wi th were
,
. .
,

repugnant to some of the other emp l oyees whom the company woul d perhaps ,

h ave done better to retai n but w h o were so dri ven to extremes that they res i gned
,
.

As you vaguely spoke to me some ti me ago about comi ng to Pari s I must ,

tell you that I wi sh no better than to go someday soon provi ded I were sure of ,

findi ng some work there whi ch woul d gi ve me a sal ary of at l east 1 00 fr a .

month I must al so tell y ou that as I have begun to dr aw I do not intend to drop

.
,

i t so I will try chi efly to get on in that line Not only does dr awi ng figures and
, .

scenes from life demand a knowledge o f the techn i que of drawing but i t al so ,

demands profound s tudi es of literat ure physi ognomy etc whi ch are di ffi cul t , ,
.
,

t o acqui re .

Enough for today ; wri te me when you have a moment to spare and beli eve ,

me wi th a handshake
, ,

Yours Sincerely Vi ncent ,

7 2 Bd du Mi di
‘

Someday I hope t o go to see Mr Horta . .

142
2 Bd d u Mi di e
’
Dear Theo , 7 B russ l s 8 1 .
, ,

In reply to your two good l etters and as a resul t of Father s vi si t fo r whi ch I

,
’
,

had been l onging for some t im e I have a few thi ngs to tell you
,
.

In the first p lace thi s I hear from Father that wi thout my knowi ng i t you have
.

been sending me money for a l ong ti me in thi s w ay effecti vel y helpi ng me to ,

get on Accept my heartfel t thanks I firml y beli eve t hat y ou will n ot regret i t
.
,
.

In thi s way I am l earni ng a handi craft and though i t certai nl y will not make me ,

ri ch I will at any rate earn my 1 00 fr a month whi ch i s the l east on e needs to

, .
,

li ve on as soon as I become a better draftsman an d get some regul ar work

, .

What you tol d us about the pai nter H ey erdahl has greatl y i nterested V an I

Rapp ard as well as me

, .

A s the former undoubtedl y will wri te you about i t hi mself I speak about thi s ,

questi on only i n so far as i t concerns me personall y more or l ess , .

I find much truth i n your remarks about the Dutch art i sts that i t i s very ,

doubtful if one coul d get from them any clear counsel on th e di ffi cul ti es of
perspective etc wi th whi ch I am strugglin g At l east I qui te agree wi th y ou that
, .

someone li ke Heyerdahl woul d be far preferable (as he seems t o be such a versatil e

man) to man y others w h o do not possess the abili ty to explain thei r method and
to provi de th e necessary gui dance and teaching You speak of Heyerdahl as one .

“ ”
wh o takes great pai ns to seek proporti ons for drawi ng that i s just what I need .

Many a good pai nter has not the s li ghtest or hardly any i dea of what proport i ons , ,

N orw gi n p i nter temp o rari ly i n Pari s t Bon n t s stu di o

e a a ,
a a
’
.
for drawi ng are or beautif ul li nes or chara cteri sti c composi ti on and thought
, , ,

and poetry Yet these are important questi ons whi ch Feyen Perrin and Ulysse
.
-
,

Butin and Alphonse Legros— not to menti on Breton and Mi ll et and Israel s
,

take extremel y seri ously and never l ose s i ght of , .

Many a Dutch pai nter woul d understand nothi ng absolutely nothi ng of the
“

, ,

beautiful work of Boughton Mi ll ai s Pin w ell du Mauri er H erkomer and Walker , , , , , ,

to name onl y a few arti sts w ho are real masters as draftsmen not to menti on ,

thei r talent i n other di recti ons .

I say man y of them l ook wi th contempt on such work as many do on the ,

work o f De Groux even among the pai nters here in Belgi um w h o ought t o
,

know better Thi s week I saw some things by De Groux whi ch I di d not know
.
,
“
namely a p i cture Departure of the Conscri pt and a full length drawing
, , ,
-
,
“ ” —
The Drunkard two composi ti ons whi ch resembl e Boughton so much that I
was struck by the resembl ance as of t wo brothers who had never met and ,

w h o were yet of one mind .

So you see I qui te agree wi th your opini on on Heyerdahl and I shall be very
, ,

happy if later on you coul d put me in touch wi th that man ; further I will not ,

i nsi st on carryi ng out my p l an of goi ng to Holland at l east not if I have the pros ,

ec t of goi ng to Pari s l ater and can more o r l ess count on i t

p .

But in the meanti me what must I do ? What do you thi nk woul d be best I
can continue to work wi th Rap p ard fo r a few weeks but then he will probably ,

l eave here My bedroom i s too small and the li ght i s not good and t he peopl e
.
, ,

woul d object to my partly shut ti ng out the light from the wi ndow ; I a m not
ev en all owed to put my etchings or my drawings up on the wall So when Rapp ard .

l eaves i n May I shall have to move ; I shou l d li ke to work awhil e i n the country
,

at Heyst Calmp h ou t Etten Scheveningen Katwi j k anyp lace even nearer here
, , , , , , ,

as Schaerbeek Haeren Groenendael But preferab ly a place where there i s a

, ,
.

chance of coming i nto contact wi th other pain ters and if possi ble of livi ng and ,

working together because i t i s cheaper and better , .

Wherever i t may be li vi ng expenses are always at l east 1 00 fr a month ; if

, .

o n e has l ess i t means want ei ther phys i cal or of the necessary materi al and tool s
, ,
.

Thi s wi n ter I have spent let us say 1 00 fr a month though i n reali ty i t has
, ,
.
,

scarcely been as much And I spent a great deal of t hat on drawi ng materi al s
.

a n d al so got mysel f some cl othes I bought tw o workmen s sui ts o f rough b lack

’
.

velvet of that materi al known as vel outi ne It l ooks well and on e can wear i t
, .
,

everyw here ; besi des the sui ts wi ll be of u se to me later because I shall want a
, ,

great many workmen s cl othes— as I do alr eady— fo r my model s whi ch of course

’

I need li ke everybody el se Gradually I must make such a collecti on of all ki nds

.
,

o f garments secondh and if necessary men s as well as women s ; but of course

’ ’

, ,

I need not do i t all at once though I have started and am going on wi th i t, ,

.

What you say i s true fin anci al questi ons have ei ther advanced or han di capped
,

many peopl e in the worl d It i s so and Bernard Pali ssy s sayi ng remai ns true
.
,
’
,
“
Poverty prevents the good spi ri ts from arri vin g But when I thi nk i t o ver I .
,

cannot help wonderi ng Isn t i t ri ght that i n a family li ke ours— in whi ch t wo

,
’

Messrs Van Gogh are very ri ch an d both in the art fiel d Uncle Cor an d our
.
, ,
uncle o f Prinsenhage and in whi ch you an d I of the younger generati on ha ve
,

chosen the same li ne though in different spheres i sn t i t ri ght I wonder tha t

,
— ’
, , ,

thi s bei ng so I shoul d be able to count in some w ay on 1 00 fr a mont h during

,
.

the ti me whi ch must necessaril y elapse before I can get reg ular work as a drafts
man Now three years ago I quarrel ed wi th C M about qui te a di fferent questi on . .
,

but i s that any reason for C M to remain my enemy forever ? I woul d much
. .

rather thi nk that he had never been my enemy and consi der i t a mi sunderstandi ng ,

for whi ch I gladl y take all the b lame rather than argue about h ow much was ,

really my faul t for I have no time for such thi ngs Uncl e Cor so often helps other
,
.

draftsmen— woul d i t be so unnatural now if someday when I needed i t he , ,

showed me hi s good wi ll ? However I do n ot say thi s to get financi al help from

,

hi m He coul d help me in qui te another way than by gi vi ng money : for mstafi c e

.
,

if i t were possi b le he mi ght bri ng me i nto contact wi th persons from whom I

,

coul d l earn many thi ngs o r help me get regul ar work from some magazine
,
.

Thi s i s the way I expressed myself to Father I noti ced that peopl e talked .

about the strange and unaccountabl e fact that I w as so hard up although I ,

belonged to such and such a famil y I replied that I thought i t w as onl y temporary
.
,

and would come ri ght after a ti me Still I thought i t better to talk i t over wi th
.
,

Father and y ou and I wrote somethi ng about i t to Mr Tersteeg But he seems

,
. .

to have mi sunderstood my i ntenti on as he got the i mpressi on that I p lann ed to

,

li ve on the bounty of my uncl es ; thi s bein g hi s opi ni on he wrote me a very ,

di scouraging l etter and sai d I had no ri ght to do such a thing I certai nl y do

,
.

n ot pretend to have the ri ght but I want t o prevent thi s affai r from ever becomi ng
,

the subject of gossi p in the studi os ; therefore I thi nk that i t i s necessary for good
relati ons between myself and the famil y to be re estab li shed at any rate provi si on -
,

all y and outwardl y in expectati on of thei r changing t hei r min ds about me If

,
.

they are unwilli ng que soi t but then I shoul d not be ab le to prevent gossip here
, ,

and there Were I i mmedi ately to wri te C M or go to see hi s Honor i t i s to be

. . .
,

feared he woul d not read my l etter or woul d recei ve me too uncor di all y That s
’
.
,

why I am talki ng i t over wi th Pa and yourself as you mi ght possib l y drop a ,

word occasi onally so that he will not mi sunderstand my in tenti ons I w a s not
, .

hoping to get money from hi s Honor as Mr Tersteeg seemed to think but , .

,

onl y hoping that if he gained fai th and confidence i n my future after a talk wi th
me he mi ght see me wi th n ew eyes And if he di d i t stands to reason that I
, .
,

most certai nl y woul d not scorn hi s help ; and i n that case he might smooth the
w ay fo r me by means other than by giving me money fo r i nstance i n th e in terval , ,

between now and my going to Pari s .

I wrote back that I w a s not at all astoni shed at hi s mi sconstruing my l etter i n

“ ”
thi s way because you yourself had spoken on e ti me of livi ng on my rents .

And a s I now gather from the tone of your l etter t hat you no l onger see my
di ffi cult posi ti on in that mi serab l e light and as I i nfer i t from your s t rong assi stance ,

so I hope that Mr T e r st ee
g s op i ni on wi ll al so change event uall y The more so
’
. .

because he w a s the first to help me wi th those Bargues for whi ch I shall always ,

be grateful to hi m .

Y o u wri te me about a mani kin I am not i n a speci al hurry for i t but i t woul d
.
,
and perhaps woul d meet C M there some day thi s summer There are no real
. . .

objecti ons to i t as far as I know Ei ther i nsi de o r outsi de the famil y they will
,
.
,

always judge me or tal k about me from di fferent points of vi ew and you will ,

always hear the most di vergent op ini ons about me And I blame no on e for i t .
,

because relatively few peopl e know w hy an arti st acts as he does But in general .
,

he w ho searches all ki nds of p laces to find pi cturesque spots of fi g ures— hol es

and corners whi ch another passes b y — i s acc used of many bad i ntenti ons and
vill ain i es whi ch have never entered hi s head A peasant who sees me draw an .

o l d tree t r unk and sees me si tti ng there for an hour thi n ks that I have gone
, ,

mad and of course laughs at me A young l ady w h o turns up her nose at a

, ,
.

l aborer i n hi s patched fil thy di rty cl othes of course cannot understand w hy

, ,

anyone Vi si ts the Borin ag e or Heyst an d goes down the shaft of a coal mine ;
she al so comes to the conclusi on that I am mad .

Nat urally I do n ot care at all what t hey thi nk if onl y you and Mr Tersteeg
,
.
,

and C M and Father and others wi th whom I come i nto contact know better
. .
, , ,

and i nstead of maki ng remarks about i t say Your work demands i t and we , , ,

understand why i t i s so .

So I repeat under the ci rcumstances there i s after all no urgent reason w hy I

,

should not go for instance to Et ten or to The Hague if that were preferab l e
, , , ,

even though i t may be cri ti cized by some fops and sill y gi rl s As Father sai d .

“
when he w a s here Just wri te to Theo and arrange wi th hi m what i s best
, , ,

and what will be the cheapest way I hope you will let me know your opi ni on .

soon .

Heyst and Calmp hout are very pi cturesque In Etten I coul d al so find subj e cts .

enough even here i f necessary though then I woul d move to Schaerbeek

, , .

Scheveni ngen or Katwi j k woul d perhaps be possi bl e if C M changed hi s . .

opi ni on of me and then I coul d profit di rectl y or i ndi rectly by the Dutch arti sts
, .

As to the expenses I suppose they woul d amount to at l east 1 00 fr a mont h ; t o

, .

“
do wi th l ess i s i mpossi ble Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he tr ea deth ou t
”
the corn .

So I wai t for your rep ly about these thi ngs and in the mean time I am worki ng ,

wi th Rapp ard .

Rap p ard has painted some good S tudi es among others a few after th e model s ,

at the academy whi ch are well done A li ttl e more fire and passi on woul d not
, .

hurt hi m a li ttl e more self c on fiden c e and more courage Somebody once sai d to
,
-
.

”
me Nous devons fai re des efforts de perdus de désespérés [We must make the
,
“
,

same efforts as l ost desperate bein gs] He does n ot do that as yet H i s pen an d in k
,
. .
- -

drawi ngs of l andscape are very wi tty and charming but in these al so a li ttl e , , ,

more passi on, p lease .

And n ow I take my leave wi th a handshake and am always , ,

Yours si ncerel y Vincent ,

15 0
Dear Theo , Etten September 8 1 ,
’

Though i t i s onl y a short ti me s i nce I wrote you I already have some news t o ,

tell you .

That i s to say my drawi ng has changed the techni que as well as the results
, , .

Al so as a res ul t of some thi ngs Mauve tol d me I have begun to work from a
, ,

li ve model again Fortunatel y I have been ab l e to persuade several persons here

.
,

t o si t for me Pi et Kau fman the gardener for i nstance Studyi ng the E x erci ces au
, , ,
.

Fusai n by Bargue carefull y and copyi ng them over and over agai n have gi ven
me a better insi ght i nto dr awing the figure I have l earned to measure and to .

observe and t o seek for broad li nes 8 0 what seemed t o be i mpossi bl e before i s .

gradually becomi ng poss ib l e now thank God ,

.

I have drawn five ti mm over a man wi th a spade a Di gger [nu Bec heur] i n , ,

different posi ti ons a sower twi ce a gi rl wi th a broom twi ce Then a woman i n

, ,
.

a whi te cap peeling potatoes ; a S hepherd l eani ng on hi s staff; and finall y an

, , ,

ol d,
s i ck farmer si tti ng on a chai r near the hearth hi s head i n hi s hands an d ,

hi s elbows on hi s knees And of cour se I shall n ot stop here— when a few

.

S heep have crossed the bri dge the whole flock foll ows Di ggers sowers ,
.
, ,

p l owers male and female they are what I must draw conti nuall y I have to
, ,
.

observe and dr aw everyt hin g that bel ongs to country li fe— li ke many others have
done before and are doi ng now I no l onger stand helpl ess before nature as I
,
.
,

used to .

I brought some crayon in wood (li ke pencil) from The Hague and that i s ,

what I use most often ri ght now I have al so begun to touch up my work wi th .

a brush and a stump wi th a li ttl e sepi a and Indi a i nk an d now and then wi th ,

a li ttle col or It i s a fact that the drawings I have done l atel y have li ttl e resem
.

b l ance to those I used t o do The s ize of the figures i s about that of the E x erci ces a n
.

AS to l andscape , I thi nk it wi ll in no way l ose by thi s ; on the contrary ,

it

Encl osed are a few li ttl e sketches to give you an i dea Of course I must pay .
,

the peopl e w h o pose for me It i s not much but as i t recurs dail y i t i s that much
.
, ,

more of an expense as l ong as I do not succeed i n selli ng any drawi ngs .

But as i t sel dom happens that a figur e i s a total fai lure I thi nk the expense of ,

the model s wi ll prett y soon be rep ai d For at the present ti me there i s some demand .

for anyone w h o has l earned t o attack a figure and put i t on paper well .

I need n ot tell you that I m onl y sendi ng y ou these sketches to gi ve you an

’

i dea of the pose I s cri bb l ed them i n no tim e and I see there i s much t o be Sai d
.
,

against the proporti ons at l east more than i n the real dr awi ngs
,
.

I had a ni ce l etter from Rapp ard w h o seems to be hard at work ; he sent me ,

some very good l andscape sketches I wi sh he woul d come back here for a few .

days .

Thi s i s a fiel d of s t ubb le where they are p l owi ng and sowi ng I made a rather
,
.

l arge sketch of i t wi t h a thunderstorm overhead

,
.

The t wo other S ketches are poses of di ggers .

 I hope to make several more of them .

The other sower has a basket .

Above all I shoul d like to have a woman pose wi th a seed basket t o draw
, ,

that li ttle figure whi ch I showed you last spring and whi ch y ou see in the fore
ground of the l ast sketch .

Well as Mauve says The factory i s i n full swing

, , .

Pl ease do not forget the Ingres paper the col or of un bl eached li nen Wri te .

soon and recei ve a handshake i n thought ,

Your s si ncerely Vincent ,

R 2
Ami ce Rap p ard ,
Etten 1 5 O ctober 1 8 8 1 ,

In my opini on your l etter must be answered on the spot In th e first p lace I want .

o u to know that i t i nterests me very mu ch— more than any other l etter I have
y
recei ved from you—~I learned more from i t than y ou yourself meant t o wri te
down .

I learned from i t that my fri end Rapp ard has taken a great step forward or ,

wi ll do so shortly Why ? Oh i t doesn t matter ri ght now but I have my reasons

.
,
’
,

fo r beli evi ng that you have reached a poi nt of revoluti on a n d reform Ca ira ! .

Wi thi n a short ti me there wi ll be fire an d enthusi asm in you Ca i ra ! But for the .
:

moment not another word about i t i n thi s letter .

But if by chance you should be surpri sed at what I have told you I hope to ,

be abl e to tell you more soon i n person For in any case I expec t to see you ,
.

soon whether y ou come by way of Breda or Rozendaal

,
.

In the first pl ace on my parents behalf I invi te y ou t o come and stay wi th u s

,
’

one of these days for a l onger o r shorter ti me S o i t i s not necessary for you
,
.

to a sk if i t i s conveni ent you wi ll onl y have to wri te : I shall come on thi s o r

,

that day by thi s or that trai n .

If i t i s i mposs i bl e for you to come and stay a few days then I count on your ,

ski ppin g a train ei ther at the stati on at Breda o r at Rozendaal an d on you r

, ,

l etting me know by l etter o r postcard the hour and p l ace of your arri val Then .

I shall be on the spot accordi ng to your i nformati on And then I shall bri ng .

“ ”
al ong a number of drawings the l arge on e Worn Out and several others , , ,

that you do not know at a ll I need not tell y ou that I hope that on the same
.

occas i on you on your part will show me some of your water colors as I am ,

anxi ous to see them .

Look w e really must arrange to meet somehow one of these day s There i s
, .

only one thing whi ch mi ght prevent me from comi ng to the stati on on th e day
of your passing thr ough but i t i s most unli kel y that i t shoul d happen just on
,

that very day It i s li ke thi s Mauve i s going to Prinsenh age for a day and after
.
,

that he wi ll come and spend a day here We hope i t wi ll happen soon but we .
,
’
don t yet know whi ch day i t wi ll be And when Mauve i s here I go where .
,

Mauve goes Suppose you were staying here when Mauve came woul d you thi nk
.
,

that so un p leasant ? I don t think you would ; I don t kn ow whether you know
’ ’

M auve personally but I think meeti ng hi m or meet ing hi m ag ai n wo ul d be a

,

76
good thi ng i ndeed Mauve gave me courage when I needed i t not l ong ago He
. .

i s a man o f geni us .

Now you are thinki ng seri ous ly of go ing to Brussels un t il Chr i stmas to paint
from the nude .

Well i n your case I can well understand it and especi all y i n your present
, ,

mood I shall see you go wi th an easy mind Ce que doi t arri ver arri vera — what .

must happen wi ll happen .

W hether you go to Brussels or n ot some new flame wi ll be kindl ed i n you , .

and your go in g to Brussel s or not wi ll make l i ttl e di fference but the

C a i ra, ,

caterpi ll ar will become a butterfly ; i n thi s I am speakin g li ke a fell ow adventurer .

I feel sure you need not thi nk that a few days stay at Etten woul d mean a ’

neg lect of duty ; on the contrary y o u may take i t for granted that i t will be
,

devot ing yourself to d uty for nei ther you nor I shoul d be i dle here
,
.

You can do some figure drawi ng here too if you want to I am not sure whether .

I told you that my uncl e at Pri nsenhage saw the li ttle sketches in your letter and
thought them very good and not i ced wi th p l easure that you are makin g progress
,

in figure drawi ng as well as i n l andscape .

I am of the opi ni on Rap p ard that i n the begi nni ng you shoul d work from
, ,

the clotbed model Most certainl y on e must have a sound knowledge of the nude
.
,

but in reali ty we have to d o wi th figures wi th cl othes on Unl ess you i ntend to .

go the w ay of Baudry Lefebvre Henner and so many others who speci ali ze i n
, , ,

the nude Of course in that case you shoul d s t udy the nude almost exclus ively ;
.

i n that case the more you confine yourself t o i t and concentrate on i t the better , .

But in poi nt of fact I do not thi nk you wi ll take thi s road Y ou have too much
,
.

feeling for other thi ngs You think a poor woman gathering potatoes in a fiel d a
.
,

di gger a sower a li ttl e l ady in the street or at home t oo beautiful not to feel
, , ,

the i mp ul se t o attack them i n qui te a di fferent mann er than you have done
up to now You have too much feeli ng for col or too keen a percepti on of
.
,

tone y ou are t o o much of a landscap i st to foll ow in Bau dr y s footsteps The

,
’
.

more s o because I beli eve that y ou Rap p ard will ultimately de ci de to settle
, ,

down in Holland too Y o u are t o o much of a D utcbman to become a Baudry

. .

But I certainl y thin k i t excell ent that you paint su ch beautiful studi es from the
nude as the two b ig ones I know— the recli n i ng pose and the brown seated
fi g ure— and I wi sh I had done them myself I am te lli ng you my thoughts .

unreservedly and you on your part must always tell me yours unreservedly too
, .

Your remar k about the figure of the Sower— that he i s n ot a man w ho i s

sowin g but on e w h o i s posing as a sower— i s very true
, .

However I l ook upon my present s t udi es purely as studi es after the model
, ,

they have no pretensi on to bei ng anyt hi ng el se .

Only after a year o r a coup le of years shall I have gai ned the abili ty t o do a
sower who i s sowing ; there I agree wi th you .

Y o u tell me Rapp ard that y ou have done hardly anythi ng for a fortni ght
, , .

“ ”
Surely I know these fortni ghts ; I had them myself l ast summer I di d not .

work at drawing di rectly— but i ndi rect ly I di d ; what I di d was go th rough one
of those peri ods o f metamorphosi s .
 I s aw Mesdag
Panorama I was there wi th the pai nter D e Bock w h o
’
s .
,

coll aborated on i t and he tol d me of an inci dent that happened after the Panorama
,

was fini shed and that I thought qui te funny .

Perhaps you know the painter Destr ee Between you and me and the lamppost .

the i ncarnati on of mealy mouthed arrogance Well on e day thi s gentl eman ca me
-
.
,

up to De Bock and sai d to hi m Very haughti ly very blandl y very condescendi ngly
, , , ,
“
De Bock I w a s i nvi ted to pai nt that Panorama too but because i t was so in
, ,
”
arti sti c I refused
,
.

To whi ch De Bock answered Mr Destr ee what 13 easi er to pai nt a Panorama

,
.
, ,

or to refuse to paint a Panorama ? What i s more arti sti c to do a thing or n ot to do ,

”
i t ? I thought thi s answer very much to the poi nt .

I have good news from my brother Theo— he sends hi s ki nd regards Do not .

neglect to keep up your acquaintance wi th hi m by wri ti ng hi m once i n a wh il e .

He i s a clever energeti c fellow and I am very sorry he i sn t a pai nter al though

, ,
’

i t i s a good thi ng for the pai nters that there are such persons as he Thi s y o u .

will find o ut if you keep up your acquai ntance wi th hi m .

“ ”
And now I shall say See y ou soon Shall I ? And beli eve me wi th a hand
,
.
,

shake in thought ,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

I am l ooki ng for a poem I thi nk by To m Hood The Song of the Shi rt do

, ,

y o u happen to kn ow i t o r d o you see your w ay to hun ti ng i t up for me If you

,

know i t I should li ke to ask you to wri te i t out fo r me

, .

After I had cl osed thi s l etter I opened i t again to tell you that although I qui te ,

understand your havi ng made your p l ans yet I want you to cons i der whether ,

you wi ll posi ti vely carry them out after all .

Speakin g my mi nd unreservedly I say to you Rapp ar d stay here But o f , , ,

.

course there may be reasons of whi ch I am i gnorant but whi ch are wei ghty
enough to make you deci de on that p lan .

Therefore speaki ng onl y from an arti sti c poi nt of Vi ew I tell y ou t hat in

, ,

my opini on you as a Dutchman will feel most at home i n the D utch i ntelle ctual
climate and will get more sati sfacti on from working aft er the ch aracter of t hi s
,

country (whether i t be figure or landscape) than by concentrati ng on and sp ec ializ

in g in the nude .

Although I like Baudry and Others such as Lefebvre and Henner t oo— I , ,

greatly prefer J ul es Breton Feyen Perri n Mi ll et Ulysse Butin Mauve Artz

,
-
, , , , ,

Israel s etc etc

, .
,
.

And I am speaki ng i n thi s way because I am pos it ive that fundamentall y thi s
i s your opi ni on t oo And though you have seen a lo t i t i s certai n that I at l east
.
,

have not seen l ess than you o f different ki nds of art Parti cul arly seei ng t hat .

I though l oosely speaki ng only a begi nner i n the art of drawi ng am a prett y
, ,

good judge of art in general you should n ot take my opini on t oo li ghtly th e few
,

ti mes I gi ve i t And as I see i t both you and I cannot do better than work after
.

nature i n Holland (figure and landscape) Then w e are ourselves then w e feel at
,

.
,

home then w e are i n our el ement The more we know of wha t i s happeni ng
, .

78
abroad the better but we must never forget that w e have our roots i n the
, ,

Dutch soi l
.

If I am not mi staken you have made good progress wi th your work for Mr
, .

Lan t sh eer ; at l east I am p l eased to hear that he spoke that way about your
pi cture at Arti He has a cl ear eye for art and there are not many w ho have so
.
,

much knowledge and good taste .

The Cha p el a t N u en en , O i l, 1 8 84
R 3
Dear Rap p ard , [Etten 2 November 1 8 8 1 ,

Thanks for your qui ck rep ly— so y ou soon succeeded i n finding rooms and are ,

now livi ng near the academy .

Wi th reference to a certain question whi ch I descri ed at the bottom of your ,

”
postcard I want to tell you that far from thi nki ng it stupi d of you to go to
9 ‘
'

, ,

the afores ai d sanctuary I thi nk i t very wi se even so wi se that— yes that I am

, , ,

a lmos t tempted to say a li ttl e b i t too wi se and ri ghteous

,
.

In my op ini on if you had not gone if your expedi ti on had not taken p l ace i t , ,

would have been all the better but si nce you have undertaken i t I wi sh you
, ,

success from the bottom of my heart and notwi thstandi ng every thi ng I have no , ,
“

d oubt about the good results .

Y ou— a n d others too even if you really and tru ly attend th e l essons at the
-

”
academy you will of course never be in my eyes an academi ci an i n the despi
,

cabl e sense of the word Of course I do not take you for one of those arrogant
.

fellows whom one mi ght call the Phari sees of art and the prototyp e of whom i s , ,
“ ”
I thi nk good old S tallaert And yet even thi s man may have somethi ng good
,
.

i n hi m and if I knew him better I mi ght thi nk di fferently of hi s Honor But i t

, , .

wi ll be di fficult to hammer it into my head that hi s Honor does not have some
thing damned bad i n hi m t o o whi ch eclipses hi s possi bl e good quali ti es Nothi ng
, .

pleases me more than di scovering good quali ti es even i n such fellows It always .

hurts me i t always makes me nervous when I meet a man of whose princi p les I
, ,
“ ”
am obli ged to say But thi s i s really too bad thi s doesn t hol d water and I go
, ,
’

on havin g thi s choki ng feeling unti l someday I di scover somethi ng good i n hi m .

Never thi nk i t gives me p l easure to noti ce somethi ng wrong ; i t gri eves me

and gives me so mu ch pai n that at ti mes I cannot keep i t to myself Ca m ag a c e .
’

[ i t exasperates me ] .

I do not li ke catchi ng myself at havi ng a beam i n mine eye and yet— yet ,

I have happened to catch myself at i t but then I di dn t let i t go at that and I ,

’
,

tri ed t o remedy i t .

And exactly because I know from my own experi ence how terri bl e su ch a
”
beam i n one s eye i s I sympathi ze wi th others sufferi ng from the same comp laint
’

,
.

Please p lease do not take me for a fanati c or a parti san Certai nly I have the
, .

courage to take si des li ke any other man ; at t imes one i s compelled to do s o in

,

li fe o n e i s c omp elled to speak one s mi nd an d to gi ve one s op i ni on candi dly and

’ ’
, ,

s t i ck to i t .

But seeing that I do my utmost to look at the undeni ably good s i de of things ,

i n the fi rst p l ace and onl y afterward most unwi lli ng ly l ook at th e bad s i de too
, , , ,

I make bold t o beli eve that even i f I have not qu ite succeeded i n i t I shall
, ,

eventually arrive at what I may call i n general a mi ld and broad and unprejudi ced
judgment And therefore i t i s to me a peti te mi s ere de la V i e humai ne to meet a
.

man wh o thinks he i s always ri ght an d w h o demands to be taken for someone ,

w h o i s always ri ght ; and thi s i s because I am so convinced of my o wn falli bili ty

an d at the same ti me of the falli b i li ty of all the ch il d ren of men
, , .

N ow as t o you I beli eve that you t oo ar e s t ri ving after a m ild and broad and
,

80
and good luck in Brussel s And don t forget to drop i n o n your return j ourney
.
’

if i t i s poss i bl e ; l et s agree on that as a matter of pri nci p l e

’
.

Kin d regards from my parents and a handshake in t hought from me And .

beli eve me
Ever yours Vi ncent ,

15 8
Dear brother ,
Etten Fri day 1 8 November 1 8 8 1 ,

If I couldn t give vent to my feeli ngs now and then I thi nk the boil er woul d
’
,

burst I must tell you somethi ng whi ch woul d perhaps upset me if I had t o keep
.

i t t o myself ; but if I can make a clean breast of i t perhaps i t will not be so bad , .

As you know Father and Mother on one si de and I on the other do not agree
,
“ ”
about what must be done or not done in regard to a certai n no never never , .

“ ” “
Well after heari ng the rather strong expressi ons i ndeli cate and un ti mely
, ,

for some ti me (just i magi ne that you were i n l ove and they called your l ove
i ndeli cate woul d you not have prou dl y resented i t and sai d Stop
,
I emp hat i , ,

cally requested that these expressi ons n ot be used an y more Thi s ceased but .
,
“ ”
an other phrase appeared Now they say that I am breaki ng famil y ti es
. .

Well many a ti me I have tol d them earnestly pati ently and wi th feeling that
, ,

such was not at all the case It helped for a ti me and then they began anew.
,
.

“ ”
The fact that I wrote letters was the real gri evance agai nst me But when .

“
they persi sted in usi ng so rashl y and reckl essly that mi serable expressi on breaki ng
”
family ti es I di d the foll owi ng
,
.

For a few days I di d not speak a word or take any no ti ce of Father and Mo ther .

Agai nst my wi sh but I wanted to make them feel how i t woul d be if t hose
,

famil y ties were really severed Of course they were astoni shed at my beha vi or .
,

and when they asked me about i t I answered See tba t i s bow i t would be if there , , ,

were no t ie of affecti on between u s but fort unatel y i t does exi st and will not be
broken so easil y But I beg you consi der now how mi serabl e that expressi on
.
, ,

breakin g ties i s and do not use i t any more

, , .

But the result w a s that Father grew very angry ordered me out of the room ,

wi th a curse at least i t sounded exactly li ke one ! Father i s used to havi ng every

,

on e gi ve i n to hi m when he s i n a pass i on even I but thi s ti me I was q ui te

‘
’
, ,

determined to let hi m rage for once In anger Father al so sai d somethi ng like I .

had better leave the house and go el sewhere ; but because i t was sai d i n a pass i on ,

I do not attach much i mportance to i t .

I have my model s and my studi o here ; el sewhere li vi ng woul d b e more

expensive and my work more di fficult and the model s woul d cost more But if
, ,
.

Father and Mother sai d g o in earnest to me of course I S hould go There are ,

.

thi ngs whi ch a man cann ot put up wi th .

“
If on e has to hear continual ly You are crazy or Y ou are a person who , , ,
” “ ”
breaks family ties or Y ou are indeli cate any man wi th a heart in hi s body
, , ,

woul d protest wi th all hi s energy Of course I have al so tol d Father and Mo ther .

a thi ng or t wo for instan ce that they were very much i n error on the subject o f
,

thi s l ove affai r and that thei r hearts were hardened an d that they were completely ,

82
 cl osed to a more g entl e and humane way of thinki ng In short that thei r way o f .
,

thi nking seemed narrow minded to me— nei ther tolerant n or generous enough ;
-

an d al so that to me G od wou l d merel y be an empty sound if on e were forced to

hi de one s l ove and were n o t all owed t o obey the heart s di ctates
’ ’
.

Well I am qui te will ing to beli eve that at ti mes I have n ot been ab l e t o curb
,
“ ” “ ”
my i ndi gnat i on when I heard i ndeli cate and breaki ng ti es but w h o could ,

remain cal m under i t if there were no end to i t

Quoi q u il en soi t in hi s fit of passi on Pa muttered nothing l ess than a curse
’
, .

However I al ready heard somethi ng o f the sort l ast year and thank God far
, , , ,

from being reall y damned I devel oped new li fe and new energy wi thin myself
, .

S o I am fully convi nced i t wi ll be the same now or more s o and more strongly , ,

than last year .

Theo I l ove her— her and no ot her— her forever And an d and Theo
, , , .
,
“ ”
although as yet i t never seems t o be i n full activi ty there i s a feelin g of deliver ,

ance wi thi n me and i t i s as if she and I had stopped being tw o an d were uni ted ,

forever and ever .

Di d you recei ve my drawi ngs Yesterday I made an other of a peasant boy ,

li ghti ng a fire earl y in the morni ng on the hearth over whi ch a kettl e i s hanging ;
an d anot her o f an ol d man putting ki ndling wood on th e hearth I am sorry to
,
.

say there i s sti ll somethi ng harsh and severe i n my dr awi ngs and I thi nk that sbe , ,

her i nfluence must come t o soften thi s

,
.

Well boy I suppose there i s no reason to take that curse of Father s so very
, ,
’

seri ous ly ; perhaps I used t oo harsh a method to make Father and Mother feel
what they woul d not bea r Well I shake hands wi th you Beli eve me .
, .
,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

R 5
Dear Rapp ard ,
Etten 2 1 November 1 8 8 1 ,

To talk l es s abstractl y thi s ti me I am going to di scuss some facts wi th you Y ou

,
.

s ay th at Ten Cate spoke to you about s i mil ar matters as I di d A ll ri ght but if .

,

thi s Mr Ten Cate i s the same person whom o n a certai n day I saw i n your studi o
.

for a moment I v ery much doubt whether he and I have exactl y the same i deas
,

fundamentall y Is he a man of small stat ure wi th b lack or at l east dark hai r wh o

.
,

on that occasi on had a very pal e comp l exi on or at any rate was very neatl y ,

dressed i n a sui t of bl ack cl oth ? You shoul d know that I am in the habi t of
observing very accurately the physi cal exteri ors of people in order to get at
thei r real mental make u p However I saw thi s Mr Ten C onl y once and
-
.
,
. .
,

that very fleetin g ly — at l east if I saw hi m at all— and so I cann ot make up my

mi nd about hi m A ll the same i t i s possi bl e that in some respects he spoke
.
,

t o y ou as I di d and I don t object to t hat— all the better I say Actually

,
’
,
.

your answer to my l etter i s no more than half an answer thanks all the same ,
.

I thi nk y ou will tell me the other half some ti me but not i n the near fut ure ,
.

The other half still to come wi ll be l onger than the o n e I received and mucb more
, , ,

s a ti fa c to
s ry .

Suppose at some t i me you l eave the academy for good then I thi nk that you ,
will eventually have to struggl e ag ainst a very peculi ar diffi cult y whi ch i s n ot ,

qui te unknown t o you even now A man who li ke you i s worki ng at the academy
.
, ,

regul arly cannot help feeli ng more o r l ess out of hi s element when i nstea d of ,

knowi ng Thi s or that i s my task for today he i s forc ed to i mprovi se or rather

, , ,

crea te hi s task every day anew Espe ci all y i n the l ong run thi s l ooki ng fo r and
,
.

findi ng your work will n o t prove su ch an easy j ob by any means At l east it .

would not surpri se me if after havi ng broken away from the academy for good
, ,

y o u d i d n o t occas i o nal l y fee l tha t th e ground was gi vi ng W ay un der your feet .

But I think y ou are not the kin d of man to be thrown i nto a pani c by such a
natural phenomenon and y ou will soon regai n your balance
,
.

However when y ou have thr own your self once and for all h ea l n g and
, ,

Wi thout reservati on i nto reali ty (for after you have thrown yourself i nto i t you
, ,

will never go back) you will speak to others w h o are still clinging to th e academy
, ,

exactly as Ten Cate does and exactl y as I do For from what you have tol d me of .

Mr Ten Cate I in fer that hi s reasoni ng c an be reduced to the foll owing words
.

Rap p ard gi ve up your reservati ons and throw yourself headl ong i nto reali ty
, ,
.

The Open Sea i s your true element and even at the academy you do n ot beli e
your true chara cter and nature ; that i s Why the worthy gentlemen there will
n o t recogni ze you i n fact and put you o ff wi th i dl e tal k
,
.

Mr Ten Cate i s not yet an abl e seaman and I myself much l ess and we cannot
.
, ,

steer and maneuver yet as w e woul d like to ; but if we do n ot get drowned o r

smashed on the rocks i n the seethi ng breakers we shall become good sail ors , .

There i s no help for i t everyone has to go through a peri od of wo r ryi ng and

,

fumblin g after he has ri sked hi mself on the open sea At fi rst w e catch li ttl e or no .

fi sh but we get acquai nted wi th our course an d l earn to steer o u r li ttl e vessel
, ,

and thi s i s i ndi spensabl e to begi n wi th And after a Whil e we shall catch a l ot o f
.

fi sh and b i g ones t o o be sure of that !

, ,

But I thi nk Mr Ten Cate i s casti ng hi s nets for another ki nd of fish t han I am
.
,

because to my mind our temperaments di verge ; for every fisherman has a ri ght
to hi s own spe ci alty but now an d then a fish of one ki nd wi ll swi m i nto the net
,

meant for another ki nd and Vi ce versa and so i t may happen that at ti mes there
, ,

i s a si mil ari ty between hi s cat ch and mine .

Now from t ime t o ti me you di s like sowers and seamstresses and di ggers Well .
,
“ ”
What of i t S o d o 1 However wi th me thi s di sli ki ng from ti me to t ime i s far
.
,

outwei ghed by a certain enthus i asm but wi th you the two things seem to have ,

equal wei ght .

Have you kept my epi stl es If you have a li ttl e ti me to spare an d they have ,

n ot peri shed in the flames t hen I say : read them agai n alt hough i t may seem
, ,

pretenti ous to ask such a thi ng of you But I did not wri te them Wi thout seri ous .

i ntenti ons though I was n o t afrai d to speak my mi nd freel y an d to gi ve free

,

rei n to my i magi nati on Now y ou say that 1 am a fanati c at heart and that most
.
,

certai nl y I am preachi ng a doctri ne .

Well if you want to take i t that w ay so be i t ; when i t comes t o the poi nt

, ,

I don t Object to i t I am not ashamed of my feelings I do n o t b lush to own

’

, ,

that I am a man wi th pri nci p les an d a creed But where does my fanati ci sm .

34
seek to dri ve people espe ci all y myself ? To the open sea And wh at i s the doctri ne
,

I prea ch ? My fri ends let us gi ve our soul s t o ou r cause let us work Wi th ou r

, ,

heart and truly l ove what w e l ove

,
.

L ove wba t we l ove h ow superfluous a warni ng thi s seems t o be and yet i t i s

, ,

justified to an enormous extent ! F or how many there are who waste thei r best
efforts on somethi ng that i s not wort h thei r best efforts Whereas they treat what ,

they l ove in a stepmotherly way instead of yi el din g wholly t o the i rres i sti bl e
“
urge of thei r hearts And yet we venture t o call thi s conduct firmness of char
.

”
acter and strength o f mi nd and we waste our energy on an unworthy creature
’’ ‘‘
, ,

all the W
“
hil e neglecting our true sweetheart And all thi s wi th the most sacred .

”
i ntenti ons thi nki ng w e are compell ed to do i t out of moral convi cti on
,
’’
,
‘‘

“ “ ”
and a sense of duty And so w e have the beam in our own eye confusi ng a
.
,

pseudo o r woul d b e cons ci ence wi th our true cons ci ence The person w h o at
-
.

thi s moment i s wri ti ng to hi s dear fri end Rapp ard has been marching aroun d
o n thi s earth wi th one o r even more than o n e Such obj e c t— but then o f a
, ,

monstrous s i ze— in hi s eye for a l ong t i me .

Has thi s beam been g ot ri d of? you ask Well What can the present wri ter .
,

answer to thi s Of one thi ng he i s sure namely that on e very bi g beam i s g ot ,

ri d o f provi s i onally ; but fo r the very reason that he di d not noti c e i t when he
, ,

was l abori ng under i t he does n ot deem i t i mpossi bl e that there are others o f
,

whose exi stence or nonexi stence he i s n ot fully aware However the person in .
,

questi on has l earned t o be on hi s guard agai nst di seases of and beams i n the
eyes The excessi vely bi g beam i n questi on was of a more or l ess inarti sti c char
.

acter I won t tell you just now what ki nd of beam i t w as For there are all ki nds
.
’
.

o f eye beams ar ti sti c theol ogi cal moral eye beams (qui te a mul ti t ude of them
, , , ) ,

practi cal eye beams and theoreti cal eye beams (someti mes the tw o are combi ned
ry rui nous i ndeed oh well a l ot more
— ve and .
,

We must not l et ourselves be thrown i nto t o o much of a pani c if we are n ot

”
wi thout them provi ded thi s n ot bei ng i n a pani c does not l ead us i nto care
,
‘‘

l essness o r i ndi fference i n thi s respe ct or even i nto stubbornn ess , .

A few days ago I had a ni ce l etter from my brother Theo w ho al so i nqui red ,

after y ou ; I had sent hi m some drawi ngs and b e strongly advi sed me to g o on ,

wi th those Brabant typ es What he says about art i s always t o the poi nt and
.

purpose and he often gives hi nts that are practi ca l and pra cti cabl e
, .

“ ”
Today I have agai n been attacki ng a certain b éte noi re of mi ne to w i t the , ,

system of resi gnati on ; I beli eve thi s b ete noi re i s of the race of the hydra— that
i s t o say the more serpent s heads y o u cut off the more spri ng up agai n And
’
.
,
“
yet there have been men w ho have succeeded in killi ng 0 5 such a b ete noir .

It i s always my favori te occupati on as soon as I can fin d a spare half hour t o , ,

”
resume the fight agai nst thi s ol d b éte noi r But perhaps you d o not know that .

i n theol ogy there exi sts a system o f res i g nati on wi th mortifi c ati on as a si de
branch And if thi s were a thi ng that exi sted only in the i magi nati on and the
.

wri tings o r sermons of the theol og i ans I shoul d n ot take noti ce of it ; but alas , ,

i t i s one of those i ns ufferab le b urdens whi ch certai n theol ogi ans lay on the
shoul ders of men W i thout tou chi ng them themselves wi th thei r li ttle fin ger
, .
And more s the pi ty— thi s resi gnati on bel ongs to t he domai n of realit y
s o—
’
,

and causes many great and pet ites mi s eres de la vi e humaine But when they .

“ ”
wanted to put thi s yoke upon my shoul ders I sai d Go to hell ! An d thi s they , ,

thought very di srespectful Well so be i t W hatever may be the rai son d etre of
.
,
.
’

thi s resi gnati on i t— the resi gnati on I mean— i s only for those who can be resi gned
, , ,

and reli gi ous beli ef i s for those w h o can beli eve And what can I do if I am not cut .

o u t by nature fo r the former i e res i gnati on but on the contrary for the l atter ,
. .
, ,

i e reli gi ous beli ef wi th all i t s consequences ?

. .
,

Well if you have a lit tle ti me to spare wri te me agai n and i n the mean time
, , ,

beli eve me wi th a handshake , ,

Ever yours Vin cent ,

R 6
Dear Rap p ard ,
Etten 2 3 November 1 8 8 1 ,

On rereadi ng your l etters my dear fell ow I find such li vely and funn y salli es
, ,

i n them that I feel sti mulated part i cul arl y by the l atter t o continue our corres , ,

on d en c e
p .

Well well ! So after all I am a fanati c ! A ll ri ght for your words have gone
, ,

home ri ght through my ski n ! So be i t— thanks for your revelati on yes thank
, , ,

G o d at first I dared not be li eve i t but y ou have made i t clear t o me— so I have
, ,

a wi ll a c onvicti on I am going in a defini te directi on and what i s more not bei ng

, , , ,

contented wi th thi s I want others to go along wi th me ! Thank God so I am

, ,

a fanati c ! Well from now on I won t be anythi ng el se And now Ls h oul d li ke

,
’
.

t o have my fri end Ra p ard as a fell ow travel er— i r i s not a matter o f i ndi fference
p
t o me to l ose s i ght o f hi m— do you thi n k I am wrong i n thi s ?
“
Now I sai d in my hurry that I wanted t o dr i ve peop l e t o the open sea ( see
my previ ous letter) If I di d nothing but thi s I shoul d be a sorry barbari an
.
, .

But there i s something el se whi ch renders the thi ng more reasonabl e In th e .

l ong run a man cannot sti ck i t out i n the open sea— h e must have a littl e cottage
o n the shore wi th a b i t of fire o n the hearth— wi th a wi fe an d chi l dren around

that hearth .

Look Rapp ard Whi ther I am tryi ng to drive myself and whi ther I am tryi ng
, , ,

to dri ve others too i s to be fishermen on the sea that we call the Ocean of Reali ty
, ,

but o n the other hand I want— for myself and for the fell ow creatures Whom
— “
I i mport une now and then that lit tl e cottage most deci dedly I do ! And i n ,

t hat cottage all those t hi ngs ! So the open sea and that res t ing p l ace or that
, ,

resti ng place and the open sea And as regards the do ctri ne I preach thi s do c t rin e .
,
.

“
o f mine— My fri ends let us l ove what w e l ove — i s based on an axi om I thought
”
, .

i t superfluous to menti on thi s axi om but for clari ty s sake I wi ll add i t That
’
.
,
“ ”
axi om i s My fri ends we l ove ,
.

From thi s I deduce that first thesi s .

My fri ends let u s l ove what we l ove let us be ourselves do n ot l et us thi nk

, , ,
“
we know better than God Thi s do n ot l et us thi nk we know better t han .

”
G o d i s not my expressi on i t bel ongs t o Mauve And thi s thes i s I prove by , .

neg a ti ve demonstra ti on i e in the fo ll owi ng way t o begin wi th

, . . .

86
 Suppose a man di d n ot l ove what he l oves what a l ot of mi sery he woul d ,

cause hi mself and others an d how much t urbulence he woul d create i n God s
,
’

worl d In short if a ll men were li ke the person w h o as we suppose— a t l east if

.
, ,

t hi s i s poss i bl e— fo r the moment does not l ove what he l oves how the worl d , ,

( wh i ch I thi nk
,
o u r Lord,
put square l y o n i t s feet whi ch i s kept i n that pos i ti on ,

by H im and whi ch wi ll stay that way as l ong as you and I are ali ve— whi ch Will
,

serve our ti me you know ! ) if I say all men were li ke thi s i maginary one wi ll
, , , ,

full y t urned i ns i de out and upsi de down an d how fort unate i t i s that he c an on ly
(
ex15 t i n o u r i magi nation as an abstracti on just li ke our proof by negati ve demon ,

st rati on o f an unmathemat i cal thes i s ) — how much the worl d correctly created ,

by God woul d graduall y seem to become a radi cally wrong world Methi nks
,
.
,

by conti nui ng to work wi th thi s abstracti on i n our i magi nati on— and thi s onl y
fo r a short even a very short whi le— I mean wi th the above actually nonexi stent
, ,

man wi ll full y turned i ns i de out and ups i de down— w e cannot help feeli ng i t
,
“ ”
goes so much agai nst the grai n that we are enti tl ed to think we have proved
“
defini tely the correctness and reasonab leness of our thes i s : My fri ends l et us ,
”
l ove What we l ove (Bes i des if I have not demonstrated c l earl y enough that
‘

.
,

the i ncorrectness of the sai d thes i s woul d be an enormous a bsurdi ty you w h o , ,

are much further advanced i n mathemat i cs than I woul d eas i ly succeed— if ,

o u wou l d g i ve your m i nd to i t — ln findi ng more conclus i ve proofs for my

y
thes i s ) .

We n o w come to some remarkabl e conclus i ons or deducti ons from our

pri mary thesi s as fo r i nstance
,

I. The man who damn well refuses to l ove what he l oves dooms himself .

2. He must have qui te a l ot of o( a ) bstina tie to sti ck i t out i n the l ong 1

If he changed wou l dn t hi convers on be a great t ng

’

3. s
,
i hi
Yes and whether I add i t or not I thi nk you will understand that I am suggest
, ,

in g more o r l ess Rapp ard by S ti cki ng so cl ose to the academy you are cli nging
, ,
“ ”
to a reservati on a s to a rope t hat has strangled many a on e— I mean wh o ,

coul d not cut hi mself l oose when he wanted to put to sea .

“ ”
Are there sti ll other reservati ons besi des the academi c ones ? See the chapter
”
eye beams in my previ ous letter There are if you wi ll allow me to say so as .
, ,

many kinds o f reservati ons as there are ki nds of eye beams .

H o w many ? L eg i ons I tell y ou leg i ons ! , ,

“ ”
Thi s being strangl ed by a reservati on i s a much s l ower and more agoni zi ng
death than stoutly hangi ng oneself by means o f a halter Are there al so moral .

”
reservat i ons Wh y shoul dn t there be j ust a s there are moral eye beams ? But
’ “
,

you and I have we l abored under them are we l abori ng under them shall w e
, , ,

labor under them

Goo dness graci ous— I am far from sure and if I were speaki ng for myself ,

i nstead of fo r the tw o of us I shoul d say I have l abored am labori ng and shall

, , ,

l abor under moral eye beams and moral reservati ons but thi s has n ot altered , ,

I
T h e a an d t h e a ha pp b then o b e a ro
to pp p i t h ? [Thir a e, e t
p un i s un ran sl a a le Th e
s t b . D t u ch w or d
obs ti na ti e m ean s
“
o b ti y
s n ac
”
,
an d th e (i n c i d t ll y i en a d
n c o rre c t ) w o r a bs ti na ti e (c o rre c t: a bs ti nenti e)
mean s
 does n ot alter and Will not alter the fact that I have c ast am castin g and shall ,

go on casti ng moral beams out of my eyes and that I have chucked away am , ,

chucking away and shall go on chucking away moral reservati ons .

Until i n the end I S hall stand wi th a clear eye and a free neck .

When
If I persevere unt il the end— in the end .

But I feel sure you will see that by continui ng our correspondence w e get
s o mucb profit out o f i t that graduall y thi s correspondence i s gett ing more seri ous .

For though as I s ai d I gi ve my i maginati on a free rei n yet I swear that I

, , ,

wri te in dea d earnes t and not the reverse Nothing i s further from my thoughts
,
.

“
than wri ti ng y ou o ut o f a lust for argument but my i ntenti on i s to wake Rap
,
“
pard up and I doubt whether I shall drop off myself when wakin g Rapp ar d
,

up God forbi d that thi s should be the case— far be i t from me !

.

Now I tol d you on a former occasi on that in general and more e spe ci all y ,

wi th arti sts I pay a s much attenti on t o the man who does the work as to the
,

work i tself If the man i s n o t there I am n ow and then forc ed to draw conclu
.
,

s i ons from the work onl y (we cannot know all arti sts personally) or if the work ,

i s n o t there to form an opi ni on of the man by hi mself Now I know somethi ng

,
.

of the work o f a certai n Mr Van Rapp ard and secondl y somethi ng of the
.
,

g en t l eman hi mse lf .

H i s work i s always sayi ng to me Better i s to come ; hi s person i s sayi ng the

,

same thi ng t o me .

Better an d better .

D o you thi nk thi s a very mer cil ess judgment ? And (t o j ump from on e subj ect
“
t o another) as regards my speci al b ete noi re today I had li ttl e opportuni t y t o
,

o c cupy myself wit h hunti ng i t ; but for all that 1 have not been ab l e to refrai n
from attacki ng i t a li ttl e .

And we S hall hav e a bone t o pi ck wi th i t by and by But i t i s begi nni ng to .

be a li ttle on i t s guard ; the fact i s that resi gnati on i s accustomed to resi gna ti on ,

and I thought it woul d give up the struggle But 10 ! I am not yet i n a mood .

for i t Oh well later on I shall probably tell you somethi ng more about the
.
,

sai d b ete noi re Damned b éte noi re ! And yet i t amuses me

. .

Meanwhi le believe me wi th a h andshake , ,

Ever your s Vincent ,

I am wri ti ng you pretty often now as shortly I S hall have a ,

l ot of other corres
n d en c e to attend to
p o .
vague and insubstanti al— du coton fil é trop fin H i s pi ct ures are the shadow of an .

i mpressi on and i n my op ini on that i mpressi on i s hardl y worth repeati ng so often

, .

I do not wi sh to associ ate much wi th other painters Each day I fi nd Mauve .

cleverer and more trustworthy and what more can I want ? However Theo , , ,

I shall have to dress a li ttl e better n ow I know now the di re cti on in whi ch I have
.

to go and need not hi de myself so I shall not avoi d meeti ng other people
, ,

n ei ther shall I seek them Mauve and Jet send you thei r comp lim ents
. .

Adi eu I still have a lo t to do beli eve me

, , ,

Yours sin cerely Vi ncent ,

19 2
D ear Theo ,
The Hague 3 —9 May 1 8 8 2 ,

T oday I met Mauve and had a very pai nful conversati on wi th hi m whi ch made ,

i t cl ear t o me tha t Mauve and I are separated forever Mauve has gone s o far .

that he cannot retract at l east he certai nly wouldn t want to I had asked hi m
,
’
.

t o come and see my work and then tal k thi ngs over Mauve refused poi nt b lan k :
.
.
-

“
I wi ll certainly not come to see you that s all over ,
’
.

“ ”
At last he sai d You have a Vi ci ous character At thi s I t urned around— i t
,
.

w a s i n the dunes — and wal ked home al one .

“ ”—
Mauve takes offense at my havin g s ai d I am an arti st whi ch I won t ta ke ,
’

“
back because of course these words connote A lways seeki ng wi thout absolutely
, , , ,
” “ ”
fi nding It i s just the opposi te of sayi ng I kn ow I have found i t
.
, ,
.

“
A s far as I know that word means ,
I am seeki ng I am stri vin g I am in i t, , ,
”
w i th all my heart .

I have ears Theo If somebody says You have a Vi ci ous character

,
.
, ,

s hou l d I do next ?

I t urned aroun d and went back al one but wi th a heavy heart because Mauve ,

had dared to say thi s to me I shall not a sk him to explai n i t n or S hall I excuse
.
,

myself And still— an d s till— and still

. I wi sh Mauve were sorry for i t .

They suspect me of something— i t i s i n the ai r— I am keeping somethi ng

back Vincent i s hi di ng something that cannot stand the li ght
. .

Well gentlemen I wi ll tell y ou you who pri ze good manners and cul ture and
, , , ,

ri ghtl y so i f onl y i t be the true kind : Whi ch i s the more deli cate refined manl y , ,

— t o desert a woman o r to stand by a forsaken woman ?

Last wi nter I met a pregnant woman deserted by the man whose chil d she ,

c arri ed .

A pregnant woman who had to walk the S treets in winter had t o earn her ,

bread y ou understand how

, .

I took thi s woman for a model an d have worked wi th her all wi nter I coul d
,
.

no t pay her the full wages o f a model but t hat di d n o t prevent my payi ng her ,

rent and thank G o d so far I have been abl e to protect her and her chil d from
, , ,

hunger and col d by sharing my own bread wi th her When I met thi s woman .
,

sh e attracted my attenti on because sh e l ooked i ll I made her take baths an d as

‘
.

much nouri shi ng food as I could afford an d she has become much stronger I ,
.
went wi th her to Leyden to the materni ty hospi tal where she will be confined
, .

(No wonder she was i ll the chil d was n ot in the ri ght posi ti on and she had
, ,

t o have an operati on— the chil d had to be turned Wi th forceps However there .
,

i s a good chance of her pulli ng through She wi ll be confined in June ) . .

It seems to me that every man worth a straw woul d have done the same i n
such a case .

What I di d was so si mp le and natural that I thought I coul d keep i t to myself .

Posing was very di ffi cul t for her but sh e has l earned ; I have made progress in
,

my dr awing because I had a good model The woman i s now attached to me .

li ke a tame dove For my part I can only marry once and how can I do better
.
, ,

t ha n marry her ? It i s the onl y way to help her ; ot herwi se mi sery woul d force
her back i nto her old ways whi ch end i n a preci pi ce She has no money but she
,
.
,

helps me earn money i n my professi on .

I am full of ambi ti on and l ove for my work and professi on ; I gave up paintin g
and water col ors fo r a t ime onl y b ecause I was so S hocked by Mauve s desert ’

i n g me and if he came back I woul d begin agai n wi th new courage I can not
, , .

l ook at a brush n ow i t makes me nervous

,
.

I have wri tten : Theo can y ou gi ve me some i nformati on about Mauve s

,
’

behavi or ? Perhaps thi s l etter can gi ve you li ght You are my brother i t i s natural .
,

t hat I speak to you about pri vate thi ngs but for the ti me bei ng I cannot speak
“ ”
to anyone w h o says to me You have a vi ci ous character
,
.

I coul dn t do otherwi se I di d what my hand foun d to do I worked I thought

’
, ,
.

I woul d be un derstood wi thout words I had not forgotten another woman for .

whom my heart w as beati ng but she was far away and refused to see me and
,

thi s on e wal ked the streets i n wi nter si ck pregnant hungry— I coul dn t do , , ,

otherwi se Mauve Theo Tersteeg you have my bread i n your hands wi ll y ou

.
, , , ,

take i t from me or turn your back on me Now I have spoken and awai t what
, ,

ever will be sai d to me next .

Vi ncent

I send y ou a few studi es because you can see from them that she helps me a
great deal by posi ng .

My drawings are done by my model and me The woman i n a whi te bonnet .

i s her mo ther .

But I shoul d li ke these three back as i n a year— When I probabl y shall draw ,

qui te di fferentl y— my work wi ll be based on these studi es whi ch I now make

a s consci enti ous l y as I can Y ou can see t hey are carefull y done Later on when I
. .

make an interi or or a wai ti ng room o r the li ke these will be useful to me because ,

I can consul t them fo r the detail s But I thought perhaps i t woul d be good for
.

y o u to see h o w I spend my ti me .

These s t udi es requi re a rather dr y techni que ; if I had tri ed for effect they ,

would be of l ess use to me later But I think you will understand thi s yourself The
. .

paper I shoul d li ke best i s that on whi ch the bent figure of a woman i s drawn ,

but the col or of unbleached li nen if possi bl e I have none of i t l eft i n tba t tbi ckness .
,

I thi nk they call i t doub l e Ingres I can t get i t here When you see how that drawi ng
,
’
.

9 1
is done you ll understan d that i t coul dn t be done on thin paper I wanted t o
,
’ ’
.

send wi th i t a small figure in black merino but I can t roll i t The chai r near the ,
’
.

l arge figure i s not fini shed because what I want there i s an ol d o ak chai r .

207
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 8 — 1 0 J u ne 1 8 8 2 ,

Few thi ngs have given me so much pl easure recentl y as heari ng thi ngs from
home whi ch to a certai n extent set my mi nd at ease about thei r feelings toward
me Si en came to tell me that a parcel had been deli vered t o the studi o and I
.
,

tol d her t o go and open i t and see what w a s in i t an d in case there was a l etter , ,

to bring i t wi th her ; so I l earned that they had sent a whol e package of thi ngs ,

underwear an d outer cl othin g and ci gars and there w a s al so 1 0 guil ders encl osed ,

i n the l etter I can not tell you how i t touched me i t i s much more th an I exp ected ;
.
,

but they do not know everythi ng yet .

I am just weak and feebl e Theo and I need absolute absolute rest to recover
, , , ,

so everyt hi ng that makes for peace i s wel come But I fel t much worse than now .

before I w as l ying here and please bear in mind that i t i s n ot at all seri ous and
, ,

onl y a short peri od of treatment will make me well again I wan ted to tell you .

th e news about Father and Mother i mme di ately because I thought i t woul d ,

pl ease you too ,

.

S i en wi ll probably go next Monday for I thi nk she i s better off in th e hospi tal
,

n o w ; sh e wi ll be admi tted about the mi d dl e o f June She wanted to stay here .

for me but I woul dn t all ow i t

’
.
,

I have my books on perspective here and a few volumes of Di cken s i ncludi ng , ,

E dwin D rood there i s perspecti ve in D i ckens too G OOd God wha t an art i st ! ,
.
,

There s no one li ke hi m
’
.

I hope my havi ng to take a rest will have a good effect on my drawings ;

someti mes one gets a better Vi ew of things when one does not work o n them
for a whi le— then when on e sees them agai n they seem fresh and new ,
.

The Vi ew from the window of the ward i s spl endi d : yards on the canal wi th ,

th e barges l oaded wi th potatoes rear Vi ew of houses that are bein g pull ed down
,

by workmen part of a garden ; and on the next more di stant p l ane the Quay
, , ,

wi th i t s rows of trees and street l amps a very comp li cated li ttl e al mshouse wi th ,

li ttl e gardens connected to i t ; an d finall y a ll th e roofs The whol e i s a bi rd s —eye

’
.
,

vi ew whi ch especi all y i n the eveni ngs and i n the morni ngs i s mysteri ous because
, ,

o f the li ght s e fle c t for in stance l i ke a Ruysdael or Van der Meer But I may
’
.
, ,

no t and cannot draw i t as l ong as I am so weak But t hough I m forbi dden to

’
.

get out of bed I cannot refrain from get tin g up to l ook at i t every eveni ng
, .

Wri te me soon ; wasn t that parcel from home a surpri se — and especi all y coming
’

at a time li ke thi s i t made me more than happy

, .

The rest cure does me good and makes me so much calmer an d takes away ,

that nervousness whi ch has troubled me so much recently And the ward here .

i s no l ess interesti ng t o me t han the thi rd cl ass wai ti ng room But I may n o t -
.

an d cannot dr aw yet Adi eu I hope you will find ti me to w ri te t o me beli eve me

.
, , ,

Yours sincerely Vincent ,

I thought i t so ni ce that thi s came from home I wan ted to l et y ou know at once , .

O f course I do not need any more cl othes now I wrote home to tha nk them .
,

and t o tell them I was here You know th e address i s— Ci ty Hospi tal— 4 Class
.

Ward 6 — No 9 Brouw ersg ra c ht

. . .

218
Dear brother ,
The Hague 1 9—2 3 July 1 8 8 2 ,

It i s already late but I want to wri te you once more You are not here but
,
.
,

I wi sh you were and someti mes i t seems to me we are not far away from each
,

other .

Today I promi sed myself something that i s to consi der my i llness or rather , , ,

the remains of i t as nonexi stent Enough t im e has been l ost the work must
,
.
,

contin ue So well o r not well I shall start drawi ng again regularly from mornin g
.
, , ,
“
un til ni ght I do not want someone to say to me agai n
. Oh ! these are just ol d ,
”
drawi ngs .

Today I made a drawi ng of the baby s cra dl e wi th a few touches of col or in i t ’

.

I am al so worki ng on a drawing li ke the one o f the meadows I sent you recently .

My hands have become too whi te but i s thi s my fault ? ,

I wi ll go out and work in the open ai r even if i t should cause my illness to ,

return I cannot keep from worki ng any l onger

. .

Art i s j eal ous S h e does not want us to choose illn ess i n preference to her s o
, ,

I do what sh e wi shes .

Therefore I hope that wi thin a short t im e you wi ll recei ve a few pretty good
new drawings ag ai n Peopl e li ke me must n ot be ill so to speak
.
,
.

I wan t you to understand cl earl y my concepti on of art One must work l ong .

and har d to grasp the essence W hat I want and aim at i s confoundedl y di ffi cul t
.
,

and yet I do not thi nk I ai m too hi gh .

I want to do drawings whi ch toucb some peopl e Sorrow i s a small beginn i ng .

” “
“
perhaps such lit tle landscapes a s Laan van M eerdervo ort Ri j swi j k Meadows , ,
“ ”
and Fi sh Dryi ng Barn are also a small begi nni ng In those there i s at l east .

somethi ng strai ght from my ow n heart .

In ei ther figure o r l andscape I should wi sh to express not sentimental mel an ,

c h ol,y but seri ous sorrow .

In short I want to progress so far that peop le wi ll say of my work He feel s

, ,

deeply he feel s tenderly— notwi thstandi ng my so call ed roughn ess perhaps even
,
-
,

because of i t .

It seems pretenti ous to tal k thi s way now but thi s i s the reason why I want ,

to push on wi th a ll my strength .

What am I in most peopl e s eyes A nonenti ty or an eccentri c and di sagreeable

’

man— somebody w h o h as no posi ti on i n soci ety and never will have i n S hort , ,

th e l owest of the l ow Very well even if thi s were tr ue then I shoul d want my
.
, ,

work to S how What i s in the heart of such an eccentri c of such a nobody “

.
,

Thi s i s my ambi ti on whi ch i s in spi te o f everyt hin g foun ded l ess on anger
, , ,

th an on l ove more on sereni ty than on passi on It i s true that I am often in the

,
.

greatest mi sery b u t still there i s a calm pure harmony and musi c insi de me
,
.

9
I see drawi ngs and pi ctures i n the p oorest huts in the di rti est corner An d ,
.

my mi nd i s drawn toward these thi ngs by an i rresi sti bl e force .

M ore and more other thi ngs l ose thei r interest and the more I get ri d of ,

them the qui cker my eye grasps the pi cturesque thi ngs Art demands persi stent
,
.

work work i n sp i te of everythi ng and continuous observati on By persi stent

, ,
.
,

I mean not onl y continuous work but al so not gi vi ng up your opini on at the
,

bi ddi ng of such and such a person .

I do hope brother that wi thin a few years perhaps even now li ttl e by
, , , ,

li tt le you wi ll see thin gs by me whi ch wi ll gi ve you some sati sfacti on for your
,

sacri fices .

I have had very lit tle intercourse wi th other pai nters lately I have not been .

the worse fo r i t It i s not the language of painters but the language of nature
.

whi ch one shoul d li sten to Now I understand better than I di d six months a g o
.

“
W h y Mauve sai d Don t tal k to me about Dupr e ; but tal k about the bank o f
,
’

”
that di tch or somethi ng li ke i t It sounds rather crude but i t i s perfectl y true
,
.
, .

The feeli ng for the things themselves for reali ty i s more i mportant than the , ,

feeli ng for p i ctures— at l east i t i s more fertil e and more enliveni ng

,
.

Because I now have such a broad ampl e feelin g for art and for lif e i tself of, ,

whi ch art i s the essence i t sounds so shri ll and fal se to me when peopl e t ry to
,

compel me .

Personally I find in many modern pi ctures a peculi ar charm whi ch th e old

,

masters do not have .

For me one of the hi ghest and noblest expressi ons of art i s al w ays t hat of the
Engli sh for i nstance Mi llai s and H erk omer an d Frank Holl What I mean about
, , l
.

the di fference between the ol d masters and th e mo dern on e s i s thi s— perhaps th e

modern ones are deeper thi nkers .

There i s a great difference in senti ment between Chill October by Mill ai s

“ ” “
and Bl eachin g Ground at Overveen by Ruysdael ; and al so between Iri sh
” “ ”
Emi grants by H O 11 and The Bi bl e Readi ng by Rembrandt Rembrandt and .

Ruysdael are sublime fo r us as well a s fo r thei r contemporari es ; but t here i s

,

somethi ng in the modern painters that appeal s to us more personally an d i nti mately .

It i s the same wi th the wood engravi ngs by Swai n and those of the old German
masters .

So I think i t was a mi stake a few years ago when the modern p ai nters went
,

through a peri od of i mi tati ng the ol d masters .

Therefore I think father Mi llet i s ri ght in saying 11me semb l e absurde que les ,
”
hommes veui ll ent p arai tre autre chose que c c qu i l s sont [I thi nk i t absurd when ’

peop l e want to seem somethi ng different from what they are] It seems lik e a .

commonp lace saying yet i t i s fathoml ess as deep as the ocean and personally
, , ,

I thi nk on e would do well to take i t to heart .

I just wanted t o tell you that I shall set to work regularly agai n in spi te of
everyt hi ng ; and I want to add that I am l onging for a l etter from you so very
much and now I wi sh you good ni ght A di eu wi th a han dshake
,
.
, ,

Yours si ncerely Vincent ,

Pl ease do not forget the tbiek Ingres if you c an get i t— a samp le i s encl osed .

I st ill have enough of the thin kin d I can wash wi th water col ors on the thi ck
.

Ingres ; on the other i t always blurs through n o faul t of mi ne .

I hope I S hall be abl e t o draw that li ttl e cradl e p ersi stently a hundred time s
more not counting what I di d today
,
.

221
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 3 1 July 1 8 8 2 ,

Just a li ne t o welcome y ou i n anti ci pati on of your arri val Al so to acknowledge .

t he recei pt of your l e t ter and the encl osed for whi ch I send my warmest thanks , .

It w a s very wel come for I am hard at work and need a few more thi ngs
, .

As I understand i t w e of course agree completely about black in nature

, .

Absolute black does not really exi st But li ke whi te i t i s present i n almost every
.
,

col or and forms the endl ess var ety of grays different in tone and strength So
,
i — .

that in nat ure on e reall y sees nothing but those tones or shades .

There are only three fundamental col ors— red yell ow an d blue ; composi tes ,

are oran ge green and purp le By addi ng black and some whi te on e gets the
,
.

endl ess vari eti es of grays— red gray y ellow gray blue gray g reen gray orang e gray
, , , , ,

vi olet gray
-
.

It i s i mpossi bl e to say for in stance how many green—grays there are ; there
, ,

i s an endl ess vari ety But the whol e chemi str y of col ors i s no more comp li cated than
.

those few si mpl e rul es An d havin g a cl ear noti on of thi s i s worth more than
. .

seventy di fferent colors of pai nt— because wi th t hose three pri ncipal col ors an d
black and whi te one can make more than seventy tones and vari eti es The col ori s t
,
.

i s the man who knows at once how to analyze a col or when he sees i t in nature , ,

and c an say for instance : That green gray i s yell ow wi th bl ack and blue etc
,
-
,
..

In other words the man who knows how to find nat ure s grays on hi s palette
,
’
.

In order to take notes from nature or to make lit tl e sketches a strongly , ,

devel oped feeli ng for outli ne i s absolutely necessary as well as for i ntensifyi ng
the dr awi ng l ater I beli eve one does not acqui re thi s wi thout effort but first by
.
,

observati on and parti cul arly by strenuous work and research ; an d speci al study
,
“

o f anatomy and perspective i s necessary too A l andscape study by Roel ofs i s .

w
hanging besi de me— a pen dra ing but I cannot tell you h ow expressi ve i t s
si mpl e outline I S everythin g i s in i t
, .
,
.

Another even more stri ki ng exampl e i s the large woodcut The Shepherdess
by Mi llet whi ch you S howed me last year an d whi ch I have remembered ever Since
, .

And then for i nstance the pen and—in k sketches by O stade and Peasant Breughel
, ,
-
.

When I see such results I feel the great i mportance of the outline even more
“ ”
strongl y An d you know from Sorrow for i nstance that I take a great deal of
.
, ,

troubl e to make progress in that respect .

But y o u wi ll see when you come to the s t udi o that apart from seeki ng the
outline I have just li ke everybody el se a feeling for the power o f col or And
, , ,
.

that I do not Obj ect to doing water col ors ; but thei r foun dati on i s the dr awing ,

an d then many other branches sprout from th e d rawi ng besi des the water col or .

Thi s will devel op i n me in ti me as in everybody who l oves hi s work

,
.

95 .
 I have attacked that old gi ant of a poll ard will ow an d I thi nk i t i s the best o f ,

the water col ors A gl oomy l andscape— that dead tree near a stagnant pool
.

covered wi th reeds in the di stance a car shed of the Rhine Rail way Compan y
, ,

where the tracks cross each other ; dingy black buildi ng s then green meadows , ,

a ci nder path and a sky wi th scuddi ng cl ouds gray wi th a si ngl e bri ght whi te
, ,

border and a depth of blue where the cl ouds are momentaril y rent apart In short
,
.
,

I wanted to make i t the way the s i gnal man i n hi s smock and wi th hi s li ttl e red
“ ”
flag must see and feel i t when he thi nks It i s gl oomy weather today , .

I have worked wi th great pleasure these last days though now and then I S t ill ,

feel the effects of my i lln ess .

O f the drawi ngs whi ch I shall S how y o u now I thi nk onl y thi s : I hope they ,

wi ll prove to you that my work does not remai n stati onary but progresses in a ,

reasonabl e dir ecti on As to the money value of my work I do not pretend to

.
,

anythi ng l ess than that i t woul d greatly astoni sh me if i n t ime my work di d not
become just as salabl e as that o f others Of course I cannot tell whether that will
.

happen now or later but I think the sur est way whi ch cannot fail i s to work from
, , ,

nat ure fai thfull y and energeti cally Sooner or later feelin g and l ove for nat ure
.

meet a response from people wh o are i nte rested in art It i s the pai nter s duty to .
’

be entirely absorbed by nature and to use all hi s intelli gence t o express sentim ent
in hi s work so that i t becomes i ntelli gi b l e to o t her peopl e In my opi ni on workin g .

for the market i s not exactl y the ri ght way ; on the contrary i t means fooli ng ,

art lo vers The true pai nters have not done thi s ; the sympathy they event uall y
.

received was the resul t of thei r sinceri ty That s all I know about it and I don t
.
’

,
’

thi nk I need to know more Of course i t i s a di fferent thin g to try t o find peopl e
.

who li ke your work and w h o will l ove i t— o f course t hi s i s permi tted But i t
,
.

must not become speculati on ; i t woul d perhaps t urn out wrong an d woul d
certai nly cause one to l ose ti me that ought to be spent on the work i tself .

O f course you will find thi ngs that are not correct i n my water col ors but thi s ,

wi ll i mprove in ti me .

But know i t well I am far from clinging to a system or being bound by one
, .

Such a thin g exi sts more in Tersteeg s i magi nati on for instance than in reali t y
’
, , .

As to Tersteeg you understand that my opi ni on of hi m i s qu ite personal and that I

, ,

do not want to thrust ony ou the opi ni on I am forced to have As l ong as he thi nks .

and says the thi ngs about me you know of I cannot regard him as a fri end nor as
, ,

bein g of any use to me on the contrary And I am afrai d that hi s opini on o f me i s

.

t o o deep ly rooted ever to be changed especi all y because as you say yourself he
, , ,

will never take the troub le t o reconsi der some things an d to change .

When I see how several painters I know here have so much troubl e wi th thei r
water col ors an d pi ctures so that t hey cann ot p ull i t off I often think Fri end
, , , ,

the fault i s in your drawi ng I do n o t regret for a Single moment that I did not
.

go on wi th water col or and oi l p ai nting i n the beginni ng I am sure I shall make .

up fo r that if I onl y work hard so that my hand does not falter i n drawi ng and
,

i n the perspective But when I see young p ai nters compose an d draw from
.

memory — an d then haphazardl y smear on whatever they li ke a lso from memory ,

then l ook at i t from a di stance and pull a very mysteri ous gl oomy face whi l e ,

9 6
223
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 5 August 1 8 8 2
,

In my last l etter you will have found a li ttle sketch of that perspective frame
I menti oned I just came back from the blacksmi th who made ir on poi nts for
.
,

the sti cks and i ron corners for the frame It consi sts of two long stakes ; the
.

frame c an be attached t o them ei ther way wi th strong wooden pegs .

So on the shore o r in the meadows or in the fiel ds on e can l ook through i t

lik e a window The verti cal li nes and the hori zontal li ne of the frame and th e
.

9 8
diagonal lin es and the in terse cti on or el se the divi si on in squares certainl y give
, ,

a few fundamental pointers whi ch help one make a soli d drawing and whi ch
indi cate the mai n lin es an d proporti ons— at l east fo r those who ha ve some i nstin ct
fo r perspe cti ve and some understandi ng of why and how the perspe cti ve causes
an apparent cha nge of di rect i on in the lines and change o f s i ze i n the planes and

in the whol e mass Wi thout thi s the i nstrument i s of li ttl e or no use an d l ooking
.
, ,

thr ough i t makes one di zzy I thi nk y ou c an imagine how deli ghtful i t i s to
.

“ ”
t urn thi s spy hol e frame on the sea on the green meadows o r on the snowy
-
, ,

fields in wi nter or on the fantasti c network of thin an d thi ck branches an d trunks

,

in aut umn or on a stormy sk y .

Long and conti nuous practi ce wi th i t enables on e t o draw qui ck as li ghtni ng

— an d once the drawi ng i s done firmly to p ai nt qui ck as li ghtni ng too
, , .
,

In fact for p ainting i t i s absolutel y the t hing ; for one needs a brush to express
,

sk -
earth sea — o r rather in order to express a ll that in d rawi ng i t i s necessary
y
-
, ,

t o know an d understand the treatment of the b ru sh I certai nl y beli eve that if I .

paint for some ti me i t will have great i nfluence on my drawing I already tri ed i t
,
.

in January but then I had to stop and what deci ded me apart from a few other
, , ,

thi ngs was that my drawi ng was too hesi tant Now six months have passed .

whi ch have been enti rel y devoted to drawing Well i t i s wi th new courage that .
,

I start pai nt ing agai n .

The perspective frame i s really a fin e pi ece of workman shi p ; I m sorry y ou ’

didn t see i t before you l eft It cost me qui te a l ot but I have had i t made so
’
.
,

soli dl y that i t will last a l ong t ime So next Monday I shall begi n to make large
.

fusain s wi th i t and begin t o p aint small stu di es If I succeed in these two things
,
.
,

then I hope that better painted thin gs will foll ow soon .

I wan t my s t udi o to be a real pai nter s studi o by the ti me y ou come agai n ’

.

Y ou know there were several reasons for my stopping in January but after a ll i t , ,

may be consi dered li ke a defec t in the machi ne a screw or a bar whi ch was no t ,

strong enough and had to be rep laced by a S tronger one .

I bought a pai r of strong warm trousers and as I had bought a pai r of strong
, ,

shoes just before you came I am now prepared to weather storm an d rain It i s
,
.

my defini te i ntenti on to l earn from thi s landscape pai ntin g a few thin gs about
the tecbni que whi ch I feel I need for the fig ure namely to express di fferent ma teri als , , ,

an d the o e and th e col or In one word t o express the body

t n .
— the mass of thi ngs
—
,
.

Your coming made i t possi ble for me but before you came not a day passed ,

that I di d not thin k about i t thi s way only I shoul d have had t o keep exclusively to
,

black and whi te an d to the outli ne a li ttl e l onger — But now I have launcbed my
boat Adi eu boy once more a warm han dshake and beli eve me
.
, , , ,

Yours sincerel y Vincent ,

224
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 8 —1 2 August 1 8 8 2 ,

Durin g the few days si nce you l eft I have made some experiments wi th p ai nti ng
,
.

And I thought y ou mi ght be curi ous to know how i t turned out I wi sh you coul d .

spend an hour wi th me in the s t udi o agai n that would be the best way to tell ,
 ou how i t went But as thi s i s of course i mpossi b l e I shall onl y tell you tha t I
y .
,

n ow have three painted studi es One of a row of pollard will ows in a meadow .

( beh i nd the Geest bri dge ) then a s t udy of the cin der path near here ; and today

I wa s at the vegetabl e gardens on Laan van M eerd ervo ort agai n and saw a ,

potato field wi th a di tch ; a man in a b lue smock and a woman were pi ckin g up
potatoes and I put thei r figures in
,
.

It was a whi te sandy field partly dug up partly still covered wi th rows of
, , ,

d ri ed stal ks wi th green weeds i n between In the di stance dark green trees and
,
.
,

a few roofs .

I di d thi s last study wi th speci al pleasure I must tell you that pai nting does not .

seem so strange to me as you would perhaps suppose ; on the contrary I li ke i t

‘

very much as i t i s a very strong means of expressi on An d at the same ti me on e

,
.

can express tender things wi th i t too let a soft gray or green speak ami d all ,

the ruggedness .

1 am very g lad I have the necessary materi al s for already I ha d often suppressed ,

the desi re to pai nt It opens a much broader horizon

. .

Now I shoul d prefer to go on making qui te a number of pai nted s t udi es and ,

hang them i n my s tudi o wi thout speaking to anybody about the change An d i n .

case someone wonders at seeing t hings painted by me I shoul d say Di d y ou , ,

think that I had no senti ment for i t or was un abl e to do i t ? ,

But I have attached great value to drawing and will continue t o because i t i s ,

the backbone of pain ting the skeleton that supports all the rest I li ke i t so
,
.

much Theo that i t i s only because of the expen ses that I S hall have to restrai n
, ,

myself rather than urge myself on These s t udi es are of medi um size a li ttle .
,

l arger than the cover of an ordi nary pain tbox because I d o n ot work i nsi de the ,

cover but thumbtack the paper for the study onto a frame whi ch has canvas
,

stretched on i t and whi ch I can carry easily in my hand I will dra w larger thi ngs
,
.

before I pai nt them or I will make gri saill es of them if I can di scover the te ch
,

ni que— I will t ry to fin d i t .

It becomes too expensi ve if one i s n ot ec onomi cal wi th the pai nt ; but boy i t , ,

i s so del i ghtful to have so many new and good materi al s ; once more many , ,

many thanks I will certai nl y try and take care that y ou never regret i t but have
.
,

the sat i sfacti on of seeing progress I wri te you just thi s li ttl e word t o tell y ou.

I have made a beginni ng Of course the s t udi es must get even better I know
. .

they have many faults but I beli eve that i n these first ones y ou wi ll already see
,

somethi ng of the open ai r whi ch proves that I l ove nat ure and that I have a
,

painter s heart Encl osed a small scrat ch of the Laan van Meerderv oort Those
’
.
,
.

vegetabl e gardens there have a kind of O l d Dutch character whi ch al ways appeal s
to me greatly .

Well good ni ght i t i s already l ate wi th a handshake

, , , ,

Yours si ncerel y Vi ncent ,

I am reading Zola s L a Curee ’ ’

.

When I fini shed thi s l etter i t seemed t o me something was mi ssi ng ,

.

I thought I ought to be ab l e to wri te hi m that I have started t o p aint a scene

,
so hard on seven pai nted s t udi es that ri ght now I m beat One of them ha s a ’
.

figure in i t a mother wi th her chi ld in the shadow of a large tree i n tone against
, , ,

the dune on whi ch the summ er sun i s shi ni ng— almost an Itali an effect I si mpl y
, .

couldn t restrai n myself or keep my hands o ff i t or all ow myself any rest

’
.

As you perhaps know there i s an exhi bi ti on of the Black and Whi te Soci ety
, .

There i s a drawin g by Mauve— a woman at a weavi ng l oom probably in Drenthe ,

-
whi ch I thi nk superb .

N o doubt you saw some of them at Terst eeg s There are spl endi d thi ngs by
’
.

Israel s— i ncludi ng a portrai t o f Wei ssenbruch wi th a pi pe in hi s mouth and hi s ,

pal ette in hi s han d By Wei ssenbruch hi mself beautiful thin gs— landscapes and
.
,

al so a mari ne .

There i s a very large drawin g by J Mari s a spl endi d town Vi ew A beautiful .

, .

W Mari s among other thin gs a sow wi th a li tter of pi gs and cows N euhu y s

.
, , ,
.
,

Du c hat el Me sdag By the l ast besi des a fine l arge ma rine two Swi ss l andsca pes
, .
, ,

whi ch I thin k rather St upi d and dull But the l arge mari ne i s sp lendi d . .

Israel s has four l arge drawings a gi rl at the wi ndow chil dren near a pi gsty
, ,

the sketch for the li ttle pi cture at the Sal on— a li ttle old woman ki ndli ng the
fire i n the t wili ght at the time engraved for the A rt Cbroni cle
, .

It i s very i nspi ring to see such things for then I percei ve how much I still ,

have to l earn .

But thi s much I want to tell you— while p ai nti ng I feel a power of col or i n ,

me that I di d not possess before things of broa dn ess and str ength , .

N ow I am not going to send you thi ngs a t once— l et i t ri pen a lit tle fi r st— but
know that I am full of ambi ti on and beli eve that for the present I am maki ng
progress (In three months however I will send somethi ng to give you an i dea
.
, ,

of how I m getti ng o n ) But that i s just the reason for me to persevere an d to

’
.

acqui re what I need .

So do not thi nk that I am sati sfied wi th myself from what I say about my
work— the contr ary i s true ; but I thin k thi s much i s gained : i n t he future when
somethi ng stri kes me in nature I shall have more mean s than before wi th whi ch
,

to give i t new Vi gor .

An d I am not di sp leased that wha t I shall make in the fut ure will l ook more
attractive .

Nei ther do I beli eve that i t will hinder me if my hea lth shoul d give w ay a
li ttl e from ti me to ti me As far as I can see the pai nters w h o occas i onall y c an not
.
,

work for a week or tw o are n ot the worst ones It may be because they ar e the .

“ ”
ones qui y met tent l eur peau as father Millet says That doesn t matter and
, .
’
,

in my op i ni on one must n o t spare onesel f when there i s somethi ng i mporta nt t o

do If a short peri od of exhausti on follows i t will soon pass an d so much i s
.
, ,

gain ed that one harvests one s studi es just the way a farmer harvests hi s crops
’
.

Now for myself I have not yet thought of taking a rest Onl y yesterday
, .
, .

Sunday I di d n ot do so much— a r l east I di d not go out to p ai nt I will see

, .

to i t that even if you come t hi s winter you wi ll find the studi o full o f pai nted ,

studi es .

I had a l etter from Rapp ar d yesterday ; he has been to Drenthe and judging ,

1 02
from the tw o li ttl e sketches he sent me he ha s n ot been i dl e He seems to work , .

very hard an d well too— fi g ures as well as lan dscape

, .

Well adi eu I must set off to work again ; wi th a handshake

, , ,

Yours si ncerely Vincent ,

It i s now just two years since I began t o draw in the Borin ag e .

226
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 1 9 August 1 8 8 2 Saturday eveni ng , ,

My sin cere than k s for your l etter and the encl osed As soon as I received your .

l etter I bought 7 guilders worth of col ors i mmedi ately so as to have some
’
,

provi si ons and t o repl eni sh my b ox A ll duri ng the week we have had a great.

deal of wi nd storm an d rai n an d I went t o S cheveni ngen several tim es t o see i t

, , .

I brought tw o small marines home from there .

One of them i s sli ghtl y spri nkled wi th s and— but the second made duri ng a ,

real storm duri ng whi ch the sea came qui te cl ose t o the dunes was so covered
, ,

wi th a thi ck l ayer of san d that I was obliged to scrape i t off twi ce The wind .

b lew so hard that I c oul d scar c el y stay on my feet and could har dl y see for the ,

sand tha t w a s flyi ng aroun d However I tri ed to get i t fix ed by going to a li ttle

.
,

i nn behi nd the dun es and there scraped i t off and immedi atel y pai nted i t in
,

again returni ng to the beach n ow and then for a fresh i mpressi on S o I brought
, .

a few souveni rs home after all .

But another souveni r i s that I caught col d agai n wi th all the consequences y ou ,

kn ow of whi ch n ow forces me to stay home for a few days

, .

In the meanti me I have pai nted a few studi es of the fi g ure— I m sendi ng you
,
’

t w o sketches .

Pai nti ng the figure appeal s t o me very much but i t must ri pen— I must get t o ,
“ ”
know the techni que better what i s someti mes c alled la cui sine de l art In the
— ’
.

beginni ng I shall have t o do much scraping and shall often have to begin anew , ,

but I feel that I l earn from i t and that i t gi ves me a new fresh vi ew of thi ngs ,
.

The next time you send money I shall buy some good marten brushes whi ch , ,

are the real drawing brushes as I have di scovered for drawing a hand or a profil e
, ,

in col or Al so I see t hey are absolutely n ec essar y fo r very deli cate branches etc
.
, ,
.

N o matter h ow fine the Lyon b rushes make t oo broad stri pes or strokes My
,
.

pai nti ng paper i s al so al most used up — toward the first of S eptember I shall have
t o buy a few more suppli es but I shall n o t need more than the usual allowance
,
.

Then I want to tell y ou that I qui te agree wi th several points in your letter .

Especi ally I full y agree that wi th all thei r good and bad qualiti es Father an d
, , ,

M other are the ki nd of peopl e who are becoming rare in the present t ime— more
and more rare— and perhaps the new type i s n ot at all better— and so one must
appreci ate them that much more .

Personall y I d o i ndeed appreci ate them I am onl y afrai d that th e feeli ng about
, .

whi ch y o u reassured them for the time bei ng woul d come back especi all y if ,

t hey saw me agai n They wi ll never be abl e t o understand what pai nt ing i s They
. .

cannot understand that the figure of a laborer— some furrows in a pl owed

fi el d— a b i t of sand sea and sky— are seri ous subj ects so di ffi cult but at the
, , ,

1 03
same ti me so beautif ul tha t i t i s in deed worth while to devote one s life to
,
’

expressing the poetry hi dden in them .

In the fut ure whenever they saw me toilin g and peggin g away at my work
,

scrapin g i t ou t and changing i t— now severely comparing i t to nature— then

changing i t a li ttle so they can no l onger exactly recogni ze the spot or the figure
—i r woul d al ways be a di sappoi ntment to them They w ill n ot be ab l e to under .

stand that painting cannot succeed at once and over and over agai n they will ,
“ ”
thi nk He doesn t reall y kn ow anything about i t and that real pai nters woul d
,
’
,

work in qui te a di fferent w ay .

Well I dare not all ow myself any i llusi ons and I am afrai d that Father and
, ,

M other may never really appreci ate my art Thi s i s not surpri sing and i t i s not
”

.
,

thei r fault ; they have not l earned to l ook at thi ngs as you and I have learned t o
l ook at them They l ook at di fferent thi ngs than we do ; we do not see the same
.

thi ngs wi th the same eyes nor do the same thoughts occur to u s It i s permi ssi bl e
,
.

t o wi sh thi s were otherwi se but in my op ini on i t i s not wi se to expe ct i t

,
.

They wi ll hardly be abl e t o understand my frame of mi nd and they will n o t ,

know what urges me on When they see me doing thi ngs whi ch they think .

strange and eccentri c they wi ll as cri be them t o di scontent indifference or

, , ,

carelessness whereas in reali ty there i s somethi ng qui te di fferent at the bottom of

,

i t namel y t h e wi sh to pursue co ute que coute what I need for my work N o w

, , , ,
.

“ ”
they are perhaps l ooki ng forward to the paintin g i n oil Now at last i t will .

come— and oh ! h ow di sappointed they woul d be I am afrai d if they coul d see , ,

i t t lmy woul d no t i ce nothing but daubs of pai nt— bes i des they consid er drawin g a ,

m y
”
stud an expressi on whi ch many years ago I l earned to hate i n
Z g
‘
b r b a ra to ,

expressi bly and think as i ncorrect as i t can be A s you well know And when
,
. .

t hey see me sti ll at i t the way I w as before they wi ll thi nk I am go i ng to be

, ,

doing that preparatory st udy forever .

Well let us hope for the best and try to reassure them
, .

What you tell me about thei r new surroundings i s very i nterest ing I shoul d .

certain ly l ove to paint such a li ttle ol d church and the churchyard wi th i t s ,

sandy grave mounds and ol d wooden crosses I hope I shall have the chance
-
.

so met l me .

Then you wri te about the stretch of heath and the pi ne wood cl ose by I can .

tell you I feel an everlasting homesi ckness fo r heath and pi ne trees wi th the
, ,

characteri sti c fi g u res— a poor woman gatheri ng wood a poor peas ant carryi ng ,

sand— i n short those si mp l e thi ngs that have somethi ng of the grandeur of t h e
,

sea I have always had a wi sh to go and live somewhere qui te i n the country i f
.
,

I had an opport uni ty and ci rcumstances woul d permit But I have pl enty of .

subjects here— the woods the beach the Ri j swi j k meadows near by and so , , , ,

li terall y a new subj ect at every footstep

, .

But i t woul d al so be to li ve more cheaply .

But for the moment as far as I can see there i s no i mmedi ate reason and so
, , ,

I am i n no hurry .

I onl y tell y ou so you ll reali ze how sympatheti c I am to scenery li ke that

’

whi ch you descri be as Father and Mother s new surroundi ngs ’

.
227
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 2 0 August 1 8 8 2 Sunday afternoon , ,

I have just recei ved a ni ce l etter from home whi ch pl eased me very much and ,

showed clearly that your vi si t and the thi ngs you tol d them about me and my
work have had a reassuring effect on them I thi nk the resul ts c an onl y be g ood
. .

I parti cularly than k you for the way you spoke though i t seems to me you sai d ,

more good about me than I yet deserve At home they seem very much p leased
.

wi th thei r new surroun di ngs and are still full of your vi si t

,
.

Fo r that matter so am I for several thi ngs y ou tol d me make me think o f

, ,

you more often than before and certainly not wi th l ess affecti on Especi ally
,
.

what you tol d me about your heal th makes me thi nk of you often I am pret ty .

well ; my not sp arin g myself and a cti ng a s if I had never been i ll works all ri ght .

But you realize that I have not ent irel y recovered I feel i t at ti mes especi all y in .
,

the eveni ng when I m t ired ; but fortun ately i t never got bad enough t o prevent
’

my working .

Thi s week I have pai nted some rather l arge studi es in the wood whi ch I tri ed ,

t o carry out more thoroughl y and vi gorousl y than the first ones .

The one whi ch I beli eve succeeded best i s of nothing but a pi ece of dug u p -

earth— whi te b lack an d brown sand after a pouring rain Here and there the
,
.

lumps of earth caught the light and sto od out in strong reli ef After I had been
, .

s i tti ng drawing that pi ece of ground fo r some ti me there was an other vi ol ent ,

thunderstorm wi th a terri fic cl oudburst whi ch lasted for at least an hour I was

,
.

s o eager t o conti nue that I remai ned at my post and shel tered my self a s we ll as

I coul d behi nd a bi g tree When i t was over at last and the crows fl ying agai n
.
, ,

I w a s not sorry I had wai ted because of the beautiful deep tone whi ch the rai n
,

had given to th e soil As I had begun before the rai n wi th a l ow hori zon on
.
, ,

my kn ees I n ow had to work kneelin g i n the mud and i t i s because of such

, ,

advent ures whi ch often present t hemselves i n di fferent forms that I thi n k i t i s
, ,

not superfluous to wear an ordi nary workman s sui t whi ch i s l ess easil y spoil ed ’
,
.

The resul t o f thi s was that I coul d bring that pi ece of ground home to the studi o
—t hough Mauve once ri ghtl y sai d whil e speaki ng about a study o f hi s It i s a
, ,

hard job to draw those lumps of earth and get perspect ive into t hem .

The other study i n the wood i s of some l arge green be ech trunks on a stretch
o f groun d covered wi th dry sti cks and the li ttl e fig ure of a gi rl i n whi te There
,
.

w a s the great di ffi culty of keeping i t cl ear and of get ting space between the ,

trunks standi ng at di fferent di stances— and the pl ace an d relative b ul k of those

tr unks change wi th the perspecti ve— to make i t so that one c an breathe and
walk aroun d in i t and to make you smell the fragrance of the wood
,
.

It was wi th extreme pleasure that I made these t wo s tudi es .

The same wi th a thi ng I saw at Scheveni ngen a s t retch 111 the dunes in the ,

morni ng after the rai n The grass was comparat ively green and the black nets
.
,

were spread over i t in enormous ci rcles gi ving the soil deep reddi sh black and
,
-

greeni sh gray tones On th i s somber ground w omen in whi te caps and men spread
-
.
,

i ng or rep ai rin g the nets were s i tti ng or standi ng o r walki ng aroun d li ke dark ,

fantasti c ghosts In nature i t was as stri ki ngly gloomy and seri ous a s the most
.

10 6
beautiful Millet Israel s o r De Groux on e can i magine— over the landscape a
,

si mple gray sky wi th a li ght streak on the hori zon .

Notwi thstandi ng showers of rain I made a st udy of i t on a sheet of oiled

,

Torchon .

Much will have to happen before I shall be able t o make i t as vi gorous as I

shoul d li ke but these are the things in nature that stri ke me most
, .

H o w beaut iful i t i s outs i de when everythi ng i s wet from the rai n— before— i n
and after the rain I oughtn t to let a single shower pass
.
’
.

Thi s morni ng I have put all the p ainted studi es up in the studi o I wi sh I .

coul d tal k them over wi th you .

A s I had alrea dy expe cted and coun ted on whi le I was busy I had to buy a , ,

great many thi ngs and the money i s nearly a ll spent on them
, .

For two weeks I have pai nted from early i n the morni ng until l ate at ni ght ,

s o t o speak ; if I conti nued thi s way i t woul d be t oo expensi ve as l ong as I do

,

not sell .

I thi nk i t possi bl e tha t if you saw the paintings y ou woul d say that I ought ,

t o g o on wi th i t not just at ti mes when I feel parti cul arl y i nclined but regularl y
, , ,

as absolutely the most i mportant thing though i t mi ght cause more expenses , .

But though I myself l ove doin g i t and for the present shall probab ly not pai nt
,

as much as my ambi ti on and desi re demand because of the heavy expenses I thin k ,

I shall n ot l ose by givi ng a great deal of my time to drawi ng and I do thi s wi th ,

no l ess p l easure However

. I am in doubt — pai nt ing comes easi er to me than
,

I expe cted— perhaps i t woul d be better t o throw myself i nto i t wi th all my

strength first peggi ng away wi th the b rush I must say I cannot tell
,
. .

At all events drawing in charcoal i s somethi ng I am sure I must study n ow

,

more than ever a t all events I have enough to do and can go on Even when
-
, .

I restrain myself a li ttle i n painti ng I c an work just as hard ,

.

If I have now painted so man y s t udi es in a short time i t i s be cause I work ,

hard li terally worki ng all day scarcely taki ng time even to eat o r drink
, ,
.

There are li ttle figures i n several of the s t udi es I al so worked on a l arge one .

and have scraped i t off twi ce whi ch y ou woul d p erhaps have thought too rash
,

if y ou had seen the effec t ; but i t was n ot i mpati ence i t was because I feel I c an ,

d o even better by gri ndi ng and tryi ng and I absolutel y want t o succeed in ,

doing bett er however much ti me however much troubl e i t may cost

, ,
.

Lan dscape as I have taken i t up now deci dedly requi res the figure too They
, ,
.

are studi es for backgrounds whi ch one must do so thoroughl y because the tone
of the fig ure and the effe ct of the whol e depend on i t .

W hat I li ke so much about pai ntin g i s that wi th the same amount of troubl e
whi ch one takes over a drawi ng on e bri ngs home somethi ng that conveys the
,

i mpressi on much better and 1s much more pl easant t o l ook ar— a n d at the same
t i me more correct t oo In a word i t i s more grat ifyi ng than drawi ng But i t i s
, .
,
.

absolutel y necessary to be abl e to draw the ri ght proporti on and the posi ti on of
the object prett y corre ctly before on e begins If one makes mi stake s i n thi s the .
,

whole thing comes to nothi ng .

I am l onging for autumn I must be sure t o have a stock of col ors a n d other
.

1 07
 thi ngs again st that ti me I l ove so much so very much the effe ct o f the yellow
.
, ,

l eaves ; the g reen b eec h trunks stand out so well agai nst them and figures t o o , , .

Lately I read part of a rather melancholy book L etters nnd D za ry of G era rd Bzlnerr
' '
’
I
, .

He di ed at the age when I began When I read that I was not sorry that I .
,

started late He certainly was unhappy and was often mi sunderstood but at the
.
,

same time I find a great weakness in hi m somethi ng morbi d in hi s character It , .

i s li ke the story o f a plant whi ch shoots up t oo soon and cannot stand the frost , ,

and gets stri cken to th e roots by i t on a certai n ni ght and then wi thers At fi rst .

everythi ng goes all ri ght— he i s wi th a teacher (as in a hothouse)— he makes

qui ck progress but in Amsterdam he i s al most al one and wi th all hi s cleverness , ,

he cann ot stand i t there an d comes back home t o hi s father qui te di scouraged

, l ,

di ssati sfied li stl ess— he pai nts a li ttl e there and t hen di es of consumpti on or of
, ,

some other di sease in hi s twent y ei ghth year -

.

What I don t li ke about hi m i s that wbzle be p aints he complains of terri bl e

'
’
,

dul lness and i dl eness as though i t were somethi ng he coul dn t d o an y thin g about ;
,
’

an d he conti nues t o run around wi th a to hi m t o o oppressi ve ci rcl e o f fri ends , , ,

and persi sting in the amusements and w ay of life whi ch bore hi m t o death In .

short he i s a sympatheti c figure ; but I woul d rather read the li fe of father Mi ll et

,

o r of Th Rousseau o r of Daubi gny

. .

Readi ng S en sier s book on Millet gi ve s on e courage and Bilder s s makes on e

’
,
’

feel terri bl e .

“
I often fin d an enumerati on of di ffi cul ti es i n Millet s l etters but sti ll j ai tout de ’
, ,
’

”
meme fai t ceci ou cel a [I have done thi s or that after all] and th emh e always has ,

other thi n gs i n mi nd whi ch he absolutely must do and whi ch he will Carry ou t .

“
And t o o often G Bil ders says I ve been blue thi s week and have been maki ng
.
,
’

a mess of thi ngs— I went to thi s or that concert or theater but came home even ,
”
more mi serabl e than when I went .

What stri kes me in Mi llet i s thi s si mpl e I must d o thi s or that after a ll ,
.

“
Bilders i s very wi tty and can lament i n a most ludi crous way about Manil a
,
”
ci gars — whi ch he li kes and whi ch he cannot afford— about tai l ors bill s whi ch ’

he cannot figure out how to pay He descri bes hi s anxi et y about money affai rs so
.

wi tti ly that he hi mself and the reader have t o l augh But no matter how wi ttil y .

these thi ngs may be tol d I di sli ke i t and have more respe ct for Millet s pri vate
, ,
’

“ ”
di fficulti es il faut tout de meme de la soupe pour l e s enfants [after all there must
, ,
“ ”
be soup for the children] ; he does not tal k about Manil a ci gars or about
amusements .

What I want to say i s Gerard Bilders s Vi ew of li fe was romanti c and he never

,
’
,

got over the ill usi ons perdues ; fo r my part I thi nk i t a certain advan tage that I
started onl y when I had l eft roman ti c ill usi ons behi nd me I must make up for .

l ost ti me n o w I must work hard but just when one has l eft th e l ost illusi ons
.
,

behi nd work becomes a necessi ty and one of the few pl easures l eft And thi s
, .

gives a great qui et and tranquilli t y .

I regret that i t wi ll be a year perhaps before y ou wi ll see all my pai ntings

( even though I mi ght send you somethi ng now and then ) and before we c an
I
A Dutc h painter w ho died youn g .

1 08
uncertain what to do My money i s not qui te gone but there i s n ot much l eft
.
, .

If I am not mi staken today i s the twenti eth ; I have spent l ess rather than more
,

than usual on the househol d thi s month It i s true I ha ve ha d to spend a good

.

deal on painting materi al s but much of thi s will la st qui te a whil e But i t i s true
, .

that everyt hi ng i s very expensi ve I hope you will be abl e to send something
.

soon Recei ve a warm handshake in thought and beli eve me

.
,

Yours sincerely V i ncent ,

I certainly hope that you will not i nfer from thi s l etter that I am pretenti ous
enough t o thi nk these first s t udi es salable Formerl y I coul d tell better than now
.

what thi ngs were worth whether they were salab le o r not ; n ow I noti ce dail y
'

that I do not know any more and st udyi ng nat ure i s more i mportant to me than
,

studying the pri ces of pi ctures .

But I thin k I se e that the pain ted studi es have a much more pl easin g aspe ct
than ei ther those drawn in black and whi te or the water col ors you saw recently .

And therefore I am uncertai n as to whether i t mi ght possi bl y be more profitabl e

after all to make paintin g absolutely the princi pal thing notwi thstandi ng the ,

greater expense I would rather you deci ded thi s than I because I thi nk you are
.
,

more competent to judge finan ci al success and I absolutel y trust your judgment, .

You tol d me t o try to fini sh a li ttl e drawing i n w ater col or I beli eve that by .

painti ng I shall actuall y be abl e to make better water col ors than before if ,

I start them again But if i t does not turn out well y ou must not get di scouraged
.
, ,

nei ther must I and you must not be afrai d to cri ti ci ze me I do n o t s y ste mati c all y
,
~
.

i gnore cri ti ci sm but i t generall y takes more ti me to change a thi ng than to

,

i ndi cate a change Thus I have onl y just put i nto practi ce thi ngs t hat Ma uve
.

tol d me in January And for i nstan ce I painted that pi ece of groun d accordi ng
.
, ,

to a conversati on I had wi th hi m about a s tudy of hi s .

228
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 3 September 1 8 8 2 Sunday morni ng , ,

I just received your very wel come l etter an d as I want t o take some rest today
, ,
’
I m an swering i t at once Many thanks for i t and for the encl osure and for the
.
,

thi ngs you tell me .

And many thanks fo r your descri pti on of that scene wi th the workmen i n
Montmartre whi ch I found very interesting as you descri be the col ors too so
, , ,

that I c an see i t I am glad you are readi ng the book about G avarni I t hought i t
. .

very i nteres t ing and i t made me l ove hi m twi ce as much

, .

Pari s and i t s surroundi ngs may be beautiful but we have nothi ng to comp lain ,

of here ei ther .

Thi s week I painted something whi ch I think woul d gi ve you the 1mp ress1on
of Scheveningen as we saw i t when we wal ked there together : a large study of
sand sea and sky — a bi g sky of deli cate gray and warm whi te wi th a si ngle
, ,

li ttl e spot of soft blue gl eami ng th rough— the sand an d the sea li ght— so that ,

the whole becomes bl ond but ani mated by the characteri s t i call y and striki ngly
,

col orful figures and fishi ng smacks whi ch are full of tone The subj ect of the
, .
sketch i s a fishi ng smack wi th i t s anchor being wei ghed The horses are ready to .

be hi tched to the boat and then t o draw i t i nto the water Encl osed i s a li ttle .

sketch of i t .

It was a hard job I wi sh I had pai nted i t on a panel o r on canvas I tri ed to

. .

get more col or into i t namely depth and firmn ess of col or H ow c uri ous i t i s
, .

that y ou and I often seem to have the same thoughts Last ni ght for instance .
, ,

I came home from the wood wi th a s t udy and I had been deeply absorbed i n
,

that questi on of depth of color for the whol e week an d especi all y then And , .

I sho ul d have li ked t o have tal ked i t over wi th y ou especi all y wi th reference to ,

the st udy I made ; an d l ook here in thi s morni ng s l et ter y ou acci dentall y speak
,
’

of havi ng been struck in Montmartre by the strong vi vi d col ors whi ch were , ,

neverthel ess harmoni ous .

I do not know if i t w as exa ctly the same thi ng tha t str uck us both but I know
m
,

well that y ou woul d certa have felt what struck me so parti cul arly and ,

probably you woul d have seen i t i n the same way too I begin by sendi ng y ou a .

li ttl e sketch of the subj ect and will tell you what i t w as about .

The wood i s becomi ng qui te autumnal— there are effects of col or whi ch I very
rarely fin d painted in Dutch pi c tures .

In the woods yesterday toward eveni ng I was busy pai ntin g a rather slopin g
, ,

groun d covered wi th dr y mol dered beech leaves Thi s ground was li ght and
, .

dark reddi sh brown made more so by the shadows of trees casti ng more or l ess
-
,

dark streaks over i t someti mes half b l ott ed out The problem w a s— and I found
,
.

i t very diffi cu lt— t o get the depth of col or the enormous force and soli di ty of that
,

ground— an d while pai nti ng i t I percei ved for the very first ti me how much li ght
there still was in that dusk— to keep that li ght and at the same ti me th e gl ow
and depth of that ri ch col or .

For y ou cannot i magine carpet as splendi d as that deep browni sh red i n -

any
the gl ow of an autumn evening sun tempered by the trees ,
.

From that ground young beech trees spring up whi ch catch li ght on on e si de
and are brilli ant green there ; the shadowy si des o f those stems are a warm deep ,

b lack green
-
.

Behi nd those sap lings behin d that browni sh red soil i s a sky very deli cate
,
-
, ,

b lu i sh gra y warm hardl y blue all aglow— and ag ainst i t all i s a hazy border of
-
, , ,

green and a n etwork of li ttle stems an d yell owi sh l eaves A few figures of wood .

gatherers are wanderi ng around li ke dark masses of mysteri ous sh adows The .

whi te cap of a woman bendi ng to reach a dry branch stands out suddenl y against
the deep red brown o f the groun d A ski rt catches the li ght— a shadow i s cast
-
.

a dark s il houette o f a man appears above the underbrush A whi te bonnet a cap .
, ,

a shoul der the bust of a woman mol ds i tself agai nst the sky Those figures are
,
.

l arge and full of poetry— in the twili ght of that deep shadowy tone they appear
as enormous terracottas bei ng model ed i n a s t udi o .

I descri be nature t o y ou ; how far I rendered the effect in my sketch I d o not ,

kn ow myself ; but I do know that I was struck by the harmony of green red , ,

b lack yell ow blue brown gray It was very li ke De Groux an effect li ke that
, , , , .
,
“
sketch of Le départ du conscri t for i nstance formerl y in the Ducal Palace
, ,
.

I
 It was hard to pain t I used for the ground one and a half l arge t ubes of whi te
.

— yet that ground i s very dark— more red yell ow brown ocher black si enna
, , , , ,

b i ster and the resul t i s a reddi sh brown but on e tha t vari es from bi ster t o deep
,
-
,

wine red and even a pale bl ond ruddi ness Then there i s still the moss on the
-
,
.

round and a border o f fresh grass whi ch ca tches li ght and sparkl es bri ghtl y
g , , ,

a n d i s very di ffi cul t to get There you have at last a sketch whi ch I mai ntai n has
.

some si gnificance an d which expresses something n o ma tter what may be sai d

, ,

a bout i t .

While pai nti ng i t I sai d t o myself I must n ot g o away before there i s somethin g
, ,

o f an autumn eveni ng i n i t somethi ng mysteri ous something seri ous But a s thi s
, , .

effe ct does not last I had to pai nt qui ckly Th e figures were put i n at once wi th
,
.

a few str ong strokes of a firm brush .

It struck me h ow s t ur di l y those little stems were rooted i n the ground I began .

painting them wi th a b rush but because the surface w a s already so heavily covered
, ,

a brush stroke was l ost in i t— then I squeezed the roots and trunks i n from the
tube and model ed i t a li ttl e wi th the brush Yes— n ow they stand there ri si ng
,
.

from the ground str ongly rooted i n i t

, .

In a certai n way I am gl ad I have n o t learned painting because then I mi ght ,

have lea rned to pass by such effects as thi s Now I say No thi s i s just what I .
, ,

want— if i t i s i mpossi bl e i t i s i mpossi b l e ; I wi ll try i t though I d o not know

, ,

how i t ought to be done I do not know my setf h ow I pai nt i t I si t down wi th a

. .

whi te board before the spot that stri kes me I l ook at what i s before my eyes , ,

I say to myself That whi te board must become somethi ng ; I come back di s
,

sati sfi ed— I put i t away and when I have rested a li ttle I go and 103 ; at i t wi th
, ,

a ki nd of fear Then I am still di ssati sfied because I still have that splendi d s cene
.
,

too clearly i n my mi nd to be sati sfied wi th what I made of i t But I fin d in my .

work an echo of what struck me after all I see that nat ure has tol d me somethi ng
, .
,

has spoken to me and that I have put i t down in shorthand In my shorthand

,
.

there may be words that can not be deci phered there may be mi stakes or gaps ; ,

but there i s somethi ng of wh at wood o r beach or figure has tol d me i n i t and i t i s ,

not the tame or conventi onal l anguage deri ved from a st udi ed manner or a sys
tem rather than from nat ure i tself .

Enclosed another li ttle sketch made i n the dunes Small bushes are standin g .

there the leaves of whi ch are whi te on one si de an d dark green on the other
, ,

and are constantly rustli ng and glitteri ng In the backgroun d dark trees .
,
.

You see I am absorbed in painti ng wi th all my strength ; I am absorbed in

col or— unti l now I have restrai ned myself and I am n ot sorry for i t If I had ,
.

not drawn so much I should not be abl e to catch the feelin g of and get hol d of
,

a figure that l ooks li ke an unfini shed terracotta But now I feel myself on the .

open sea— th e pai nt ing must be conti nued wi th a ll the stren th I can gi ve i t
g
.

When I paint on p anel or canvas the expenses i ncrease agai n Everyt hi ng i s ,

.

so expensi ve th e col ors are al so expensi ve an d are so soon gone Well all
, .
,

p ainters have those di ffi cul ti es We must see what c an be done I know for sur e
. .

that I have an i nstinct for col or an d that i t wi ll come to me more an d more

, ,

that pai nting i s in the very marrow of my bones Doubl y and twi ce doubly .

1 12
.
 and children not counting what I have drawn in my sketchbook Al though the
, .

number does not matter so mu ch I just menti on i t to show you that I am trying
,

to push on energeti cally and yet I am l ooked down upon and consi dered a
, ,

nonenti ty by fell ows who are certai nly worki ng l ess hard than I am— whi ch by
,

the way l eaves me pretty cold —and nobody here pays the s li ghtest attenti on to
my work .

And from thi s you wi ll see that though what i s happeni ng t o me i sn ot exactly
,

the same as your experi ence i t i s after all tweedl edum and tweedl edee
, .

On the other hand I am of the opi ni on that whoever wants to do figures must
first have what i s pri nted on the Chri stmas number of P nnc/J : G ood W i ll to A ll
“

and thi s to a hi gh degree One must have a warm sympathy wi th human bei ngs
— .
,

w
Wm .

é rk w t W M “ i C/ ‘v c u m/ v M M V MA .
If A

and go on havi ng i t or the drawings wi ll remai n c old and i ns ip i d I cons i der i t

,
.

very necessary for us to watch ourselves and to take care that w e do not become
,

di senchanted in thi s respect and I therefore thi nk i t of li tt l e i mportan ce to

,
“ ”
meddl e i n what I wi ll call pai nters in tri gues and to assume any atti tude toward
’

“
them other than defensi ve I always thi nk of the ol d proverb One does not
.
,
”
gather figs from thorns as soon as I reali ze that some peopl e beli eve they wi ll
,

be sti mul ated by thei r i ntercourse wi th arti sts I beli eve Thomas a Kempi s says .

”
somewhere I never mi ngled wi th human beings wi thout feeling l ess human
,
.

In the same w ay I thi nk on e feel s weaker as an arti st (and ri ghtl y too) the more
on e associ ates wi th arti sts Onl y when arti sts seri ous l y comb i ne to c o operate o n
.
-

a task that i s too much for onl y one man (for i nstance Erc kmann Chatt i an in thei r -

works— o r the arti sts of the Grap /nc for the Grap bi c) do I think i t an excell ent thi ng
’

But in most cases i t turns out to be much ado about nothing .

If I sai d just now that at ti mes I wi sh I could see your work on the other hand ,

I often wi sh you could see mi ne too The reason i s that I thi nk I coul d profit by
.

1 14
your opi ni on and al so that y ou woul d see that the separate drawi ng s are gradually
,

beginning to form a whole and al so that we mi ght tal k things over and try t o
,

find a way of maki ng some money out of them .

N ot wi thout some troub l e I have at l ast di scovered how the mi ners wi ves in
’

the Borin ag e carry their sacks You may remember that when I was there I di d .

some dr awi ngs of i r —but they were n ot yet the real thing Now I have made .

twelve studi es of the same subject Look the openi ng of the sack i s t i ed up and .
,

hangs down The poi nts at the bottom are j oi ned together and in thi s w ay you
.
,

get a very funny l ooki ng sort of monk s hood (At the poi nts 1 and 2 the hands
-
’
.

grasp i t ) I often made a woman wi th such a sack pose for me but i t never
.
,

turned out ri ght Now a man who w a s l oading coal at the Rhi ne rai lway j uncti on
.

has shown me .

Thi s week I came across a volume of P ancb for 1 8 5 5 and al so one for 1 8 6 2 .

In the former there i s a cartoon by ol d Swai ns whi ch i s i ndescri bably noble in

“
chara cter The Czar of Russi a of that time had I thi nk in a speech from the
.
, ,
”
throne referri ng to the Cri mean War that was then goi ng on declared that ,

Russ i a had tw o general s on whom she c oul d depend namely the wi nter months ,

January and February Now i t happened that i n the month of February of that
.

same year hi s Majesty the Emperor fell i ll havi ng caught a col d and di ed , , .

N o w y o u see i n thi s cartoon probab ly drawn by Tenni el the o ld emperor on , ,

hi s deathbed an d G enera l Februa ry tnrnea a tra i tor i s standi ng near thi s deathbed
’
,

— in t h e shape of a skel eton dressed in general s uni form ; the deathbed as well ’

a s the ph antom near i t ar e covered wi th snow and gl azed frost It i s g l ori ous .
,

and if such a thing i s possi ble I thi nk i t s senti ment even more profound and
, ,
“ ”
seri ous than that of Holbei n s D eath Dance ’
.

C R [Robinson] whose beautiful cartoon I sent you i s rather uneven i n hi s

. .
, ,

work by whi ch I mean that hi s figures th ough they are always well dr awn do
, , ,

not al ways move one But n ow I have found another cartoon that i s nearly as
.

“ ”—
beautiful as Cald ec ott s Afternoon in Ki ng sro ad a l ong row of figures l ooking
’

over a l ow fence at a collapsed bri dge .

Do you have the D agnan and the Montbard about whi ch I wrote you Char
” “ ”
meur au Jardi n des Tuil eri es and Arab Beggars you know they are at your -

“
di sposal I have found another beautiful sheet by Ems li e Th e Ri sing of the
‘

.
,

W aters a peasant woman wi th two chi l dren on a half floo ded meadow wi th
,
-

pollard will ows .

I assure you every ti me I feel a li ttl e out of sorts I find in my c oll ecti on of
, ,

wood engravings a sti mulus to set to work wi th renewed zest In all these fellows .

I see an energy a determin ati on and a free healthy cheerful spi ri t that ani mate
, , ,

me And in thei r work there i s somethi ng lofty and di g ni fi ed— even when they
.

draw a dunghi ll W hen you read in that book about G avarni wi th reference to
.
,
“ ”
hi s drawi ngs that i l sabra ju squ a 6 par j our [he di spatch ed up t o si x a day]
’
, ,

and y ou thi nk of the enormous producti vi ty of most of those men w ho make

“ ”— “
these li ttl e ill ustrati ons those thi ngs you find on the readi ng tabl e of the
South Holland ou know — ou can t help thi nki ng that there must be an ’

y y
extraordinary amount of ardor and fire in them And I thi nk having thi s fire .
,

11 5
wi thin oneself and stirri ng i t up conti nuall y i s better than having the arrogance
o f those ar ti sts w h o di sdai n l ooking at i t I thi nk that b i t o f reasoni ng o f your
.

fri end or rather yo ur cri ti cally cri ti cal (how can o n e express i t P) vi si tor about the
, ,
“ ”
i mp ermi ssi ble li ne hi ghl y curi ous and chara cteri sti c Will y o u be s o kind as to .

convey to hi m at the first opportuni ty my profoun d respect for hi s wi sdom and

, ,

competence al though I have nei ther the pri vilege n or the p leasure of kn owi ng
,

hi s Honor for I am n ot wholl y unacquainted wi th men of that ilk and so

, ,

Just ask your fri end of the i mpermi ssi bl e lin e whether he want s to obj ect to
‘

“ ” “ ”
the Bénédi ci té by De Groux or the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vi nci — in
whi ch composi ti ons the heads are al so p laced in a nearly strai ght lin e .

“ ”
Do y ou know A Mi dsummer Ni ght s Dream by Harry Furni ss showi ng
’

some peopl e— an ol d man a street urchin a drunk— spendi ng the ni ght on a

, ,

bench un der a chestnut tree i n the park ? Thi s sheet i s as beautif ul as the most
beauti ful Daumi er .

Don t you think Andersen s Fai ry Tales are gl ori ous —he i s surely an i llustrator
’ ’

too l

23 1
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 1 7 September 1 8 8 2 ,
.

The weeks pass qui ckly and i t i s S unday again .

I have often been to Scheveni ngen these last few days and one eveni ng I just ,

hi t that curi ous moment when a fishi ng smack w as comin g in Near the monu .

ment i s a li ttle wooden shed in whi ch a man si ts on the l ookout A S ! 0 011 as the .

boat came in s i ght the fell ow appeared wi th a large blue flag foll owed by a
, ,

crowd of li ttl e chil dren who just reached hi s kn ee s It w as apparentl y a great

'

pleasure fo r them to stand near the man wi th the flag an d I suppose they fanci ed ,

they were helpi ng the fishing smack come in A few mi nutes after the man ha d .

waved hi s flag a fell ow on an ol d horse arrived w h o had to go and get the

,

an ch or .

Then the group w as j oi ned by several men and women— including mothers
wi th chil dren— to wel come the crew When the boat w a s near enough the man
.
,

on horseback went i nto the water an d came back wi th the anchor .

Then the men were carri ed ashore on the backs of men weari ng hi gh wadi ng
boots and there was a great cheer of wel come at each new arri val W hen they
, .

were all ashore the whol e tr oop marched home li ke a flock of sheep o r li ke a
,

caravan wi th the man on the camel— I mean the man on the horse— toweri ng
,

over them li ke a tall spectre .

Of course I tri ed to sketch the vari ous i nci dents most carefully I have al so .

pai nted part o f i t namely the group o f whi ch I encl ose a li ttl e sket ch
, , .

Then I painted another study of a mari ne nothi ng but a b i t of san d sea , , ,

sk — gray an d l onel y I sometimes l ong fo r t hat qui et where there i s nothi ng

y .
,

but the gray sea— wi th a soli tar y sea bi rd— except for that no voi ce other than ,

the roarin g of the waves It i s a refreshing chan ge from the noi sy bustle of the
.

Geest or the potato market .

For the rest thi s week I have been worki ng on sketches for water col ors
,
.

1 16
 Of course the characters must be much more vi gorously executed for tha t
purpose .

I made about ten different sketches of the fishi ng s mack s arri val al so of the ’
,

wei ghing of the anchor whi ch I sent you in my last le tter .

23 7
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 2 2 O ctober 1 8 8 2 Sunday afternoon
, ,

Your l etter and the enclosure were very wel come I need hardl y tell y ou i t comes .

just i n ti me and i s of great help to me .

It i s real autumn weather here rai ny and chilly but full of sentiment espe c i ally
, , ,

spl endi d for figures that stan d ou t in tone agai nst the w et streets and the roads
i n whi ch the sky 13 reflected It is what Mauve does so often and so beautif ull y
. .

So I have agai n been abl e to work on the large water col or of the crowd of
“

people in front of the l ottery office and I also started another of the beach of
, ,

whi ch thi s i s the composi tion .

I compl etel y agree wi th what y ou s ai d about there bein g ti mes in our li ves
’
when we seem deaf to nature or when nature doesn t seem t o speak to us any
more I often have that feelin g t oo an d someti mes i t helps to undertake qui te a
.
, ,

di fferent thi ng Wh en I have had enough of landscape o r light effects I attack

.
,

figures and vic e versa Sometimes one can do nothin g but wai t until i t passes
, .
,

but many a t ime I succeed i n chasing t hat feeling of i mpassi veness away by
changin g subjects More and more however I become interested in the fig ure
.
, , .

I remember there w a s a ti me when the feelin g for l andscape was very strong
in me and I w as more i mpressed by a pi cture o r drawi ng whi ch rendered a
,

li ght effect or th e atmosphere of a l andscape well than by the figure , .

Painters of the figure in general i nspi red me more wi th a kind of cool respect
than wi th a warm sympathy ,

However I remember qui te well having been very much i mpressed at that
,

ti me by a drawing by Daumi er an o ld man under the chestnut trees i n the Champs

,

Elys ees (an ill ustrati on for B alzac) though that drawi ng was not so very i mpor
,

tan t But I remember bei ng so very much i mpressed at the ti me by something so

.

strong and manl y in Daumi er s concepti on that I thought It must be a good

’

thi ng to thi nk and feel that way and to overl ook or t o pass up many thi ngs in
,

order to concentrate on thi ngs whi ch provi de food for thought and whi ch tou ch ,

us as human beings more di rectly an d personally than meadows or cl ouds .

And so I always feel greatly attracted by the figures ei ther of the Engli sh drafts
men or of the Engli sh authors because of thei r Monday morning like soberness - -

an d studi ed s imp li ci ty and so lemni ty and keen analys i s as somethi ng so li d and ,

strong whi ch can give us streng th in the days when we feel weak So among th e .
,

French authors the same i s true of Balzac and Zola

, .

I do not know the books by Mu rg er whi ch you menti on but I hope to become ,

acquai nted wi th them soon .

Di d I tell you that I was readi ng D au det s L es Rois en E x i l ? I rather li ke i t

’
.

The ti tl es of those books are very i nteresting to me for i nstance La Bobérne , ,

.

How far we have strayed nowadays from the Boheme of G avarni s days In my ’
.

118
 opini on at that time there w as a more heart y and cheerful an d lively feeling
,

than n ow I do n ot know for certai n There i s much good in our time t oo

. .
,

o r there mi ght be more than i s a c tua ll y the case if there were more good fell owshi p .

Ri ght n ow I see a beautiful effect from the wi ndow o f my s t udi o The ci ty .

,

wit h i t s towers and roofs and smoki ng chi mn eys stands out as a dark somber , ,

silhouette against the hori zon of light Thi s li ght i s however merely a broad
.
, ,

s treak over whi ch h angs a dark cl oud more concentrated at the bottom but
, ,

torn apart at the top by the autumn wi nd ; l arge t ufts are being driven away .

That streak of li ght however makes the wet roofs gli sten here and there in
, ,

the dark mass of t he ci ty (in a drawi ng on e would i ndi cate i t by a streak of body
col or) an d enabl es one to di sti ngui sh between red tiles and s lates th ough the
, ,

whole mass has but one tone The S c hen kw eg run s through the foreground lik e
.

a s hi ni ng streak through th e water ; t he pop lars have yell ow l eaves ; the banks of
the di tches and the meadows are a deep green ; the li ttle figures are black .

I woul d draw i t or rather try to draw i t if I hadn t been busy all afternoon
, ,
’

drawi ng figures of m en carryi ng p eat ; my mi nd i s st ill too full of them t o have

room for any thi ng new .

I l ong for you so much and think of you so often What y ou tell me about the .

character of some arti sts in Pari s who li ve wi th women and are l ess narrow
,

mi nded than others perhaps trying desperatel y to retain a youthful ai r I thi nk

, ,

perfectl y observed Such people exi st there a s well as here There i t i s perhaps
. .

even more di ffi cul t than here to keep some freshness in one s domesti c li fe ’

i t means even more rowi ng agai nst the current there H ow man y have become .

desperate in Pari s— c alml y rati onally l ogi cally and justly desperate I read
, ,
.

something of the kin d about Tassaert whom I li ke very much and i t p ai ns , ,

me that such was the case wi th hi m .

For thi s very reason I thi nk that every effort in that di recti on i s worthy of
respect I al so beli eve that i t may happen that one succeeds after al l and one
.
,

must not begin to desp ai r even though on e i s defeated occasi onall y and even
, ,

though one somet imes feel s a ki nd of exhaus ti on ; i t i s necessary to take heart

agai n and n ew courage even though thin gs go di fferently than on e at first
,

expected Y ou must not thi nk t hat I l ook wi th di sdai n on persons li ke those

.

you descri be because thei r li ves are not founded on seri ous and well thought—out -

pri nci p les My opi ni on about thi s i s : th e resul t must be an ac ti on not an abstract
.
,

i dea
.

I approve of princi pl es and thi nk them worth while onl y when they devel op
into acti ons and I think i t well t o reflect and t o try to be consci enti ous beca use
, ,

thi s strengthens a man s energy an d uni tes hi s different a ctivi t ies i nto a whol e
’
.

Those peop le whom you descri be woul d I thi nk be more stab l e if they thought , ,

more about wha t they were goi ng to do but for the rest I greatl y prefer them ,

to those peopl e who ai r thei r pri nci pl es wi thout taking the sli ghtest trouble o r
even thin king of puttin g them i nto practi ce Fo r the l atter have no use for thei r .

most beautiful princi ples and the former are just the peopl e who if they begin
, ,

to li ve wi th energy and reflecti on mi ght achi eve something great For great
,
.

thi ngs are not done j ust by i mpul se but are a seri es o f small thin gs put together
,
.
 What i s drawin g ? H ow does one l earn i t ? It i s worki ng through an i nvi si bl e
i ron wall that seems to stand bet ween what on e feels and what one can do How .

i s one t o get through that wall— s ince poundi ng agai nst i t i s o f n o use ? One must
undermi ne the wall and drill thr ough i t s l owl y and pati ently i n my opini on , .

And l ook here how can on e conti nue such a work assi duousl y wi thout being
, ,

di st urbed or di stracted from i r— unl ess on e reflects and regu lates one 3 li fe accord ’

in g t o pri n cip l es ? And i t i s the same wi th other things as i t i s wi th art Great .

things are not acci dental but they certainl y must be wi lled Whether a man s
,
.
’

principles ori ginate i n a cti ons or the acti ons i n prin cip les i s somethi ng whi ch
seems to me insolubl e and a s li ttle worth deci si on as the questi on o f whi ch
,

came first the chi cken or the egg But I consi der i t of very positive and great
,
.

value that one must try to devel op one s power of reflecti on and will ’
.

I am very curi ous to know whether you will fi n d somethi ng in the figures
I am maki ng now when you eventually see them That i s al so a questi on li ke the .

one about the chi cken an d the egg— must one make figures after a composi ti on
i s found or must on e combi ne the separate figures i nto a composi ti on whi ch
,

foll ows from them ? I thi nk that the resul t would be pretty much the same
provi ded one works .

I conclude the same w ay you ended your l etter : t hat w e have in common a
li ki ng for l ooki ng behi nd the scenes i n a theater ; or in o t her words we both , ,
.

are i nclined to anal yze thi ngs It i s I beli eve exactly the quali ty one needs for
.
, ,

pain ting— in paintin g or drawi ng one must exert t hat power It may be that .

to some extent nature has endowed us wi th a gift (but y o u certainl y have i t and ,

so do I —for that perhaps w e are i ndebted to our chil dhood i n Brab ant a nd to sur
roundi ngs whi ch contri buted more than i s usually the case to our l earn i ng to
thi nk) but i t i s especi ally later on th at the arti s ti c feeling devel ops and ri pens
through work I do not know now you mi ght Become a very good pai nter but I
.
,

certa inl y beli eve that i t i s i n you an d mi ght be devel oped .

A di eu boy thanks for what you sent me and a warm handshake

, , ,

Yours sincerely Vincent ,

My li ttl e
stove i s already burning Oh boy how I wi sh we coul d si t together
.
, ,

some eveni ng l ooki ng at drawi ngs and sketches and wood engravings I have a
,
.

splendi d new one .

Thi s week I hope t o get some boys from the orphanage to pose fo r me t hen ,

I shoul d perhaps be abl e to save that drawing of the group of orphans .

23 8
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 1 0 October 1 8 8 2 ,

Your letter and i t s contents literary as well as fi nanci al were very wel come and
, , ,

I thank you warml y for i t In the first place I was especi all y glad to hear that
.
,

perhaps i t wi ll not be so very l ong before you come t o Holl and agai n I shoul d .

li ke very much to know as soon as i t i s possi b le for y ou to deci de whether i t wi ll

be before or after New Year s Am very glad that y ou sent off the studi es These
’
. .

days when I am maki ng many new ones I feel so strongly that I must try to keep
, ,

1 20
many l ose si ght of the ori gin and the goal or i n other words they do n ot sti ck , ,

t o the poi nt .

Your descri pti on of that ni ght eflec t agai n struck me as very beautiful It .

l ooks very di fferent here today but beautiful i n i t s o wn way for i nstanc e t he
, , ,

groun ds near the Rhine railway stati on : in the foreground the ci nder path wi th ,

the poplars whi ch are beginn i ng t o l ose thei r l eaves then the di tch full of duck
,

weed wi th a hi gh bank covered wi th faded grass and rushes ; then the gray or
,

brown gray soi l of spaded potato fiel ds or pl ots p lanted wi th greeni sh p urp l e red
-
,
-

cabbage here and there the very fresh green of newl y sprouted aut umn weeds
, ,

above whi ch ri se bean stalks wi th faded stems and the reddi sh or green or black
bean pods ; behi nd thi s stretch of ground the red rusted or black rail s in yell ow ,
-

sand ; here an d there stacks of ol d ti mber— heaps of coal— di scarded rail way
carri ages ; hi gher up to the ri ght a few roofs and the frei ght depot— to the l eft , ,

a far reaching Vi ew o f the damp green meadows shut off far away at the horizon
-
,

by a grayi sh streak in whi ch one can still di stingui sh trees red roofs and black
, ,

factory chi mn eys Above i t a somewhat yell owi sh yet gray sky very chi ll y and
.
, ,

wi ntry hanging l ow ; there are occasi onal bursts of rain and man y hungry
, ,

crows are flyin g around Sti ll a great deal of li ght fall s on everythi ng ; i t shows
.
,

even more when a few li ttle figures in blue or white smocks move over the
groun d so that shoul ders and heads catch the li ght
,
.

I think however that i n Pari s everyt hi n g probably l ooks much cleaner and
, ,

l ess chi lly For the chi lli ness even penetrates the house and when on e li ghts a
.
,

pi pe i t seems damp from the dri zzlin g rain But i t i s very beaut iful
,
. .

But i t s on days li ke thi s that one woul d li ke to go and see some fri end or
’

’
woul d li ke a fri end to come to the house ; and i t s on days li ke thi s that one has
an empty feeli ng when on e can go nowhere and nobody comes But i t s then .
’

that I feel how much the work mean s to me how i t gives tone to life apart , ,

from approval or di sapproval ; and on days whi ch woul d otherwi se make one
mel ancholy one i s g lad to have a will
, .

I had a model for a few hours today a boy wi th a spade b o d carri er b y trade , ,
-
,

a very intri gui ng type— flat nose thi ck li ps and very coarse strai ght hai r— yet , ,

whenever he does somethi ng there i s grace in the figure at l east styl e and , ,

character I thi nk I shall have some good model s thi s winter ; the owner of th e
.

yard has promi sed to send me th e ones who come to ask for work whi ch often ,

happens i n the s lack season I am always glad to give them a few si xpences
.

for an afternoon o r morni ng for that i s just what I want I see no other way
,
.

than to work from the model Of course one must not exti ngui sh one s power .
’

o f i maginat i on but t h e i magi nati on i s made sharper and more correct by conti n
,

u all y s t udyi ng nature and wrestli ng wi t h i t Next Sunday I hope to have the .

same boy agai n Then I should li ke t o draw hi m as i f he were towi ng one of th e

.

boats filled wi th stones whi ch one often sees in the can al here
, .

Worki ng out of doors i s over now— I mean s itti ng qui etly fo r i t i s getting
- -
, ,

i ll
too ch y so w e shall have to take up o ur winter quarters
— .

I l ook forward to th e wi nter wi th pl easure ; i t i s a deli ght ful season when one ,

can work regul arly I have some hope I shall get on well I need n ot tell you
. .
 that I si ncerely hope you will get back the money in questi on As you know .
,

I carri ed p ai n ting an d water col ors further than I ori ginally i ntended and now ,

I have t o pay for i t by bei ng hard up But we shall get over that and i t must .
,

n ot be a reason for slacking o ff I now vary my work by drawi ng a great deal .

from the model though tha t i s al so rather expensi ve but i t fill s my portfoli os in
, ,

proporti on t o i t s emptying my purse .

If you d o n o t have the whol e sum by the t wenti eth of th e month send me ,

part of i t ; but I woul d rather recei ve i t a day sooner than l ater as I have to pay ,

the week s rent on that day

’
.

The house conti nues t o pl ease me ex cept tha t on e wall i s very damp I can ,
.

work here wi th a model much better than at the other st udi o I can even work .

wi th several people at the same ti me for i nstance t w o chil dren under an umbrella , , ,

tw o women stan di ng tal king a man and woman arm in arm etc ,
- -
,
.

But h ow short a spring and summer we have reall y had Someti mes i t seems .

to me a s if there had been nothi ng between last autumn an d thi s on e but perhaps ,

i t i s because of my illness l ying between I feel qui te normal n ow except when .

,

I am very ti red then I someti mes ha ve a day or half a day when I feel indescri bably
weak and faint much more so now than before However I d o not pay attenti on
,
.
,

t o i t any more for I m getti ng si ck of i t and I can t afford to be ill as I have

’ ’

, , ,

t oo much work to d o At such ti mes takin g a l ong walk to Scheveni ngen or

.

somewhere often helps me .

Well be sure t o wri te by the t wenti eth I have had t o buy some Wha t man
, ,

paper and b rushes You cannot beli eve how many thin gs on e someti mes needs
. .

Well i t s the same wi th every p ai nter

,
’
.

A handshake in thought and beli eve me , ,

Yours sincerely Vi ncent ,

248
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 2 6 and 2 7 November 1 8 8 2 ,

Yesterday I happened to read a book by M u rg er namely L es Baoenr s d E a n ,

’

[The Water Dri nkers] I fi n d somethin g of the same charm i n i t as for i nstance
.
, ,

i n d rawi ngs by Nanteui l Baron Ro qu ep lan Tony J oh ann o t— somethi ng wi tty

, , , ,

somethi ng bri ght .

Still i t i s very conventi onal at l east thi s book i s I thi nk I haven t read any
, , , .
’

of hi s ot her books yet and I thin k t here i s th e same di fference between hi m and
, ,

for i nstance Al phonse Karr and S o uv e stre as th ere i s between a Henri Monni er
,

an d a Comte Calix an d the above menti oned arti sts I t r to choose all the persons
y
- -
.

I compare from the same peri od It has a fragrance of the Bohemi an peri od .

(though the reali ty of that peri od i s obscured in th e book) and for that reason i t ,

i nterests me but in my op ini on i t l acks ori ginali ty and s i nceri ty of senti ment
, .

However perhaps hi s books i n whi ch no p ai n ter t yp es occur are better than

,

thi s one ; authors always seem to be unl ucky wi th thei r typ es of pai nters Balzac .
,

among others (hi s pai nters are rather uni n terestin g) Zola even though hi s , ,

Claude Lanti er i s real— there certain ly are Claude Lan ti er s but after al l one , ,

woul d li ke to see Zola depi ct a di fferent ki nd of painter than Lanti er who seems ,

I
to be drawn from life after somebody who certa inl y w as n ot the worst represent
ative of tha t school whi ch I think i s called impressi oni sti c And they are not
,
.

the nucleus of the arti sti c group .

On the other hand I know very few well—drawn or well p ai nted author t ypes ;
,
-

on that score pai nters generall y l apse i nto the conventi onal and ma ke an author

nothi ng more than a man si tti ng at a tabl e full of papers or th ey d o not even ,

go that far and the result i s a gent leman wi th a collar and an expressi onl ess face
,
.

There i s a painti ng by Mei ssoni er whi ch I thi n k beauti ful : i t i s a figure vi ewed
from behind stoop ing over wi th hi s feet on the rung of the easel I thi nk ; one
, , ,

sees nothi ng but a pai r o f drawn up knees a back a neck and the back of a head -

and j ust a gli m

, , , ,

pse of a fist wi th a pencil or somethi ng li ke i t in i t But the fell ow .

i s there and one feel s the acti on of strai ned attenti on just as i n a certai n figure
,

by Rembrandt a li ttl e fell ow readi ng al so bent over wi th hi s head l eani ng on

, ,

hi s fist and o ne feel s at once that he i s absolutel y l ost in hi s book

,
.

Take Bonn at s Vi ctor H ugo— fin e very fi n e— but I still prefer the Vi ctor Hugo
’
,
“
descri bed i n words by Vi ctor Hugo hi mself nothi ng but Et m oi je me tai sai s , , ,
”
t el que l on voi t se tai re un coq sur l a bruyere [And I kept s il ent just as o n e sees a
’
,

cock keepi ng si lent on a heather bush] Isn t that li ttl e figure on the heath sp lendi d .
’

Isn t i t just as vi vi d as a little general of 9 3 by Mei ssoni er— about one centimeter
’ ’

i n s ize ?
There i s a portrai t o f Mill et by Millet hi mself whi ch I l ove nothi ng but a ,

head wi th a kind of shepherd s cap but the l ook out of half cl osed eyes the ’
,
-
,

i ntense l ook of a pai nter— how beautiful i t i s— a l so that pi erci ng gl eam li ke i n a

cock s eye if I may call i t so
’

,
.

It i s Sunday agai n Thi s morni ng I took a walk on the Rij swi j k road The
. .

meadows are partly flooded so that there wa s an effect of t on eful green and silver
,

wi th the rough black and gray and green trunks and branches of the ol d tr ees
di storted by the wind i n the foreground a si lhouette of th e li ttle vill age wi th i t s ,

pointed spi re agai nst the clear sky in the background and here an d there a gate ,

or a dungheap on whi ch a flock of crows sat pecki ng How y ou wo ul d li ke su ch .

a thing how well you woul d pai nt i t if y ou tri ed

,
.

It was extraordi nari ly beautiful thi s morni ng and i t di d me good to take a ,

l ong wal k fo r what wi th drawi ng an d the li thography I had hardly been outdoors
, ,

thi s week .

As to the li thography tomorrow I hope to get the proof of a li ttl e old man
, .

I hope i t will turn out well I made i t wi th a ki nd of crayon especi all y desi gned
.

for thi s process but I am afrai d that the common li thographi c crayon will prove
,

t o be best after all and tha t I shall be sorry I di d not u se i t

, .

Well we ll see how i t t urns out

,
’
.

Tomorrow I hope I shall l earn several thi ngs about printin g whi ch the pri nter
will show me I shoul d l ove to l earn the art of printing i tself I thi nk i t qui te
. .

possi ble that thi s new method will bring new li fe i nto the art of li thography .

I thi n k there mi ght be a way of combini ng the advan tages of the new way wi th
the ol d on e cannot tell for certain but perhaps i t may bri ng about the publi shi ng ,

of new magaz ines .

1 24
 But I tell you that di ssati sfacti on wi th bad work the fail ure of thi ngs the , ,

di fficulti es of techni que can make one dr eadfull y melancholy I can assure you
, .

that I am sometimes terri bly di scouraged when I think of Mill et Israel s Breton , , ,

De Groux so man y others H erkomer for instan ce ; on e only knows what these
, , ,

fell ows really are when on e i s at work oneself And then to swallow thi s despai r .

and melancholy to be pati ent wi th oneself as one i s— n ot i n order to sit down

,

and rest but to st ruggl e on notwi thstandi ng thousands of shortcomi ngs and
,

faults and the uncertai nty of conqueri ng them— all these thin gs are the reason
why a painter i s unhappy t o o .

The struggle wi th oneself the trying to i mprove oneself the renewal of one s
, ,
’

energy— a ll thi s i s compli cated by materi al di ffi cul ti es .

That pi ct ure by Daumi er must be beautiful It i s a mystery w h y a thing whi ch .

speaks as clearl y as that pi cture for instance i s not understood— at l east that the
, ,

si tuati on i s such that you are not sure of finding a buyer for i t even at a l ow pri ce .

Thi s al so i s something unbearab le for man y a pai nter or at l east al most un ,

bearable One wants to be an honest man one i s that one works as hard a s a
.
, ,

s lave but sti ll one cannot make both ends meet ; one must give up the work
, ,

there I S no chance of carryin g i t out wi thout spendi ng more on i t than one can
get back one gets a feeling of gui lt of shortcomi ng of not keeping on e s prom
, , ,
’

i ses o n e i s no t honest whi ch on e wou l d be if the work were p ai d fo r at i t s natural

, , ,

reasonabl e pri ce One i s afrai d of maki ng fri ends one i s afrai d of movi ng ; li ke
.
,

one of the ol d l epers on e woul d li ke to call from afar to the peop l e Don t ’
.
,

come too near me for i ntercourse wi th me bri ngs you sorrow and l oss Wi th all
,
.

that huge burden of care on one 8 heart one must set to work wi th a calm every
’

day face wi thout movi ng a muscle live one s ordi nary life get al ong wi th the
, ,
’
,

model s wi th the man w h o comes for the rent i n fac t wi th everybody Wi th

,
-m
,
.

a cool head one must keep on e hand on the helm in order to conti nue the work
, ,

and wi th the other hand try not t o harm others .

And then storms ari se things on e ha s not foreseen ; one doesn t know what
,
’

to do and one has a feeling that one may stri ke a rock at an y moment
, .

One cannot present oneself as somebody who comes to propose an advan ta

eou s deal or who ha s a p l an whi ch wil l bri ng great profit ; o n the contrary i t i s
g ,

cl ear that i t wi ll end in a defici t And yet one feel s a power surging wi thi n— on e
.

has work to do and i t must be done .

One would li ke to tal k li ke the peopl e of 1 79 3 thi s an d that must be done , ,

first these have to be ki lled then those then the last ones ; it i s duty so i t i s
, , ,

i nevi tabl e and nothi ng more need be sai d

,
.

But i s thi s the ti me to combi ne an d to speak out ? Or i s i t better sin ce so ,

many have fall en as leep an d do not li ke to be awakened to try t o sti ck t o things ,

on e can do a l one for whi ch on e i s al one li ab l e and responsi b l e so that those

, ,

wh o s leep may go on s leepi ng and resting .

Well you see that for thi s once I express more intimate thoughts than usual ;
,

you yourself are responsi ble for i t as y ou di d the same ,

.

I thi nk thi s of y ou you are certai nly one of the watchers not one of the
, ,

s leepers— wouldn t y ou rather watch while p ai nti ng than whi l e selli ng pi ctur es
’
I say thi s in all coolness wi thout addin g what I thin k woul d be preferabl e and
, ,

wi th full confidence in your own i nsi ght in to thin gs That there i s a great chance
.

of going under in the struggle that a painter i s somethi ng li ke a sentinell e perdue

, ,

these and other thin gs of course Y ou must not thi nk me so eas i ly fri ghtened
,
.

— for i nstan ce to paint the Bo rin a e woul d be somethi ng so di fficul t so com

, g ,

p ar atively dangerous as t o make li fe a thi ng far removed from any tranqu illi ty
o f pl easure Yet I woul d undertake i t i f I coul d
.
— that i s if I di dn t know fo r ’
,

sure as I do now that the expenses woul d exceed my mean s If I coul d find
, ,
.

people who woul d i nterest themselves in such a project I would ri sk i t But , .

just because fo r the moment y o u are really th e onl y one who i s i nterested in
what I do the thi ng must be shelved for the present and remain so and mean
, , ,

whi le I shall find other thi ngs to do But I woul d not give i t up to spare myself
. .

I hope you wi ll be ab le to send the money not later than December 1 .

Well boy hearty thanks for your l etter

, ,
warm handshake i n thought ,

beli eve me ,

Yours sincerely Vi ncent ,

Th e P tt
o a o Ea ters ,
oil , 1 8 8 5
25 6
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 5 1 December 1 8 8 2 and 2 January 1 8 8 5
,

It i s New Year s Eve and I want another chat wi th you

’
.

When I wrote my l ast l etter I spoke of some large heads I was working on
, .

At that ti me I w as busy maki ng an experi ment of whi ch I can tell you the i ni ti al
outcome as I had model s for two drawing s the day before yesterday yesterday
, ,

and today .

When I made the li thographs i t struck me tha t the li thographi c crayon w a s

,

very pl easant materi al and I thought I ll make drawi ngs wi th i t

, ,
’
.

However there i s one drawback whi ch you will un derstand— a s i t i s greasy

, ,

i t cannot be erased i n the usual way ; working wi th i t on pap er on e even ,

l oses the onl y thin g wit h whi ch one can erase o n the stone i tself namel y the ,

scraper— whi ch cannot be used strongly enough on the paper because i t cuts
thr ough i t .

’
But i t occurred to me to make a dr awing first wi th carpenter s pencil and then
to work in and over i t wi th li thographi c crayon whi ch (because of the greasi ness ,

of the materi al) fixes the pencil a thi ng ordi nary crayon does not do or at l east
, , , ,

does very badly After doing a sketch in thi s w ay one can wi th a firm hand use
.
, , ,

the lithographi c crayon where i t i s necessary wi thout much hesi tati on or erasing ,
.

So I fini shed my drawings pretty well in pencil indeed as much as possi bl e , ,

“

Then I fixed them and dulled them wi th mi l k And then I worked i t up agai n
,
.

wi th li thographi c crayon where the deepest tones were retouched them here an d ,

there wi th a b rush or pen wi th l ampblack and worked i n the lighter parts wi th

, ,

whi te body col or .

In thi s way I made a drawi ng o f an old man s i ttin g rea di ng wi th the li ght ,

falling on hi s bal d head on hi s hand and the book And the second one th e
,
.
,

bandaged head of a injured man The model who sat for thi s reall y had a head
.

i njury and a bandage over hi s l eft eye Just li ke a head for i nstance o f a sol di er
.
, , ,

o f t h e o l d guard i n the retreat from Russi a .

N ow when I compare these two heads wi th th e others I have done there i s a ,

great di fference in the power of effect S o I hope that the drawings done thi s way
.

will l end themselves to reproducti on by the process whi ch you descri bed to me .

Especi ally i f the paper you sent i s not absolutely necessary for the reproducti on .

And if i t i s I shoul d be more apt to get a better than a worse effect on thi s
,

ra
g yp p a e r w i th the same i ngred i ents When I l ooked at what .Buh ot had scra tched
on one of the sampl es I saw at once that the black was of a very deep tone an d
, ,

I can understand that thi s i s a real necessi ty for the reproducti on where photog
ra h
p y and ga lvanography are used So I at once began to
. try to find what ki nd
of b l ack to u se an d sti ll sti ck t o my usual way o f sketchi ng .

Fi rst I tri ed i t wi th in k but that di dn t sati sfy me ; however I think that wi th

,
’
,

the li thographic crayon method the results wi ll be better

-
.

Well I am not wri ti ng about i t to worry you during your busy days ; I am in
,

no hurry fo r i t an d am even very glad to have a li ttle tim e for addi ti onal exp eri
,

ments .

But I am wri ti ng y ou about i t so that you may know I am worki ng heart and
1 28
continue my work qui etl y wi thout mi xing wi th anybody el se When there i s .

bread i n the house and I have some money in my pocket t o pay the model s ,

what more can I want My pleasure li es in the progress of my work an d that ,

absorbs me more and more .

Well b oy if you haven t wri tten al ready do so soon for I am rather hard up
, ,
’
, , .

Once more my best wi shes for the New Year I had a ni ce l etter from home
,
. .

Adi eu Wi th a handshake
.
,

Yours sincerely Vincent ,

25 7
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 3 January 1 8 8 5 ,

I wrote you yesterday but I am doing so again today t o acknowl edge receipt of
,

your l etter and t o thank you for i t and to tell you that i t cheered me I was rather .

worri ed that y ou mi ght thi nk I had begun to slacken because you had seen so li ttl e
of my work recently .

On the contrary I have been working very hard lately and am stil l absorbed
, ,

i n all kin ds of thi ngs i n whi ch I am begi nni ng to see a li ght but whi ch I d o n o t ,

qu i te have wi thi n my grasp yet In my l ast l etter I tol d y ou I w a s maki ng ex

.

eri men t s in B l ack and Whi te wi th li thographi c crayon

p .

You speak too well of me i n your l etter but your thi nking well of me i s all
,
.

the more reason for me to try not t o be qui te«unw orthy of it And as t o what .

I sai d about having made some progress by the experim ents in quest i on perha ps ,

I do n ot see my own work clearl y Perhaps i t i s a step forward perhaps n o t— will

.
,
\
you tell me your opini on of i t i n reference to the tw o studi es I sen t y ou whi ch ,

I di d recently al ong wi th a few others ?

In seeki ng a more vi gorous process th an the one I have used up t o now I am ,

trying to foll ow somewhat the Engli sh reprodu cti ons made by the process you
descri bed ; and as to the value of black I am al so gui ded by the black sketches
,

whi ch Buhot made on the sample paper And if y o u ha ve an opportuni t y pl ease

.
,

tal k i t over wi th an expert and a sk hi m if reproducti on of drawi ngs li ke these ,

for i nstance would be possi ble (asi de from the secondary questi on of whether
,

these or si milar ones would be to their parti cular taste) .

As t o the sentiment of the drawings I shoul d li ke t o knowy our opi ni on because

, ,

as I have already sai d I myself can not judge what i s or i sn t in them

,
’
.

Or rather i t i s because I myself prefer s t udi es li ke these— e ven t hough they

,

are not quite fin i shed and many thi ngs in them have been neglected— to drawings
wi th a defini te subject : they remind me more vi vi dl y o f nat ure i tself Y ou will .

un derstand what I me an : there i s somethin g of life i tself i n the real studi es and ,

the person who makes them will not thi nk of hi mself but of nature and so , ,

prefer the study to what he may perhaps make of i t lat er~ unl ess something
qui te di fferent shoul d finall y result from the many studi es namely the typ e di s t illed ,

from many individuals .

That s the highest thing in art an d tbere art someti mes ri ses above n atur e— in
’
,

Mi ller s Sower for instan ce there i s more soul than in an ordi nary sower in
’ “ ”
, ,

the field .

150
 But what I wan t y ou t o tell me i s whether y ou thi nk tha t thi s pro c e ss woul d
“
eliminate some of your obje cti ons t o pencil They are a few Head s of the People . .

And I intend to try t o form a coll e cti on of many such thi ngs whi ch wouldn t ,
’

“ ”
be qui te unworthy of the ti tl e Heads of the Peopl e .

By worki ng hard boy I hope t o succeed i n maki ng something good It i sn t

, , .
’

there yet but I ai m at i t and struggl e for it I wan t somethi ng seri ous— somethi ng
,
.

fresh— somethi n g wi th soul in i t ! Forward— forward

From what I have just s ai d y ou will see clearl y enough that I want t o do some
seri ous work for reproducti on rather than be contented wi th havi ng one li ttl e
drawi ng pri nted .

But all i nformati on and hi nts about pro ce sses are very wel come to me .

“
In Goupil Co s show wi ndow I saw a large etching by Fo rt uny Un Ana
’
.
,
” “ “
c h oret e as well as hi s two beautiful etchi ngs Kabyl e Mort and La Garde d u
, ,
”
M ort I was very sorry then that I had tol d y ou some time ago that I di dn t li ke
.
’

Fort uny — I li ke tbis very much But of course you understand thi s t oo.
, .

It s th e same wi th Bol dini

’
.

But Fortuny s seri ousness in those three etchi ngs for i nstan ce i s just the
’
, ,

thi ng many of hi s i mi ta tors lack they settle down i nto the style for whi ch Fortun y
“ ”
set the fas hi on fo r i n stan ce in Le Choix d un Model e etc ’
.
, , ,

And tba t i s di ametri cally opposed t o the somber nobl e art o f Bri on De , ,

Groux Israel s etc

, ,
.

If poss ible please send me a recent i ssue of the Vi e M oderne choosi ng on e

, ,

wi th reprodu cti ons such as those whi ch y ou wrote about The magazine is .

nowhere to be found here (and the few numbers I have are years old) .

When you come sooner or later I can show you more and then we can talk , ,

about the fut ure You know well enough how unfi t I am to cope wi th ei ther
.

deal ers or art l overs and h ow c ontrary i t i s t o my nat ure I should li ke i t so

,
.

much if we coul d always conti nue as we are n ow but i t often makes me sad to ,

thi nk that I must always be a burden to you But w h o knows in time you may .
,

be abl e t o find someone w ho takes an i nterest in my work wh o will take from ,

your shoul ders the burden whi ch you took upon yourself at the most diffi cul t
time Thi s can onl y happen when i t i s qui te evi dent that my work i s seri ous
.
,

when i t speaks more cl earl y for i tself than i t does n ow .

I myself am too fond of a very si mpl e li fe t o wi sh t o change i t but later on , ,

i n order t o d o greater thi ngs I shall h ave greater expenses t oo I thi nk I shall
, ,
.

al ways work wi t h a model— a l ways and al ways And I must try t o arrange .

mat ters so that the whole burden doesn t always fall on you ’
.

Thi s i s onl y a beginning— later you will get better thin gs from me my b oy ,
.

In the meantime let me know whether you thi nk that some of the objecti ons t o
,

the use of pen cil al one may have been taken care of somewhat by thi s crayon .

D on t you al so think that by making such dr awin gs I perhaps indi re ctly l earn
’

things useful for the a ctual li thographi ng ?

Adi eu Once more many thanks for your let ter
. .

Wi th a handshake ,
Yours sin cerely Vincent ,
262
Dear Theo ,
The Hague January 1 8 8 3 ,

The more I thi nk of i t the deeper the i mpressi on your last l etter ma de on me i s
, .

Generally speaking (apart from the di fference bet ween the t wo persons in
questi on) to you and t o me there appeared on the col d cruel p avement a sa d
, , ,

pi ti ful woman s figure and nei ther y ou n or I passed i t b y — we both stopped and
’

foll owed the human i mpul se of our hearts .

Such an encounter has the quali ty of an appari ti on about i t at l east when one ,

recall s i t ; one sees a pal e face a sorrowful l ook like an Ecce Homo on a dark
,

background— a ll the rest di sappears Tha t i s the senti ment of an Ecce Homo and
.
,

there i s the same expressi on in reali t y but in thi s case i t i s on a woman s face
,
’
.

Later i t certainl y becomes diflerent— but on e never forgets that first expressi on .

I t hink i t probable that your meeting thi s woman will take your thoughts
back to the peri od some ten o r even twenty year s ag o and even further back , .

Anyw ay wha t I mean i s that you will redi scover yourself i n her a pha se of your
, ,

ow n life you had nearl y forgotten— that i s to say the past —and I do no t kn ow ,

whether after having been wi t h her for a year you wi ll vi ew the present wi th
, ,

the same eyes as for i nstance before y ou knew her

, ,
.

Underneath a figure of an Engli sh woman (by Paterson) i s wri t ten th e name

Dol orosa ; that expresses i t well .

I was thinki ng of the two women now and at the same ti me I thought of a ,
“ ”
drawing by Pi nw ell The Si sters in whi ch I find that Dol orosa expressi on
, .

That drawi ng represents tw o women in black in a dark room ; on e has just ,

come home and is ha nging her coat on the rack The other i s smelli ng a pri mrose .

on the tab l e whil e pi cki ng up some whi te sewi ng .

That Pinw ell remi nds on e a little of Feyen—Perri n— i n hi s earl y work ; i t al so

reminds one of Thi js Mari s but wi th an even purer sentim ent
,
.

He was such a poet that he saw the sublime in th e most ordi nary commonp lac e ,

thin gs Hi s work i s rare— I saw very li ttl e o f i t but that li t tle was so beaut iful
.
,

that n ow at l east ten years later I see i t as cl early as I di d the first ti me

, ,
.

At the time they used t o say of that club of draftsmen It i s t o o good t o last ,
.

Alas H erko mer s words show that i t was true ; but i t i s n ot dead yet and i n
’
, ,

li terature as well as in art i t wi ll be di fficul t to find a bet ter concepti on of that

,

time than thei rs .

I often di sliked many thin gs in England but that Black and Whi te and Di ckens
,

are thin gs whi ch make up fo r i t all I speak from my ow n experi ence It s not
. .
’

that I di sapprove of every thi ng in the present far from i t but still i t seems t o , ,

me that something of th e fine spi ri t of th at time whi ch ought to have b een

preserved i s di sappearing— in art especi all y But al so i n li fe i tself Perhaps I . .

express myself too vaguely but I cannot say i t di fferentl y— I don t know
,
’

exactl y what i t i s but i t i s not j ust the Bl ack and Whi te whi ch changed i t s
,

course and devi ated from i t s heal thy noble begin ni ng Rather there i s in
,
.
,

general a kind of skepti ci sm and i ndi fference and coolness notwi thstan di ng ,

all the acti vi ty But all thi s i s t oo vague t oo i ndefini te I do not think
.
, .

too much about i t because I think of my drawings an d have no time to spare

,
.
 We ve had snow again whi ch i s thawi ng just now That thaw weather i s very
’
,
.

beautiful Today whi le the snow i s melting one feel s sp ring approachi ng as i t
.
, , ,

were from afar

,
.

I thi nk when you come sooner or l ater we ll have a reall y good tim e together
, ,
’
.

I l ong for the spring breezes t o bl ow away the wea rin ess from worki ng indoors
so l ong .

I am very glad to have my sou wester ; I wonder if y ou will find some good ’

i n those fi sh erm en s heads The l ast one I made thi s week w a s of a fellow wi th
’
.

whi te throat whi skers .

I know a drawing by Boyd Houghton whi ch he call s My Model s i t rep

resents a passage where a few i nvali ds on e wi th crut ches a b lin d man a street , , ,

ur chin etc come to vi si t the p ai nter on Chri st mas Day

,
.
,
.

There i s somethi ng very pleasan t in the i ntercourse wi th the model s on e ,

l earns much from t hem Thi s winter I have had some peop l e whom I shall not
.

easil y forget It i s a charmi ng saying of Edouard Fr ére s that he kept the same
.
’

“
model s so l ong that cell es qui posai ent dans le temps pour l e s bébés posent ,
”
m ai ntenant pour l es meres [those who used to pose for the babi es are now ,

posi ng for the mothers] .

Well adi eu Theo wri te soon my best wi shes beli eve me wi th a handshake
, , , , , , ,

Yours sincerel y Vi ncen t ,

265
\
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 8 February 1 8 8 3 ,

My hearty congratul ati ons on Father s bi rthday and thanks for your l etter ’

, ,

whi ch I was very glad to recei ve just now I congratul ate you espe ci all y on the .

operati on s being over Such things as you descri be make one shudder ! May the
’
.

worst be over now at l east the cri si s past 1Poor woman 1If women do not always
,

show the same energy and el asti ci ty of thought as those men who are inclined to
reflecti on and anal ysi s we cannot blame them at least i n my opi ni on because
, , ,

i n general t hey have to expend so much more energy than we i n su fferi ng pai n .

They suffer more and are more sensi tive .

And though they do not always understand our thoughts they are someti mes ,

qui te capab le of understandi ng that one i s good to them Not always though .
, ,
“ ”
but the spi ri t i s wi lli ng and sometimes there i s a curi ous ki nd o f goodness
,

i n women .

It must be a great l oad off your mind that the operati on i s over .

What a mystery li fe i s and l ove i s a mystery wi thin a mystery It certain ly

,
.

never remai ns the same in a li teral sense but the chan ges are li ke the ebb and ,

flow of the ti de whi ch l eave the sea un changed ,

.

Sin ce I last wrote you I have gi ven my eyes some t est and i t ha s done me
,

good though they sti ll ache n ow and then

, .

Do y ou know what occurred t o me ? That in the first peri od of a painter s li fe

-
’

on e unconsci ous ly makes i t very hard for oneself— b a feeli ng of n ot b eing abl e
y
t o master the work— b y an uncertai nty as t o whether on e will ever master i t — b y
a great desi re t o make progress by a lack of self c on fi denc e— one cannot bani sh
,
-

a certain feeli n g of agi tati on and one hurri es oneself though on e doesn t li ke
,
’

to be hurri ed .

Thi s can t be helped and i t i s a peri od whi ch on e must g o through an d whi ch

’
, ,

in my opi ni on cann ot and must n o t be changed .

In the s t udi es t oo one i s consci ous of a nervousness an d a certai n dr yness

, ,

whi ch i s the very opposi te of the calm broad touch on e i s strivi ng for and yet i t , ,

doesn t work well if one tri es t oo hard t o acqui re that broadness of touch
’
.

Thi s gives one a feeling of nervous unrest and agi tati on and on e feel s an ,

oppressi on as on summer days before a thunderstorm I had that feeling agai n

,
.

just n o w an d when I have i t I chan ge my work just to start somethin g fresh

, , , .

Thi s troubl e whi ch on e has i n the beginni ng sometimes g ives an awkwardn ess
to th e s t udi es .

But I am not di scouraged by thi s be cause I have noti ced i t i n myself a s well,

as in ot hers who l ater si mply g ot ri d of i t gradually

,
.

And I beli eve that someti mes one keeps t hi s p ainful way of worki ng one s whol e ’

life but not al ways wi th so li ttl e a resul t as i n the beginnin g What you wri te
, .

about Lhermi tte i s qui te in keeping wi th the revi ew of the exhi bi ti on of Black
and Whi te They too menti on the bold touch whi ch can almost be compared
.
, ,

onl y to Rembran dt s I shoul d li ke to know su ch an arti st s concepti on of Judas

’
.
’

— ou wri te of hi s drawing Judas before th e scri bes I think that Vi ctor Hugo
y .

coul d des cri be that in detail so tbat one would see i t but to pai nt those expressi ons
, ,

woul d be even more di ffi cul t .

I foun d a page by Daumi er ceux qui ont vu un drame and ceux q ui ont vu une
,
”
vaudevi lle [those who have seen a dr ama a nd those who have seen a vaudevill e] ;
I am increasi ngly eager t o see more Daumi ers He has pi th and a stai d profundi ty .
,
“
he i s wi tty and yet full of senti mental passi on ; sometimes for i nstance i n The ,
”— “ ”
Drunkards and possi bly al so in The Barri cade whi ch I d o n ot know— I find ,

a passi on whi ch can be compared to the whi te heat of i ron .

Some heads by Frans Hal s for i nstan ce have the same quali ty ; i t i s so sober
, ,

t hat i t seems col d but when one l ooks at i t for a short while on e is astoni shed
, ,

to see how a man wh o apparent ly worked wi th so much emoti on and so c ompletely ,

wrapped up in nat ure had at the same time th e presence of mi nd to put i t

,

down wi th such a fi rm hand I found the same thi ng i n studi es an d drawi ngs
.

by De Groux perhaps Lhermi tte gl ows wi th the same white heat And Menzel .
,

too .

There are someti mes passages in Balzac or Zola for instance in Fi re Goriot , ,

where words reach a whi te heat of passi on .

Somet imes I think I will make an experi ment and t ry to work in qui te a difler ,

ent way tha t i s t o dare more and to ri sk more but I don t know whether I first
, , ,
’

ought to s tudy the figure di rectl y from the model more .

I am al so l ooking for a w ay t o shut ofl the li ght i n the studi o o r t o le t i t in

'

, ,

at wi ll It doesn t fall suffici ently from overhead I thi nk and there i s too mu ch
.
’

, ,

of i t At present I occasi onally shut i t off wi th cardboard but I must try to get
.
,

the l an dl ord t o put up some shutters .

 W hat was in the letter I tol d you I tore up was qui te in keepin g wi th what
ou sa

But ! hough finding i ncreasin gl y that on e i s not perfect oneself and makes
Y
,

mi stakes and that other peopl e d o t o o so that di fli c ult ies contin uall y ari se whi ch
, ,

are the opposi te of ill usi ons I think that those w ho do not l ose courage and
,

w h o do n o t grow indifferent ri pen thr ough i t ; on e must bear hardshi ps in order

to n l en
S oin eti mes I cannot beli eve that I am onl y th ir ty years o ld I feel so much ol der
.

.
,

I feel ol der only when I thi nk that most peopl e w ho know me consi der me a
fai lure and that i t mi ght reall y be so if some thi ngs d o not change for the bet ter ;
,

and when I thi nk i t mig bt be so I feel i t so intensel y that i t qui te depresses me

,

and makes me as downhearted as if i t were really so In a calmer an d more norma l .

mood I am sometimes glad that thi rty years have passed and not wi thout tea chi ng ,

me somethi ng for the fut ure and I feel strength and energy for the next thi rt y
,

years i f I live that l ong

,
.

And in my i maginati on I see years of seri ous work ahead of me and happi er ,

than the first thi rty .

How i t will be in reali ty doesn t depend only on myself the worl d an d ci rcum
’
,

stan ces must al so c ontri bute to i t .

What concerns me and what I am responsi b le for i s makin g the most of the
ci rc umstances and tryi ng my best to make progress .

For the workin g man t he age of thi rty i s just the beginni ng of a peri od o f
,

some stabili ty and as such one feel s young and full of energy
But at the same ti me a chapter of li fe i s cl osed ; i t makes on e m
.
, ,

t lan c h oly ,

thi nkin g some things wi ll never come back And i t i s no sill y senti mentali sm t o .

feel a certain regret Well many thi ngs really begin at the age of thir ty and
.
, ,

certai nl y all i s n ot over then But on e doesn t expect t o get from li fe what on e
.
’

has already l earned i t cannot give ; rather one begins to see more and more cl ea rly
that li fe i s onl y a kind of sowi ng time and the harvest i s n ot here ,
'
.

Perhaps that s the reason why on e i s someti mes in difleren t to the world s
’ ’

'

opini on and if that opini on depresses us all too strongly w e may shake i t ofl
, ,
.

Perha ps I had better tear up thi s letter again .

s

I understand perfectly that you are qui t e absorbed in the woman s condi ti on ’
,

thi s i s one of the thi ngs necessary for her safety an d al so for her recovery For ,
.

“
on e must t hrow onesel f i nto i t headl ong and the Engli sh sayi ng i s true If you
, ,

want i t well done y ou must do it yourself you mustn t l eave i t to others It

, ,
’
.

mean s that one must keep the general care and the man agement of the whol e
i n one s own hands
’
.

We had a few real spri ng days last M onday for instan ce whi ch I enj oyed, , ,

very much .

The peopl e are very sensi ti ve t o the changing season s For i nstance i n a .
,

nei ghborhood li ke the Geest and in those courts of the al mshouses or those
“ ”
chari tabl e homes the winter i s al ways a diffi cul t anxi ous and opp ress we ti me
, , ,

an d spring a deli verance If on e pays attent i on on e sees that su ch a first sp ri ng

, .
,

day i s something li ke a Divin e Message .

136
 It was n o t done recently however I started i t a few months ago and have
,
.
,

o ccas i onally gi ven i t a few touches sin ce then But i t i s s t ill crude S ince then . .
,

I have made a large number of studi es— that i s drawin gs of the figure and , ,

espe ci all y of heads— wi th just such a scene in mi nd as thi s sketch represents ;

i t must be fin i shed by addin g character and reli ef especi ally t o the heads han ds , ,

and feet I am sending them t o y ou because you will see in them more clearl y
.

than in many other water colors I have done t ill n ow that I ha ve a keen eye for
stri king colors— th at I see them fresh thr ough a gray haze However unfini shed
,
.

and i mperfect i t may be thi s i s part of a street chosen at ran dom and done i n
,

the way in whi ch I want to represent the Geest o r the Jewi sh quarter Thi s .

sketch w as no acci dent : I can take all kinds of scenes I see thi s far gettin g the ,

same relatively strong effects of col or and tone Now if you compare thi s drawing .

wi th the li tbog rap bs and drawing s of bead s I sent you thi s winter y ou can see my ,

intenti ons cl early from those vari ous fa i lnres .

The large s t udi es of heads for i nstance of whi ch I have still many others— fo r
, ,

i nstance wi th sou w e sters wi th shawl s and whi te bonnets and t op hats and caps
’
, ,

-
must serve for composi ti ons such a s the on e I am sendi ng you thi s ti me .

But I shall have t o put up wi th many more fai lures for I beli eve tha t in ,

water col or much depends on a great dexteri ty and qui ckness of tou ch One .

must work in i t before i t i s dry to get harmony and on e hasn t much ti me for ,
’ :

reflecti on then So the princi pal thi ng i s not fini shing each one separatel y no
.
, ,

o n e must put down those twenty or thi rty heads rapi dl y o n e after the other , .

“
Here foll ow a few curi ous sayi ngs about water colors L aqua rell e est quel que .
’

” “
chose de diaboli que ; and the other i s by Whi stler who sai d Y es I di d that i n , , ,
”
tw o hours but I s t udi ed fo r years to be ab l e t o accomp li sh thi s in two hours
,
.

Enough of thi s ; I l ove water col or t oo much ever t o gi ve i t up entir el y ,

I come back t o i t agai n an d agai n But the foundati on of everythi ng i s t he knowl

.

edge of the figure so that one can readily draw men an d women and chil dren
,

whatever they are doin g S o thi s i s my chi ef aim whi ch cannot be reali zed in
.
,

an y other w a I thi nk
y , .

And I try to work myself up to a hi gher l evel of knowledge and abili ty i n

general rather than to care very much about fini shi ng off some parti cul ar sketch
,
.

Af ter having drawn for a month I now and then make a few water col ors for
i nstance by way of cas t ing the plumm
, ,

, et to fathom my depth Each ti me I see

’

that I have overcome some obsta cl es but that n ew di ffi cul ti es have ari sen Then
,
.

I start drudgi ng agai n t o conquer those .

As for the col ors they are really all used 11 d

, not onl y that but because ,

o f some relati vel y heavy expenses I am not onl y hard up but absol utel y pen nil ess
, ,
.

Spring i s comi ng and I shoul d li ke to take up paint ing agai n t oo S o that i s

, ,
.

partly the reason why I am not worki ng i n water col or ri ght n ow .

But i ndi rectl y I am always worki ng at i t and now t hat I c an s t udy the ,

effects of chi aroscuro better because of the alterati ons i n the stu di o I shall work ,

more and more wi th the b rush even in Black an d Whi te drawings and wash
, ,

the shadows in wi th neutral tint sepi a Indi a i n k Cassel earth an d accent uate
, , , ,

the li ghts wi th Chi nese whi te .

 D o y ou remember that last s ummer you brought me pi eces of mountai n
c rayon ? I t ri ed to work wi th i t at the tim e but i t di dn t work well S o a few
’
, .

p i eces were left whi ch I pi cked up the other day ; encl osed you ll find a scratch
,
’

d one wi th i t ; y ou see i t i s a peculi ar warm b la c k Y ou woul d greatly ob lige me by

, .

bri ngi ng some more of i t thi s s umm er It has a great advantage— the bi g pi eces.

are much easi er t o handl e whil e sketchi ng than a thi n s t i ck of conté whi ch is hard ,

t o ho l d and whi ch breaks a ll th e ti me S o fo r sketchi ng outdoors i t i s deli ghtful

.
, .

Well b oy— i r i s di ffi cul t to wri te i t all an d I wanted to an swer your quest i on
, ,

a bout water col or in more than words I shoul d not want anybody to see just .

t hi s on e sketch o f mi ne because I myself thin k nothin g i s ri ght i n thi s sketch except

,

the general aspect and I will wrestle wi th the figures til l I get in water col or what
,

they are beginni ng to get i n li thography— that i s more chara cter an d effe ct , .

It i s not pl eas ant to make sketches li ke the one I sent you and then not to be ,

a b l e to fini sh them ; I hate thi s so mu ch that I rarel y make them except as a tri al ,

t o see if I have made an y progress But now I have n ew courage an d i nterest

.
,

just because I have been ma king a great many s t udi es agai n .

I think the change i n the st udi o will help me on not the fi rst day but after a ,
.

,
’
few months struggling .

I can n ow do p art of my work perfectly well at home s t udying wi th model s , ,

such effects as the water col or I sent y ou .

Here the windows are cl osed at the bottom so that the li ght on the group of
figures fall s from above In thi s w ay I can group them in the studi o and then
.
,

I get for instance the hi gh li ghts on the heads of the figures

, ,
.

Li ke in thi s water col or .

I have tri ed i t already wi th the o ld man the woman and the children— i t
,

gi ves sp lendid effects The desi re to make them i s not wantin g but I expect new
.
,

failures— whi ch I hope however will have sometbing i n them to encourage rather
, ,

t han t o make on e l ose courage though they are fail ures ,

.

I had t o pay fo r so man y things at once o ut of the money you sent that I wi sh
o u cou l d send some more but arr nge i t as best u can— I have so much
y ; a y o

work n ow that I can vary i t just as I li ke I l ong very much for your coming .
,

just to show you the studi es and t o talk about the work .

Adi eu thanks agai n Wi th a han dshake

, . Ever yours Vincent, ,

16 5 b
[Repri nted from Benno J Stokv i s LL D N a s
p or
. i ng en omtrent
, (Investi gati ons
. .
,

concerni ng) V i ncent van Gog b in Bra bant (Amsterdam S L van Looy 1 ,
. .
,

Etten Lea r a small vi llage between Breda and Roozendaal makes a far less
-
, ,

prosperous i mpressi on than Zundert However i t appears that there are n o .

,

fewer Protestan ts here than in the l at ter vill age .

After havi ng been stati oned at Helvoi rt for some years the Rev Mr V an Gogh ,
. .

came t o Etten in 1 8 7 5 a s successor t o the Rev Mr Peaux (father of the poetess . .

Augu sta Peaux) He remai ned there until 1 8 8 2 Here his interc our se seems to
. .

I
 l
l
-

fl q e a mo

have been li mited to the members of hi s own pari sh more than i t wa s in Zundert .

However here t oo n on Catholi cs and Catholi cs remember him wi th equal

,
-

sympathy .

If anyone fai led to appear in church on a S un day he coul d be sure tha t the ,

Rev Mr Van Gogh woul d l ook hi m up that very week t o l ecture hi m however
. .
,
“ ”
far i n the interi or however remote from the vill age hi s farm mi ght be si tuated
, , .

He even vi si ted the peopl e li ving on the most di stan t farms regul arl y .

The Rev Mr Van Gogh was chari table : at times he di st ri buted more among
. .

the poor than the consi story coul d approve of But at the same ti me he w as .

descri bed as a severe an d forceful personali ty Thi s observati on may help to .

di spel the noti on advanced in some wri tings on Vi n cent that the father beha ved
in a spinel ess powerl ess fashi on toward hi s son (in support of whi ch I refer to
, ,

l etter
Al though the peopl e o f Zundert were in general fully aware o f Vincent s fame
’

as a painter in Etten I was struck by an ahno st complete i gnoran ce on the

,

subj ect Nei ther old villagers w h o had known hi m personally nor even hi s on e
.
,

tim e model s whom I met knew tha t he had made a name for himself ; and when
,

I tol d them so they l ooked amazed— they woul d never ha ve expe cted such a
,
“ ”
thi ng of that Vi ncent 1
I asked an old Protestant woman whether she had known the Rev Mr V an . .

“ ” “ ”
Gogh s son w ho had drawn
’
,
Drawn ? was the counter—questi on Y ou . .

”
mean t o say he w as drawn i nto the East Indi an army ? Though such intell ectual
agili ty on the ol d lady s part may provoke laughter from a psychol ogi al poin t
’

c ,

o f vi ew such an answer proves after a ll how littl e Vi ncent s a cti vi ti es were

, ,
’

actually taken seri ous ly .

The p ain ter ret urned repeatedl y to Etten ; the last tim e he stayed there for
about on e year So he was present at the weddin g of hi s si ster An na at Etten
.
,

at whi ch the Rev Mr Van Gogh himself offi ci ated . . .

The foll owing persons were in tervi ewed by me

j A
. O ost e
ry
. ck s father w a s an e l der o f the chur
’
c h un der t h e Rev Mr V an . .

Gogh Vi ncent often used to drop in upon the O o steryc k s and woul d then make
.

drawi ngs in doors and i n the granar y Once he made a portrai t o f my i nforman t s
’
.

mother whi ch was a very good li keness H i s father w as al so i mmortaliz ed by .

Vin cent in a large pi cture of hi m pl owing hi s field .

Accordi ng t o the son the pi cture of hi s father s figure di d n ot l ook li ke him ’

,
“ ”
but for the rest a photograph coul d n ot have been more perfe ct When the
, .

pai nti ng w as fini shed ol d Mr O o stery c k happened t o remark that Vi ncent had
,
.

forgotten t o put i n the d og Vi ncent obli gin gly took up hi s brushes and added
.

“
the dog Those for whom Vincent had a li kin g [li terally w ho had a good
.
,
”
odor in hi s nostril s ] were given a dr awing by hi m more than once Vi n cent .

worked a great deal i n the vi cini ty of the vill age ; he was hi ghl y respected by the
farmers When he set off for work he generally wore a sort of rain coat an d a
.
,
’
sou wester In general hi s att ire was rough
. Every day he mi ght be seen
wal king wi th a small campstool under one arm and a square frame under
the other always staring strai ght in front of hi m and he took li ttle noti ce of
, ,

1 40
posed for Vi ncent he w a s the Rev Mr Van Gogh s gardener and seventeen
,
. .
’

years old Vincent often made dr awin gs of hi m at the parsonage especi ally on
.
,

S at urdays as a rul e Kauflmann posed standi ng holdi ng a rake or spade Vin cent
'

.
,

al so drew pi ct ures of hi m a number of ti mes as a sower wi th a pi ec e of cl oth ,

hanging from hi s shoul ders .

At times Vincent woul d work on a dr awin g for hours : he worked on un til

he had caught the expressi on he was ai ming at The Rev T van Gogh s servant . . .
’

gi rl at that ti me used to tell how Vi ncent woul d occasi onall y contin ue t o paint
all through the ni ght : many a ti me i t happened tha t hi s mother found hi m stil l

at work when she came down in the morning Often Vincent woul d n ot ta ke .

ti me for lun ch : at such ti mes hi s mother woul d call hi m repeatedl y and he ,

“ ”
woul d keep an sweri ng Yes I m coming but all the same he woul d ei ther
, ,
’
,

n ot make an appearan ce at all or come more than an hour l ater , .

Generally Vi n cent went about wi th a portfoli o under on e arm and a camp

“
stool under the other and he used to hol d hi s head a li t tl e to one si de h e
,
—
”
always walked l ost in thought ; he never recogni zed anybody in the street ,
“
he was a queer li ttle fell ow .

A few t imes Kauffmann recei ved some dr awings by w ay of a present but ,

they had been l ost when he moved from on e house to another Informant es .

ti ma tes that he posed fo r Vi n c ent some fo rty or fifty ti mes .

Tbe Rev Mr D fikman showed me a map of the Hol y Land whi c h Vi ncent had
. .

dr awn by hand ; for years i t hung o n the vestry wall (until

At Etten Vincent was not regi stered as a member of the Reform ed Church .

Data furni shed by the regi strar s offi ce [often i naccurate— E d ] : ’

O ctober 2 2 1 8 7 5 Arri val of the Van Gogh family in the muni ci pality from
, .

Helvoi rt .

Depart ure of the fami ly for Nuenen : August 4 1 8 8 2 ,

.

Arri val of Vin cent Willem (i e the pai nter) at Etten from Brussel s : August . .

1 8, 1 88 1.

Departure of Vin cent Will em for The Hague : Jul y 2 0 1 8 8 2 , .

“ ”
In the Regi ster hi s professi on i s stated to be p ai nter .

Some bi rth dates acci dentally found may be menti oned here as a matter
, ,
of

c uri o Si ty :

The Rev T Van Gogh : February 8 1 8 2 2

. .
, .

M rs Van Gogh Carb en t us : S eptember 1 0 1 8 1 9

.
-
,
.

Corneli s Vi ncent (the p ain ter s younger brother Cor) May 1 7 1 8 6 7 ’

,
.

Eli sabeth Huberta (the pai nter s well known si ster Li es) May 1 6 1 8 5 9 ’
-
,
.

29 1
Dear Theo , The Hague 5 or 6 June 1 8 8 3 ,

Today I recei ved a l etter from home and though Father does n ot menti on y ou ,

i n i t I want t o speak to you about i t because just now y ou woul d perhaps li ke

,

t o know somethi ng more about thei r frame of mi nd tha n what they wri te to
you directly And i t i s my i mpressi on that for the present y ou need n ot worry
.

about i t .

1 42
 The sai d l etter i s Father s fir st s ince hi s vi si t here and i t i s very ki nd and
’

cordi al and was ac comp ani ed by a parcel c ontai ni ng a woman s coat a hat a
,
’

, ,

packet of ci gars a cake a money order In the l etter w as a dr aft of a sermon of

, ,
.
,

whi ch I li ked the text by far the best and whi ch tou ched me l ess than a si mp le
,

w ord ab out a funeral from a farm t di d afterward

'

I tell you thi s in su ch detail so th at you may see there i s nothi ng abnormal o r
any defini te overexci tement ; but I di d get the i mpressi on that Father was in a
rather passi ve or submi ssi ve mood more i ncli ned toward a fri endl y melan choly
, ,

vi ew of things than mi ght be supposed from the expressi ons of di sapproval y o u

passed on to me .

I suppose those words were i ntended more as advi ce or warni ng— but not as a
si gn of di rect opposi ti on to your firm de ci si on .

Because in my previ ous letter I d i sapproved so strongly of what Father had

sai d— an d I s till di sapprove of i t as I am most deci dedl y of the opposi te opini on
, ,

and consi der i t i rrel evan t t o rai se di ffi cul t ies and fin an ci al and reli gi ous obj e cti ons
in th i s case — I shoul d li ke to soften my words to thi s extent that I thi nk we are
concerned wi th an error (at l east number o n e i s an error) whi ch exi sts more i n I

hi s words than in hi s heart or hi s frame of mi nd And I cannot help remi ndi ng .

you that Father i s an ol d man an d so fondl y attached to you and I am sur e

, ,

y o u w i ll find that he w ill g i ve i n t o y o u if i t must be so even though i t be contrary ,

to hi s o wn opini on but that i t woul d be i mpossi ble for hi m to li ve estranged from

,

you or on l ess fri endl y terms Well I suppose I know Father somewhat and I
.
, ,

thi nk I noti ce si gns of a littl e mel an choly .

And l ooki ng at i t from a human point of vi ew I wi thdraw my op ini on that

by tal ki ng the way they di d they have shown t hemselves unworthy of your
,
”
confidence and therefore I thin k you need not consul t them an y l onger or
,

somethi ng of the ki nd for I do not remember exactly what I wrote But p lease
,
.

understand what I me an : not beca use I di sapprove l ess of what they sai d b ut ,

because I have the i mpressi on that in thi s cas e you need n ot resent i t so mu ch ,

and that there i s no urgent need to start host ili ti es as l ong as they confine them
“
selves to words Better forestall unpleasantness by sayi ng for i nstance You take
.
,
” “
rather a somber vi ew of the fut ure or But y ou cann ot demand of me that I act
, ,
”
as if the cl ock were goi ng to stri ke the hou r of the world s end whi ch I thi nk ’
,

woul d be more sensi ble than attachi n g t oo much wei ght t o thei r words .

I have the i mpressi on Father i s somewhat mel ancholy and that perhaps he i s ,

worryi ng over y ou an d i magini ng gl oomy thi ngs— but I repeat Father di d not
, ,

wri te one syllable about the matter i tself and di d n ot say a word about i t on the ,

occasi on of hi s vi si t though thi s avoi dance of menti oni ng i t i s somewhat ab

,

normal t oo .

If y ou wan t t o remedy thi s wri te somewhat cheerfull y and li ghtl y and wri te
, ,

about your vi si t thi s summ er as if i t were certai n that y ou woul d see them
soon (even if you do n ot know yourse lf how you can fix the time of your
coming) .

For perhaps perha ps Father hi ms elf i s cons ci ous of havi ng gone a li ttl e t oo
,

I e t he fin an c ial o bj ec ti on s
. . .
far, or perhaps he i s anxi ous about how y ou will take i t and i s afrai d you wi ll ,

n o t come .

Of cour se I do not know i t for sure and c an onl y guess ; but what I thi nk i s ,

Father i s an old man and deserves to be cheered up if possible .

That i t i s my opini on that you ought t o be fai thful t o the woman y ou know ,

well enough ; there i s no questi on o f sayi ng anythi ng l ess about i t than I di d ;

ou thi nk ri ght but don t be angry wi t h Father if he i s mi staken
’

y o u must act as y , .

That i s what I wanted to say Don t even menti on that he i s mi staken unl ess
.
’

he conti nues to press the poi nt ; perhaps he will change hi s mi nd of hi s own

a c c ord .

N o w agai n about the work : today I asked permi ssi on to make sket ches in the
o l d peop l e s asylum that i s of the men s ward of the women s ward and of the
’ ’ ’
, , ,

garden .

I was there today From the wi ndow I sket ched an old gardener near a twi sted
.

apple tree and the carpenter s shop of the asylum where I had tea wi th t wo ol d
,
’

al mshouse men In the men s ward I c an c ome as a vi s i tor : i t wa s very stri ki ng

’
.
,

indescri bab ly stri ki ng .

One little fellow for i nstance wi th a l ong thi n neck in a wheel chair was
, , , ,

splendi d That carpenter s shop wi th those tw o ol d men and a vi ew of the c ool

.
’

green garden was j ust the thing li ke B ingham s photograph of t hat li ttle pi cture
,
’

by Mei ssoni er those tw o pri ests si t tin g at the tabl e dri nking Perhaps y o u kn ow
,
.

what I mean .

But i t i s n ot qui te certai n that I shall get the permi ss i on and the appli cati on ,

must be made to the deac on i n charge I have done so and must come back for .
,

the answer .

Meanwhi le I am making sketches for the drawin g of the refuse dump I wrote
,
.

you I hoped to get a S cheveni ngen cape ; well I have got i t and an ol d bonnet
, , ,

i nto the bargai n ; the l atter i s not very good but the cape i s superb and I s et to , ,
’
work on i t at once I am just as deli ghted wi th i t as I was wi th the sou wester
.

And the sket ch of the refuse dump i s so far advanced that I have ca ught the
sheepfold li ke effect of the i nteri or i n contrast wi th the open air and the li ght
-

under th e g loomy shed s : and a group of women emptyi ng thei r dustbi ns i s b e

ginni ng to devel op and take shap es B ut the movi ng back and forth of the wheel ‘

barrows and the dustmen wi th the dung forks that r ummaging un der t h e sheds
, , ,

must still be expressed wi th out l os ing the effect o f li ght and brown of the whol e
on the contrary i t must be strengthened by i t,
.

I suppose you will take Father s words in the same way of your own accord ’
,

so that I m not telli ng you an thi ng new but I shou l d be gl ad if wi th a li ttl e

’

y , ,

good wi ll peace mi ght be preserved Last wi nter Father w a s nearly a s mu c h

, .

opposed t o my li ving wi th the woman as he i s in your case now yet he sent me ,

“ ”
a warm woman s coat I mi ght have some use for n ot pre ci sely i ndi cat ing fo r
’
,
“ ”
what but obvi ous ly wi th the thought Perhaps she i s s ufferi ng from the col d
, ,
.

W ell y ou see that i s the ri ght thi ng and for one su ch deed I woul d endure a
, ,

whole shower of words wi th pleasure .

1 44
 Indeed one c an have a deep l onging someti mes to tal k thi ngs over wi th
,

people who know about one s craft Especi ally if each works and seeks i n the ’
.

same spiri t i t i s poss i ble greatly to strengthen and ani mate each other and on e
, ,

i s not so eas i ly di s c our aged One cannot always li ve away from one s nati ve
’
.

l and and one s nati ve l and i

’
s not na t ure al one— there must al so be human hearts
,

who sear ch for and feel the same thi ngs And onl y then i s the native l and perfe ct .
,

onl y then does one feel at home .

Thi s now i s the composi ti on of the refuse dump I do not know h ow muc h .

you c an make out In the foreground women are emptyi ng dustbi ns ; behind
.
,

them are the sheds where the dung i s kept and the men at work wi th wheel ,

barrows etc The first on e I made of i t was a little diflerent ; there were t w o
, .

other men i n the foreground wi th sou w esters whi ch they often wear i n bad ’
,

weather and the group of women was darker

,
.

But that li ght effect i s really there because the li ght fall s from overhead bet ween
the sheds on th e figures i n the pathways It woul d be a spl endi d thi ng to p ai nt . .

I thi nk you will understand all about i t I wi sh I co ul d tal k i t over wi th Mauve . .

But perhaps i t s better as i t i s for i t does not al ways help to get advi ce from
’

somebody el se clever though he may be and those w h o are cleverest are not
, ,

always clever in explaini ng things cl early I repeat I hardly know myself what i s .
,

best In the fir st pl ace painting i s n ot my pri nci pal object and perhaps I will be
.
, ,

ready for illustrating sooner all by myself t han if somebody who woul dn t think ,
’

of ill ustrati ons at all advi sed me I get on best of all wi th Rapp ard
, . .

Adi eu boy A ll best wi shes and thank you for your timely help
, . .

Yours sin c efely Vincent ,

R 37
Ami ce Rapp ard ,
The Hague May—June 1 8 8 3 ,

I wa s just wri ti ng you a l etter when the postman brought me your very wel come
l etter ; I am glad to hear that you have made progress wi th your drawi ng I never .

doubted you woul d for that matter for y ou attacked i t i n a vi ril e w ay

, ,
.

N ow to begi n wi th I want to tell y ou that I thi nk what you say about the
,

Engli sh black and whi te arti sts perfectl y ri ght and proper I saw i n your work
- -
.

exa ctly what y ou say Well I qui te agree wi th you— parti c ul arly about th e bol d
.
,

contour .

Take Miller s etchi ng The Di ggers take an engravi ng by Albre cht Dur er
’
, ,
”—
above all take the large woodcut by Mi llet hi mself The Shepherdess
“
then ,

you see wi th full clari ty what may be expressed by such a contour And as you .
,
“
sa
y, you fee l that i s how I have always wanted to do i t if I had always gone my ,
”
ow n w ay etc That s well sai d ol d fellow an d spoken li ke a man
,
.
’

, ,
.

N ow I thi nk another examp le of characteri sti c bol d and vi gorous drawi ng i s ,

Ley s s pi ctures and more especi all y t hat seri es of decorati ons for hi s di ni ng room
’
,
“ ” “ ” “ ” “ ”
La Promenade dans la Nei ge Les Pati neurs La R ec ep ti on La Table
, , , ,
”
La Servante And De Groux has i t too an d so has Daum i er
.
,
.

Even Israel s and at t imes Mauve and Mari s too cannot refrai n from drawing
, ,

a vi gorous contour but they don t do i t i n the manner of Leys or of H erkomer

,
’
,
.
But when y ou hear them talk they will ha ve none of i t an d more often they are
, ,
“ ” “ ”
t al kin g about tone and col or And yet in certain charcoal drawings Israel s .
,

has al so used lin es that remind o n e of Mi llet I want to state flatly that personally .
,

however much I admi re and respe ct these masters I regret that when they speak , ,

to others they— a n d parti cul arl y Mauve and Mari s— do not poi nt out more
,

emphati cally what can be done wi th the contour and advi se them to dr aw cau ,

ti ou sly and softl y And so i t happens that water co l ors are the order o f the day
.

nowadays and are consi dered the most expressi ve medium whereas i n my opini on
, ,

too li ttle attenti on i s bei ng pai d to b lack and whi te so much so that there i s even ,

a certai n anti pathy agai nst i t There i s n o b lack so to speak in a water col or and
.
, , ,
“ ”
that i s what they base themselves on in order to say Those b lack thi ngs It i s ,
.

not necessary however to devote my whol e l etter t o thi s

, ,
.

I wanted to tell you that I have four drawi ngs on my easel at the moment
peat cutters— sand p i t— dunghill — l oadi ng coal I even di d the dunghill twi ce ; .

the first one was too overworked to be c onti nued .

Besi des I have not ventured t o work too much i n them wi th pri nter s i nk and ’

turpenti ne ; i nstead I have used charcoal lithographi c crayon and autographi c ,

i n k so Except i n the case of the dun ghi ll that became too overworked ;
I attacked thi s one wi th i t an d not un successfull y ; i t became rather black i t s true ,
’
,

but for all that the freshn ess ret urned somewhat and now I see my way agai n to ,

workin g on i t some more although I thought i t hopel ess before I put on the
,

prin ter s i nk
’
.

I have been worki ng very hard si nce I vi si ted y ou ; I had n ot done any composi
ti ons for such a l ong ti me— only a l ot of studi es— that when I once started I went
qui te wi l d about i t I w as peggi ng away at i t many morni ngs as earl y as four
.

o cl ock I am extremely eager for y ou to see them for I can make nei ther head
’
.
,

nor tail of what Van der W eele the onl y on e who has seen them sai d , , .

Van der W eele s op ini on w as rather sympatheti c but he s ai d about the sa nd p i t

’
,

t hat there were too many figures i n i t ; the composi ti on w as not si mp l e He sai d .
,
“
Look here just draw that on e littl e fellow wi th hi s wheelbarrow on a li ttle di ke
,

agai nst the bri ght sky at sundown ; how beautiful such a thi ng would b e— now i t
”
i s t oo turbul ent .

Then I showed hi m Cal dec ott s drawi ng Bri ghton Highroad and s ai d Do
’
, ,

you mean to say that i t i s not permi tted per se to i ntroduce many figures i nto a
composi ti on ? Never mi nd my drawi ng just tell me what you thi nk of thi s ,
”
composi t i on .

“ ”
Well he s ai d I don t like that on e ei ther But he added I am speaki ng
, ,
’
.
, ,

personally and I can t speak any other way than personally and thi s i s not the
,
’

,
”
ki nd of thi ng I li ke and want t o l ook at Well I thought thi s well sai d i n a .
,

certai n way but y ou will understand that I di d not find in hi m exactl y that
,

sound knowl edge of thi ngs whi ch I w as l ooki ng for But he i s qui te a sound .

fellow on th e whole and we took a very pl easant wal k together and he poi nted
, ,

out some damned fine things t o me .

It w as whil e taki ng a walk wi th him that I saw that sand pi t too but he ,

hardly l ooked at i t on that occas i on and next day I went back to i t al one I have
, .
drawn that sand pi t wi th many fig ures because at times there reall y are very many
fell ows toili ng t here because in wi nter and in autumn the town gi ves empl oyment
,

i n thi s way to persons who are out ofwork And then the scene i s extremel y busy . .

I have had some beauti ful model s of l ate A superb grass mower a mag .
,

nifi c en t peasant boy exactl y li ke figures by Mill et A fell ow wi th a wheelbarrow

, .
,

the s ame whose head you may remember I drew but then in hi s Sunda y cl othes ,

and wi th a S unday clean bandage around hi s blind eye Now I have hi m i n hi s

-
.

everyday cl othes and— as I see i t— i t i s di fficul t to beli eve that thi s i s the same
,

man who posed for both studi es .

The si ze of these four large drawings i s 40 x 2 0 i nches .

I am much p l eased wi th usi ng a brown passe partout wi th a very deep b lack -

inner rim Then many bl acks seem t o be gray whereas they woul d show up t o o
.
,

b lack i n a whi te passe partout and the whol e retains a cl ear effect
-
, .

Lord how I wi sh you coul d see them not because I thi nk them good mysel f
, , ,

but I shoul d li ke to know what you think of them although I am not yet sat i sfied ,

wi th them In my opini on they are not yet s uffi ci ently pure figure drawings
.
,

though they are figure drawin gs all ri ght but I should li ke to accentuate the ,

drawin g of the acti ons and the structure more cleanl y and boldl y .

What y ou wri te about feeli ng that you are now o n a roa d and not o n li t tle ,

byp aths and crossroads i s very true i n my opi ni on I have a si m il ar feeling

, , .

myself because duri ng the past year I have been concentrating on figures even
,

more than I used to .

If you beli eve that I have eyes t o see wi th then y ou may be s ure that there ,
\
most certainl y i s senti ment i n your figures ; what you are doi ng i s h eal th y an d
vi rile— never doubt yourself i n thi s respect and for the very reason that you do,

not doubt dash i t on wi thout hesi tat i on

, .

I think the s t udi es of the heads of those b lind fellows are superb .

It must not surpri se you that some of my figures are so enti rely different from
the ones that I someti mes make after the model I very sel dom work from .

memory— I hardl y practi ce that method But I am getting so used to bei ng .

confronted i mmedi ately wi th nature that I am keeping my personal feelings

unfettered to a far greater extent than i n the begi nni ng— and I get l ess di zzy
a nd I a m more m s el eca us e I a m c on ronted wi tb na ture If I have the good
y fj us t b f .

fortune to find a model who i s qui et and collected then I draw i t repeatedly , ,

and then at last a s t udy t urns up whi ch i s di fferent from an ordinary s tudy
I mean more characteri sti c more deep l y felt ,
.

And yet i t w a s made under the same ci rcumstances as the more wooden less ,

deeply felt studi es that preceded i t Thi s mann er of worki ng i s as good as any
.

— “ ”
other just a li ttle more easily un derstood li ke these Li ttl e Wi nter Gardens
— .

You sai d i t yourself— they are felt ; all ri ght but that w a s not acci dental ; I drew
,

them over and over again before and that feeling was not i n them then After
, .

that— after the i ron like ones— came these and al so that cl umsiness and awkward
-
,

ness H ow does i t bapp en tba t I exp ress s ometbing wi tb tba t ? —because the thi ng has
.

shaped i tself i n my mind before I start on i t .

The first ones are absolutely rep ul si ve t o others I say thi s t o make y ou under .

1 48
 Another thi ng I must tell you i s that th e other day I got hol d of a marvel ous
o l d Scheveni ngen woman s cape as well as a cap but the cap i s not so beauti ful
’
, .

And I shall al so get a fi sherman s jacket wi th a hi gh turned up collar an d short

’
-

s leeves I am immensely eager to see your charcoal drawi ng ; perhaps when my

.

brother comes here— I don t know exactl y when— I sha ll go wi th hi m to Bra

’

b ant and then as w e are passi ng thr ough Utrecht and if I can manage i t I shall
, , , ,

l ook i n on you ; but at any rate I shall try to c ome t o y ou wi thout that for I am ,

very curi ous to see i t .

As for y ou try to keep your promi se t o come to The Hagu e for you will
, ,

have to come here anyway for that weddi ng party you know If my recent luck , .

wi th finding model s hol ds out I shall certai nl y make some more large dr awings
,

thi s summer .

I shoul d li ke to go on working on those I have in hand so as t o rai s e them t o ,

a hi gh standard agai nst the t ime my brother comes here .

In H arp ers Weekly I c ame across a very characteri sti c thi ng after S medl ey the ,
“ ”
black figure of a man on a whi te sandy road He call s i t A Generati on A g o .

the figure i s some ki nd of clergyman and perhaps I coul d des cri be my i mpressi on
,

of i t thus— Y e s that s what my grandfather l ooked li ke I wi sh I had done i t In

’
. .
,

the same i ssues after Abbey tw o gi rl s standing fishi ng on the s i de of a di tch wi th

, ,

poll ard wi ll ows Both of these things i n H arp ers are onl y sketches i n a revi ew
.
'
.

of an exhi bi ti on .

I shoul d li ke to send you sketches of my drawi ngs but I don t have mu ch ,

’

tim e t o spare .

I asked permi ssi on to make drawi ngs in the old men s an d ol d women s ’ ’

alm shouse here but they refused again Oh well there are more almshouses in
,
.
,

the vill ages near by But here I kn ew some fellows tha t I have used as model s
. .

But I went there t o have a l ook and among other thi ngs I saw a littl e old gardener
,

near an old twi sted apple tr ee very characteri sti c , .

Well here comes my model Adi eu send the H arp ers if you can spare them
, .
, ,

wi th a handshake ,

Ever yours Vincen t ,

29 9
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 1 0 J ul y 1 8 8 3 ,

I had already been on the l ookout for your letter an d was glad when it came .

M any thanks .

What you wri te about the exhi bi ti on i s very i nteres t ing How was that o ld .

pi cture by Dupr e whi ch you li ked so much ? I shoul d l ove to hear more about
i t Your descri pti on of the Troyon and th e Rousseau for instance i s stri ki ng
.
, ,

enough for me to get an i dea of the manner in whi c h they are done About the .

“ ”
time of Troyon s Pré Commun al [Common] more pi ctures had a certain
’

senti ment whi ch I shoul d li ke to call D ra ma ti c though there are n o figures i n ,

them Speaking of a J ul es Dupr e (the l arge on e i n the M esdag coll ec ti on) Is

.
,
“ ”
rael s expressed i t exa ctly It i s li ke a fi g ure pai ntin g It i s thi s dramati c touch
,
-
.

“
whi ch causes on e to find a je n e sai s quoi whi ch makes on e feel what you say It ,
 expresses that moment and that spot in nature where one can go alone wi thout
company .

Ruy sda el s B ui sson al so ha s i t very strongl y

’
.

Don t y ou remember havi ng seen o ld Jaques i n whi ch i t w as somewhat ex

’

a erat e d perhaps a li t tle sensati onal— no not that after all — whi ch o n e admi red
gg , ,

for that very reason— though they were not ranked among th e best Jaques by
the general publi c ?
Speakin g of Rousseau do you know the Rousseau i n the Ri chard Wall ace ,
“
Co ll ecti on a Li si ere de Boi s [The edge of the forest] in autumn after the rai n
, ,

w th a gli mpse of a w de stretch of swampy meadows in whi ch cows are grazing

i i —
,

t h e foreground qui te i n tone ? To me i t i s one o f hi s fi n e st — very li ke the on e wi th

t h e red sun i n the Luxembour g The dramat i c effe ct i n those p i ctures i s a thin g .

“
whi ch more than any thin g el se i n art makes on e understan d un coi n de la
, ,
”
nature vu a travers d un tempérament [a nook of nature seen through (t h e’

“ ”
medi um of) a temperament] and l homm e aj outé a la nat ure [man added to ,
’

nature] ; and on e finds th e same thi ng for i nstan ce in portrai ts by Rembrandt It , ,

.

i s more than nature i t i s a kind of revel ati on And i t seems to me that on e must
, .

feel all respect for i t and n ot j oin those who often say that i t i s exaggerated o r
,

mere mann eri sm .

Oh I must tell you Theo that De Bock has been to see me— it was a rather
, , ,

pleasant vi si t Yesterday Brei tner appeared— I hadn t in the l east expected hi m

.
’

because he seemed to have broken ofl relati ons entirel y I was very glad because .
,

at the very beginni ng of my stay here he was very pl easant t o g o out wi th I do .

not mean in the coun try but in the ci ty i tself t o l ook for characters an d i nt ri gui ng
, ,

model s .

There i sn t a si ngl e person in The Hague wi t h whom I ever di d thi s wi thi n

’

the ci ty M ost of the pain ters think the ci ty ugly and won t l ook at anythi ng An d
.
’
.

yet the ci ty i s very beautiful t oo somet imes i sn t i t For instance yesterday ,

’
,

i n the Noordeinde I s aw workmen busy pullin g down that part opposi te the
p al ace men all whi te wi th li me dust wi th carts an d horses It was c ool wi ndy
, ,
.

weather the sky w as gray and the spot w as very charac teri sti c
, ,
.

Last year I met Van der Velden one eveni ng at De Bock s when w e were ’

there t o see De Bock s etchi ngs I told you then that he made a very favorabl e
’
.

impressi on on me though he spoke very li ttl e and was n ot very so ci abl e that
,

evenin g But my i mmediate i mpre ssi on of hi m wa s that he i s a soli d seri ous

.
—

p ai nter He has a square Gothi c head wi th a keen sharp and yet gentle l ook
.
, , , ,

s trongl y buil t in fact qui te the opposi te of Breitner and De Bock There i s
, .

somethi ng man l y an d powerful in hi m even though he doesn t say or do any ,

’

thi ng i n parti cul ar .

I hope t o come into cl oser contact wi th hi m someday— perha ps through Van

der Weele .

Last Sun day I was at Van der W eele s ; he w as worki ng on a p i cture of cows ’

by a creek for whi ch he has some seri ous s t udi es He i s now goi ng to the country
, .

fo r some tim e .

For a change thi s week I have done a few water col ors out of doors a li ttl e
,
- -
,

1 51
cornfield and a small part of a potato fiel d and I ha ve al so drawn a few landscapes ,

as studi es for the surroundi ngs of a few figur e drawi ng s I am planni ng These .

are very hasty sketches of those figure drawi ngs The topmost i s the burni n g of .

weeds ; the other one the ret urn from the potato fiel d
,
.

I seri ous ly intend to pain t a number of figure studi es especi all y for the sake of
workin g up the drawings more thoroughl y .

What deli ghtful news that you i ntend to come t o Holl and in the begi nni ng
of August for a s I ve tol d you often enough I l ong very much for your
, ,
’
,

comi ng .

I am rather anxi ous to hear from you to what extent your woman i s versed i n
art matters At any rate I i magi ne a good man y thi ngs will have to be done and
.
,

culti vated in thi s respect Tant mi eux At all events I hope sh e will get some
. .

sort of scrapbook for whi ch I expect y ou will have some i tems among the smaller
,

drawi ngs N ow and then there are pages in the sketchbook whi ch though rough
.
, ,

are nevertheless more or less stri king I am goi ng to make a small coll e cti on of .

them agai nst the ti me of her arrival .

Well I talked i t over wi th De Bock again and I can l eave my thin gs at hi s

, ,

house when I go to make studi es i n S cheveni ngen I al so hope to g o and see .

Blommers someday soon I spoke to D e Bock about hi s p i cture at the Sal on

.
,
“ ”
November the rep roducti on of whi ch I li ked so much i n the catal ogue He
‘

.
,

must sti ll have a sketch of i t and I shoul d li ke to see i t , .

A s to my eventuall y goi ng to London for a shorter o r l onger ti me I qui te ,

agree wi th you that there woul d be more chance of selli ng my work and I al so ,

thi nk that I coul d l earn a great deal if I came i nto conta ct wi th some arti sts there .

And I can assure you I shoul d have no l ack of subj ects there What beauti ful
,
.

thi n gs one coul d make at those dockyards on the Th ames ! Well we must tal k ,

all these thi ngs over when y o u are here I hope y ou won t be i n t o o great a hurry :
’

there are so many things w

.

e must di scuss .

I wi sh I coul d g o to Brabant again and make some studi es in the autumn .

Above all I should li ke to make studi es of a Brabant pl ow of a weaver and

, , ,

of that vill age churchyard at Nuenen But again i t will all cost money .
, .

Well good by Once more thanks for your l etter and the encl osure Have a
,
-
:
, .

good ti me Do you i ntend t o bri ng the woman wi th y ou t o Holland or don t

.
,
’

you thi nk thi s advi sabl e yet ? I shoul d li ke i t if y ou di d .

Adi eu boy Wi th a handshake

, .
,
Yours sincerel y Vi ncent ,

I add a few more lin es t o tell you some parti cul ars about Brei tner t oo as I have ,

j ust come home from hi s temporary studi o (y ou know he i s a ctually livi ng i n

Rotterdam at present) D o you kn ow Vi erge or Urabi ett e the draftsmen for
.
,

L Illustra ti on ? Well at ti mes Brei t ner reminds me o f Vi erge but very sel dom
’
.
, ,

W hen hi s work i s good i t l ooks li ke somethin g hasty by Vi erge ; but when

,

h i s— that i s Brei tner s— work i s too hasty o r unfini shed t hen i t i s hard to say
’
, ,

what i t looks li ke : i t doesn t l ook li ke anythi ng— except strips of faded o l d wall
’

paper of I don t know what peri od but at all events a very strange kind and
’

probab ly very anci ent Just i magine I entered the small atti c he has ren ted at
.
,

1 52
of it He i s intelli gent enough but he obstinately tri es to reali ze a predil ecti on for
.
,

eccentri ci ty .

Well I am starting i n Schevenin gen t hi s week If you coul d have sent a li ttl e
, .

extra I mi ght have bought some new painti ng materi al

,
.

I am goi ng to have a few dr awi ng s photographed i n cabinet s i ze or a li ttl e

larger (to see how they will l ook on a smaller scale) by a photographer who ha s
photographed dr awi ngs by Meul en D u c hatel and Z il c ken : He charges 7 5 cents , ,
“ ” “ ”
whi ch i sn t much i s i t ? I will begi n wi th The Sower and The Peat Cutters
’
, ,

the on e wi th many small figures the other wi th a single l arge one If they turn , .

o u t well I coul d always send you photos of the drawi ngs I have made s o that
, ,

you coul d show them to Buhot for i nstance to see if he coul d find a buyer , , .

They c ould reproduce those that were accepted from the ori gi nal drawi ngs o r ,

I coul d copy them onto thei r paper .

Once more good b y Theo Good lu ck Wri te again soon I am havi ng those
-
, . . .

photos taken because we must work Buhot for all he i s worth I must try to .

earn some money i n order to be ab le to start new thin gs and to try my hand at ,

pai ntin g too for I am ri ght in the mood for i t

, .

After all I don t thi nk i t ni ce of C M never to have answered a syll abl e to

’
.
, .

my l etter in whi ch I took the troubl e t o encl ose two sketches of the drawin gs
,

i n questi on Nor i s i t ni ce of Tersteeg not to come to s ee me s i nce for my part

.
,

I tri ed t o make i t up It i s nonsense to say he i s too busy for th at i sn t the reason ;

.
,
’

once a year he mi ght find ti me to come .

Mauve h as n o t only quarreled wi th me but he has al so quarrel ed wi th Z il c ken , ,

for i nstance Not l ong ago I saw Z ilc ken s et chi ngs and just now at the photog
.
’
,

ra h er s I saw photos of Z il c ken s dr awi ngs Leavi ng myself o u t of the questi on

’ ’

p .
,

I declare I don t understand what Mauve has agai nst Z il c ken : hi s drawi ngs are
’

good— not at all bad— but Mauve i s capri ci ous -

.

I add another half page to talk a li ttle about Brabant Among the studi es of
-
.

typ es from the peop le I ve done there are several whi ch have what many woul d
’

c al l a deci dedl y old fashi oned charact er al so i n th e concepti on for i nstance a

-
, ,

di gger wh o looks more li ke those one sees on the wo oden ha s—reli efs of the Gothi c
chur ch pews than li ke a present day drawi ng Very often I thi nk of the Brabant -
.

types what a strong sympathy I feel for them

, .

The thi ng whi ch I should i mmensely li ke to make whi ch I feel I c an make , ,

provi ded there i s the i nclinati on for pati ent posi ng i s the figure of Father on a ,

path through the heath ; the figure austerely drawn wi th character and I repeat , , ,

a stretch of brown heath wi th a narrow whi te sandy path runni ng through i t ,

and a sky just deli cately ti nged yet brushed wi th some passi on Then Father an d , .

Mother arm i n arm— in an autumn landscape or agai nst a li ttle row of beeches
wi th wi thered l eaves .

I should also li ke to dr aw Father s figure when I draw a peas ant s funeral ’ ’

whi ch I certainly i ntend to do though i t woul d be very difficult Le avin g the , .

di fference o f reli gi ous op ini on ou t of the questi on the figure of a poor country ,

clergyman i s to me in type and character one of the most s y mpatheti c s i ghts

, ,

I know and I shoul d not be true to myself if I di dn t try i t someday

,
’
.

I 54
 When y ou come I should li ke to consult you about how to arrange su ch a
,

trip t o Brabant W h en y ou see my drawings of almshouse men you wi ll under

!
,

stand my i ntent i ons and what I want .

W hat I want to make i s a drawi ng whi ch will not be exactly understood by

everyone the figure essenti ally s i mp lified wi th i ntenti onal negle ct of those detai l s
whi ch do not belong to the real character an d are onl y acci dental For i t must , .

n o t be a portrai t of Father but rather the typ e o f a poor village clergyman on

,

hi s w ay to vi s i t the si ck In the same way the coupl e arm in arm against th e li t tl e

.
,

row of beeches must be th e types of a man and a woman who have grown o l d
together i n l ove and fai th rather than the portrai ts of Father and Mother— though
I hope they will pose for i t But they must know that i t i s a seri ous thi ng whi ch
.
,

perhaps they woul d not see of thei r ow n accord if the li keness were not exact .

And they ought t o be more or l ess prepared for i t that in case they shoul d have
to pose they shoul d have to do so i n the atti t ude I shall sel ect and not alter i t
, , .

Well that will come all ri ght and I do not work so s l owly that i t need be very
, ,

troub lesome to them And I for my part would l ove to d o i t

. .

Si mpli fy i ng the figures i s somethi ng whi ch greatly preoccupi es me Well you .

,

wi ll see i t for ourself in the figures I show y ou If I g o t o Brabant i t certainl y .

,

must not be a ki nd of pl easur e trip but a short ti me of very hard and qui ck as
,
-

li ghtnin g work Speaki ng of the express i on of a figure more and more I come t o
.
,

the conclusi on that i t i s not so much i n the features as i n the whol e atti t ude There .

are few thi ngs I hate more than most of the academi cal t étes d exp ressi on I prefer ’
.

“ ”
to l ook at the ni ght by Mi chel angel o or a drunkard by Daumi er or the di ggers , ,
“
by Millet and that well known large woodcut of hi s The Shepherdess or an
,
-
, ,

o l d horse by M auve et c ,
.

3 06
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 2 7 o r 2 8 Jul y 1 8 8 3 ,

T o my surpri se I recei ved another l etter from you yesterday wi th a b ank note
,

enclosed I needn t tell y ou how glad I was an d I thank you hearti ly for i t But
.
’

, .

they refused to change the bank note because i t was too torn However t hey gave .
,

me 1 0 gui lders on i t and i t has been forwarded to Pari s If the bank refuses i t
, .
,

I ll have to pay bac k the 1 0 guil de rs — for whi ch I had to si gn a recei pt— but if
’

the bank changes i t I ll get the rest later

,
’
.

In your l etter you wri te about the confli ct one someti mes has about whether
o n e i s respons i b l e fo r the unfortunate res ul ts of a good a c ti on— if i t woul dn t be
’

bet ter to act in a way one knows to be wrong but whi ch will keep one from ,

getti ng hurt— I know that confli ct too If we foll ow o ur consci ence— for me .

consci ence i s the hi ghest reason— the reason wi thi n the reason— we are tempted
to t hi nk w e have acted wrongl y or fooli shly we are espec iall y upset when more
superfici al peopl e j eer at u s because they are so much wiser and are so mu ch
,

more successful Y es then i t i s someti mes di ffi cul t and when ci rcumstances occu r
.
, ,

whi ch make the di ffi c ul ties ri se li ke a ti dal wave one i s alm ost sorry t o be the ,

way one i s and woul d wi sh t o have been l ess consci enti ous
, .

I hope you don t thi nk of me a s other than havi ng that same i nner confli ct
’
cont inually and often very ti red brains too and i n many cases not knowi ng how
, ,

to deci de questi ons of ri ght and wrong .

When I am at work I have an unli mi ted fai th in art and the convi cti on that I
,

shall succeed ; but in days of physi cal prostrati on o r when there are financi a l
obstacles I feel that faith di mini shi ng and a doubt overwhelms me whi ch I try to
, , ,

conquer by settin g to work again at once It s the same thin g wi th the woman and .
’

the chi l dren ; when I am wi th them and the li ttl e boy comes creeping toward me
o n all fo u rs crowi ng for jo y I haven t the s li ghtest doubt tha t everythi ng i s ri ght
’

, , .

H ow often th at chi l d ha s comforted me .

When I m home he can t l eave me al one for a moment ; when I m at work

’
,
’ ’

he pull s at my coat or clim bs up against my le g till I take hi m on my lap In the .

studi o he crows at everythi ng p lays qui etl y wi th a bi t of paper a bi t of string

, , , ,

o r an o l d brush ; the chil d i s always happy If he keeps thi s di sposi ti on a ll h i s .

li fe he wi ll be cleverer than I
,
.

Now what shall we say about the fact that at ti mes on e feel s there i s a certai n
fatali ty whi ch makes the good turn out wrong and the bad turn out well .

I thin k one may consi der these thoughts partl y the consequence of over
wrought nerves and if one has them on e must not thi nk i t one s duty to beli eve
, ,
’

that thing s are really as gl oomy as one supposes ; if one di d i t woul d make 7
,

on e mad On the contrary i t i s reasonab l e to strengthen one s phys i que then an d

’
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, ,

l ater set t o work li ke a man ; and even if that doesn t help one mus t s ti ll a lway s
’
,

conti nue to use tbose two means and consi der such mel an chol y fatal Then in the l ong
,
.

run one wi ll feel ones energy i ncrease and will bear up against the troubles , .

Mysteri es remai n and sorrow or melancholy but that eternal negati ve i s

, ,

balanced by the p osi ti ve work whi ch i s thus achi eved after all If life were as .

si mp le and thi ngs a s li ttle compli cated as a goody goody s story or the hackneyed
,
-
’

sermon of the average clergyman i t woul dn t be so very difli c u lt to make one s ,

’ ’

way But i t i sn t a n d thi ngs are infini tely more compli cated and ri ght and wrong
.
’
, ,

do not exi st separatel y any more than b lack and whi te do in natur e One must
, .

be careful n ot to fall back on opaque black— on deliberate wrong— and even

more one has to avoi d the whi te as of a whi tewashed w all whi ch means hypoc ri sy
, ,

and everlasti ng Phari sai sm He who courageous ly tri es to foll ow hi s reason an d

.
,

especi ally hi s consci ence the very hi ghest reason— the subli me reason— and tri es
,

to stay honest can hardly lose hi s w

, a
y enti rel y I thi nk though he will not get , ,

off wi thout mi stakes rebuffs an d moments of weakness an d will not a chi eve
, ,

perfecti on .

And I thi nk it will gi ve hi m a deep feeli ng of pi ty and benevolence broader ,

than the narrow mi ndedness whi ch i s the cl ergyman s special ty

-
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.

One may n ot be consi dered of the s li ghtest i mportance by ei ther of the parties ,

and one may be counted among the medi ocri ti es and feel li ke a thoroughly
ordinary man among ordi nary peop le — for all that on e will obtai n a rather steady
sereni ty in the end One will succeed i n devel oping one s cons ci ence to such a
.
’

point that i t becomes the voi ce of a better and hi gher self of whi ch the ordinary ,

self i s the servant And one wi ll n ot ret ur n t o skepti ci sm or cyni ci sm an d not

.
,

belong among the foul scoffers But not at once I thi nk i t a beautiful sayi ng of . .

1 56
3 16
Dear brother ,
The Hague 2 1 Aug ust 1 8 8 3 ,

Your l etter came today and comforted me in many ways My thanks for speaki ng .

to C M —I wi ll wri te to thank hi m myself and send hi m a few studi es but

'

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.
, ,

fo r the rest— espec i all y about the wom a n— notbi ng One more thi ng however .
, .

One of these days I shall wri te you a letter ; I shall wri te i t carefully and try t o
make i t short but say everythi ng I think necessary You mi ght keep that l etter
,
.

then s o that in case you shoul d meet somebody who mi ght be i nduced to buy
,

some of my studi es you coul d tell that man my o wn thoughts and intenti on s
,

exactly My thought in thi s bei ng especi ally : one of my drawi ngs taken separately
.

wi ll never give complete sati sfacti on i n the l ong run but a number of studi es , ,

however different in detail they may be wi ll nevertheless compl ement ea ch other

, .

In short for the art l overs themselves it i s in my opin i on bet ter to take a number
,

of them t han just a singl e on e As to the money I woul d rather deal wi th a n art
.
,

l over who buys cheap ly but regul arl y than wi th on e w h o buys only once even if ,

he pai d well then .

Perhaps you might ei ther i n your own words or in mi ne propose to C M

, , . .

what we di scussed l ast year ; the resul t mi ght be that because of my expressi ng
myself more clearly he might like the i dea better
, .

Well more about thi s later on

, .

Now I still have t o tell y ou of a vi si t from Rapp ard wh o saw the large drawin gs ,

and spoke warml y of them Wh en I tol d hi m that I fel t rath er weak and that I
.
,

thought maki ng the drawings mi ght have had somethi ng to do with i t he di d ,

not seem to doubt the probabili ty .

We spoke about Drenthe He i s goin g there again one of these days an d h e wi ll go

.
,

even farther namely to the fishing vi llages on Terschelli ng Personally I shoul d

,
.

l ove to go t o Drenthe especi all y after that vi s i t from Rapp ar d S o much so t hat
,
.

I have al ready i nqui red if it would be easy or diffi cult to move the furni t ure there .

The furni t ure can be sent by Van G en d Loos even the stove and the bed , ,

by takin g half a van ; then few or n o packin g cases are needed .

Of course I am thinki ng of i t because though those things of mi ne are of ,

li ttl e or no val ue i t woul d be very expens i ve to buy them all over agai n
,
.

My p lan woul d be t o g o wi th the woman and the chi l dr en .

Of course there will be the moving and traveling expenses .

Once there I think I would remai n permanently in that country of heath and
,

moorland where more and more pai nters are settling down so t hat perhaps
, , ,

after a ti me a ki nd of colony of pai nters mi ght spring up Li fe i s so mu ch cheaper

, .

there that I thi nk I should economize at l east 1 5 0 or 2 00 g uil ders a y ear especially ,

on rent .

And having pai d my debts wi th the money from C M I thi nk i t mi ght be . .

,

ood t o a ct qui ckl y

g .

In fact I think i t woul d be superfluous for me to go there first to gather

,

i nformati on .

I have a li ttl e map of Drenthe in front of me On i t I see a lar ge whi te spot .

wi thout any Vi ll age names ; i t i s cros sed by the Hoogeveen canal whi ch ends ,

1 58
suddenl y an d I see the words peat fiel ds on the map written across the blank
, ,

space Arou nd that blank space a num ber of black dots wi th names of vill ages
.
, ,

a red one for the lit tle town of Hoogeveen .

Near the border a lake— the Black Lake —a name full of suggesti ons I i magin e
, ,

a ll ki nds of workmen dredgi ng o n i t s banks .

Some of the names of the vi llages— li ke Ea sthi ll s Eri ca— a re al so suggesti ve , .

Well tell me your opi ni on about the poss i bili ty of a qui ck move to that regi on
, .

If i t happened I shoul d begin by acting on Rap p ard s in formati on based on

,
’

hi s experi ences there then I woul d foll ow hi s advi ce to go more to that se cluded
,

part of whi ch I tol d you how i t l ooked on the map .

I am n o w tryi ng t o get a more detail ed map of Drenthe i ndi cating the di fferent ,

terrains .

We shoul d have an i mmedi ate cash outlay but i n the l ong run we shoul d ,

economi ze a lot I thi nk But more i mportant I thi nk I shoul d be stayi ng in a

,
.
, ,

country whi ch woul d certainl y sti mul ate me and make my mi nd recepti ve to all
that i s seri ous so that my work can onl y i mprove by i t
,
.

Wh at woul d the expenses be ? I sha ll figure that out more exa ctly for y ou one
of these days .

I suppose the whol e family will be counted as 2 5 persons but they c an demand ,

the fare for thr ee .

The railway expenses are n ot given i n the ti metabl e but I suppose i t will be ,

under 1 0 guil ders a head .

Accordi ng t o Van G en d Loos half a van to Assen i s 2 0 guilders But on e

,
.

woul d have t o spend a few days i n an i nn whi ch would cost a guilder per person ,

per day .

Here the rent especi ally and the hi gh cost of li vi ng too are murder And the
, , ,
.

heavi est expense the one for model s woul d be di fferent over there : ei ther I
, ,

shoul d have more and bet ter model s for the same money or just as many for ,

l ess money .

I suppose if I settled down there Rap p ard woul d vi si t that same nei ghborhood
,
’
even more often than now so that we coul d profit a li ttl e from each other s
company As I told y ou i t w a s especi al ly si nce hi s vi s i t and our talki ng about
,

.
,

the work that my mind became fix ed on Drenthe .

Of course if i t must be I can al so l ook for a cheaper house here and I thi nk
, ,

i t beauti ful here t o o but yet— I shoul d li ke to be al one wi th nature for a ti me

,

far away from the ci ty .

I can hardl y tell y ou h ow pl eased I am wi th what you say about my work ,

I am glad you are of the opini on that i t woul d be the wrong poli cy to u ndertake
some outs i de j ob at the
Thi s l eads to half measures whi ch make on e half a man , .

“
The most i mportant thi ng i s t o get that quel que chose de male [somethi ng
manl y] more a nd more into my work .

I don t beli eve y ou will need t o take back that you noti ce somethi ng of i t
’

alr eady espe cially if I regain my strength

, .

It i s very troublesome that my stomach i s upset by even the most ordi nary
1 59
food and if I foll owed my i nclin ati on I should onl y care t o eat— sour appl es
, , .

I don t i ndul ge myself i n thi s but my stomach i s weaker than i t ought to be

’
, .

I expect another l etter from Rapp ard about Drenthe At all events I will .

wri te you agai n soon al so about another pl an of staying qui etly here when
, ,

I have had i nformati on from my l andl ord about the house at Voorburg whi ch ,

he says I can perhaps get cheaply .

Adi eu agai n many thanks

,
Yours sincerely Vi ncent
.
,

3 19
Dear Theo ,
The Hague 4 September 1 8 8 3 ,

I recei ved your letter just now comi ng home from the dunes behi nd Loosduin en
, ,

wet thr ough for I had been sit ti ng in the rain for about three hours on a spot
,

where everythi ng was remini scent of Ruysdael D aubi gny or J ul es Dupr e I came ,
.

back wi th a study of twi sted gnarled littl e trees and another one of a farm after
, ,

the rai n Everyt hi ng i s already bronze col ored Everyt hi ng i s what o ne c an see
.
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i n nat ure onl y during thi s ti me o f the year o r when on e l ooks at some p i c t ures ,

by Dupre for in stan ce ; and i t i s so beauti ful that one s i maginati on al ways fall s
,
’

short of i t .

You wri te about your work that Sunday i n Vi ll e d A vray ; at the same moment ’

on the same day I too was walki ng al one and I too want to tell you somethi ng
, ,
.

about that walk when our thoughts probab ly met again As I wrote you I had
,
.
,

spoken to th e woman— w e felt that i n the fut ure i t woul d be i mpossi bl e for us
to stay together nay that w e shou ld make each other unhappy yet we both felt
, , ,

h o w strongly we are attached to each other— a n d then I went far bu t i nto the
country to have a tal k wi th nat ure Well I wal ked to Voorburg and from there .
,

to Lei den dam You know the scenery there sp lendi d trees maj es ti c and
.
, ,

serene ri ght next to horri ble green toy summerhouses and all the absurdi t i es
,

the heavy fancy of reti red Dutchmen c an i nvent in the form of flower p lots ,

arbors and porches Most of the houses very ugly ; some however old an d
.
, ,

stately Now at that very moment hi gh over the meadows boundl ess as the
.
, ,

desert one mass of clouds after the other came sai li ng on and the wi nd fir st
, ,

struck the row of country houses wi th their clumps of trees on the other s i de of
the canal bordered by the black cinder path Those trees were superb ; t here w as
, .

drama in each fig ure I was goi ng to say but I mean in ea ch tree But the scene ,
.

as a whole was even more beautiful than those scourged trees vi ewed apart ,

because at that moment even those absurd little summerhouses assumed a curi ous
character dripping wi th rai n an d di sheveled
, .

It seemed to me an i mage of how even a man of absurd deportment and convem

ti ons or another on e full of eccentri ci ti es and capri ce may become a dramati c
, ,

figure of a peculiar typ e if onl y real sorrow stri kes hi m— a cal ami t y befall s hi m
,
.

And the thought cr ossed my mi nd how at moments when today s deteri orati ng ,
’

so ci ety i s soci ety seen against the li ght of a renewal i t stands o ut as a l arge , ,

gl oomy s ilhouette .

Yes for me the drama of storm in nature t he drama of sorrow i n life i s the
, , , ,

most i mpress ive .

 ou w i l l approve of thi s i dea ; that woul d comfort me for in Engla nd they are
y ,

very seri ous once they start somethi ng : whoever cat ches the publi c s fancy i n ’

England finds fai thful fri ends there Take for i nstance Ed Fr ere and Henri ette
.
, ,
.

Browne who remain as i nteresti ng n ow as they were when thei r work wa s fi rst
,

shown there .

But to have suc cess on e must gi ve good work and be sure of keepin g up t o
, ,

the standard of what one has se t .

I w a s glad to see from your l etter that you approve o f the D renthe p la n ;
that s enough for me the advantages i t will bring wi ll be apparent later For me
’
, .
,

i t i s di rectl y conne cted wi th my trying to become a member of the Soci ety of

Draftsmen and then going to England— because I know for sure that if I succeed
,

i n putti ng some senti ment i nto the subj e cts out there they wi ll find sympathy i n ,

England .

Well I must carry out the D renthe p lan be it wi th more or l ess money A s
, ,
.

soon as I can pay the fare I shall go even if I have only a small supp ly of pai nt ing
, ,

materi al s .

Because the moment of the autumn effects i s already there and I must cat ch ,

some of them .

But I hope I shall be able to leave somethi ng behind for the woman to help ,

her thr ough the first weeks But as soon as I can go I wi ll .

, .

I tell you that I i ntend to help the woman a li ttl e at first ; I may not do mu ch ,

nor ca n I but I menti on thi s onl y t o you

, .

And you may depend on i t that whatever may happen to her I nei ther can n or ,

ever will live wi th her again for she i s i ncapabl e of doing what sh e ought t o do
,
.

I al so dropped Father a li ne t o tell hi m th at I had parted comp any wi th her ,

but that for all that my letter t o Father about my continuing to be true t o her
,

and bein g willi ng to marry her remai ned a fact And another fact i s that Father .

avoi ded the i ssue at the ti me and did n ot reply to the fundamental questi on
,
.

And I do not know how i t wi ll appear to me in later years — for i nstance whether ,

thi s mi ght not have been better than leavi ng her n ow we are t oo cl ose to the facts
to get the ri ght vi ew of the basi c i nterrelati on and consequences of all the things .

I do bop e everythi ng will come out ri ght but her fut ur e as well as my o wn ,

l ooks gl oomy I am i nclined to beli eve there i s some latent good in her stil l but
.
,

the trouble i s i t oug bt to ba ve been roused already Now as she has nobody to
, .
,

rel y on i t will be more di fficul t for her to follow her good i mp ul ses
, .

N ow she never cared to li sten ; tben she wi ll l ong t o speak wi th me an d ,

I shall no l onger be there As l ong as she w as wi th me she had no other standard

.
,

of compari son and in other surroun din gs she will remember thi ngs whi ch she
,

does n ot care for and whi ch she di d not pay attenti on t o N ow by contrast she .

will be remi nded of them .

Someti mes i t i s an angui shi ng thought that we both feel i t i s i mposs ible fo r,

us t o struggle along together in the fut ure an d yet are s o mu ch attached to ea c h ,

other Of late she has been more trustful wi th me than usual and she has refu sed
.
,

t o p lay some ugl y tri cks whi ch her mo ther had i nsti gated Th i ngs of the ki nd .

y o u menti oned when you were here of starting a row and the li ke ,
.

1 62
 Y ou there i s a seed of more seri ousness in her if that mi ght onl y stay
see , .

I wi sh she coul d marry and when I tell you I am keep ing an eye on her i t i s
, ,

because I advi sed her to do tba t .

If she c oul d onl y find a man who was not altogether bad that woul d do ; the ,

foun dati on that was lai d here woul d then devel op namely that of a more domesti c , ,

s i mpler di sposi ti on ; and if sh e sti cks to that i n the future I need not l eave her ,

qui te to her fate for then I at l east remai n her fri end and a true one t oo
, , .

Wri te soon agai n and beli eve me ,

Yours s i ncerely Vi ncent ,

3 24
Dear Theo ,
Drenthe September November 1 8 8 3 ,
-

Now that I have been here a few days and have stroll ed about in different ,

di rect i ons I can tell you more about the nei ghborhood where I have taken up
,

my quarters I encl ose a li ttle scratch of my first pai nted study i n these parts :
.

a cottage on the heath A cottage made onl y of sods of turf and sti cks I al so
. .

saw the i nteri or of about si x of that ki nd and more studi es of them wil l fo ll ow ,
.

I cannot express how thei r outsi de l ooks i n the t wili ght o r just after sunset , ,

more di re ctly than by remi ndin g you of a certain p icture by Jul es Dupr e whi ch ,

I thi nk bel ongs to Mesd ag — two cottages thei r moss covered roofs standi ng o ut ,
-

very deep in tone against a hazy dusky eveni ng sky ,

.

Tba t s tbe way i t is bere Insi de those cottages dark as a cave i t i s very beautiful
’
.
.
, ,

I find what I observe here shown most reali sti cally i n drawings by certai n Engli sh
arti sts w h o worked on the moors i n Ireland .

A lb N euhuy s gi ves the same but a li tt le more poeti call y than i t first stri kes
.
,

the eye in reali ty ; but he never makes a thing that i s not basi cally true .

I saw sp lendi d figures out of doors— stri ki ng be cause of a sober quali ty A

- -
.

woman s breast for i nstance has that heavi ng movement whi ch i s qui te the
’

, ,

opposi te of voluptuousness and someti mes when the creat ure i s o ld o r si ckly
, , ,

arouses pi ty or respe ct And the melancholy whi ch thi ngs in general have here i s
.

o f a healthy kind li ke i n Mi ll et s drawi n gs Fortunatel y the men here wear short

’
.
, ,

breeches whi ch show the shape of the l eg and make the movements more
,

ex re s sw e
p .

In order to give you an i dea of one of the man y thi ngs whi ch gave me new
sensati ons and feeli ngs on my excursi ons I wil l tell you that here one may see ,

peat barges i n the very mi ddle of tbe bea tb dr awn by men women chi l dren whi te , , , ,

or b lack horses just as i n Holland for i nstance on the Ri j swi j k towpath

, , ,
.

The heath i s spl endi d I saw sheep fol ds and shepherds more beautiful than
.

those i n Brabant .

The ovens are more or less li ke the one i n Th Rousseau s Four Communal .
’
.

They stand in the gardens under ol d appl e trees or between cabbages and cel ery .

In many pl aces there are beehi ves t o o In many faces one can see that the peop l e .

are not i n good heal th ; i t s not exa ctly healthy here I beli eve ; perhaps because
’

o f fou l dr i nki ng water I have seen a few seventeen—year—old gir l s or even

.
,

younger w h o l ook very fresh and beauti ful but generally they l ook faded at a
, ,
very early age But thi s does not interfere with the great nobl e aspe ct of some
.

figures whi ch close up are already very faded

, , ,
.

In th e vi ll age there are four or fi ve canal s to Meppel to Dedemsvaart t o , ,

Coevorden t o Holl ands Vel d ,

.

As one goes down them one occasi onall y sees a curi ous ol d mill farmyard
, , ,

wharf or l ock and always the bustl e of peat barges

, ,
.

To gi ve you an i dea of the quai ntness of these parts— whi l e I was p ai n tin g
that cottage two sheep and a goat came t o browse on tbe roof of the house The
, .

goat cli mbed onto the top and l ooked down the chi mney Heari ng somethi ng .

o n the roof the woman rushed ou t and thr ew her broom at sai d goat whi ch
, ,

jumped down li ke a Chamoi s .

The tw o hamlets on the heath where I have been and where thi s i nci dent ,

occurred are call ed Drift san d and Blac ksheep I have been i n several other pla ces
,
.

t oo and n ow you can i mag i ne the ori gi nali ty here as after a ll Hoogeveen i s a
, ,

town and yet qui te near by there are alr eady shepherds t hose ovens those
, , ,

peat huts etc ,

.

I often thi nk wi th melancholy of the woman and the chi ldren if onl y they ,

were provi ded for ; oh i t s th e woman s own faul t one mi ght say an d i t woul d
,
’ ’
, ,

be true but I am afrai d her mi sfortunes will prove greater than her guilt I knew
, .

from the beginni ng that her character was spoi l ed but I hoped she woul d im ,

prove ; and n ow that I do not see her any more and ponder some thi ngs I saw
in her i t seems t o me more and more that sh e w a s too far gone for i mprovement
, .

And thi s only i ncreases my feeli n g of pi ty and i t becomes a mel an choly feelin g ,

because i t i s not i n my power t o redress i t .

Theo when I meet on the heath such a poor woman wi th a chil d on her arm
, ,

or at her breast my eyes get moi st It remi nds me of her her weakness ; her
,
.
,

unti di ness too contri butes to making the li keness stronger

, ,
.

I know tba t sbe i s not g ood that I have an absolute ri ght to act as I do that I could
, ,

not stay wi th h er b ac k there that I real ly cou l d not take her wi th me t hat what
, ,

I di d was even sens i b l e and wi se whatever you li ke ; but for all that i t cuts , , ,

ri ght through me when I see such a poor li t tle figure feveri sh an d mi serab le
_ ,

and i t makes my heart mel t i nsi de .

H o w much sadn ess there i s i n li fe neverthel ess o n e must n o t get mel an cho ly , ,

and o ne must seek distracti on in other thi ngs and th e ri ght thi ng i s to work ; .

,
“
but there are moments when one onl y finds rest i n the convi cti on : M i sfortune
”
will not spare me ei ther Adi eu wri te soon Beli eve me .
,
.
,

Yours sincerel y Vi ncent ,

330
Dear Theo , N Amsterdam September November 1 8 8 3 .
,
-

Thi s once I wri te to you from the very remotest p art of Drenthe where I came ,

after an endl ess expedi ti on on a barge through the moors I see no possi bili ty of .

describing the country as i t ought t o be done ; words fai l me but i magine the ,

bank s of the canal a s mil es and mi les of Mi c hel s or Th Rousseaus V an Goyens .

,

o r Ph de Konin c k s
. .

1 64
and if you send your l etter at the usual time to tbe s a me a ddress I shall find i t ,

there on the 1 2 th i n Hoogeveen

, ,
.

The place where I am now i s New Amsterdam .

Father sent me a money order for 1 0 guil ders whi ch along wi th the money , ,

from y o u enabl es me to pai nt a li ttle n ow

,
.

I intend to settle at the i nn where I am now for a long t ime provi ded th at ,

from there I can easi ly reach the di stri ct wi th the l arge ol d so d huts as I shoul d ,

have better li ght and more space there As to that pi cture by th at Engli shman .

y o u ment i on w i
,
th the l ean cat and the small coffi n ; though he got h i s first
i ns pi rat i on in that dark room he woul d har dl y have been ab le to pai nt i t i n that
,

same spot for i f one works in t o o dark a room the work usuall y becomes t o o
, ,

li ght so that when one brings i t i nto the li ght all the shadows are t o o weak
, , .

I just had that experi ence when I used the barn to p ain t an open door and a
gli mpse of the li ttl e garden Well what I wanted t o say i s t hat there will be a
.
,

chance to remove that obstacle too for here I can get a room wi th good li ght
,

that can be heated i n wi nter .

Well boy if you do not thi nk any more about Ameri ca nor I of H arderw1j
, ,
k I
, ,

I hope thin gs wi ll take care o f themselves I admit your exp l anat i on for C M s . . .
’

s ilence may be ri ght but someti mes on e can purposely be carel ess On the back
, .

of the page you wi ll find a few scratches I wri te i n haste i t i s already l ate .
,
.

H ow I wi sh we cou ld wal k here together and paint together I thi nk the , .

country would charm and convi nce you Adieu I hope you are well an d are .
,

havi ng some luck I have been thi nki ng of y o u conti nually during this excursi on
. .

Wi th a handshake ,
Yours si ncerely Vi ncent ,

Postscri pt to number 3 3 2 Drenthe fall 1 8 8 3 , ,

I am sendi ng y o u the enclosed sketches to give y o u an i dea of the many extremel y

different thi ngs thi s apparently monotonous country presents You see I am .
,

j ust sampli ng at random— I catch hol d of on e thin g an d an other ; l ater things

will arrange themselves and settle i nto shape of their own accord But here I wi ll .

not begin wi th a prearranged p lan ; on the contrary I wan t my p lan to resul t

”

from my studi es A s yet I do not know the real character of the country ; n ow
.

I draw everyt hi ng that presents i tself but later on after some experi ence I shall
, , ,

try to reprodu ce i t in i t s real character .

One thing depends so much on another that on e must catch hol d of everyt hi ng ;
however much one should like t o concentrate on a s ingle subj ect not one thi n g ,

can be l eft out .

S o there i s work enough I n ow have a pretty l arge room (where a stove has
.

been put) whi ch happens to have a small bal cony from whi c h I can see the
, ,

heath wi th the huts In the di stance I see a very curi ous drawbri dge
. .

Downstai rs there i s the i nn an d a farmer s ki tc hen wi th a peat fi re on the hearth

,
’
,

very cosy in the eveni ng Su ch a fir ep lace wi th a cradle besi de i t i s an excellent

.

place for medi tati on When I am feeli ng melan choly o r worri ed about something
.
,

I just run downstai rs for a while .

A garri son to wn where t he vo lunteers fo r the East Indi an a my u se d to enli st r .

1 66
 I can tell y ou that i n a roundabout way I have heard somethi ng about the woman .

I coul d n ot i magine why she did not wri te me .

So I wrote the carpenter next door if the woman had not been to ask my ,
“
address And the s coun drel answered : Oh y e s sir but I thought y o u woul dn t
.
, ,
’

li ke her t o know your address so I pretended not to know i t The damned wretch
,
. .

S o I wrote her at once t hough i t was not as good as the express arrangement
,

I had made wi th hi m an d wi th her ; but I do not want to hi de myself now or

ever,
and I woul d rather wri te her at her family s address than conceal myself ’

in any way That s my opi ni on about i t And I al so sent her some money ; i f
’
. .

thi s shoul d have bad consequences I am n ot responsi ble for i t I wi ll not a ct , .

fal sel y I found t hat scoun dr el s letter at Hoogeveen on my l ast vi s i t there

.
’
.

Fri end Rapp ard has wri tten to me agai n from Terschelling and now today ,

from Utrecht— he i s home agai n He has brought studi es from there especi all y .
,

o f the a lmshouse I don t understand i t exactly he to l d me t h e doctor had pre

’
.
,

s cri bed sea ai r for hi m during the wi nter ; besi des he l onged t o spend a wi nter i n ,

the country but i t seems to have tur ned out differently i n the end
,
.

You wrote t o me about Li ebermann : hi s palette consi sts of s l ate gray tones -
,

pri ncipall y run ning from brown to yell owi sh gray I have never seen anyt hi ng of -
.

hi s but now that I have seen the l andscape here I can understand perfe ctl y h ow
, ,

l ogi call y he i s l e d t o i t .

Often the col or of things remi nds me of Mi chel ; y ou know he al so has a ,

gray sky (slate col ored someti mes) a brown soil wi th yellowi sh grays It i s
-
,
-
.

ab solutel y true and acc ordi ng t o nature

, .

There are J ul es Dupr e effects to be sur e but in thi s autumn season it i s exactly
, ,

that— as y ou descri be Li ebermann s palette An d if I may find what I seek— and ’

.

why shoul dn t I find i t —I shall certainl y often do i t i n the same way i n t hat
’
,

same chromati c gamut .

Mi nd you to see i t li ke that one must not l ook at the l ocal co l or by i tself
, , ,

b ut i n conjun cti on wi th the col or of the sky !

That sky i s gray— but so i ri descent that even our pure whi te woul d be unabl e
to render tbis li ght and s hi mmer N ow if on e begins by pai nt ing thi s sky gray.
, ,

thus remai ning far bel ow the i ntensi ty of nature h ow much more necessary i t i s ,

to tone down the browns and yell owi sh grays of the soi l to a l ower key i n order -
,

t o be cons i stent I th i nk if once on e anal yzes i t thus i t i s so l og i cal one c an

.
, ,

hardl y un derstand not ha vi ng always seen i t so .

But i t i s the l ocal col or of a green fiel d or a ruddy brown heath whi ch c on , , ,

s i der e d apart eas i ly l eads one astray

, .

Wri te soon agai n for your l ast l etter wa s remarkably bri ef t oo bri ef but i t
, , ,

w as obvi ous ly wri tten i n the offi ce .

What about that Tri enni al Exhi bi ti on ? There will be many beauti ful things .

I l ong to hear about i t because these certainl y are the charac teri s ti c th ings of the
,

p resent ,
a n d not o f past years S o if you have a moment tell me
. about i t ,
.

There i s a rumor that Li ebermann i s somewhere here in the nei ghborhood .

I shoul d li ke to meet hi m .

I must say I am ver y gl ad t o have found a better place to work i n so that ,

1 67
I needn t sit i dl e at home now that there i s so mu ch rai n and bad weather i s
’

expe cted I wi sh you coul d see the country here In the evening i t i s i nexpressi bly
. .

beautiful .

An d I thin k wi th snow i t will al so be splendi d

, ,
.

I read a very beauti ful li ttl e book of Carl yle s H eroes and H ero Worsbzp ni ce ’

, ,

sayi ngs as for i nstance : we have the duty to be bra ve though i n general thi s i s
, , ,

wrongly consi dered to be an excepti on In life i t i s the same goodness ri ses s o .

,

hi gh above everyt hi n g that of c ourse we cann ot rea ch such a hei ght The most .

reasonable thi ng and the thing that makes li fe l ess i mpossi ble i s to put our
, ,

gam ut i n a l ower key and yet t o try t o be luminous and n ot to subsi de i nto
, ,

dul lness .

One finds here the most wonderful t ypes of Nonconformi st cl ergymen wi th ,

pi gs faces and three cornered hats Al so adorab le Jews who l ook uncommonly
’
-
.
,

ugly ami dst Mill et like types or on this nai ve desol ate moor But they are very
-
, .

characteri sti c I traveled wi th a party of Jews who hel d theologi cal di scussi ons
.

wi th some farmers How i s i t possi bl e for su ch absurdi t ies to exi st in a c ountry

.

li ke thi s ? Why coul dn t they l ook out of the wi ndow or smoke t hei r pi pes or at
’
,

l east b ehave as reasonabl y as for instan ce thei r pi gs whi ch make n o di sturb ance
, , ,

whatever though they are pi gs and are in place in these surroundi ngs and in
, ,

harmony wi th them But before the clergymen of the type I saw here reach t he
.

cult ural and rati onal level of ordi nary pi gs they must i mprove consi derably , ,

and probably i t will take ages before they arri ve at thi s poi nt Now any p i g i s .

better as far as I can see

,
.

Well I am off agai n for a wal k wri te me if you can spare a moment and l ook
, , ,

out for somethin g of Li ebermann s at the exhibi ti on ’

.

Good b y my addr ess i s here for the present Best wi shes wi th a handshake
-
,
.
, ,

Yours si ncerely Vincent ,

335
Dear brother ,
Drenthe September November 1 8 8 3 ,
-

Thi s mornin g I received your letter ; in man y respects the contents does not surpri se
me It does surpri se me a li ttle that you shoul d credi t me wi th the sli ghtest
.

i ns i ght i nto busi ness as I am cons i dered a dreamer in that respe ct as you kn ow
, , ,

and I coul d not suppose that y ou t hought di fferently about i t I t hi nk your i dea .

of changi ng your s i tuati on i s a very rati ona l one In the first pl ace on e i s not .
,

obli ged to wai t for the moment when the emp loyers will arri ve at a better insi ght
an d i n the second p l ace i f one cons i dered onese lf ob li ged to do so one mi ght
, ,

go on wai t ing forever and ever and a young empl oyee mi ght doubt whether , ,

when that moment came he woul d not be too ti red to redress thi ngs ; how ,
“ ”
much more woul d thi s be the case wi th the old pochards plei ns themselves .

The latter will have l ost thei r wi ts enti rely by then ; and decadence bei ng deca
dence a deserved ruin of a busi ness wi ll foll ow the fatal consequence of certai n
, ,

mi stakes I don t mean to say i t i s if it happens through thoughtl essness but if i t

.
’
,

happens through that odi ous wanton capri ci ous reckl ess w ay of out li vi ng one s
, , ,
’

fame and through supposi ng that everyt hing i s onl y a ques ti on of money and
, ,
 general and n ow speak about what you say further about a proj ect of your own
, .

Under the circumstances — always taki ng the necessi ty of a change for granted
e xcell ent— a modern busi ness i n whi ch energy mi ght achi eve something— where
,

o n e i s not hampered by s o much routi ne and so comp li cated an a d mi ni s t rati on

that everyt hing absolutely everyt hi ng i s paral yzed by i t You tell me t here i s
,
.

capi tal there i s (an d thi s mean s more than capi tal) a good apparat us for rep roduc
ti ons— a n d if in addi ti on the dir e ctors of thi s concern are people wh o mean well ,

a n d w h o i ntend t o sell good thi ngs quand m eme to seek thei r suc cess i n honesty, ,

then as I sai d i t i s excell ent But W i sseling h at Colli er s colli ded t oo vi ol ently
, ,
.
’

wi th hi s employer s character (al though be never tol d me or an ybody el se so

’

but I have drawn thi s conclusi on i ndependently whi ch talli es wi th W i sseling h s ,

’

“
sayi ng I wasted my ti me at Colli er s
,
And I am di sposed to thi nk that the ’

l atter s chara cter i s the ki nd that wi ll ta lk grandl y rather than a ct grandl y so

’
,

I say : Are tbose peopl e at the head of the other concern wi lling ?
The being a ble i s rather more the res ul t of these two i tems than peopl e are
ready t o admi t i n most cases After all one shoul d know one s own mi nd
.
,
’
.

Now I come to what you wri te about myself .

Of course I shoul d very much li ke to spend some time i n Pari s because I think I ,

s ho ul d fi nd there that i ntercourse wi th arti sts whi ch I sha ll need someday or other .

I s that poss i ble It woul d be if i t did not get you i nto t o o much troub le I sho ul d .

li ke i t well enough .

I shoul d l ove to talk wi th y ou about what y ou wrote but wha t woul d be the u se ? ,
“ ”
It i s better t o l end a helpi ng hand when there i s a chance N i mporte c omment .
’
.

For I thi nk that i t woul d greatl y help me i n my work i f I had an opportuni t y

t o see more of pri nti ng for i nstan c e I have had some years pra cti ce i n pai nti ng
’
.
,

now so I sti ck to that But if I coul d get some work i n a pri nter s offi ce or
, .
’

s omething that wo ul d be a help rather than a hi ndran ce— but I shoul d have to
,

l earn all that I thi nk however I shoul d be abl e t o dr aw reprodu cti ons mysel f
.
, , ,

fo r i nstance And I am wi lli ng to try my hand at an tbi n o f that ki nd espe ci all y

.
y g ,

i f a li vi ng may be earned in that way over there Indeed I beli eve that t he ti me .
,

will come when I wi ll not have to earn a li vin g in any other way than by painting
but be sure that I shall not have the sli ghtest obje cti on to goi ng to Pari s when ,

e ver you thi nk i t woul d be useful or necessary for some reason or other .

My advi sin g y ou i n business matters woul d hardl y be the thi ng I have been
. .

o ut of i t too l ong but if I came i nto i t ag ain we woul d be of the same opi ni on
, ,

i n a great many thi ngs And I do know I have seen what I have seen a n d i n
.
,

matt ers of reproducti on or publi cati on I daresay I kn ow what i s good And I am .

w illi ng t o l en d a helpi ng hand as to car ryi ng thi ngs o ut no matter i n what way ,
.

But I need not tell you that here on thi s beaut iful moor I haven t the s li ghtest ’

l ongi ng for Pari s an d I woul dn t think about i t at all if i t hadn t been for your
’ ’
,

l etter And I s i mp ly say thi s If i t must be all ri ght I shal l go to Pari s ; if i t

.
, , ,

must be all ri ght I shall stay on the moors

, ,
.

I shall find things t o p ai nt everywhere It i s spl en di d here an d I thi nk I learn .

,

to pai nt somewhat better whi le p ai n ting And my bea rt is in i t I need not tell .
,

y o u that .

1 70
 Besi des , I believe that knowi ng a handi craft i s the most soli d professi on after
a ll on e reason more for me to s t i ck to i t
,
.

But if i t mi ght happen for some reason or other— on account of i t s bei ng more
c onveni ent t o you o r because o f ur gent necess i ty— th at we shou l d be together
,

in Pari s — I dare predi ct that I shall tell you start drawi ng and I woul d gi ve y o u , ,

a few hi nts i n t h e begi nni ng .

I know how much I s till have t o l earn myself yet I begin t o see li ght an d i n , ,

s ome way o r o t her by practi ce or by l earning from o thers what can be o f use
,

to me I will sti ck to my pai ntin g wi th all my heart An d if it mi ght be that y ou

, .

c ame to a poi nt where y o u saw l

n t we ll s o much the better , ,
.

You say your heart i s i n the art busi ness all ri ght but even more in art i tself , , ,

I believe .

Well b oy wri te soon agai n— if you kept sil ent about i t n ow I shoul d i magin e
, , ,

al l ki nds of worri es So if somethi ng i s the matter wri te that ; if nothi ng i s the

.
,

matter wri te that ; but don t keep i t all to yourself for th at s not worth whil e
,
’
,
’
.

Oh I have had a letter from the poor woman ; she was gl ad that I wrote her
, ,

but she i s worri ed about the chil dren and she goe s out working as a charwoman
,
.

She is obli ged t o li ve wi th her mother Poor thi ngs . .

But we must keep courage notwi thstandin g everyt hi ng .

I enclose a few scratches from here The country i s so beautiful that I cann ot
.

descri be i t A s s oon as I c an pai nt a li ttle better— then ! Y ou c an arrange thi ngs

.

for me exa ctl y as you thi nk best I shall l earn here and I shoul d learn out there
, , ,

too I thi nk
, .

However thi ngs may go I don t suppose i t will make y ou more unh appy
,
’
,

and perhaps you have already put up wi th thin gs t oo l ong The best thing woul d .

be i f i t turned out so that you were more appreci ated by your dire ctors and
, , ,

that they left y ou more li berty to do busi ness as y ou thi nk best But I should .

be surpri sed if thi ngs took thi s turn seeing that Uncle Vi ncent hi mself was n ot
,

treated very fai rly when he left .

But leaving that out of i t i t seems t o me that the whole art busi ness i s rotten
,

— to tell o u the truth I doubt if the present enormous pri ces even for master
y , ,
“
pi eces will l ast A je n e sai s quoi has passed over i t whi ch ha s chilled every
, .

thi ng— and enthusi asm has been put t o fli ght Is thi s of great i nfluence on the .

arti sts N ot at all for generally the greatest of them personally profited but
,

li ttl e from those enormous pri ces except i n thei r l ast peri od when they were
, ,

already famous and they— Millet and others parti cul arl y Corot— woul d not ha ve
, ,

pai nted less or less beautifull y wi thout that enormous ri se And whatever may
, , .

be sai d of art business for the present i t will remai n so that he who can make a
,

thi ng worth seei ng will always find certain persons i nterested in i t who wi ll ,

make i t possi ble for hi m to earn a livi ng .

I woul d rat her have 1 5 0 francs a month as a p ainter than 1 5 00 francs a month
in another posi ti on even as an art dealer
,
.

I thi nk one feel s more a man am ong other men as a pai nter than in a life ,

whi ch i s foun ded on specul ati on and in whi ch one has t o heed conventi ons
,
.

I wonder h ow i t wi ll all t urn o ut but i t i s all the same to me one way or another
, ,
.

I
And as t o y ou I don t consi der i t woul d be such bad luck if the consequence s
,
’

were that you became a p ainter in your thi rti eth year I shoul d consi der i t great .

good fortune One s real life begins at thi rty i n fact tha t i s to say i t s most ac tive
.
’
, , ,

art
P .

Fri ends and family may consi der y ou o l d , or I don t know wha t but you can
’
,

feel a renewal of energy fo r all that .

But then i t i s necessary to reflect well and t o have a wi ll and to be wi de , ,

awake But in that peri od a chan ge i s reall y necessary ; one must wi pe out the
.
,

whole thing and start anew j ust as one does wben a bo — but more matur ely T om
y . .
,

Di ck and Harry who drowse away in the same ol d w ay thi nk thi s fooli sh an d
, , ,

say they don t see any good i n i t ; all ri ght leave T om Di ck and Harry al one
’
, , ,

as l ong as they don t attack you ; they are as li ttl e awake as a somnambuli st For
’
.

oneself one must not doubt t hat i t i s the way of nat ure and that one works against ,

nat ure onl y by not changi ng Th ere i s an ol d saying They have ears but they
.
,

hear not they have eyes but they see not they have a heart but feel not ; thei r
, ,

heart i s hardened and they have closed thei r ears and eyes because they do not
,

want to bea r a nd do not wa nt to s ee I thi nk that i n any case you an d I are honest
.

enough so that we need not be afrai d to open our eyes and l ook at thi ngs as they
are and as they occur That li ttle ol d sayi ng mean s so much expresses i t all so
.
,

exactly that I cannot help thi nking of i t agai n and again

, .

Thi s littl e s crat ch i s of peat gatherers who were eati ng thei r lun ch behi nd a
moun d of peat wi th a fi re in the foreground ; the others are l oading peat but
, ,

I am afrai d the scratches are absolutel y i nde ci pherable .

These are t wo eveni n g effects ; I am sti ll worki ng on that weed burner whi ch ,

i s better than before i n a pai nted study so that i t renders more strongl y the ,

i mm ens i ty of the p l ai n an d the gatheri ng twi li ght the fire wi th a bi t of smoke ,

being the only spot of li ght I went ag ain and again to look at i t i n the eveni ng
.
,

and I found thi s cottage on a muddy eveni ng after the rai n ; seen on the spot ,

i t i s splendi d
I repeat I thi nk that there are thi ngs for me t o learn in Pari s as well as here
,

on the moor ; i n the ci ty I shoul d have an opportuni ty to learn from other peop le
,

an d to see what they are doi ng and that i s worth somethi ng ; but worki ng here , ,

I think I can make progress even wi thout seei ng other pain ters And for my .

o wn p leasure I woul d much rather stay here But if a ch ange in your pos i ti on .

made i t desi rable for me to g o t o you perhaps to earn somethi ng i n the same ,

busi ness i t i s all ri ght an d I haven t the sli ghtest obj ecti on
, ,
’
.

Be sure t o wri te me about all these thi ngs whi ch of course I shall not menti on ,

to anybody el se If my affai rs mi ght change somewhat for the better if I coul d

.
,

count on C M s buying my studi es for in stance then the best thi ng for me woul d
. .
’
,

be to stay here as i t i s cheaper here ; and after I had made some more progress
, ,

and if you deci ded t o become a p ainter i t woul d be an excell ent place for study ,

here— excell ent .

Has C M been t o see you alr eady ? Once more keep good courage I wi ll try
. .
, ,

t o do t h e same ; and if you ever de ci de to become a pai nter do so wi th in ner ,

cheerfulness an d all possi ble opti mi sm Then takin g a broad vi ew of thi ngs .
, ,

1 72
 Oh I sai d I shoul d give Tom Di ck and Harry thei r
, ,
due— —
b y all means l et s
’

d o ; but havi ng done justi ce to those things aren t they absurd those formali t i e s
’

, ,

and convent i ons— in fact aren t they reall y ba d ? ,

’

In order to mai n tai n a certain rank one i s obliged to commi t certain villai ni es , ,

fal sehoods— wi lli ngly and knowi ngl y premedi tatedl y Tha t s what I ca ll the , .
’

fatal si de even of the rayon noi r let al one when there i s no rayon at all
, , .

N ow take for in stance the painters of Barbizon : n ot onl y do I understand

, ,

them as men but i n my opini on every tbi ng — the smallest the most inti ma te
, ,
“ ”
detai l s— sparkl es wi th humor and life The painter s fami ly life wi th i t s great .
’
,

and small mi seri es wi th it s calami ti es i t s sorrows and gri efs ha s the a dvan
, , ,

tage of having a certain good wi ll a certain si nceri ty a certain real hu man , ,

feeling Just be cause of that not main taini ng a certai n standin g n ot even thi nki ng
.
,

about i t .

”
If you take amusera in the hi ghly seri ou s sense of thi nki ng i t interesting ,

then I say i t wi ll amuse you

, .

” “
And as to the safe posi ti on there i s embétera abruti ra [(will ) stupefy]
, , .

Do I say thi s because I desp i se culture ? On the contrary I say i t because ,

I l ook upon the real human feelings life in harmony wi th not against nat ure , , , ,

as the true ci vilizati on whi ch I respect as su ch I a sk What will make me more

,
.
,

completely human ?
“
Zola says M oi arti ste je veux vivre tout haut— veux vivre [I as an arti st want
, , , ,

to live as vi gorou sly as possi ble— (I ) want to live] wi thout mental reservati on ,

nai ve as a chi ld no not as a child as an arti st —wi th good will however life
presents i tself I shall fin d somethi ng in i t I wi ll try my best on i t N owl ook at all
, , , ,
‘

.
, ,

those studi ed li ttl e manneri sms all that conventi on h ow exceedi ngl y c oncei ted , ,

i t reall y i s ho w absurd a man thi n ki ng he knows every thi ng and that things go
, ,
“ ”
accordi ng to hi s i dea as if there were n ot in all thi ngs of li fe a je me sai s quoi
,

of great goodness and al so an el ement of evi l whi ch w e feel to be in fini tel y

, ,

above us i nfini tel y greater i nfin i tel y mi ghti er than w e are

, , .

How fundamentally wrong i s the man w ho doesn t feel hi mself small who ’
,
’
doesn t realize he i s but an atom .

Is i t a l oss t o drop some noti ons i mpressed on us in childhood that mai ntai ni ng , ,

a certain rank or certain conventi ons i s the most i mportant thi ng I myself
do not even thin k about whether I l ose by i t or not I know onl y by experi enc e .

that those conventi ons and i deas d o not hol d true and often are hopelessly , ,

fatally wrong I come to the c onclusi on that I do not know anyt hi ng but at
.
,
“ ”
the same time that thi s life i s such a mystery that the system of conventi onali ty
i s certainl y too narrow So that i t has l ost i t s credi t wi th me
. .

What shall I do now ? The common phr ase i s What i s your aim what are , ,
”
your aspi rat i ons ? Oh I shal l do as I think best —h ow I can t say th at before
,
’

han d— y ou who ask me that pretent i ous questi on do y ou know wha ty our ai m is , ,

what y our i ntenti ons are ?

“
Now they tell me Y o u are unpri nci pled when you have n o ai m n o aspi rat i ons
, ,
.

My answer i s I di dn t tell you I had no ai m no aspi rati ons I s ai d i t i s the hei ght
,
’
, ,

of c oncei t to try t o for ce on e to define what i s in de fin ab le These are my thoughts .

 about certain vi tal ques ti ons All that arguing about i t i s on e of the thi ngs of
.

“ ”
whi ch I say emb étera .

Li ve— do something— that i s more amusin g that i s more posi tive In short , .

one fn u st of course gi ve Soci ety i t s due but at the s ame ti me feel absolutely free , ,
“ ”
beli evin g n ot in one s own judgment but i n reason (my judgment i s human
’
, ,

reason i s di vi ne but there i s a link be tween the on e and the other) and that
, ,

my o wn consci ence i s the compass whi ch shows me the way although I know ,

that i t does not work qui te ac curately .

I should li ke t o refer to the fact that whenever I recall the past generati on ,
“ ”
of pain ters I remember an expressi on of yours
,
they were s urp rising ly gay , .

What I want to say i s that if y ou become a painter you shoul d do i t wi th thi s

, ,

same ra rp ririflg gai ety You wil l need thi s t o offset the gl oomy ci r cum stances It
. .

wi ll be a greater help to you than anythi ng else What you want i s a spark of .

geni us ; I know no other word for i t but what I mean i s the exact opposi te of,
”
being ponderous as people call i t Please don t tell me that nei ther you nor
, .
’

I coul d have thi s I say thi s because I am of the opi ni on that we must d o our
.

best to become li ke that I do not cl ai m that ei ther I myself or you have suffi ci entl y
captured it— but what I say i s Let s do our best t o get i t And I say thi s to show
,
’
.

you— wri t in g these thi ngs down although I thi nk you will be abl e to understand
,

what i s i n my mind any way— that you are not mi staken in my i deas I beli eve .

the whole plan woul d be enhanced i mmeasurably if your remainin g wi th the

woman you are wi th now were combined wi th i t .

And if i t i s i n your nat ure as well as hers to feel even a certai n pl easure— a
s ur pri sin g gai ety— i n the face of ci rcumstances— a je n e sai s quoi of surpri sing
flem— and I do n o t cou nt thi s among the i mpossi bili ti es i
y f
oui li u/ for y o u sa d ,

she i s i ntelli gent— well then you wi ll be able to do more together than al one
,
.

And i n thi s case if persons of the sam e senti ment persons who have the same
, ,

pretty seri ous mi sery c ombi ne to see thin gs through what I say i s the more the
, , ,

merri er .

And what I say i s— if thi s had come about or shoul d come about thi s combi ning ,

to carve your own w ay i n the worl d means i nfi ni tely more than any standi ng o n
form an d ri ses above all gossip all qu en di ra t on
, ,
’
- -
.

I kn ow all these thi ngs have a peril ous money s i de but what I say i s let s , ,
’

weaken this peril ous money si de as mu ch as possi ble i n the first place by not ,

being under i t s sway t oo l ong an d then by feeli ng that if one will onl y set about
,

thi ngs wi th l ove wi th a certain understandi ng of each other an d c o operati on

,
-

and mutual helpfulness many thi ngs whi ch woul d otherwi se be i nsupportabl e
,

woul d be softened— yes even totall y changed , .

As for me if I coul d find some people whom I could tal k to about art w h o
, ,

fel t for i t and wanted to feel for i t— I shoul d gain an enormous advantage in my
work— I shoul d feel more myself be more myself If there i s enough money to
, .

keep us going in the very first peri od by the ti me i t i s gone I shall be earni ng ,

money The more I thi nk i t over the more i t appears t o me i n the way I felt i t
.
,

i n the begi nning .

Your heart i s partl y wi th the firm of Goupil Co but in thei r presumpti on .

,

I 7
 G . Co demand unreasonab le thi ngs In the fir st place they are doi ng you a
. .
,

great wrong whi ch causes you much gri ef Thi s i s n ot onl y a questi on o f money
,
.
,

your heart i s in i t for you i t means heartache Y ou woul d start on a n ew career

,
.

wi th the same heartache and possi bly wi th a s i mil a r result Look i s thi s possi ble ?
,
.
,

What I say i s I doubt i t ,

.

It seems to me that you w ho are very young do not act reckl essly when you
, ,

a rgue I have had enough of the art de aling bus i ness but not of art ; I l l drop
’
-
,

the busi ness and ai m at the very heart of the professi on

,
.

That i s what I ought to have done at the ti me My maki ng a mi stake was .

perhaps a nat ural error of judgment because then I di d n ot know anythi ng about ,

teaching or about the Church— di d not know anyt hin g about i t and cheri shed ,

i deal s about i t .

You will say Doesn t on e someti mes have i deal s about art that are i ncompati bl e
,
’

wi th exi sting conditi ons ?

Well answer that questi on for yourself I also answer i t for myself by aski ng
,
.
,

I s Barbi zon i s the Dutch school of pain ters a fact o r n ot ?

,

Whatever may be sai d of the art world i t i s not rotten On the contrary i t has ,
.
,

i mproved and i mproved and perhaps the summi t h as already been reached ; but
,

at all events we are sti ll qui te near i t and as l ong as you and I li ve though we , ,

mi ght reach the age of a hundred there wi ll be a certain real vi tality So he who , .

wants to pai nt— must put hi s shoulder to the wheel If the woman came of .
,

course she would have to paint t oo .

Everybody woul d have to pai nt here— the wi fe of one o f the Van Eycks al so
\
had t o do i t And I tell you that the peop le don t seem di sagreeable or in tri g ui n g
.
’
.

There i s a ki nd of benevolence in thi s p lace and I thi nk you can d o exa ctly what ,

y o u thi nk best There i s a supr i s

. i ng l y youthfu l atmosphere i n exi stence here .

One shoul d begi n by sayi ng wi th all possi bl e courage gai ety ent husi asm I , , ,

know none of us can do a thi ng but for all that we are pai nters Our waflfiflg , ,
.

i n i tself means a cti on Thi s i s what I beli eve shou l d be the mai n i dea We are
. .

“
alive— if we do not work comme plusi eurs negres w e shall di e of wan t and , ,

we shall cut a most ri di cul ous figure However w e happen to abhor thi s mightil y .
,

— because of t hat same thin g whi ch I call s u rpri si ng youthfulness— and in addi ti on
,

a seri ousness that i s damn ed seri ous .

That y mettre sa peau .

Well if thi s were mere speculati on I shoul d not want to thi nk o f it— but in
, ,
-

thi s case i t means a fight to free ourselves from the worl d of conventi ons and
speculati on It i s somethi ng go od somethi ng peaceful an honest enterpri se Most
.
, , .

certainly i t will be o ur i ntenti on to try to earn our bread but only in the li tera l ,

sense of the word Money as far as it i s not used for the absolute necessari es of
.
,

life l eaves us col d We shall do nothi ng w e need be ashamed of ; wi th what

, .

“ ”
Carlyle call s qui te a royal feeling we shall be ab le to roam about in nature ,

freely an d to work— w e shall be able to work because we are honest We shall

, ,
.

say When we were chi ldr en we made a mi stake or rather We had to obey and
, , , ,

do certai n thi ngs to earn our bread Later su ch an d su ch thi ngs happened and .
,

then we thought i t advi sable to turn handi craftsmen Because certain thi ngs were .

1
7 6
that i s i n you and have a more peaceful life al together Nei ther of us woul d be
,
.

al one our work woul d merge In the beginni ng we shoul d have to live through
,
.

anxi ous moments we should have to prepare ourselves for them and ta ke
, ,

measures to overc ome them ; we shoul d not be abl e to go back we shoul d n ot ,

l ook back n or be abl e t o l ook back ; on the contrary w e shoul d force ourselves ,

to l ook ahead But i t s in thi s peri od that we shall be far removed from all our
.
’

fri ends and acquaintances we shall fight thi s fight wi thout anybody seeing us
, ,

and thi s wi ll be the best thi ng that can happen for then nobody will hi nder us ,
.

We shall l ook forward to vi ctory— w e feel i t i n our very bones We shall be so .

busy worki ng that we shall be absolut el y unab le to thi nk of anyt hi ng el se but

our work .

I don t suppose I m telli ng y ou anythin g at all new I onl y ask Don t thwart
’ ’
, ,
’

your own best thoughts Thi nk that i dea over wi th a certai n good humored
.
-

opti mi sm i nstead of l ooki ng at thi ngs gloomil y and pessi mi sti cally I see that .

even Millet just because he was so seri ous coul dn t help keeping good courage
, ,
’
.

Thi s i s somethi ng peculiar not to all styles of p ai nti ng but to Mill et Israel s
, , , ,

Breton Boughton H erko mer and others

, , .

Those who seek real si mpli city are themselves so si mp le and thei r vi ew of ,

li fe i s so full o f willi ngness and courage even in hard times , .

Thi nk these thi ngs over wri te me about them It must be une rev olut ion
, .

”
est u i s qu i l faut qu ell e soi t [a revo l ut on that because must be]
’ ’

q ui p ,
i i s i t ,
.

Wi th a handshake ,

Yours si ncerely Vi ncent ,

337
Dear brother ,
Drenthe September November 1 8 8 3 ,
-

I cannot count the grai ns in a sac k of corn just by smelli ng i t— I cannot l ook
through the planks of the barn door— but someti mes I can see by the lumps
whether i t i s a sack of potatoes or of corn or though the barn door be cl osed , , ,

I can tell when the p i g i s killed from the squeali ng .

Onl y i n thi s way can I and wi ll I judge the ci rcumstan ces in whi ch y ou find
yourself just now from the i ndi cati ons I have however vague they may be and
, , ,

i t i s not a prophecy I am maki ng .

But n ow to the point I Just consi der cooll y whether you are not faced by what
they call fatali ty on the battlefield Just consi der the faces of your fri ends your.
,

sham fri ends and your enemi e s, just consi der the je n e sai s qu oi s— just c onsi der
whether a certai n voi d i s not developing around you so that you are l osi ng your ,

hol d on thi ngs or at any rate so that i t i s l ess easy for you t o put through busi ness
,

deal s In short c ons i der whether thi s fatali ty i s in your favor or deci dedly against
.
,

y o u .

Tell me thi s one thing am I mi staken when I concl ude from some symptoms
,

that there i s a questi on of on e of those mali gnant cri ses whi ch at t imes ari se i n
l arge bus i nesses i n the bi g ci ti es ? D o thi ngs have a desperate aspe ct ? Do you
feel thi s cannot be redressed ? Or do y ou feel redress i s poss ible and that therefore ,

thi s cri si s i s no reason t o change your posi ti on ?

1 78
 Unl ess you wri te me No i t i s not so bad as that I personally thi nk matter s
, , ,

have a rather desperate aspect .

Think i t over cool headedly— I know you have your composure your presence
-
,

of mi nd I know you try to analyze thi ngs and for thi s reason I shoul d li ke to
, ,

know if you yourself see something whi ch I fea r i s there .

Y o u know boy— as l ong a s the posi ti on was tol erab le— as l ong as bus i ness
,

w a s poss i b le I have never dared to advi se you openl y Gi ve i t up especi ally out
, , ,

o f respect for your posi t i on whi ch y o u kept not for your own p l easure but fo r
, , ,

the welfare of us all .

But your former duti es whi ch moreover you have taken on yourself of your
, , ,

o w n free will cease to be duti es when bus i ness condi ti ons become such that to
,

conti nue would not only be a hopel ess struggle but at the same ti me woul d ,

i nevi tab l y bri ng about your own rui n .

In short there are limi ts and my intui ti on tell s me you have almost reached
, ,

that point .

Look here— as regards now or never— making oneself scarce or di sappeari ng ,

nei ther you nor I shoul d ever do that no more than commi t sui ci de , .

I too have my moments of deep melancholy but I say again both you and , ,

I ought to regard the i dea of di sappearin g or making oneself scarce as becomi ng

nei ther you nor me .

And notwi thstandi ng all one shoul d take the ri s k of going on even when
, ,

o n e feel s that i t i s i m orri ble of goi ng on wi th the desperate fee li ng that i t will
p ,

end i n di sappearance— but o n the other hand i n our consci ences there i s that ,
“ ”
beware 1l I
Shoul d I be mi staken— should my presentiment be at vari ance wi th the facts ,

about whi ch I a sk y ou the ques ti on Have they a deci dedly desperate aspect or
,

not very well then I am willi ng to beli eve your si mpl e assuran ce I expect
-
, ,

thi ngs to come out ri ght or some such words a; more ary oa wri te me i ba i
, , .

In the event of your bei ng faced wi th a fai t accompli i n on e of those venomous

cri ses such as Pari s and London produce— if thi s i s so defin i tely to be expe cted
that y ou feel i t i s a power that woul d crush you if they shoul d try t o force the
worst to happen by resorti ng to a maneuver of opposi ti on— well under these ,

ci rcumstances l eave the sinking shi p and concentrate your min d and energy , ,

not on clinging to your present posi ti on but on creati ng somethi ng wholl y new , .

’
For a l ong ti me your aa zy has seemed too compli cated to me ; your duty ought
‘

to be somethi ng si mpl e and your present duty would grow more and more
,

i nvo lved and doubtful l eavi ng the questi on of whether I thi nk i t i s really and
,

trul y your duty out of i t By startin g to pai nt you will fin d a very clear duty and
.
,

a very si mpl e strai ght path for your feet

, .

My i dea i s that goi ng on in your present si t uati on woul d prove to be n ot onl y

more and more unbearabl e but al so l ess and less profitable I do n ot say thi s
, .

onl y as far as Goupi l Co i s concerned but also i n general wi th regard t o y ou

.
,

as a dea ler I do not say tha t you and I will get ri ch together but in an y case w e
.
,

shall be able to preserve o ur ap l omb and our bal ance although— I cannot deny ,

thi s— we shall have a very hard time of i t during the first few years .
 But I see not the unfavora ble but the fa vora ble fatali t y hovering over our paintin g
enterpri se but y ou woul d crush not onl y yourself but me too I am afrai d by
, , ,

carrying through somethi n g whi ch in my opini on goes utterly against the grain .

In the first place w e shall not be abl e to assi st each other and we shall be too ,

much cast upon ourselves and in the second place we sha ll make each other
,

waver by workin g i n di ametri call y opposi te di recti ons so that notwi thstanding ,

o ur fri endshi p at ti mes we shall have to t urn o ur backs on each other

,
.

Well my dear fellow to me pain tin g i s t oo l ogi cal too reasonable too strai ght
, , , ,

forward to allow me personall y ever to change my course Besi des you yourself .
,

helped me reali ze the i dea of a handi craft and I know t hat basi call y i t i s your
,

i dea t o o so I thi nk w e ought to c o operate from now on

,
-
.

My reason my cons c i ence compel me to tell you what i s parti ally your own
, ,

Vi ew too ; there i s nothing to fal l back on but a raai ea l renewal ’

.

I know that my words will be in strange contrast to those of others you mi ght
“ ” “
consul t w h o want t o pass the matter off wi th It will come out all ri ght
,
The
, ,
”
desi red changes wi ll occur I do n ot wi sh t o flatter you a ll ri ght I do n ot
.
, ,

flatter A s to rousi ng your courage y es I dare t o I dare rouse the very hi ghest
.
, , ,

courage and sereni ty i n y ou but onl y as regards paintin g ; an d about Pari s I c an

, ,

onl y say thi s Look well and see iffa te i s not agai nst you on that battl efiel d
, , .

As far as I can see goi ng on i n Pari s even if y ou were abl e to sti ck i t out for
, ,

many years will not grant y ou peace and there woul d not be s o much opport uni t y
, ,

for being as useful to others a s if y ou were a pai nter .

I see that Pari s wi ll put you in to what I woul d call a crooked posi ti on in regard
’
to y our own aa ly Leavi ng your being useful to others out of i t for the moment
.
,

seei ng that I do not know if i n i be long ran I myself shoul d remai n truly firm ,

because you are di recti ng the si mp l er minds of others toward Pari s a thought ,

whi ch wi ll di st urb exactly i bere peopl e because they inig bt be i ntoxi cated by i t .

Understand cl ear l y what I say : Until now everyt hi ng has had i t s reason but ,

now the si gns of the ti mes suggest a cha nge of di recti on as I see i t in a way , ,

qui te di fferent from and far more de ci si ve than anythi ng i n the past .

There i s n o questi on of s lackeni ng or gi vi ng i n here ; on the contrary i n thi s ,

there i s an attacki ng the cal ami ty at the core : the same energeti c pri nci pl e as
that of sowi ng superi or p l ants i n better soi l .

The cal amity l eaves us our old courage and our o ld earnest energy Let the .

world say venomous ly what i t cannot refrai n from sayi ng i t wi ll l eave you an d
me col d On the contrary w e are counting on the possi bili ty of a hard life whi ch
.
,

wi ll have a p ur pose other thanearni ng a s much money as possi bl e .

Our purpose i s in the fir st p l ace self reform by means of a handi craft and of
-

i ntercourse wi th natur e beli evi ng as we d o that thi s i s our fir st duty i n order t o

,

be honest wi th others and to be cons i stent— o ur ai m i s wal ki ng wi th G o d— the

opposi te of li ving in the mi dst of th e doi ngs of the bi g ci ti es .

We shall n ot harm anybody by thi s .

Though some peopl e may thin k i t hypocri ti cal t o say so our beli ef i s that ,

G o d will help those w h o help themsel ves as l ong as they turn t heir energy and
,
’
attenti on in thi s di recti on and set to work to i bir ena
,
.
 What i s before you i s somethi ng terri ble somet hing awful — those thi ngs ,

are so i nexpressi bl e that I can find no words for them ; and if I were not your
brother and your fri end w h o consi ders being sil ent ungrateful as well as i n
,

human I shoul d say nothi ng But seeing that you say Fi rst i nspi re me wi th
,
.
, ,

courage and second d o not flatter me I say now Look I see all these things
, , , , ,

here on the si lent moor where I feel G o d hi gh above you an d me Wi th a warm

, .

handshake ,

Yours si ncerely Vincent ,

338
Theo ,
Drenthe September November 1 8 8 5 ,
-

Some ti me ag o y ou wrote me about a certai n di fference i n o ur respe ctive p hy si og

n o mi es A ll ri ght And yo ur conclus i on was that I w a s more of a thinker What
. . .

c an I say to that ? I do feel i n myself a facul ty fo r thinki ng but that facul ty i s ,

not what I feel speci ally organized in me I think myself to be something other .

than specia lly a thi nker When I thi nk of you I see very characteri sti c a c ti on
.
, ,

that i s well and good but also most de ci dedl y not i solated but on the contrary
,

accompani ed by so much senti ment and real tboag bt too that for me the conclus i on
, ,

i s that there i s more resemb l ance than di fference between you and me I do .

n Ot say there i s no difference— but havi ng l earned to know you better of

l ate the di fference seems small er to me than I used t o thi nk sometim es in former
,

years .

When I consi der our temperament and type of phys i ognomy I find s i mil ari ty , ,

and a very pronounced resemblance between for i nstance the Puri t ans and , ,

ourselves besi des I mean the people i n Cromwell s ti me or thereabouts the

.
’
,

li ttle group of men and women w ho sai led from the O l d Worl d to Ameri ca in
the M ayflower and settled there fir mly resolved to li ve si mp le lives
, ,
.

Ti mes are different— they cut down forests — w e woul d turn to pai nt ing I know .

that the ini ti ati ve taken by a small group called i n hi story The Pil gri m Fathers
, ,

however small in i tself had great consequences ; and as to ourselves I thi nk

, ,

that i n the first place we shoul d phi losophi ze but li ttle about great consequences ,

an d o nl y try to find a path for oursel ves to t ravel thr ough life as str ai h tfo r
g
w ardl y as poss i b le To me ditate on consequences i s not our w ay nei tber y our:
.
,

nor mine .

If I menti on The Pi lgri m Fathers i t i s because of the physi ognomy to show

, ,

you that certain reddi sh hai red peop le wi th square foreheads are nei ther onl y
-

thinkers nor onl y men of acti on but usually combine both elements In one of
, .

Bo u g ht on s p i ctur es I know a lit tle figure of one of those Puri tans for whi ch
’

I should thi nk y ou had posed if I di dn t know better It i s exa ctl y exa ctl y the
’
.
,

same physi ognomy— a small s i lhouette on a rock agai nst a background of sea
and fog ; I c an show you myself al so that i s t o say that va ria ti on of the s ame
, ,

physi ognomy but my profil e i s l ess characteri sti c

, .

Father used to ponder over the story of Jacob and Esau wi th regard t o you an d
—
me not qui te wrongly— but fortunately there i s l ess di scord to mention onl y ,

one poi nt o f di fference and in the B i b l e i tself there are p l enty o f examp l es of
,
better relati ons between brothers tha n exi sted between the venerabl e patri archs
menti oned above .

I myself have someti mes thought about that bei ng a thinker but more and ,

more i t becomes clear to me that i t was n ot my vocati on and because of the ,

unfortunate preju di ce that a man w h o feel s the need to thi nk thi ngs over i s not

pra cti cal and belongs only among the dr eamers because thi s prejudi ce i s greatl y
, ,

respe cted in So ci ety I often met wi th rebuffs because I di dn t keep thin gs to

,
’

myself enough .

But since then that very hi story of the Puri tans and the hi story of Cromwell , ,

as for i nstance Carlyle gi ves i t made me see that thinkin g and a cting do not
,

exclude each other and that the sharp di vi di ng lines whi ch are drawn nowadays
,

between thi nking and a cti ng— as if the one excluded the other— do not reall y
exi st As to doubti ng whether on e i s an arti st or n ot— t hat questi on i s t o o much
.

of an ab stracti on .

I confess however that I don t obj ect to thi nki ng i t over provi ded I can
, ,
’
,

draw and pai nt at the same ti me .

And my aim in 772] life i s to make pi ctures and drawi ngs as many and as well ,

a s I can ; then at the end o f my li fe I hope t o pass away l ooki ng back wi th

, , ,

l ove and tender regret and thi nking Oh the pi ctures I mi ght have made !
, , ,

But thi s does not exclude maki ng what i s poss i ble mind you D o you obje ct to ,
.

thi s ei ther for me or for yourself ?

,

I wi sh pai nti ng woul d become su ch a fixed i dea in your mi nd that the problem
”
o f Am I an arti st o r am I not ? woul d be placed i n the category of abstracti ons ,

and the more practi cal ques t i ons of how t o put together a figure or a lands cape ,

being more amusin g would come to the fore , .

Theo I declare I prefer to thi nk how arms legs head are attached t o the
, , ,

trunk rather than whether I myself am more or less an arti st or n ot

, .

I suppose that you prefer thi nki ng of a sky wi th g ray clouds and thei r si lver ,

lin ing above a muddy fiel d to bei ng engrossed i n the ques t i on of your o wn
,

personality Oh for all that I know someti mes the mind i s full of i t whi ch i s
.
, , ,

onl y natural But l ook here brother even if o ur mind i s now and then full of
.
, ,
“ ”
the prob lem I: tbere a G od or i: tbere not ? i t i s n o reason for us t o commi t an
,

ungodly act i ntenti onally .

”
In the same way in the matter of art the problem Am I an arti st o r am I not ?
, , ,

must n ot i nduce u s not t o draw or not t o paint M any t hi ngs defy defini ti on an d .
,

I consi der i t wrong to fri tter one s tim e away on them Ce rtai nl y when one s ’
.
’

work does not go smoothl y and one i s checked by difficul ti es on e gets bogged ,

i n the morass o f su ch thoughts an d i nsolub le prob lems And because one feel s .

sorely troubled by i t the best thi ng to do i s to conquer the cause of the di strac ti on
,

by acqui ri ng a new i nsi ght i nto the practi cal part of the work .

Now I for my part seei ng both i n y ou and in myself somethi ng of the Puri tan
, ,

character whi ch s o un i tes thi nking and a cti ng and i s so far removed from
,

wanting to be onl y a thin ker or onl y a machi ne whi ch needs princi ples of si m ,

p li c it
y a : well a: o f sens i b le work I do not admi t a difference o r di vergence much
, ,

l ess a contrast bet ween y o u an d me .

 In my opini on i t woul d be an error of judgment if you conti nued doing bus iness
,

i n Pari s .

So the conclusi on i s both brothers pai nters .

Whether i t fits your character It mi ght well be that you are fightin g hard
and futilely ag a ins t your character frustratin g your own li berati on just beca use ,

you doubt whether you can do i t .

Alas I know all about thi s from experi ence After all— however much we may
,
.

be our own enemi es— I am beginni ng to reali ze more an d more that l homme ’

s a i t e Di eu l e m ene that man proposes and God di sposes Above our doi ng the
’

g , ,
.

ri ght thi ng and doing t he wrong thi ng there i s an i nfini tely powerful force The .

same i s true of your ci rcumstances— act wi sely i n them— perhaps wi sely enough
to become a painter to cut matters short In the depth o f my heart I shou l d be
,
.

so greatly reassur ed if I saw you takin g up the paintbrush that I shoul d cons i der
the calami ty and the shi pwreck of the moment of less i mportance than the
certai nty of a future in a di recti on you would never regret .

But I wi sh that at the same ti me you may find rest for your heart in the matter
o f women If thi s were possi b l e you wou l d be even str ong er as bein g l oved gi ves
.
, ,

on e certain wi ngs a certai n surpri si ng courage and energy Then one i s m ore of
,
.

a oornp lete man than otherwi se And the more one i s thi s the better .
,
.

At all events I count i t among the possi bili ti es that you yourself may become
,
“
consci ous that pai nti ng i s your vocati on and then clear brother Puri tan sans , , ,
”
l e savoi r [wi thout knowing i t] i t mi ght be that your days in Pari s were numbered
, ,

that an ol d world cl osed i tself to you i n a rather ungenerous way— but that at ,

the same ti me a new worl d opened i tself to you .

Well thi n k i t over a l ong or a short ti me But it woul d be of li ttl e use i f you
, , .

sai d Vi ncent keep s i lent about i t ; for to that my answer i s : Theo it will not
, , ,

keep s i lent wi thi n j oarrelf .

On le conti ent plus malai sément

Que la source des gran ds fl euves .

[It i s more di ffi cu l t to repress

Than the source of great ri ver s ]
Theo I have heard from the poor woman a few ti mes ; sh e seems to be doing
,

her best worki ng washi ng for people goi ng out as a charwoman Her wri tin g i s
, , ,
.

alm ost i ndecipherab le and i ncoherent she seems t o regret some thi ngs i n th e ,

past The chi ldren are well and happy

. .

My pi t y and affecti on for her are certai nly not dead and I hope that a bond ,

o f affecti on may remai n between us though I do not see the poss i bili ty or the ,

good of li ving together again— pi ty may not be l ove but for all that i t can be ,

rooted deep ly enough .

Well brother to change the subject i t i s snowi ng here today i n the form of
, , , ,

enormous hai l stones I call i t snow because of the effect

. .

I don t speak about the beauty of the scenery here because I shoul d have to
’

say too i naob about i t to you As to the work I am almost t oo preoccupi ed wi th

.
,

the i dea that you should take i t up too whi ch qui te absorbs me I wi sh i t were ,
.

1 84
 Wi th a sky over i t of a deli cate lil ac whi te whi ch gives an effe ct I don t thi nk -
,
— ’

i t can be pai nted but whi ch i s for me the keynote tha t on e must know i n order
,

to understand the keynotes of other effe cts .

A black pat ch of earth— flat— in fi ni te—a cl ear sky of deli cate lil ac whi te The -
.

young corn sprouts from that earth i t i s al most mol dy l ooki ng wi th that corn ,
-
.

That s what the good ferti l e parts of D renthe are bas i cally ; the whole i n a hazy
’

“ ’”
atmosphere Thi nk of Bri on : Le derni er j our de l a c reati on ; yesterday i t seemed
.

to me that I understood the meaning of that p i ct ure .

The poor soi l of Drenthe i s just the same— but the black earth i s even blacker
s till — li ke soot— not lil ac b l ack li ke the furrows a n d drearil y covered wi th ever
-
,

rotti ng heather and peat I see that everywhere the i nci dental s on the i nfini te
.
,

background : on the moors the peat sheds i n the fertil e parts the very primi t ive
, ,

gi ganti c stru ctures of farms and sheepfol ds wi th l ow very low li ttl e wall s and , ,

e normous mossy roofs Oak trees all around them . .

When one has wal ked thr ough that country for hours and hours one feel s ,

that there i s really nothing but that i nfini te earth— that green mol d of corn or
heather that i nfini te sky Horses and men seem n o l arger than fleas One i s not
,
. .

aware of anythi ng be i t ever so large in i tself ; one only knows that there i s
,

earth and sky However i n one s quality of a li ttle speck noti cing other li ttl e
.
,
’

specks— leaving the infi ni te apart— on e finds every li ttl e speck t o be a Mill et .

“ ”
I passed a li ttle ol d church exactly exactly The Church at Grevi lle in Mil let s ,
’

li ttl e pi ct ure in the Luxembourg ; i nstead of the li ttl e peas ant wi th hi s spade in
that pi ct ure there was here a shepherd wi th a flock of sheep wal ki ng a l ong th e
,

hedge There was not a gli mpse of the true sea i n the b ac kg roun d fbut onl y of
.

the sea of y oun g corn the sea of furrows i nstead of the sea of waves
, .

The effect produced w a s the same Th en I saw p l owers very busy— a san dc art .
, ,

a shepherd road menders dung c art s In a littl e roadsi de i nn I dr ew an old

, , .

wom an at the spi nni ng wheel a dark li ttl e silh ouett e out of a fai ry tale— a dark
,

li ttl e s i l houette agai nst a li ght wi ndow through wh i ch o n e saw the clear sky , ,

and a small path through the deli cate green and a few geese pecki ng at grass ,
.

And then when twi li ght fell— i magin e the qui et the peace of i t all ! Imagine ,

th en a li ttl e avenue of high pop lars wi th autumn l eaves i magine a wi de muddy ,

road all black mud wi th an i nfini te heath to the ri ght and an endl ess heath t o the
, ,

l eft a few b la ck tri angular s i lhouettes of so d buil t huts through the li tt le wi ndows
,
-
,

o f whi ch s hi nes the red li ght o f the li ttl e fire wi th a few pool s of di rty yell owi sh ,

water that reflect the sky andui n whi ch trunks li e rotti ng ; i magi ne that swamp
,
‘

in the eveni ng twi li ght wi th a white sky over i t everyw here the c ontrast o f
, ,

b la ck and whi te And in that swamp a rough fi g ure— the shepherd— a heap of
.

oval masses half wool half mud j ostling each other pushing each other— the
, , , ,

flock Y ou see them coming— you fin d your self i n the mi dst of t hem— y ou turn
.

around and foll ow them S l owly and relu ctantl y they trudge al ong the muddy
road However the farm l ooms i n the di stance—a few mossy roofs an d pil es of
.

.
,

straw and peat between the poplars .

The sheepfold i s agai n li ke the silh ouette of a tri angl e— dar k The door i s .

wi de open like the entran ce to a dark cave Through the chinks of the boards .

1 86
b ehind i t gleams t he li ght of the sky The whole aravan of masses of wool and
. c
c
mud di sappear into t hat ave— the shepherd and a woman wi th a l antern shut
the doors behi nd them .

That comi ng home of the flock in the twili ght was the finale of the symphony
I heard yesterday .

That day passed li ke a dream, all day I was so absorbed in that poi gnant musi c
t hat I li terall y forgot even food an d dri nk— I had taken a p i ece of brown bread
and a c ifi of coffee in the li tt l e i nn where I drew the spinni ng wheel The day
f

w as over, and from dawn ti ll twi li ght, or rather from on e ni ght till the other,
I had l ost myself in that symphony .

I came home, and si tti ng by the fire , I felt I was hungry, yes , very hun gry .

But now you see how i t i s here One i s feeling exa tly as if on e had been to an
. c
e xhi bi t i on of the Cent chef d oeuvres for i nstance ; what does o ne bri ng home
’
-
,

from such a day ? Onl y a number of rough sketches Yet there i s another thi ng .

on e br i ngs home — a cal m ardor for work .

D F
o wri te soon, today i t i s ri day, but your l etter has not yet arri ved ; I am
l ongi ng t o get i t It al so takes some ti me to get i t hanged , as I have t o go t o
. c
Hoogeveen for i t and then return here We do not know how things will g o,
, .

o therwi se I shoul d sa y , now the s mp l est thi ng woul d be perhaps t o send the
i
m oney once a month At all events , wri te soon Wi th a handshake,
. .

Yours Sin cerely Vi ncent ,

3 45
D ea r Theo ,
Nuenen 5 5 December 4 8 8 3 ,
-

I was lyi ng awake half the ni ght Theo after I wrote y ou l ast ni ght
, ,
.

I am s i ck at heart about the fa ct that c oming back after tw o years absence

,
’
,

t h e wel come home was ki nd and cordi al in every respe ct but bas i call y there h a s ,

been no change whatever n ot the sli ghtest in what I must call the most extreme
, ,

b lin dness an d i gnorance as to the i nsi ght i nto o ur mutual pos i ti on And I agai n .

feel ahn ost unbearably di sturbed and perp lexed .

The fact i s that thi ngs were goi ng extremely well until the moment when
“ ”
Father not just in the heat o f pass i on but al so because he was ti red o f i t
—
,

— bani shed me from the house It ought t o have been understood then that thi s
.

w a s supremely i mportant to my success o r fail ure— that thing s were made ten
t i mes more di fficul t for me by thi s— almost i nsupportab le .

If I had n o t had the same feeling at the ti me whi ch I now have agai n namely ,

that notwi thstandi ng all good i ntenti ons notwi thstandi ng all the ki ndness of,

t he recepti on notwi t hstandi ng anythi ng you li ke there i s a certai n hardness i n

, ,

Father li ke i ron an i c y coldness — something that gi ves the i mpressi on of dry

, ,

s and o r gl ass o r ti npl ate— fo r all hi s outward gentl eness— if as I s ai d I had n o t , ,

had thi s feeli ng already I should n ot have resented i t so much

, .

[ W ri tten the margin] I am n ot so much i nterested in a ki nd o r an unki nd

in
recepti on— i t gri eves me that they do not regret what they di d at the ti me .

N ow I am agai n in an almost unbearab le state of waveri ng and i nner struggle .

1 87
 You understand that I shoul d not wri te as I do— having undertaken the
j ourney hi ther of my own free will having been the fir st t o swall ow my pri de
,

if I di d not find real obstacl es in my way

- .

If I had now noti ced some eagerness to do as the Rap p ar d s di d wi th the best ,

resul ts and as we began here wi th good results too— if I had noti ced tha t Father
,

had also realiz ed that he ought not to have shut hi s house to me then I shoul d ,

have felt some confi dence i n the fut ure .

Nothi ng nothing of all that

,
.

In Father s mi nd there was not then there i s not now the fain test shadow of
’
, ,

a doubt that what he did was the ri ght thing .

Father does not know remorse li ke you and me and any man w h o i s human .

Father beli eves in hi s ow n ri ghteousness whereas you and I and other human ,

creatures are i mbued wi th the feeli ng that we conrirt of errors and efforts of the
l ost soul s I commi serate wi th peop l e li ke Father— i a my bea rt of bea rtr I ca nnot be
.

an r w i tb bi n — because I thi nk they are more unhappy than 1 Why do I thi n k

g y r .

them unhappy —because the good wi thi n them i s wrongly appli ed so that i t ,

acts li ke evi l— because the ln t wi thi n them i s b lack and spreads darkness ,

obscu ri t y around them .

Thei r cordi al recepti on gri eves me— thei r indalg enc e wi thout ackno wledging
thei r error i s for me perhaps worse than the error i tself Instead of a ready
, ,
.

understandin g and a certai n eager contri buti on to my an d i ndi re ctly thei r own , ,

well bei ng I feel in everyt hing a hesi tati on and delay whi ch paralyze my own
-
,

ardor and energy li ke a l eaden atmosphere .

My masculi ne i ntell ect tell s me that I must cons i der i t an i rrevo cabl e fatal fact ,

that i n the depth of our soul s Father and I are i rreconci lable My compassi on for .

“ “
Father as well as for myself says to me Irreconci labl e — Never —i n defi
,

ni t e ly for ever and ever there i s the possi b ili t y of and one s h oul d have fai t h i n the
, , ,

poss i bi lit y of a deci si ve reconci li ati on But thi s— ah w hy i s i t probab le al as

, .
,
“

, ,
“ ”
that it wi ll t urn out an i llusi on ?
Do you call thi s moroseness on my part ?
Our li fe i s an appallin g reali ty and we ourselves are infini tely dri ven thi ngs
, ,

are— as they are— and whether w e take them more or l ess gloomily does not i n
any w ay alter the nature of thin gs I thi nk about i t thi s w ay for i nstance at ni ght
.
,

when I li e awake or I thi nk about i t thi s way in the storm on the heath i n t he
, ,

evening i n the dreary twili ght

, .

In the dayti me i n ordi nary li fe I may sometimes l ook as thi ck ski nn ed as a

, ,
-

wi l d boar and I can understand perfe ctl y well that peopl e thi nk me coa rs e W hen
, .

I was younger I thought much more than now that thi ngs depended on chance
, , ,

on small thin gs o r mi sunderstan dings that had no reason But getti ng o l der .
,
“
I feel i t more and more di fferently and see deeper moti ves Life i s a queer , .

”
thi ng too brother , .

You see how agi tated my l etters are one moment I thi nk that i t can be done , ,
“
the next that i t cannot One thi ng i s cl ear to me that thi ngs don t go rea di ly
, .
,
’
,
”
that there i s no eagerness .

I have deci ded to go and see Rap p ard and tell hi m that I myself shoul d be ,

1 88
 And then— the dog mi ght bi te— h e mi ght become rabi d and the constab le ,

would have to come to shoot hi m .

Yes all thi s i s very true

,
.

On the other hand dogs are guardi ans , .

But that i s superfluous there i s peace and there i s no questi on of any danger
, , ,

they say So I keep si lent about i t

. .

The dog i s only sorry that he di d not stay away for i t was l ess l onely on th e ,

heath than i n thi s house notwi thstanding all the ki ndness The dog s vi si t was a
, .
’

weakness whi ch I hope will be forgotten and whi ch he will avoi d commi t ting
, ,

i n the future .

As I have had no expenses si nce I have been here and as I have twi ce recei ved ,

money from you I have pai d the j ourney myself and al so pai d for the cl othes
, ,

Father bought because mi ne were not good enough and at the same ti me I ,

returned the 2 5 guil ders t o fri end Rapp ard .

I thi nk you will be glad of thi s i t seemed so carel ess , .

Dear Theo encl osed y ou will find the l etter I was wri ting when I recei ved
,

yours whi ch I wi ll now answer after readi ng what you say carefully
, .

I begin by sayi ng I thi nk i t nobl e of y ou th at thi nki ng I bnrt Father y ou take

, , ,

hi s p art and give me a good scol di ng

, .

I appreci ate thi s i n you though you are fighting agai nst on e wh o i s nei ther
,
.

Father s nor your own enemy but who most deci dedl y wants to submi t a number
’

o f seri ous prob l ems to Father s and your cons i derati on telli ng you what I te ll
’

you because I feel that way and as king W hy i s thi s so ,

In many respect s ,

your remarks in answer to vari ous passages i n my l etter are n ot foreign to my

o w n thoughts Your object i ons are partl y my own obj ecti ons but t hey are not
.
,

conclusi ve Once agai n I see your good wi ll i n i t and at the same ti me your
.
,

l ongi ng for reconci li ati on and peace— whi ch for that matter I do not doubt .

But brother on the other hand I coul d rai se a l ot of obj ect i ons t o your remarks
, , ,

only I thi nk thi s would be tedi ous and I thi nk there i s a shorter w ay There i s ,
.

a desi re for peace and reconcili ati on i n Father and i n you and i n me And yet we _ .

do not seem able to bri ng about peace .

N ow I believe that I am the stumb li ng b l ock and so I must t ry to fin d a w ay

, ,
“ ”
n o t to botber you or Father any l onger S o y ou al so think that I hurt Father s
’
.

feeli ngs and that I am a cowa rd Really ? Well i n the fut ure I shall try to keep
.
,

everythi ng to myself I shall not vi si t Father agai n and shall sti ck t o my propos al
, ,

t o put a stop to ou r arrangeme nt about the money toward Mar ch if you agree , ,

i n order to keep o u r mutual freedom of thought in order n o t to botber y oa any ,

l onger (whi ch I fear i s goi ng to be your uni ntenti onal c onclus i on too) I ask for .

a li ttl e time for the sake of order and to allow myself some ti me t o take a few ,

measures whi ch though they have very li ttl e chance of success for cons c i ence s
, ,
’

sake I may not put off You must take thi s cal mly and in ki ndness brother— i r i s
.
,

not an ul ti matum I am sendi ng you But if our feeli ngs di ffer t o o wi del y we .
,

must not force ourselves t o avoi d calli ng thi ngs by thei r names Isn t that your .
’

opini on too ?
But you know don t y ou that I consi der y ou to ba ve raved my life I shall never
,
’
, .
forget that ; tbong b we p at an end to relati ons whi ch I am afrai d woul d bri ng u s
i nto a fal se posi ti on I am n ot onl y your brother your fri end but at the same
, , ,

ti me I have infini te ob li gati ons of grati tude to y ou for the fact that you l ent me a
,

helpi ng hand at the ti me and have conti nued t o help me Money can be repai d
,
.
,

not kindness su ch as yours .

Let me g o my own w ay— i t i s a di sappoi ntment to me that there has not been
a thorough reconcili ati on n ow ; I wi sh i t coul d happen still but y ou peop l e d o ,

n o t understand me and I am afrai d y ou never will

,
.

Send me the usual amount by ret urn of mai l if possi ble then I need n ot ask ,

Father for anythi ng when I g o away whi ch I must d o as soon as possi ble I gave
,
.

all t h e gui lders of December 1 t o Father for 1 4 g uil ders borrowed an d , ,

shoes and trousers .

I gave all the 2 5 guilders of December 1 0 t o Rapp ard .

I have just a quarter an d a few c ents in my pocket That i s the account whi ch .
,

you will understand if y ou know besi des that I pai d my expenses i n Drenthe for
,

a l ong ti me out of the money of November 2 0 whi ch arri ved December 1 , ,

because there had been some delay then that w as set ri ght l ater and that I pai d ,

fo r my j ourney etc ou t of the 1 4 g uilders (whi ch I borrowed from Father an d

, .
,

have s ince given back) .

I shall go from here t o Rapp ard .

And from Rapp ard perhaps to Mauve, .

So my i ntenti on i s to try t o arrange everyt hing in cal mness and order .

There i s much in my frankl y stated opi ni on about Father whi ch I cann ot take
back under the ci rcumstances I appreci ate your obj ecti ons but many of them
.
,

I cannot c onsi der conclusive ; of others I have already thought myself though ,

what I have wri tt en I have wri tten I expressed my feelin gs in strong terms an d
.
,

i t stands t o reason that they are modifi ed by the appreci ati on of much that i s
good i n Father— of course thi s modi ficati on i s consi derabl e .

Permi t me to tell you that I di d not know a man of thi r ty was a bo y espec i all y ,

n o t if he has gone through more experi enc es than most duri ng those thi rt y years .

But if you li ke— consi der my words the words of a boy I am not responsi bl e .

for your i nterpretati on of my words am I That i s your ow n bus i ness

, .

Al so as t o Father— I shall venture not t o take to heart what he thi nks of me ,

a s soon as w e part .

It may be poli ti c to be sil ent about one s feeli ngs— but on the other hand i t
’

ha s al ways appeared t o me that sereni ty i s a duty parti c ularly for a pai nter ,
.

Whether they understand me or n ot whether I am judged ri ghtl y or wrongly

, ,

l eaves me un changed a s you once poi nted o ut to me yourself

, .

And brother even if there i s a separati on or whatever el se I am your fri end

, ,

perhaps i nacb rnore tbany on know or g ueu Wi th a handshake .

,

Yours si ncerely Vin cent ,

In any case I am nei ther Father s enemy nor yours and I ’

,
never shall be .
3 47
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen 1 6 December 1 8 8 3 ,

Mauve once sai d t o me You will find yourself if you go o n pai nti ng if you
, ,
”
penetrate more deep ly i nto art than y ou have up to n o w ; he sai d th at two
y ears ago .

Of late I often thi nk about these words of hi s .

I have found myself— I am that dog .

Thi s i dea may be a little exag erated— reali ty may be l ess pronounced i n i t s
a
g

contrasts l ess starkly dramati c but I beli eve the rough character outlin e i s true
, ,

after all The shaggy shepherd dog whi ch I tri ed t o descri be too you i n yesterday s
.
’

l etter i s my character and the li fe of that ani mal i s my li fe that i s to say omi tti ng
, , ,

the detai l s and onl y stating the essenti al s .

Thi s may seem exaggerated to you— but I will not take i t back Wi thout bei ng .

personal just for the sake of an i mparti al character s t udy as if I di d not speak
, ,

about y ou and me but about strangers for the sake of analysi s I poi nt out to , ,

you once more how i t was l ast summer I see two brothers wal king about i n .

The Hague (roe tbei n a: rtra ng err do not thi nk of yourself and me)
.
,
.

“
One says I must mai ntai n a certai n standi ng I must stay in busin ess I don t
, , ,
’

”
thi nk I shall become a pai nter .

“
The other says I am getting to be li ke a dog I feel that the future will prob
, ,

ably make me more ugly and rough and I foresee that a certai n p overty will be ,
‘ ’

my fate but but I rball be a p ainter

, ,
. .

S o the o n e— a certai n standi ng as an art deal er .

T h e other— poverty and painter .

And I see those same brothers in former years when you had just entered t h e ,

worl d of pi ctures when you just began to read etc etc — I see them near
, , .
, .

the mill at Ri j swi j k or for i nstance on a walk to Chaam i n wi nter across the
, ,

s nowy heath earl y i n the morni ng ! Feeli ng tbi né i ng and beli evi ng s o exact ly ,

ali ke that I a sk myself Are those the The questi on i s How wi ll

, ,

thi ngs turn o u t— will they separate forever o r wi ll they forever follow the same ,

path
I tell you I consci ous ly choose tbe dog s p a tb tbroag b life ; I wi ll remai n a dog
,
’
,

I shall be p oor I shall be a p ai nter I want to rema i n barna n— goi ng i nto nat ure In
, ,
.

my op ini on the man who goes oa t of nature whose head i s always stuffed wi th ,

thoughts of mai ntai ni ng thi s and mai ntai ni ng that even i f thi s causes hi m to go ,

out of nature to such an extent that he cannot but acknowl edge i t— oh— i n thi s
w ay one i s apt to arri ve at a poi nt where one c a n no l onger di sti ngui sh whi te
from b l ack— and— and o n e becomes the exact oppos i te of what o n e i s cons i dered
and of what one thi nks oneself to be Fo r i nstan ce— at present you have a manl y .

fear of medi ocri ty i n the unfavorable sense of the word— why then are you going
to ki ll to exti ngui sh what i s best i n your soul ? Then aye i n tba t care your fear
, , , ,

mi ght come true How does on e become medi ocre By c ompromi si ng and
.

maki ng concessi ons today in thi s matter tomorrow i n another accordi ng to the
, , ,

di ctates of the world— b y never contradi cti ng the world and by al ways following ,

publi c op ini on l Pl ease d o not mi s understand me— ou the contrary I mean to say ,

1
9 2
thi nki ng matters out appear to me Thi s i s the core of the problem— Father .

does not feel there i s anythi ng t o be reconciled about anyt hi ng that ought ,
“ ” “
to be redressed— a ll ri ght leave him to hi s other thi ngs Father says But
— .
,

w e have always been good t o y o u and I say Really ? Are y ou contented , ,

I am n ot .

Somethi ng better than the ti me of the Ri jsw 1jk mill— namely the same thi ng
for ever and ever : tw o poor brothers— arti sts— absorbed i n the same feeli ng for
the same nat ure— will i t ever end i n thi s The se cure soci al posi ti on the secure ,

weal th will they be vi ctori ous ? Oh let them be vi ct ori ous— but let i t onl y be
, ,

fo r a ti me whi ch will surel y l ead you to di sappoi ntment i n t h em ; thi s i s what

, fl

I expect will happen before y ou are thir ty years old And if n ot— well if not .
, ,

then— then— then— J o rnncb tbe worse .

Wi th a handshake ,

Yours si ncerely Vincent ,

[ Enc l osed i n thi s l etter] Dear brother these are cert a in l y ti ckli sh questi ons to ,

di scuss but do not take offense at my being unable t o fin d better words for what
,

i s i n my mi nd and l ook upon my attempts to speak to you confiden tial ly an d

,

unreservedl y as a brother toward a brother as a fri end toward a fri end ,

.

Theo in the past I often quarrel ed wi th Father because Father s ai d di ctatori ally
, ,
” “
It i s li ke thi s and I tol d hi m Pa y ou are contradi cti ng your self what y ou
, , , ,

say mili tates absolutely against what y ou vaguel y feel at your heart s core even ’

if you d o not want to feel i t Theo I stopped quarreli ng wi th Father wholl y

.
,

and compl etely l ong ago because i t i s n ow clear to me that Fath ef h as never
,
‘

reflected upon certai n very i mportant thi ngs and never will reflect upon t hem , ,

and that he cli ngs t o a system and doe s n ot reason n or di d he ever n or will he , ,

ever reason on the basi s of the naked facts There are too many w h o do as he .

does s o that he al ways finds certai n support and strength i n the thought
, ,

Everyone thi nks thi s about i t (namel y pri mari l y all the well regul ated respe ctabl e -
,

cl ergymen) But he has n o other strength and i t i s all bui lt on convention and a
.
,

system otherwi se i t woul d c ollapse li ke any other vani ty Father does n ot wrestl e
, .

wi th the plai n truth But now I am of the opi ni on that on e i s one s own enemy if
.
’

one does not want to think thi ngs out if on e does not say (espec i ally i n one s ,
’

youth) : Look here for myself I d o not want t o be sustai ned by a system I wan t
, ,

to attack thi ngs accordi ng to reason and cons ci ence I take l ess noti ce of my own .

father though he i s not a bad man and though I do not speak about hi m t han
,
J
, , ,

I do of people in whom I fi n d m ore truth .

You see dear brother I feel a deep deep deep respect for Millet Corot Dau
, , , , , ,

bi gny Breton H erk omer Boughton Jul es Dupr e etc etc Israels— I am far
, , , , , .
, .
,

from confusi ng rny i elf wi th tbern— I do n ot consi der myself thei r equal— no— yet
I say however concei ted or whatever el se peopl e may thi nk me— for all that
,

I say Y ou wi ll show me the way and I am ready to foll ow your exam pl e rather
, ,

than Father s or some schoolmaster s or whoever el se s

’
,
’
,
’
.

I myself find i n Father and Tersteeg somethi ng of the s chool of Delaro che ,

Muller Dab uffe and so on— I may thi nk i t cl ever I may be si lent about i t
, , , ,

1 94
I may take i t at i t s face value I may even have a certai n respect for i t— but all
,

thi s does n ot prevent my sayi ng The l east pai nter or man w h o wrestles di rectly
,

wi th the naked truths of nature i s more than you are .

In short my dear fellow nei ther Father nor Tersteeg ha s given other than a
, ,

spuri ous tranqui lli ty t o my consci ence and they have n ot gi ven me freedom , ,

n o r have they ever approved of my desi re for freedom an d p l ai n truth an d of

my feeli ng of i gnorance and darkness .

N ow l eft to myself I have not attai ned the li ght or what I wanted to do yet
, , ,

never mi nd ; but by resolutely rejecti ng thei r systems I thi nk I have g ai ned a

c ertai n hope that my exerti ons will not be unavai li ng .

And that before I cl ose my eyes forever I shall see the rayon b lank However
, , .

fierce the str uggl e i n my mi nd may have been because of my not havi ng found
i t I have never regretted sayi ng that I consi dered the rayon noi r the rayon noi r
, ,

and havi ng defin i tely avoi ded i t— except that on e shoul d n ot quarrel over i t ,

and if I ever quarrel ed over i t , i t w as a mi stake .

N ow fo r myself knowi ng what I know I l ook at y ou and ask the questi on

, , ,

Wh at shall he d o wi th i t ? Theo when w e quarrel ed a li ttl e some ti me ago in

”
,

The Hague an d y ou sai d I feel more and more drawn to Father I tol d you
, , , ,

Boy thi s i s a di ffi cult questi on foll ow your ow n consci ence But s i nce then I
, ,
.

h ave tri ed to expl ai n to y ou t oo that fo r myself I cannot find tranquil t in

Father s and H C Tersteeg s w ay of thinking the l atter s bei ng about the sam e
’
. .
’
,
’

I thi nk— and that I have become i ncreas ing ly aware of the fact that there i s a
rayon noi r and a rayon bl anc and that I have found thei r li ght to be b lack and a
mere c onventi on compared to the cool honesty of Mill et and Corot for i nstance ,
.

N ow I have been thi nki ng all thi s over four years l onger than y ou have as ,

I am four years older and calmer— in any c ase tim e and experi ence have i nduced
me to rej ect and avoi d certai n thi ngs And I do not want to influence you but .
,

on the other hand I d o not want t o conceal myself from you or to do otherwi se ,

than speak openl y .

I c ome to the foll owi ng conclusi on

W h at Father and Tersteeg tri ed to force on me as a dnty was the rp ecter of a .

“
duty What they rea lly sai d was (though not in so many words) Earn money
.
,
”
and your life will bec ome strai ght Mill et says t o me : M a ke y oar life s traig bt
.

( at l east try to do s o and to wrest l e wi th the naked truth) a nd even earning money ,

ca n be manag ed, and i n ts t ooy ou wi ll not be dis bonert

‘

And I fel t then, and I feel more and more strongly n ow , that Father and
Tersteeg, and for i nstance C M and I don t know w h o el se (although they
’
. .

thought thei r i ntenti ons strai ght, and I d o n ot suspect them of di shonesty— but
as I sai d, I take them at thei r face value— and l eave them al one) , that they and
-

a ll th e i nfluences of the past dragged me more and more oa t o nature N ow ,

f .

whatever may be sai d of Mill et, at l east i t wa s he w h o took me back into nature ,
more than any other mi ght have been abl e to do i n my desperate state of mi nd .

My youth w as gl oomy and cold and steril e under the i nfluence of the rayon noi r .

An d , brother, essent i ally your youth too My dear fell ow, thi s ti me I will not .

flatter y ou After all, I wi ll reproach nobody but myself wi th i t— yet the rayon
.

I
9S
 noi r i s unutterably cruel— unutterab ly And at thi s moment I feel wi thi n myself
as many repressed tears as there are i n a figu re by M o n t ey n e !

But brother my very gri ef over so much proves to me that I myself have
, ,

defini tely done wi th the systems i n questi on I have suffered from them but i n my .
,

heart of hearts I no l onger bel ong t o that s i de of li fe And now I say to you a s .
,

brother to brother and as fri end to fri end Though your youth w a s gl oomy and ,

frustrated i n tbe fatare let u s seek that soft li ght fo r whi ch I know n o better
,

name than the whi te ray of li ght or the good .

Not looki ng upon ourselves as havi ng obtai ned i t of course but as seeki ng i t , , ,

beli evin g in i t wi th the foi de charbonni er Whatever may b e true of my l osin g .

pati ence wi th Father as wel l a s wi th Tersteeg etc etc do not thi nk of me a s ,

.
,
.
,

bei ng in th e l east influenced by hate or spi teful ness toward them I do not envy .

them i n my opi ni on they are n ot happy themselves and i n my heart of hearts

, ,

I am certai nl y not thei r enemy nor do I bear them mali ce nei ther do I l ook upon ,

them as my enemi es although i t i s a fact that I do n ot recall thei r i nfluence

,

wi th much pleasure I do not suspe ct them of wi cked i ntenti ons I thi nk they do
. .

foll ow thei r consci ence but that i t i s haunted by ghosts An d I do not see i n
,
.

Mill et or Corot that there were ghosts haunti ng tbei r consci ences There I see .

greater cal m and sereni ty of a hi gher quali ty Once again : I am far removed .

from thi s myself However every study I make every attempt i n the di recti on
.
, ,

of pai nti ng every new l ove for or struggl e wi th nature success ful or un successful
, , ,

gets me one littl e unsteady step nearer A s far as religi on i s concerned I find l ess
.
,

of i t i n Father than i n Uncle Jan for i nstance though i t stands to reason that
, ,

many would say the reverse I thi nk Father the opposi te of a man of fai th Well
. .
,

l ook here goin g in fo r painti ng requi res a certain foi de charbonni er because o n e
,

c a nnot prove at the outset that i t wil l succeed and everyone takes a gl oomy vi ew

o f i t But Theo though i t be t rue that you as well as I begi n wi th as many

.
, ,

repressed tears a s the figures by M ont ey n e and Groll o at the same tim e we have ,

a li ttl e qui et hope mi xed wi th all our sadness In the first years of hard struggling .

i t may even be a sowi ng of tears s o be i t but we shall check them and i n the fa r
, , ,

di stance we may have a li ttle qui et hope of the harvest .

Wi th a handshake ,

Yours s incerel y Vincent ,

S ince I wrote the encl osed letter I have agai n thought over your remarks and
, ,

have agai n spoken with Fath er , My de ci s i on not to stay here was al most taken ,

no matter what they mi ght thi nk of i t or what the consequences mi ght be ; but
,
“
then the conversati on took another t urn by my sayi ng I have been here two , ,

w eeks and do not feel a b i t more advanced than the fi rst half hour ; now if we
,

had understood each other better we should have thi ngs arranged by now ,

I have no ti me to l ose and I must make a deci si on A door must be ei ther open
,
.

o r c l osed I do not understand anyt hin g between the two an d i t does not rea ll y
.
,

exi st i n fact .

S o the resul t i s that the li ttle room at home where the mang le stands wi ll be
at my di sposal to put away my thi ngs— to u se a s a stu di o too i n case thi s mi ght ,
 My tryi ng to get Father to take me i n agai n even to have a studi o here was , ,

n o t done pri maril y out of egoi sm I see i n i t that though we do not understand .
,

each other i n many thi ngs there will be ei ther always or by fits and starts , , ,

good will between you Father and myself As the estrangement between us ha s
, .

already l asted s o l ong i t can do no harm to try to put some wei ght on the other
,

si de so that i n the eyes of the worl d w e shall not appear more di vi ded tha n we
,

really are so that i n the eyes of the worl d we shall n ot lapse i nto extremes
, .

“
Rapp ard sai d to me A man i s n ot a lump of peat tha t i s t o say he cannot
, , ,
” —
bear to be flung away in a l oft and t o be forgotten there a n d he i nsi sted that
'

he thought i t a great mi sfort une for me not to be ab l e to li ve at home Just thi nk .

thi s over pl ease,

.

I thi n k i t has been taken rather t oo much for granted that I acted wil lft or
reckl ess ly well you know it better than I do ; whereas i n reali ty I was forced
, ,

t o some thi ngs and coul d not act di fferently And th e very method used to
,
.

accuse me of base i ntenti ons ma de me very cool and rather i ndi fferent to many
Peo l
p e .

Brother I repeat— reflec t deeply at thi s time of your life I thi nk you will
, ,

have to verify the perspecti ve of your life all over agai n and that tbeny oar life ,

wi ll ba ve a better a rp ec t I do not say so as if I know i t nor do you ; I say i t because

.
,

I begi n to see more and more how terri bly di ffi cult i t i s to know where on e i s
ri ght or where one i s wrong .

3 48
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen a o D e c ei n b er 1 8 8 5 ,

I received your l etter today and al so one from fri end Rapp ard i n the same mail
, .

Let me begin by thanki ng you for the money .

And l et me add at once that I appre ci ate i t that both y ou and Rapp ard approve
of my comi ng here Thi s gave me courage at a moment when I myself w a s
.

hopel ess ly di scouraged about my coming here and bi tterly regretted i t because , ,

on my part I percei ved deep i n the background of al l the di scuss i ons I had wi t h

Father a je n e sai s quoi of col d reti cence over reconci li ati on a col d evasiveness , ,

whi ch made me desperate because I saw that there would remai n a cancerous
root whi ch woul d l ater make everythi ng as i mpossi bl e as in the past _
.

But your letter and a very i ntelli gent very ki nd very cordi al l et ter from fri end , ,

Rapp ard and both your op i ni ons that my j ourney hi ther mi ght bri ng about
,

some good have i nduced me not to consi der the case as l ost yet but to pra cti ce
, ,

pati ence and wi sdom .

Have pat i ence wi th me brother and do not suspect me of ill will , ,

.

A s for me in many respects I know Father very i nti matel y and thoroughl y
, ,

and i n the matter we are faced wi th i t i s i mpossi bl e for me to l eave thi ngs as they
are I had to get Father s opi ni on about thi s an d that i n order to compare i t wi th
.
’

certai n precedents For i nstance I directed th e conversat i on t o subj ects that had
.
,

nothi ng t o d o wi th the matter in questi on and then I got enough troubles ,

.

“ ”
Do you know your advi ce do n ot speak t o them about certai n things makes
,

me thi nk y ou refer to one parti cul ar thi ng of whi ch y ou take a correct vi ew , .

 But i n realit y that questi on of long ag o w as of the utmost i mportance (at
l east t o me personally I mean)— enteri ng upon a new futur e wi th Father i s once
,

agai n a hi g hl y important thi ng whi ch nobody can a sk me t o en gage upon

, ,

l eavi ng thi ngs as they are .

At the moment parti cul arly after the receipt of your let ter Father and I are
, ,

on the best poss i b l e terms and Father i s not even di s i n cli ned t o make c ertai n
,

arrangements .

Besi des I want y ou t o know I qui te agree wi th y ou that they mean well — I d o
,

n o t suspect t hem of cons ci ousl y wirbi ng any adversi t y to befall me al though at ,

tim es t hey bri ng i t on me or of i ntenti ona lly putti ng obstru c ti ons in my way
, ,
“ ”
al though occas i onall y I am th warted by them ( n ot wi t hout good i ntent i ons as ,

Mauve woul d express it) But Father s character i s hi ghl y vari ab le and at the
.
’

same ti me hi ghl y obsti nate (I know most peopl e d o n ot know thi s)— Father s
-
,
’

character i s dark (rayon noi r I once remi nded y ou) Father has a very narrow
, ,

mi nded or rather i c y col d quali t y I cannot express thi s I can onl y feel i t I have
.
, .

often thought thi s probl em over I have p ai d a great deal of attenti on t o Father
, ,

I know Father from vari ous angles very often I have tri ed to come to an agree ,

ment wi th Father yet I do not thi nk Father g ood I ca nnot declare that I thi nk Father
, .

strai ghtforward or s impl e or cl ear headed enough -

.

And now there i s and there will remai n a je n e sai s quoi that worri es me and
, , ,

at the back of i t all I am aware of the same fatal atmosphere as in the past .

I w a s struck by the fact Theo that fri end Rap p ard now wri te s that he had
, ,

perc ei ved that dur i ng the summer of the year I stayed at Et ten I changed so
much (i t w a s then that I met her) And at the same ti me he hints that he under .

stands rometbi ng happened then tbong b be does not k now wba t As I s ee i t Father
.
, .
,

and Mother and some others a cted wi th very li ttl e deli cacy at the ti me .

If you shoul d be abl e t o agree with me on that Theo I shoul d li ke t o say t o , ,

y o u
, They show the same l ack o f deli ca c y now and you sho ul d kn ow somethi ng ,

of i t .

S o, although y ou need not attach much i mportance to some conversati ons

wi th Father in the beginni ng by whi ch I onl y attempted to di scover what Father
,

thought of thi ngs al though all thi s means nothi ng and at the present moment
, ,

some arrangement mi ght be made whi ch in many respects woul d make my ,

work easi er for me and gi ve me the i nner qui et to work yet I see at the outset ,

a je n e s ai s quoi especi ally in Father whi ch fill s me wi th anxi ety a heavy stil l
, , , ,

anxi ety about the fut ure .

Keepi ng the peace wi th Father i s a hard job Onc e agai n I unders tand my .

ow n rebelli ous atti tude i n the previ ous peri od I do not sa i t will l ead t o nothi ng
y .
,

but I poi nt out— i t will be di fli c ul t Y ou will point out t o me what I know ful l .

well myself that in many respe cts I personally am very di ffi cult to deal wi th
,
.

Y es that i s true and I must take i t i nto account t o o There i s an excuse fo r me

, , ,
.
,

and that i s the passi on and the frequent absorpti on whi ch everyone w h o pai nts ,

wri tes o r c omposes must needs have

, .

Does the same apply to Father ? No— i t i s something el se If y ou shoul d .

s ay But Fat her i s al so a thi nker and a wri ter— then I answer I wi sh he were
, ,
thi s i n another w ay for now I can not call hi m happy I say thi s more sadl y
,
.

than you may thi nk ; what I say i s s eri ous I s i t i mpossi bl e for y ou to enter i nto my
.

feeli ngs
I wrote y ou my last l etter i n a moment s desperati on of whi ch the real purport ’
,
“ ”
w a s I c a nnot do i t after all
,
And I t hought a deci sive separati on from Father
.
,
“
i rrevocab l e and wi th ec la t the onl y thi ng I coul d do If I do not do thi s I shoul d
'

.
, ,

seem to be of one mi nd wi th a person whose pri nci pl es I do not even resp e ct ,

and I cannot stand the l east appearance of bei ng in agreement wi th hi m for ,

”
I am dead agai nst hi m absolutely i n opposi ti on to hi m
,
.

But now today I received your letter and at the same ti me a l etter from Rap ,

pard wri tten in a tone whi ch I can understand and appre ci ate And after another
,
.

di scu ss i on wi th Father we have arri ved at a provi s i onal arrangement and ca lmness
, .

“ ”
A calmness whi ch perhaps i s It but whi ch to a far greater extent i s not
,

“ ”
It Que fai re ?
.

I hereby declare that for myself I agree wi th Rapp ard when he says Stay
, , ,
” —
at home for a long ti me h e stresses thi s .

There are a l ot of reasons for thi s Theo Oh if onl y you coul d see all that
, .
,

I see i n i t— how much securi ty i t mi g ht grant us for the future — I hop e i t will
prove to be possi b le .

In Father s case there i s an eternal contrast bet ween what he says and what he
’

does, b ut i t took me a long time to di scover i t and t o understand t hat usually

Father i s not consci ous of i t s o that one i s often unabl e t o deci de whether he
,

reall y wanted t o do what he act uall y di d I shall tell y ou frankl y brother what .
, ,

I thi nk of i t Father does not always kn ow what he deer— though he chooses

.

hi s words awfull y systemati cally h i s acti ons are most haphazard

, .

In short i t wi ll be a bardj ob t o get good results from my stay here

, .

However the ci rcumstances are su ch as t o make i t urgently necessary that an

,

arrangement i s brought about that wi ll really be carri ed thr ough .

I have proposed that the room that can most easi l y be spared shall be used to
keep my thi ngs in and if necessary as a studi o in case not only I but y ou a nd I
, ,

thi nk i t necessary and s ui tabl e that I work at home for a ti me espe cially when ,

there are financi al reasons t o force u s t o i t Busi ness i s busi ness and i t i s clear .
,

enough to you as well as to me that thi s i s a good arrangement .

I have been t oo l ong wi thout thi s res t ing place and I thi nk that i t must be ,

settl ed in thi s way if w e want t o succeed in our enterpri se .

I beli eve i t i s possi bl e and I shall have the courage t o start i t when you and
,

I agree that w e must carry i t through and settle that y ou will n ot be vexed wi th
me if i n case of some di sagreement wi th Father I do n ot take i t as seri ous ly a s
, ,

I di d tw o years ag o .

I will g o my own way qui etl y and follow your advi ce not to speak wi th Father
about several thi ng s provi ded onl y that I find in you the person t o whom I ca n
speak about them and to whom I can say I shoul d li ke to do thi s or t hat for
, , ,

thi s or that reason .

Tben I can l eave Father out of i t and not di scuss the probl ems wi th Father
, .

But i t w as necessary t o break the i c e and thi s I di d by goi ng t o Nuenen and on

, ,
well and Rapp ard wri tes me I consi dered i t y oarg rea test misfortane that y ou
, ,
”
coul d not li ve at home And thi s i s true and I felt i t terri bly n ot onl y after
.
, ,

ward but al so at the moment t wo years ago n ow when I had t o face i t Father
, , , .

d i d not d o thi s i ntenti onally— I say Father has li t tl e deli ca cy of feeli ng and even ,

now although I at la st tol d him so for the first ti me Father does n ot yet know
, ,

that i t w as a great di fficul ty for me Father s t ill says— and thi s i s somethi ng so .

icy co l d that I shudder when I th i nk o f i r— Father says after t wo years tba t in tbe
as t be a cted accordi ng to bis c onvi cti on a nd p rinc ip les An ordi n ar y person you o r I
p .
, ,

if w e had done somethi ng li ke that w e shoul d I beli eve— I hope— I trust— ha ve , ,

al ready regretted i t for a l ong l ong ti me whether i t w as our faul t or n o t If y ou

, , .

say Father did not mean to d o so much harm i t may be true but what on e means , ,

t o do i s on e thi ng an d the result of what one doe s i s another However Father s

’
.
,

convi cti ons are undoubtedly well i ntenti oned and all that— but as for myself -

I hope hi s Honor i s n o t goi ng to acqui re new convi cti ons of th e same ki nd .

[ En cl osed i n l etter 3 4 8 ] What Father i s li ke you may see from wh at he went o n

t o say for i nstance after stati ng that he c oul d not take back anythi ng of what he
, ,

di d i n the past and so on whi ch i n fac t embodi e s a basi c i mpl acabili ty He

, .

“ ”
i mmedi ately foll owed up wi th But we do not l ack i ndulgence
, .

Indulgence combi ned wi th i mplacability .

“
Thi s too i s in reali ty a desolat ion du juste .

“
In short tbis i s what Father i s he i s a s tap i d one To speak wi th whom i s
,
-
.

unutterably hopeless for me .

If Father were not Father I should not worry but can one al ways act as if
, ,

o n e s father di d n o t exi st ? Thi s i s i mpossi bl e for me too

’
.

“
But the fact i s that I am not the man to swall ow i ndul gence when bas i cally
I see i mp lacabili ty .

Every once i n a whil e C M al so used t o trot out the word unpardonable

. . .

And people li ke Father and C M sti ck to i r— and act upon i t year after year
. .

“ ”
save for i ndul gence .

Bah I thi nk i t s utterly di sgusti ng Approving of i t and enteri ng i nto i t

,
’
.
,

no ! Then I prefer a refreshi ng row and I personally wi ll not mi nce words Y ou ,

.

see what I am brother ,

and think whatever you li ke but never suppose that
, ,

I will have anythi ng t o do wi th that sophi sm of i ndul gence together wi th i m

p lacability .
f r

I want to be reconciled efi caci oa sly j l

'

e ec ti vel thoroughl y e se I prefer an open -

y , ,

di sagreement a confli ct i n such a way that the worl d can percei ve i t— ah well
, ,
.

V i vre toa t boa t i s si mp l y one s duty— o ne shoul d not act li ke the Jes ui ts and
’

thei r kind .

Vi ncent
358
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen 1 8 2 4 Februar y 1 8 8 4 ,
-

Thanks fo r your letter— Mother i s getti ng on well ; at first the doctor sai d i t
woul d take half a year before the leg woul d be cured— now he speaks of t hree
months and he told Mother : But we have your daughter to t hank for thi s
-
,
for i t i s very sel dom that I find su h good nur s i ng What W il does i s exemp lary,
c .

exemplary I shall not easil y forget i t

, .

From the beginni ng nearly everythi ng fell on her shoulders , and Mother w as
spared a l ot of mi sery by what sh e did .

T o menti on onl y o ne thi ng by way of exampl e, i t i s mos t deci dedbf owi ng t o her
that Mother i s so li t tle troubl ed wi th bedsores (whi ch began to l ook very seri ous
at first, and were reall y i n an advanced state) And I assure y ou the j obs she has .

t o do are no t always pl easant .

Just li sten— after havi ng read your l etter about the drawi ngs , I at on e sent c
c
you a new water ol or of a weaver, and five pen drawi ngs For my part I will .

al so tell y ou frankl y that I thi n k i t true what y ou say , that my work must become
much bett er still , but at the same tim e that your energy t o sell them for me ,

may become somewhat stronger t oo .

Y ou have never s old a si ng le one for me— nei ther for mu ch n or for li ttle— and i n
facty ou ba ve not even tri ed .

Y ou see I am no t a ng ry about i t but— w e must call thi ngs by thei r names

, ,
.

In the l ong r un I woul d certainly not put up wi th t hat

,
.

Y ou on your part c an al so c ont inue t o speak ou t frankl y

, , .

A s to bei ng sal ab l e o r unsal ab le that i s an old fil e on whi ch I d o no t i ntend

, ,

t o b lunt my teeth Well y ou see my answer i s that I send y o u some new ones
.
, ,

and I will go on doing so very willin gly— I ask no better .

But I i nsi st on your speaki ng out qui te frankl y— that i s what I li ke best
whether y ou i ntend t o i nterest yourself in them henceforth or whether your ,

di gni ty does n ot all ow i t Leavi ng the past fo r what i t was I must face the future
.
, ,

and apart from what y ou thi nk of i t I de ci dedl y i ntend to try and sell them
,
.

N o t so l ong ago you tol d me your self you ar e a mercbant— all ri ght— wi th a
merchant one does not lapse i nto senti mentali ty one says S ir if I gi ve y ou a , , ,

number of dr awi ngs on c ommi ssi on may I then count on your showi ng them ?
,
“ ”— “ ”
The merchant shoul d know for hi mself whether he woul d say yes or no
t o thi s o r somethi ng i n bet ween But th e p ai nter woul d be crazy to send them
, .

on commi ss i on if he observed that the mer chant consi dered hi s work something
whi ch coul d n ot bear the li ght of day .

Well old fellow— w e are both livi ng in a real world and as w e do not want
, ,

to put a spoke in each other s wheel we must speak frankl y If y ou say I cannot
’

, .
,

o cc upy myself wi th i t— e xcellent— I shall not get angry— but on th e other hand
I am n ot obli ged t o beli eve y ou are an i nfalli bl e oracl e am I ? Y o u say the publi c ,

will take offense at thi s or that li tt le spot etc etc Now li sten thi s may be true
, .
, .
, ,

but y on i n your capa ci ty as merchant take even more offense at i t than the publi c in
questi on— I have observed thi s so often— and y ou s ta rt i t .

I must make my own w ay Theo and wi th y ou I am exactl y as far as I was a

, ,
”—
few year s a g o ; what y ou say about my work n ow i t i s almost sal abl e bat is
, ,

li tera lly tbc s a me as wba t y oa wrote me wben I s ent y ou my firs t Bra bant s ketcbes from

So I repeat that i s an old fil e and my conclus i on i s that I suppose y ou will

, ,

al ways say the same thi ng— and tha t I w h o was systemat i call y wary of tryi ng
,

zo
;
my luck wi th dealers up to now wi ll change my tacti cs n ow and try hard to get
, ,

my work sold .

By thi s ti me I understand that my doi ngs are i ndifferent to you but ify oa are ,

i ndi fferent I for my part always thi nk it rather rotten and I l ook forward wi th
, ,

p ai n to certain thi ngs that will hardly fai l t o present themselves f or ins tance ,

when they a sk me H ow queer don t you do business wi th your bro cher or wi th

, ,
’

Goupil ? Well i n that case I shall say It i s beneath the di gni ty of ces M essi ears
,
“
,

— ”
G . Co Van Gogh
. Co That will probab ly make a bad i mpressi on as far
.

as I am concerned— something I am prepared for by thi s time— yet I foresee I shall

get colder and c older i n my feelings toward you t o o .

I have now painted the li ttl e old church and another weaver Are those studi es .

from Drenthe so y ery bad then ? I do not feel greatly i nclined to send you th e
painted s t udi es from here n o we shall ju st l eave them where they are— you can
, ,

s ee them when y ou perhaps come here i n sprin g .

What you wri te about Mari e i s qui te comprehens ible— if a woman i s n ot very
mil k and watery I can well understand she does not feel much i ncli ned to si t and
- -
,

mope in the company of an ill natured fat her and of spiri tual s i sters besi des ;
-

then at all events the temptati on for a man a s well as for a woman to shatter the
, ,

stagnati on at all cost i s fai rly pressi ng— the stagnati on that begi ns wi th what may
be beauti ful resi gnati on but whi ch one will be forced to regret i n the l ong run as
, ,

soon as one feel s one would freeze to death if i t went on Once I read something .

“
by D audet about spiri tual women— The t wo faces l ooked at each other— they
exchanged an evi l cold secretive g lance— what i s the matter wi th her Always
, ,
”
the same thi ng There you have that parti cular l ook of the Phari sees an d devout
.

“ ”
l a di es Yes as for as what i s the matter wi th u s too i s always
.
,
— la mi me cbos e .

Yes— what must I conclude from what you say about my work ? Let me take
the studi es from Drenthe for i nstance— there are some that are very superfici al
, ,

I sai d that myself ; but what do y ou reproach me wi th about those that are pai nted
s i mply and qui etly from nature trying to exp ress notbi ng bat wba t I saw 2 Y ou say
, ,
“ ”
Aren t you too preoccup i ed wi th Mi chel ? (I am speaki ng now of that study of
’

the cottage in the twili ght and of the largest of th e sod huts that i s t o say the
, ,

one wi th the green p lot in the foreground ) Y ou would certai nl y say exactl y th e .

same of the o l d churchyard .

And yet nei ther before the churchyard nor before the so d huts did I thi nk of
Mi chel I thought onl y of th e subj ect I had before me A subj ect whi ch I thi nk
,
f
.
, ,

would have stopped Mi chel if he had passed and woul d have struck him ,
.

I do not put myself at all on the same lin e wi th Master Mi chel but i mi ta te ,

Mi chel i s what I deci dedly do not do .

Well perhaps I will try t o sell somethi ng i n Antwerp and I am goi ng to put
, ,

a few o f those very studi es from D renthe in a b lack wooden frame whi ch the ,

carpenter here i s maki ng for me I prefer to see my work i n a deep bl ac k frame

.
,

and he makes them cheaply enough .

Y ou must n o t take offense at my speaki ng about i t bro ther I want somethi ng , .

sober and characteri sti c in my work ; I approve as li ttl e of i t s bei ng negl ected as
I want to see my work in fluted frames in first cl ass gall eri es ,
-
.
for your not wanti ng to busy yourself wi th i t but i t i s n ot ki nd if my work i s ,

stowed away in a dark corner and you do not show i t accompanyi ng thi s wi th ,

the assurance— wbicb cannot be consi dered trae— tha t you yourself see something in
i t I do not beli eve i t— your si nceri ty i n sayi ng i t i s about n il And from the very
. .

fact that y ou say y ou know my work better than anybody el se I can justly con ,

cla de that your opi ni on of i t must be very l ow i ndeed if y ou will not soil your
hands wi th i t Why should I obtrude myself upon y o u
.

Now if I onl y saw that thi nking me not far enough advanced y ou di d some
, , ,

thi ng to help me to make progress for instance now that Mauve i s ou t of the
, ,

questi on t o bri ng me i nto conta ct wi th some other sound pai nter in short a ny tbing
, , ,

some si gn that proved to me that you really beli eved in my progress or wanted ,

to further i t But i nstead there i s— the money yes but for the rest nothi ng except
.
, , ,
“ ” “ ”
that just keep on worki ng have pati ence I ,

I cannot li ve on that i t i s getti ng too l onesome too cold too emp t y and too
, , ,

dull for me .

I am no better than anybody el se and I have my needs and wi shes as everybody

,

el se and obvi ously on e must protest when one feels clea rly tha t one i s kept on
,

t o o ti ght a rei n and i s underrated .

If one goes from bad to worse— i n my case thi s woul d n ot be i mpossi bl e ,

what does i t matter after all ? If one i s badly off one has t o take a chance to bet ter ,

oneself .

Brother I must remi nd you once more h ow I w a s when we first worked

—

together From the very first I have al so drawn your attenti on to the questi on of
.

women I still remember seei ng you off at the stati on at Rozen daa P in the first
,

year and that I told you then that I hated bei ng al one so much that I preferred
,

being wi th a bad whore to bei ng alone Perhaps you remember that ? .

Except for the few years whi ch I can hardly understand myself when I w a s ,

confused by reli gi ous i deas— a ki nd of mysti ci sm— l eaving that peri od out of i t ,

I have always li ved wi th a certai n warmth .

Now i t i s gettin g gri mmer and col der and dull er around me And when I tell .

you that in the first pl ace I wi ll not stand i t l eavin g the ques ti on of whether
, , ,

I can out of i t I refer to what I sai d at the very beginni ng of our relati on
, .

What I have obj ected to in you duri ng the past year i s your ki nd of rel aps ing
i nto a col d respectability whi ch I thi nk steril e and useless — di ametri ca ll y opposed
,

to what i s acti on and i n parti cul ar what i s arti sti c

, , .

I tell you so because I mean i t an d not i n order to make you wret ched but
-
, ,

I want you to see and if possi bl e to feel what i s wrong what makes me no l onger ,

abl e to thi nk wi th the same p leas ure of you as a brother and a fri end .

My life must become more sti mul ati ng i f I want to get more bri o i nto my
work ; I do not advance a hai r s breadth by practi cing pati ence If on your part
’
.

o u rel apse i nto the above menti oned condi ti on cannot take o f
f ense at my
y u
-
y o ,

not being the same toward y ou as I w a s duri ng th e first year for i nstance Well ,
.
,

good b y -
.

Yours sincerel y Vincent ,

As to my drawi ngs— a t thi s moment i t seems to me that the water col ors the ,

pen and i nk drawi ngs of weavers the l ast pen and in k drawi ngs on whi ch I am
- -
,
- -
,

working n ow are not altogether so dull that they are qui te worthl ess But if
,
.

I myself come to th e conclusi on that they are no good and Theo i s ri ght not to ,

show them t o anybody— t hen— then i t will be addi ti onal proof to me that I have
reason for di sapprovi ng of our present fal se posi ti on and I shall try all the more ,

to c han ge i t— for better or worse but not l et i t stay the w ay i t i s If you wri te
,
.
,
“
Y ou remi nd me of the o l d peop l e who say that thi ngs were better i n thei r
”
youth than they are now forgetti ng that they themselves have changed i t woul d
, ,

n o t put me out And if you a sk me i n your l etter how i t i s that y ou never hear
.

“ ”—
me say I wi sh I were li ke thi s or li ke that i t i s because I thi nk that those who
“ ”
cry I wi sh I were li ke thi s o r li ke that l oudest try l east to reform themselves
,
.

Those w h o tal k so much about i t generall y don t do i t ’

.

At first the i dea that our relati on woul d cease seemed almost unbearab l e to me ,

and I wi shed so ardent ly that w e mi ght have found some w ay out— but on the
other hand I am n ot always abl e to make myself beli eve wi thout rhyme or reason
that i t i s possi bl e .

Th e depre ss i on about i t was one of the causes of my wri ti ng so posi ti vely

from Drenthe urgi ng you to become a pai nter
, .

Whi ch calmed down at once when I saw your di ssati sfacti on wi th busi ness
di sappear when you were on a better footi ng wi th Goupil once more At fir st .

I onl y half approved of i t : then afterward and even now I find i t qui te natural
, , ,

and consi der i t more a mi stake on my part to have wri tten you Become a pai nter , ,

than a mi stake on your part to have resumed your busi ness a cti vi ti es wi th gusto
at the moment when they were fit for resumpti on and the machin ati ons i ntended
to make thi ngs i mpossi bl e for you had ended .

But for all that I remai n qui te dej ected by the fal seness of our posi ti on For .

the moment i t i s of much more i mportance to me t o earn 5 guil ders than to get
,

10
g u i l ders by w a
y of protect i on .

N ow most de ci dedl y i t i s a fact that y ou repeate dl y wrote that in the first

, ,

p lace as a deal er (I l eave thi s asi de and do not take i t i ll of you) but i n the
,
,

second pl ace al so pri vately (whi ch I do take i ll of y ou a li ttl e) y ou di d not you , ,

do not and i n the near fut ure you will n ot exert yourself i n behalf of my
, ,

work .

In thi s I must n ot be spi nel ess or an i mpotent dullard so to put i t b luntly , ,

ify oa do not do a n y t bi ng wi t b my w ork I do no

,
t c ber i s by oar
p r otec ti on I state the reason
.

for thi s wi thout reserve ; and so I shall too when I can hardly avoi d gi vi ng a
,

reason for i t .

So the fa ct i s not that I i gnore the help you have given si nce the beginn i ng ,

o r wi sh to beli ttl e i t Here th e fact i s that I expect more good from the most
.

mi serabl e dr udgery and p overt y th an from protect i on into whi ch i t i s deteri orating
,
.

At the very first one cannot d o wi thout i t but now in Heaven s name I must
,
’

try to wri ggl e through— God knows h ow — rather than accede to somethi ng that
after a ll woul d not get us any further .

Brotherly or not brotherl y i f y ou can gi ve me nothi ng more than financi al

,

Em
 help you may keep that too As thi ngs have been durin g thi s l ast y ea r I almost
,
.
,

venture t o say i t ha s been li mited exclusively t o money

’

.
,

And i t ha s become evi dent to me that— a lthough you say you l eave me ab so
lu t ely free— a s a matter of fact when fo r i nstance I have some affai r wi th a woman
,

w hi ch you and others do not approve of perhaps ri ghtly s o a thi n g that once in a , ,

wbi le I do not gi ve a damn about there comes such a li ttl e tug at the fi nanci al
,
“ ”
bri dl e in order to make me feel that i t i s i n my own interest to conform to
your opini on .

In the matter of that woman you al so g o what you wanted but I am ,

damned if I care to recei ve a li ttle b i t of money if I have to practi ce morali t y

i n exchange .

After all i n i tself I do not think i t absurd of you n ot to approve of my i ns i sti ng

,

on goi ng through wi th i t l ast summer But in ti me to come I foresee the follow .

i n g : Suppose I shoul d agai n enter i nto rel ati ons wi th one bel ongi ng to what you
call a l ower stati on i n life— then I shall meet with the same oppos i ti on if I am
sti ll i nvolved wi th you .

An opposi ti on that y ou mi ght all persevere i n wi th a sembl ance of fai rness

only i f I received so much from you that I coul d live differentl y— whi ch you d o
n o t give cannot gi ve and as a matter o f fact will not gi ve nei ther y ou n or
, , , ,

Father nor C M nor any others who are the very first to di sapprove of thi s or
, .

that— and whi ch when i t comes t o the poi nt I d o not want from you seeing
, , ,

that I do n ot give much thought t o hi gher or l ower stat i on in life .

Do y ou see why i t woul d not be a reckl ess act on my part if I tri ed i t agai n ?
Although in the first place I have no pretens i ons t o mai ntai n a soft of stat i on
i n soci ety as y ou call i t and do not i n tbc leas t feel the call to do so and because
, , ,

i n the second p lace I do not recei ve the means from anyone n or d o I earn them ,

I count myself absolutely free to enter i nto relati ons wi th a so called inferi or if i t -

should come my way .

We should be faced wi th the same problem forever .

Now ask your self the questi on whether I am the onl y on e among those of th e
same profess i on w h o most deci dedl y declines protecti on if i t entail s ob li gati ons
to mai ntai n a sort of soci al stati on whereas the money obtai ned i s below the ,

l evel of making i t poss i b l e so that i nstead of maki ng progress on e has to run

,

i nto debt Were i t possi bl e 9 n the money perhaps I shoul d no more refuse to
.
,

resi gn myself t o i t than others But we certai nl y have not got that far yet— y ou
.

say yourself that I have a number of years to l ook forward to i n whi ch my work

will have wretchedl y littl e commer ci al val ue A ll rn t— tben I woald ra tber toi l a nd .

li ve from band to moatb and mang er de la va cbe enrag ee— whi ch I have done before
'

now— than fall i nto the hands of Messrs Van Gogh . .

I regret that I quarreled wi th Father at th e time onl y to the extent that I di d

not d o s o ten years before If you conti nue foll owing in th e footsteps of Father
.
,

etc y ou will li ve to see how much you will gradually be bored— a n d— how you
.
,

wi ll become a bore to certai n persons But thi s i s ill tempered grumbli ng and .
-
,

o u wi ll say Thi s carri es no wei ght

y , .

Just because we began as fri ends and wi th a mutual feeli ng of respe ct I know ,

2 08
 I

probable that in a few year s time w e should most probably have a vi ol ent
’

quarrel whi ch mi ght end in hatred

,
.

N ow there i s still ti me for me to try an d find a hol d el sewhere— and if I shoul d

be forced to fight i t out el sewhere at least i t will not be wi th my brother And
, .

thi s— i sn t i t thought out and cal cul ated well and coolly ?
’

I shall not get melancholy over i t beli eve me but at the same ti me I d o not
, ,

act reckl essly I have found calm now tha t I am firmly resolved upon a separati on
.
,

and I have gained the convi cti on that afterward if we went on we shoul d be , ,

more of a hi ndrance than a help t o each other .

Rapp ard sai d Don t go to Antwerp unl ess you are sure you will find somethi ng
’
,

there— but how can one know what one will find in advance ? And if I keep my
s tudi o here as a refuge then n ow i s the ti me t o start However thi s will always
, .
,

be possi bl e and therefore i t i s certai nly n ot my i ntenti on to l eave thi s regi on fo r

,

good and a ll I thi nk you understand Theo that on my l ong rambles I have
.
, ,

thought things over often and at l ength : I do n ot want t o be mi xed up i n a

second seri es of quarrel s (such as I had wi th Fa tber N o I ) wi th Fa tber N o I I . . .

A nd Fa tber N o II would bey oa One is enoag b— the express i on i s un varni shed and
. .

the center of my i deas draw your ow n c onclusi ons Moreover y ou shoul d know .
,

that I was never aggressi ve in my acti ons toward Father n or do I want t o become ,

aggressi ve toward you my brother I have often restrai ned myself whereas if
,
.
,

I had been dealing wi th other peop le I should have fought in qui te a di fferent
,

w ay and much more vi ol ently But thi s i s exactly what renders me powerl ess
.

under the ci rcumstances I shall find a new fiel d abroad on e where I can do
.
,

whatever I take i t i nto my head to do as a stranger among stran g ef s ; abroad ,

I shall have nei ther ri ghts nor obli gati ons And I shall be abl e to make shorter .

work of peopl e— bonne vol onté d ét re i noffensi f certi tude de rési ster [good will
’
,

t o be i no ffens i ve certai nty to res i st] — that i s my i deal and I am seeki ng i t wi th

, ,

all that i s i n me But taki ng everyt hi n g l yi ng down i s somethi ng you smart fo r

.

afterward— c onsequently acti on i s necessary Worki ng here and at the same ti me .

l ooki ng fo r a new connecti on i s the way t o get on Unfortunatel y fo r both of us

‘

.
,

money i s i ndi spensabl e an d prospects for bein g abl e to break l oose are bad
,
.

And— ti me i s al so money— a n d— going on in the way I do— I do not get ri cher .

However y ou know my moti ves— if I shoul d go on y ou wou l d become Father

, ,

No II in my li fe an d althoug h I know y ou mean well you do n ot understand

.
, ,

me at all and so i t i s i mpossi bl e to make headway

, .

R 43
Ami ce Rapp ard ,
Nuenen Apri l 1 8 8 4 ,

Thanks for your l etter ; i t gave me much pleasure I was deli ghted t o hear t hat y ou .

saw somethi ng i n my drawi ngs .

I am n ot goi ng t o di s cu ss generaliti es abou t te chni que but I most de ci dedl y ,

expect that as I gain in what I wi ll c all expressive force peopl e wil l n ot say less
, ,

frequentl y but on the contrary even more frequently that I have no techni que
, ,
.

Consequentl y well y ou see— I qui te agree wi th y ou that what I am expres si ng

, ,

i n my present work will have t o be expressed more vig orous ly— an d I am worki ng
 hard t o try to gai n strength in thi s respect— but that wben I ba veg ained i t the general
, ,

publi c will understand me better no

But thi s does n ot alter the fact that i n my opini on the reasoni ng of tha t vi rtuous
“ ”
fellow w h o asked wi th reference to your work Does he pai nt for money ? i s
the reasoni ng of a f fool— as thi s i ntelligent creat ure evi dently reckons among
the axi oms the maxi m that ori ginality prevents one from making money .

Passi ng thi s off as an axi om— becamei t can most deci dedl y not be proved as a tbesis
is as I s ai d one o f the usu al tri cks of such f foo l s — those l a g y li ttle Jesui ts .
, ,

Do you thi nk that I do not care about techni que that I d o not seek it ? Most ,

certai nl y I do— but only insofar as I want t o say what I have to say — and if I cannot
do i t or cannot d o i t suffici entl y well I am doing my best to correct and i mprove
,

myself— but I don t care a damn whether my language i s in conformi ty wi th that

’

of the gra m mar i ans (

. You know that you yourse lf used thi s s i mil e— if somebody
had somethi ng useful somethi ng true somethi ng necessary to say and he di d i t
, , ,

in terms that were hard to understand wou l d thi s be of any great advantage to
,

ei ther the speaker or to hi s li steners ?)

I want to sti ck to thi s poi nt for a whil e especi ally as I have found a rather
,

curi ous phenomenon i n hi story over and over again .

Let thi s be di sti nctly understood that i t i s obvi ous on e must speak i n the nati ve
,

l anguage of the audi ence— if thi s audi ence knows onl y o ne l anguage— and i t
would be absurd not to ac cept thi s as a matter of course .

But now the second part of the prob lem Suppose a man has something to say
.
,

and that he speaks a language whi ch hi s audi ence knows i nsti ncti vely— then
every now and then there wi ll be the phenomenon that the sp ea ker of tratb has
li ttle ora tori ca l eleg ance and that what he says i s not to the l i ki ng of the maj ori t y of
,
“
hi s audi ence— nay that he will be called a man of s l ow speech and of a s l ow
,
”
tong ue and be desp ised as such
, .

He may consi der hi mself fort unate if there i s one o r at the most a very few w ho
, ,

are edifi ed by hi s words because what these li steners were l ooki ng for w a s— not
,

oratori cal ti rades— but most deci dedl y the true the useful the necessary content
, ,

of hi s words whi ch enli ghtened them and broadened thei r minds made them freer
, ,

and more i ntelli gent .

And now as regards pai nters— i s i t the purpose the non plus ul tra of art to pro
, ,

duce those peculi ar spots of col or— that capri ci ousness of drawi ng— that are
called the di sti ncti on of techn i que ? Most certainl y not Take a Corot a Dau .
,

bi gny a Dupr e a Mi ll et or an Israel s— fell ows wh o are un doubtedl y the great

, ,

l eaders — well thei r work i s oa tsi de tbe p a int ; i t i s a s di fferent from that of the ele
,

gant fell ows as an oratori cal ti rade by Numa Rou mestan for instance i s di fferent , ,

from a prayer— o r a good poem .

So i t i s necessa ry to work at the techni que as i t i s one s duty to express better

,
’
,

more accurately more earnestly what one feel s— a nd the l ess verboseness the
, ,

better As for the rest— on e need n ot bother about that Wh y do I say thi s
. .

because I thi nk I ve noti ced that you someti mes di sapprove of thi ngs i n your
’

ow n work whi ch are i n my op in i on deci dedl y good In my e es oar techni que i s

y y .

better than H averman s for i nstance— because already the stroke of your b rush
’
,

2
often has something personal chara cteri sti c accounted for and wi lled whil e i n
, , ,

H averman s work i t i s an everlasti ng conventi on remin di ng o n e always of the

’
,

s tudi o and never of nature .

For i nstance those sketches of yours whi ch I saw The Poor Li ttl e Weaver
“
and the Femal es of Terschelli ng — they hi t the core of things Haverma n makes .

me feel uncomfortable and bored and li ttl e el se ,

.

I am rather afrai d that you— an d I congratul ate you on the fact— are goi ng to
hear the same old remarks about your techni que too i n the fut ure apart from ,

remarks on your subjects and i n short everythi ng el se— e ven when t hat stroke
o f your brush whi ch a lready has so much character acqui res even more of i t
, , .

Nevertheless there are art l overs w h o sincerely appreci ate thi ngs that are
p ai nted wi th emoti on— al though we are no l onger li vi ng in the days of Thor e and
Th eophi le Gauti er alas ,

Just thi nk over whether i t i s parti cularly wi se to speak about techni que mu ch
nowadays— but you will say that s what I am doi ng myself— as a matter of fa ct I
’

regret it .

As for me what I i ntend to do— e ven when I have a much more thorough
,

command of my brush than I have now— i s to tell those fell ows systemati call y tba t
I cannot p a int Do you hear —even wben I have achi eved a man ner of my own more
.
,

compl ete and conci se than the one I have now I thought what H erkomer sai d .

when he opened hi s own art school— for a number of fell ows wbo coald a lrea dy
a i nt— was excellent ; he urgently begged hi s pupil s to be so ki nd as not to pai nt
p “ ”
the way he di d hi mself but accordi ng to thei r own selves What I want to do
, .
,
“
he sai d i s to set ori ginali ti es free not to recrui t di scipl es for H erk omer s tbeory
, ,
i
.

Entre li ons on n e se singe pas [Li ons don t ape each other] ’
.

Well I have been paintin g qui te a l ot recently— a gi rl si tt ing wi ndi ng bobbi ns

,

for the weavers and the separate figure of a weaver

, .

I am rather eager for y ou to see my painted s t udi es one of these days n ot ,

because I am sati sfied wi th them but because I beli eve they will convi nce you that
,

I am most certai nly traini ng my hand and that when I say I attach comparat ively , ,

li ttl e i mportance to techni que I don t say i t because I want to avoi d takin g pai ns
’
,

o r grapp ling wi th di ffi culti es — for thi s i s hardl y my met hod .

Moreover I want very much for you to get acquainted someday wi th thi s
,

corner of Brabant— in my opini on much more beauti ful than the Breda di stri ct .

Ri ght now i t i s really marvel ous .

“
There i s a vi ll age here called Zon en Breugel whi ch i s amazingly lik e Cour
ri eres where the Bretons li ve— but the figures are even more beautiful over there
, .

“
A s one s l ove fo r the form i ncreases one may happen to come to hate the Dut ch
’
,
”
Costumes as they are call ed on the books of photographs whi ch are sol d t o
,

forei gners .

Rap p ard I di s li ke wri tin g o r speaki ng about tecbni aa e i n general — al though I

,

may be eager to di scuss the manner o f execu tin g some i dea of mine ei ther wi th
you or wi th somebody else and I never make light of th e pract i cal usefuln ess of
,

such di scussi ons But the l atter does not i nvali date my first thought— whi ch per
.

haps I di d not formulate accurately Thi s thought— I cannot find th e correct words
.

212
 I am sendin g you a li ttle booklet about Corot I thi nk that if you don t know i t .
’

o u w ill read i t wi th great p l easure ; i t contai ns some accurate bi ographi cal detail s
y
I have seen the exhi bi ti on for whi ch thi s li ttl e book i s the catal ogue .

What I thin k remarkable i s the l ong ti me i t took thi s man t o achi eve inn er
securi ty and t o ri pen Do pay speci al attenti on to what he di d at di fferent ages
. .

I have seen thi ngs among hi s fir st works whi ch were the resul t of years of s t udy
and in the real sense of the term as pure as gold thoroughl y sound— but how ,

peopl e must have despi sed them ! Corot s studi es were a l esson for me when I saw
’

them ; I w a s already struck then by the difference betw een these studi es and those
o f many other lands c api sts .

If I di d n ot see more techni que in your li ttl e Vill age Churchyard than i n
Coro t s s t udi es I shoul d draw a compari son between them The sentiment i s
’
.
,

i denti cal— an earnest endeavor to gi ve onl y the i nti mate and the essent i al .

What I am sayi ng i n thi s l etter amounts to thi s Let us try to master the mysteri es .

of techni que t o such an extent that peop l e are decei ved by i t and will swear by all

that i s h ol y that we have no techni que Let our work be so savant that i t seems
.

nai ve and does not stink of our sapi en ce .

I do not believe that I have reached thi s poi nt whi ch I so much desi re nor d o , ,

I beli eve that even y ou who are more advanced than I have reached it yet I hope
, , .

y ou w ill see someth i ng more than tr i vi al faul tfi n di n

g i n thi s l etter .

I beli eve that the more one has i nterc our se wi th nature i tself— the more deeply
one penetrates her— the l ess one finds any attracti on i n the tri cks of the studi o ,

and yet I want t o give them all the credi t they deserve and to see others paint ;
ac tually I myself often feel the urge to vi si t s tudi os .

Ni et i n boeken heb ik het evond en

g
“ ”—
En vang eleerd en
we i ni g g el eerd oc h , .

[N ot i n books have I found i t

“ ” —
And of the learned ah l earned but li t tle ] ,

G enestet , as y ou know We mi ght make a vari ati on

. of i t by sayi ng ,

Ni et i n ’
t at elier heb ik het g evond en
u

En van de sc hild ers

oc h , weini g eleerd .
de kenners g

[N o t i n the studi o have I found i t

And of the p ai nters
the connoi sseurs
ah l earned but littl e
j
] ,

Perhaps y ou are shocked that I i ndi s cri mi nately put in p ainters an d c onn oi s

s c urs
.

But to talk of somethi ng el se— i t i s damned di ffi cult not to feel anyt hi ng not t o ,
“ ”
undergo some i nfluence when those f fool s say Does he paint for money ? ,

I hear thi s drivel every b lessed day and one gets annoyed wi th oneself later fo r
,

having been worri ed by i t Thi s i s how matters stan d wi th me— an d I i magi ne i t

.

must be pretty much the same wi th y ou It s true on e does n t give a damn but
.
’ ’
,
 it makes on e nervous all the same— just as if one heard someone s ing out of tune ,

or as If one werep urs ued by a ma levolent ba rrel org an Don t y ou thi nk that barrel organ
’
.

mean parti cularly as i t seems t o have si ngled y ou out especi ally ?

,

Wherever y ou go y ou hear the same old tune .

Oh as for me— I am going t o do as I tell y ou n ow when peopl e say such and

,
-

such a thi ng to me— I am goi ng t o fini sh thei r sentence for them before they have
had thei r say— the same w ay I treat a person w ho I know i s i n the habi t of gi vi ng
me a finger i nstead of frankl y shaki ng hands (I played that tri ck o n a venerab le
colleague of my father s yesterday) for then I myself al so have a single finger
’
,

ready wi th whi ch t o touch hi s very carefull y wi th a perfectl y strai ght face when
, ,
“ ”—
w e shake han ds in su ch a manner that the man can find nothi ng wrong wi th
i t al though he damn well feel s that I m maki ng a fool of hi m i n ret urn
’
.
,

The other day I put a fell ow i nto a very nasty mood wi th a simi lar tri ck Does .

o n e l ose anythi ng by that no for by God such fell ows hi nder and do not help
-
,

an d when I wri te y ou about certai n express i ons of yours I do s o onl y t o a sk y o u , ,

Are you qui te convi nc ed of the good fai th of those who are forever extolli ng tech
ni que t o the ski es ?
“
I ask y ou thi s ex actly becaase I know i t isy our a i m to a void s tadi o eleg ance .

3 61
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen 2 2 2 6 February 1 8 8 4 ,
-

I just recei ved your l etter A s your letter crossed one of mi ne wri tten in the
.
,

same tone as the o n e y ou answered today y ou will see that I am speaking in a ,

different mood than the rash on e whi ch y ou suppose Just be cause I say what I have .

t o say qui etly be i t n o t i n the tone whi ch i s used every day (i t i s a seri ous questi on
,
“ ”
here) I cann ot avail myself of your ki ndness i n consi derin g i t sai d i n haste
, .

That very i dea of yours (that I shoul d h ave spoken in haste and rashly) i s ,

suffi ci ent proof to me that we have come t o a poi nt where more words won t d o ’

any good and I thi nk i t better to let thi s questi on rest

, .

Y o u say you mas t speak about the financi al s i de So must I

, . .

Brother know i t well I repeat what I s ai d before about your nobl e help wi thout
, ,

any al terat i on— and that money can be repai d but n ot kindness such as yours ,
”
.

But thi s i s what I want and what you yourself will call reasonabl e I must
, .

take such measures as are necessary to have freedom in di sposi ng of what I

recei ve
“

I mean that I can only accept sacb money as I can spend as I li ke wi thout havi ng ,

t o ask anybody s opini on

’
.

I woul d rather have 1 00 francs a month and th e free use of i t than zoo f ran c s ,

wi thout that freedom .

If w e were more of on e mi nd in o ur way of l ooki ng at thi ngs I shoul d thi nk ,

an agreement li ke the on e between y ou and me up to now by far the best .

But because of t oo great a difference i n our ways of l ooki ng at things because ,

o f o u r un derstandi ng ea c h other t oo li ttl e an agreement li ke the o n e be t ween

,

y o u and me i s nei ther tenab l e n o r sens i b l e .

Suppos i ng that your character as well as mine wants to avoi d di sorderliness or

outbreaks of vi olence after all ; w e must part comp any qui etl y and colle ctedl y
but deci si vely in such a way that nei ther y ou nor I can be reproached wi th
,

fooli shness or reckl essness .

I should li ke to recei ve the usual amount until March That wi ll enabl e me .

to pay everything I have to pay and to lay up a supply of necessary things Thi s , .

i s the first measur e to be taken .

Last year the year 8 5 w as a hard sad year for me and th e end especi ally
,
’
, , ,
”

was bi tterly bi tterly sad ,

.

Well we wi ll not speak of that any more

,
.

After March we shall both be free But if you coul d pay Father some all owance .

for a ti me as I do n ot want to be too great a burden to hi m that will be wi se

, ,

and well I thi nk ,

.

However th i s must be between Father and you If necessary I shall then try
, .
,

and get a job I do not even care what kind But bear in mi nd that realizi ng the
. .
,

fact that obvi ous ly we coul d not agree suffi ci ently if we conti nued together ,

I am absolutely seri ous about tryi ng n ot to accept favors from you i n the form
o f money any l onger if they shoul d not l eave me qui te free i n my concept of li fe .

You will say that you l eave me free yes— but there i s a certai n restrai nt after ,

a ll And I prefer to have less from somebody el se when after a ll I a m not ree i n
.
f ,

dy s basiness ba t my own
’
tbi ng s tba t a re nobo .

You must not i nfer from thi s that I want t o have done wi th you on the c on ,

t rary — you are an art dealer, very well when I make something whi ch you thi nk ,

salable I should prefer to sell i t to y ou rather than to somebody el se, but i t must
,

be an arrangement whi ch does not put me i n a fal se posi ti on ; but i n point of

fact what I want i s to sell in the li teral sense .

I thank you for your l etter I appreci ate many thi ngs in i t Good b y and,
.
-
,

beli eve me,

Yours si ncerel y, Vi ncent

3 71
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen J une 1 8 8 4 ,

I thi nk I already told you in my l ast l etter that I al so wanted to start a l arge
’
man s figure besi des that woman spinni ng Enclosed y ou will now find a sketch .

of i t Perhaps you remember tw o s t udi es o f the same nook whi ch I al ready had
.
,

i n the s t udi o when you were here .

I have read L es Ma i tres d A a trefoi s [The Masters of the Past] by Froment in

’

wi th great p leasure And that book frequently deal s wi th the same questi ons
.

whi ch have greatly preoccupi ed me of l ate and whi ch i n fact I am cont inually , , ,

thinki ng of especi all y because when I was l ast in The Hague I heard t hings
,

Israel s had sai d about starting wi th a deep col or scheme thus maki ng even ,

relati vely dark col ors seem li ght In short to express li ght by opposing i t to .
,
“ ”
bl ack I already know what you re goi ng to say about too b lack but at the
.
’
,

same ti me I am not qui te convinced yet that a gray sky for i nstance must always , ,

be painted i n the l ocal tone Mauve does i t but Ruysdael does n o t Dupre does
.
, ,

not Corot and

.
s ometi mes worth while n o t only to read i t but even t o buy i t parti cularl y now , .

And then in the ti me of Th or e and B lanc there were peopl e wh o wrote thi ngs
whi ch al as are already being forgotten
, ,
.

To give you an exampl e .

“
Do y ou know what an t on enti er and an ton romp a i s ? Of course y ou can
‘‘

s ee i t i n a pi ct ure but can you al so exp l ai n what y ou see ? W h at i s meant by

,

r omp re Such thi ngs on e ought t o know theoreti call y al so ei ther practi cally as a
.
,

p ainter or i n di s c ussing col or as a connoi sseur

,
.

Most peopl e give i t wba tever mea ning t hey li ke and yet these words for instance , , ,

have a very defini te si gnificance .

The laws of the col ors are unutterably beautiful just because they are not ,

a cci denta l In the same way that peopl e nowadays n o l onger beli eve i n fantas t i c
.

mi racles n o l onger beli eve i n a God w ho capri ci ous ly and despoti call y fli es from
,

o n e thi ng to another but begi n to feel more respect and admi rati on fo r and fai th
,

i n nature— i n the same w ay and for the same reasons I thi nk that in art the old , , ,

fashi oned i dea of i nnate geni us i nspir ati on etc I d o no t say must be put as i de , ,
.
, ,

but thoroughl y reconsi dered verifi ed— a n d greatl y modi fied However I d o n ot ,
.
,

deny the exi stence of geni us or even i t s being i nnate But I certai nl y d o deny ,
.

the i nference that theory and i nstructi on shoul d as a matter of course always be , ,

useless .

Tbe sa me tbing whi ch I appli ed i n the woman spi nni ng and th e o ld man spooling
yarn I hope or rather I shall try to d o much better later on
, , , .

But in these t wo s tudi es from life I bave been a li ttle more my self than I succeeded
in bei ng i n most of the other studi es — e xcept perhaps i n some of my drawi ng s
’

Wi th regard t o black— acci denta lly I di d no t u se i t in these studi es as I needed , ,

among other thi ngs some stronger effects than black ; and i ndi go wi th terra
,

s i enna Prussi an b lue wi th burnt si enna real ly give much deeper tones than pure
, ,
”
b lack i tself W hen I hear peop le say there i s no black in nat ure I sometimes
.
“
,

think There i s no real bl ack in col ors ei ther

, .

However y ou must beware of falling i nto the error of thinki ng that the
,

col ori sts d o not use bl ack for of course as soon as an el ement of blue red or, , ,

yellow i s mi xed wi th black i t becomes a gray namel y a dark reddi sh yell owi sh
, , , , , ,

or blui sh gray I found very i nteresti ng for i nstance what Ch Bl an e says about
.
, , .

Velasquez techni que i n Les A rtistes de mon temps hi s shadows and half tones
’

consi st mostl y of colorless cool g ray s the chi ef el ements of whi ch are black and a
, ,

li ttl e whi te In these neutral c ol orl ess medi ums the l east cl oud or shade of red
.
, ,

has an i mmedi ate effect .

Well good b y d o wri te soon if y ou have anyt hi ng to tell me

,
-
,
.

It somet imes surpri ses me that you do not feel as macb for Jul es Dupr e as
I shoul d li ke y ou to d o .

I am firmly convi nced that i f I agai n saw what I saw of hi s work i n the past , ,

far from thi nki ng i t l ess beautiful I shoul d thi nk i t even more beautiful t han I ,

always i nsti ncti vely di d D upr e i s p erbap s even more of a c ol ori st than Corot
.

and Daubi gny though these tw o are that t oo an d Daubi gny espe ciall y i s very
, ,

da ring i n thi s col or But i n Dupr e s col or there i s somethi ng of a splendi d sym
’
.

218
 hony c om lete s tudi ed manly I i magine Beethoven must be something li ke that
p , p , ,
.
.

That symphony i s enormoasly calculated and yet si mple and i nfini tely deep as
, ,

n at ure i tsel f That i s what I think of D upre

. .

W ell good b y wi th a handshake

,
-
, ,

Yours s i ncerely Vi ncent ,

La B erc eu s e ( M me R ou lin)
.
, o il, 1 8 8 8

3 78
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen October 1 8 8 4 ,

Thanks for your l etter thanks fo r the encl os ure Now just li sten Wh at y ou say
, . .

i s all very well and as t o a scandal I am n ow somewhat better prepared to meet

, ,

i t than I used t o be .

N o fear of Father and Mo ther l eavi ng for i nstance , .

 N ow there are peopl e w ho say t o me Why di d you meddl e wi th ber that s , ,
’

“ ”
on e fact N ow there are peop l e w ho say to her
. Why di d y ou meddle with bi m , ,

that s another fact

’
.

Both she and I have sorrow enough and worri es enough but nei ther of us , ,

feel s regret Look here I certai nly beli eve or know for sure that she l oves me
.
, , , .

I certai nly beli eve o r know for sure that I l ove her I have been sincere
, , ,
.

Was i t fooli sh etc Perhaps so ify oa like but aren t the wise peopl e wh o never
,
.
, ,
’

d o a fooli sh thi ng more fooli sh i n my eyes than I am in thei rs ?

’ ’
Tba t s my answer to your argument and to other peopl e s arguments .

I say all thi s si mply to exp la in not in anger or in spi te ,

.

You say that you li ke Octa ve M oaret you say Y ou are li ke hi m ; si nce last year , ,

I have al so read the second volume i n whi ch he pleases me much better than i n ,

the first .

Recently I heard somebody say that A n Bonbear des da mes woul d n ot greatly
enhance Zola s reputati on I find the g rea test and bes t thi ngs i n i t
’
. .

I have l ooked i t up again and I copy for you some sayi ngs of Octave M our et s ,
’
.

You— of la te thi s past year and a half haven t you developed i n Boar
, ,
’

doncle s di recti on 9 You shoul d have stuck to Mouret that wa s and still i s my
’
.
,

opin i on But for the enormous di fference i n ci rcumstances yes di re ct difference

.
, ,

i n ci rcumstances I i nclin e however more toward M ou ret s di recti on tban y oa

’

, , ,

may thi nk i n the matter of my beli ef i n women and that o n e needs them must , ,
“ ”
l ove them Mouret says cbez noas on a i me la cli entéle
.
,
.

Pl ease thi nk thi s over and remember my regret at your sayi ng that you had ,

cooled down .

I repeat more emphati call y than ever all that I sai d by w ay of bi tter warni ng
agai nst the influence of what I called Gui zot esqueness Why ? Because i t l eads -
.

t o me di ocri ty And I do not want to see you among the me di o cri ti es be c ause
.
,

I l oved you too much for that and I still l ove you too much for that— I cannot ,

endure to see you congeal I know i t i s diffi cul t I am aware that I kn ow too . .

li ttl e about you— I know that perhaps I am mi staken Never mi nd In any case . .

just read your Mouret over again .

I spoke of the di fference an d y et the s i mil ari ty between Mouret and what
I should want Look here Mouret worships the modern Pari si an woman all
.
, ,

ri ght .

But Millet Breton worshi p the peasant woman wi tb tbe s a me p assi on

, ,
.

Those two passi ons are one and the s ame .

Read Zola s des cri pti on of a room wi th women i n the twi li ght women often
’
,

already over thi rty up t o fifty such a di m mysteri ous corner, , ,

.

I thi nk i t splendi d y es sabli me , ,

.

“ ”
But to me Mi llet s Angelus i s just as subli me tba t s am e twili ght that same
,
’
, ,

i nfi ni te emoti on or that si ngl e figure of Breton s i n the Luxembour g o r hi s

’

,
“ ”
Source .

You will say that I have n o success— I don t care to conquer or to be conquered ’
,

in an y case o n e has emoti on and acti on and t hat i s more th e sam e thi ng than i t ,

appears or i s sai d
, .

2 20
 Well I prefer stupefying myself to peri sh i n ordert o peri sh
, , ,
I woa ld ra tbor di e of
oredom
p f
assi on tba n di e o b .

It i s not onl y I w h o say thi s i n spi te of di ffi cul ti es but she al so that i s w h y I saw , ,

somethi ng grand i n her from the very beginni ng ; but i t i s a confounded pi ty

for her that i n her youth she let herself be crushed by di sappoi ntments crushed ,

i n the sense that the orthodox reli gi ous fami ly tboag bt tbe y ba d to sapp ress th e
a cti ve aye bri lli ant quali ty i n her and have made her utterl y pass i ve
, , ,
.

If only they hadn t broken her in ber y oa tb ! or if onl y they had stopped at
’

that and five or six or more women fig bting ag a inst ber a lone had not dri ven her
, , ,

to di stracti on !
fast rea d i n L Evang éli ste by D andet a boa t tbose women s intrig aes tbey were different
’ ’

bere yet of such a ki nd

,
.

Oh Theo w hy shoul d I change myself ? I used to be very passi ve and very

, ,

soft hearted and qui et ; I m n ot any more but i t s true I am no l onger a chil d
-
’
,
’
,

now that I someti mes feel my eg o .

Take Mauve w hy i s he qui ck tempered and fa r from meek at ti mes ? I have n ot

,
-

got as far as b e but I too shal l get further than I am now

,
.

I tell you if on e wants to be active one must not be afrai d of fail ures one
, , ,

must not be afrai d of maki ng some mi stakes Many peop l e thi nk that they will .

become good by doing no ba rm ; that s a li e and y ou yourself used to call i t a li e ’

, .

It l eads to stagnati on to medi ocri ty , .

sb sometbi n d when you a b l ank canvas star ng you the face

f as t d a g own see i i n

wi th a certai n i mbecili ty .

You do n o t know h ow p aralyzing that staring of a blank can vas i s ; i t says to

the painter Y oa can t do a ny tbing The canvas stares at you li ke an i di ot and i t
,
’
.
,

hypnoti zes some pai nters so that they themselves become i di ots Many p ai nters
,
.

are afrai d of the b lank canvas but the b lank canvas i s afrai d of the real ly passi onate
,
“
—
pai nter who i s daring and who has once and for all broken that spell of you
”
cannot .

Li fe i tself i s al so forever t urni ng toward a man an i nfini tely vacant di scour ,

aging hopeless b lank s i de on whi ch nothi ng i s wri tten no more than on a blank
, , ,

canvas But however vacant an d vai n and dead life may present i tself the man of
.
,

fai th of energy of warmth and who knows somethi ng does not let hi mself be led
, , , ,

astr ay by i t He steps i n and acts and bui lds up i n short he brea ks— rains they call i t
.
,
.

Let them talk those cold theo l ogi ans Theo I feel such damned pi ty for thi s
,
.
,

woman just because her age and perhaps a di sease of the li ver and gal lbladder
, ,

menace her so terri b ly And the emoti ons have aggravated thi s But w e shall see
. .

what can be done or what fatally cannot ; however I shal l n ot do anyt hi ng ,

wi thout a very good phys i ci an so I shall do h er no harm ,

.

For the very reason that I foresee th at zf our roads shoul d l ead u s to o n e and ,

the same spot we mi ght di sagree to a rather l arge degree— for thi s reason I d o
,

not want you to be ab le to reproach me wi th anyth i ng and at the same ti me be ,

dependent on you .

I am still of tw o mi nds about what I shall try to do but after al l I shall most ,
 probably not stay here but the questi on remai ns where I shall eventuall y g o
, .

I do n ot thi nk y ou will appre ci ate my comi ng t o Pari s but what can I d o about ,

that ? You damn well refuse t o l ook after my i nterests— all ri ght but on my part ,

I cann ot possi bly l eave things as they are If you had wri tten l ess posi ti vely that.

i t was beneath y ou i t woul d never have oc curred t o me— but now well now
, , ,

I cannot pay attenti on t o what y ou say any l onger .

In short I d o not i ntend t o exchange the cbance (al though i t be no more than
,

a cba nce) of p ul li ng through on my own for the certai nty of a protecti on that i s
a b i t stifli ng after all .

S i nce I see that I am l osing my chance of selling by conti nui ng t o take the
money from y ou w e must separate
, .

Don t y ou thi nk i t qu ite understandabl e that when I hear you say i t will be
’
,

i mpossi b l e for y o u to do anyt hi ng wi th my work duri ng the next few years ,

I get a sort of feeli ng that i f you pers i st in pretendi ng t o be so hi gh and mi ghty

in thi s respect i t i s rather in contradi cti on wi th i t s i nvari ab l y appeari ng to b e
,

i mpossi bl e when— because I cann ot poss i bly sell anyt hi ng however hard I work
, ,

— I am forced to say Theo I am 2 gu il ders short can t you see your w a t o

’

5 , , y ,

l etti ng me have a li ttl e extra ?

That i s very i nconsi stent of y ou— for when one sends y ou anythi ng or begs D o , ,

try and fin d an openi ng for me wi th on e of the i llustrated papers so that I can ,

earn somethi ng— o n e does n ot hear a s ingle word i n rep ly andy oa do not lift a fing er .

But one i s not allowed to say I can t make both ends meet
,
’
.

And as thi ngs have been up to now don t l et s tal k about i t— but i t won t d o
,
’ ’ ’

to g o on li ke thi s .

And I want to add that I am not goi ng to ask you whether y ou approve or
di sapprove of anythi ng I do or won t d o I shall not stand on ceremony If ’
,
.

I shoul d feel li ke goi ng to Pari s for i nstance I shoul d n ot a sk y ou whether y ou

, ,

li ke i t o r not.

3 81
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen October 1 8 8 4 ,

Here are t w o photographs of the weavers— next week I hope t o send you two
more sketches for Hermans decorati ons ’
.

Y ou know well enough that your cri ti ci sm of thi s past year and a half onl y
seems li ke some ki nd of vi tri ol to me But never suppose I don t know i t i s .
’

possi bl e to prote ct oneself from such vi tri ol by a sort of l eather whi ch i t cannot
pi erce so easily and that as soon as one s hi de i s tanned so as to keep i t ou t i t
,
’
,

does not matter so much— so— what do I care ?

Apart from thi s I beli eve you mean well S o what more do you want ? .

But I declare that i t i s not in the l east my faul t if the money you gi ve me yi eld s
su ch a poor i nterest n ot onl y t o y ou but al so a poor i nterest t o me The former
, ,
.

— that i t yi el ds a poor i nterest to ou— gri eves me more than the l atter i t s
y ,

yi el di ng a poor i nterest to me t oo .

Thi ngs may i mprove y ou will say— yes but i n that case not onl y I but y ou
, ,

t oo woul d have to change a good deal .

 I j ust want t o tell you that thi s wi nter perhaps next month I i ntend to l eave , ,

here for a ti me ; I have thought of Ant werp — I have thought of The Hague .

But duri ng the last few days I have thought of somethi ng tha t i s perhaps even
better In the first p lace I n ow want at all events some ci t y life some change of
.
,

surroundi ngs havi ng been ei ther i n Drenthe or i n Nuenen for a full year or
,

more And I beli eve thi s wi ll be a good di stra cti on for me for my spi ri ts in
.
,

general whi ch have not been and could not be as cheerful as I shoul d li ke
, ,

especi ally recentl y .

Look here now the sculptor Strack e li ves i n Boi s le Duc ; at the same ti me
,
- -

he i s di rector of the drawi ng academy there I saw a terre c ui te by a pupil of hi s .

,

and heard on that occasi on that Strack e i s not at all unk ind or i ndi fferent to
anyone wh o practi ces art in thi s vi cini ty That at Boi s le Duc he has several .
- -

model s for the academy and that there are peopl e to whom he affords the opp ort u
,

mi ty to draw from the nude o r to model i n clay .

Probab ly however one would have to p ay tbc model oneself but that is n ot so
, , ,

very expensive and then one ha s a spa ci ous room for whi ch on e doesn t pay
,
’

a i tbi n
y g I am go i ng
. to see for myse l f how thi ngs are and then i t i s n o t i mposs i b l e ,

that j ust as Brei tner for i nstance went t o Cot mon I shall go to Stracke It i s i n
, , , , .

the nei ghborhood and woul d be the cheapest thi ng t oo

, .

I have bought a very beautiful book on anatomy A na tomy for A rtis ts by John ,

Marshall It was i n fact very expensi ve but i t will be of u se to me all my li fe

.
, ,

for i t i s very good I have al so what they u se at l Ec ole des Beaux Arts and what
.
’
-
,

they u se i n Antwerp .

But such thi ngs make great hol es i n my pocket I tell you thi s onl y to make .

y o u understand that my not pay i ng F ather and Mother fo r my board wh il e

I stay here i s not because I do not want to pay but because I have had many ,

expenses whi ch I for my part don t cons i der superfluous ’

.

The key to ma ny thi ngs i s the thorough knowl edge of the human body but i t ,

costs money to l earn i t Besi des I am qui te sure t hat c olor t hat cbia roscaro that
.
, , ,

p ersp ecti ve that tone and that dra wi ng in short everyt hi ng has fixed l aws whi ch
, , ,

o n e must and can study li ke chemi stry or al gebra Thi s i s fa r from being the
, .

”
easi est vi ew of thi ngs and one w h o says Oh on e must know i t all i n sti nc ti vely
, , , ,

takes i t very easy i ndeed If that were enough ! But i t i sn t enough for even if
.
’
,

o n e knows ever s o much b i ns ti nc t that i s just the reason to try ever s o hard to
y ,

pass from ins tinct to reas on That s what I thi nk .

’
.

You must not i magine that I have earned anythi ng by doi ng t hat work for
Hermans the first day I got t wo bi ll s for the stretchers canvases an d a number ,

of tubes amounti ng to more than I had recei ved from him to pay for them
,
.

I tol d hi m that I di d not want these bill s to remai n unpai d and asked hi m if he ,

wanted to have them put i n hi s name or if he woul d pay me somethi ng i n advance .

Oh no he sai d let i t wa i t tbey need not be p ai d a t once

, , ,
.

I sai d Y es tbey mas t be p ai d a t onc e Then he gave me 2 5 guilders

, ,
. .

Then came all my other expenses for model s not counti ng my time work , , ,

etc but si nce then I have not seen any of hi s money nor ba ve I asked for i t On
.
,
.

the contrary because my work pleased hi m from first to l ast I consi der myself
, ,

2 24
Father back there at least that the famil y at Helvoi rt i s going to sound Father
,

out on the subj ect But seei ng that i t w as onl y the day before yesterday that the
.

dear reverend gentleman over yonder dropped dead I do not know in the l eas t ,

whether they are goi ng t o call Father or n ot However I thi nk i t hi ghl y probabl e . .

Father i s not going to accept the call thi s much i s certai n ,

.

As t o what I call barri cade and you call di tch i t can t be helped but there i s ,
’
,

an old civili zati on that in my opi ni on i s declin i ng thr ough i t s ow n faul t— there
, ,

i s a new ci vili zati on that has been born and i s growi ng and will grow more , , .

In short there are revolati ona ry and anti revolati ona ry pri nci pl es
,
-
.

Now I a sk y ou whether you yourself have not often noti ced that the poli cy
of waveri ng between the old and the new i sn t tenabl e ? Just thi nk thi s over ’
.

Sooner or l ater i t ends wi th one s standi ng frankl y ei ther on th e ri ght or o n ’

the l eft .

I t is no di tcb And I repeat then i t was 4 8 now i t i s 8 4 ; then there w a s a

’ ’
.
, ,

barri cade of pavi ng stones— now i t i s not of stones but all the same a b arri cade ,

as to the i ncompati bili ty of old and new— oh i t certai nl y i s there i n 84 as well ,

’

as in 4 8 Good b y
’
.
-
,

Yours si ncerely Vi ncent ,

3 8 6a
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen 9 December 1 8 8 4 ,

One cannot al ways find the ri ght words to speak absolutely strai ght forwardl y
but I am so firml y resolved to speak my mi nd to y oa wi thout reserve— I don t ’

gi ve a damn whether you are suspi ci ous or not— that after some consi derati on
I have n ow perhaps found cl earer words for the feelings I want t o express .

I beli eve that i t i s in oar ma taa l i nterest that w e separate .

Your posi ti on— i sn t thi s true — does not admi t of ou r asso ciati ng wi th ea ch
’

other i nti matel y frequentl y cordi all y Your posi ti on— to menti on onl y one thi ng
, , .

by w ay of examp l e— woul d n ot admit of my going to live at your house i n

Pari s l et s say ei ther wi th the i ntenti on of s tudying or for financi al reasons
’

however necessary and useful i t mi ght be and mi ght become more and more if
, , ,

, ,

ci rcumstances permi tted For— a gai nst my person my man ners cl othes words
.
, , , ,

you li ke so many others seem to thi nk i t necessary t o rai se so many obj ecti ons
, ,

— wei ghty enough and at the same ti me obvi ous l y wi thout redress — that they
have caused ou r personal brotherl y i ntercourse to wi th er an d di e off graduall y
,

i n the c ourse o f the years To thi s must be added my past and that at Goup il
.
,

Co s y ou are qui te the plush gentl eman an d I am a b lack sheep and an ill natured
.
’

,
-

fell ow Enough— thi s i s how thi ngs are— aren t they — and as here i t i s a ques
.
’

ti on of analyzing of manq y fa ci ng a si tuati on I suppose y ou are not goin g

, ,

to contradi ct me in thi s matter .

Onl y— but I do n ot menti on thi s by w ay of reproach— the moment i s not

opportune for thi s— i t i s past —I just menti on i t for c lari ty s sake— onl y I had ’

thought that you had atta ched some value to our not dr ifti ng toofa r apart— that
by your bei ng on the qui vi ve i n thi s fiel d by executi ng some adroi t maneuvers , ,

you mi ght have been ab le to find a more sati sfactory soluti on fo r thi s ti ckli sh
2 26
probl em For i nstan ce i n such a way that I coul d have got I don t say on fri endl y
.
,
’

terms but at l east i nto touch wi th Tersteeg and Mauve agai n and so on But
, , .

a struggl e i s goi ng on i n your mi nd about thi s whi ch you prefer not to be ,

’
remi nded of S o as t o the poi nt in questi on you don t even dream of doi ng i t and
.
, ,

don t thi nk n ce of me to take the berty of referri ng to i t In any case

’

y o u i t i li .

you thi nk me fooli sh in these things and you won t touch them wi th a barge ,
’

pol e.

Thi s i s the dark s i de of your character— I thi nk you are mean i n thi s respect
but the bri ght si de of your character i s your reli abilit y in money matters .

Ergo conclusi on— I acknowl edge bei ng under an obli gati on to you wi th the
greatest p l easure Onl y— l ackin g rela ti ons wi th y ou wi th Tersteeg o r wi th whom
.
, ,

ever I knew i n the past— I want s ometbing else by way of compensati on .

Fo r— personall y I have to thi nk of my futu re— I want to get on If a hussy .

won t have me i t s all ri ght wi th me ; I can hardl y take i t ill of her— but nothi ng
’

,
’

i s more certai n than that I shall try to find compensati on el sewhere And the .

same i s true of other relati ons I shall not obtrude myself upon y oa nei ther shal l
.
,

I force you to be affecti onate toward me— but— a s a fri end— let al one as a brother
— you are too cool for my taste Not as to money ol d fell ow I am not speaki ng
.
; ,

of that But personall y you aren t of the s li ghtest use t o me n o r am I t o you

’
. .
,

And i t i s possi ble and i t ought to be that w e shoul d mean more to each other
, ,

personall y .

Well we won t quarrel over i t— thi ngs have thei r peri ods— the peri od of
,
’

quarreli ng i s over— the peri od of parti ng follows I thi nk But remember that ,
.

there are fellows who most certain ly l ove you and whom you oag bt not to be ,

suspi ci ous of whose sympathy becomes p owerless because of your di strusti ng

,

them too much whereas you would do better if you str engthened a man s self
,
’

c onfi d en c e So mu ch for that

. .

I do not thi nk i t i mpossi bl e that Mari e— you know whom I mean the one you ,

helped when sh e w a s si ck— notwi thstandi ng full appreci ati on of your character
and assi stance must have felt somethi ng of what I feel Insti nctively I dare
, .

suppose i t .

N ow I will take the li berty t o say one thi ng— we s ba ll s ep a ra te— for me thi s i s a
precari ous transi ti on— a n d on e coup l ed wi th financi al di ffi c ul ti es that will certainl y
be a g reat worry t o me However I shall try to see t hi ngs thr ough— but I most
.
,

deci dedl y demand of you that at thi s moment whi ch i s cri ti cal for me y qu , ,

on your part will be very frank I know tba t y oa wi ll ag ree to oar s ep a ra ti on— for the
.

very reason that i t wi ll be set tl ed peacefull y .

Tell me wi thout reserve whether you approve of Antwerp — in cl udin g my

retaini ng my studi o here i n the country whi ch i s too cheap to l et go and whi ch , ,

fo r that matter I cannot do wi thout as a storeroom and a refuge if necessary .

And if i t i s n ot askin g too much help me to see thi ngs through— fin an c i al

, ,

embarrassment i n thi s peri od toward the end of the year i s always worse for me
, ,
.

I shoul d wi sh the peri od of the transi ti on to be short if possi bl e because i t i s ,

torture t o feel that one thin g i s di sappeari ng and you haven t g ot the other ’
.

I cannot help thin ki ng of the reason for Mari e and y ou parti ng company I don t .
’

2 27
know any detai ls do I — but you di d not thi nk she was a good woman Maybe
, .

y ou are ri ght but i t may al so be that you did not unders ta nd her And as fo r me
,
.
,

i t i s qui te possi b l e that s i mil arl y I am not a good man— thi s may well b e— but
i n my case too are you sure tha t you understand and feel the ri ght w a y ? I nei ther
,

can nor wi ll be the judge of thi s .

“
In Proudhon you may read la femme est l a d esolati on du juste — but i sn t i t ’

possi bl e to answer thi s wi th Tbe j us t is tbc des ola ti on of woman ? Qui te possi bl e
, .

“ ”
And di tto di tto one mi ght say Tbe a rtis t is tbe des ola ti on of tbc fina nci er a nd
, ,
”
c onverse! Tbe financi er is tbc des ola ti on of tbe a rtis t .

You see— I do not know the fina l s oluti on myself— but I see tw o si des to one
and the same problem .

So you know my i rrevocabl e i ntenti ons— for both our sakes I hope the t ime
of transi ti on wi ll be short and— becaus e I knowy ou ag ree to a s ep a ra ti on— how can
,

we act most qui ckl y and sati sfactorily ?

Wi th a handshake ,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

3 88 b
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen Feb ruary 1 8 8 5 ,
’ ”
I ve a good deal t o say about your calli ng my last l etter parti c ul arly unp leasant .

In the first place thi s— some time ago you wrote me qui te a number of un
pleasant thin gs whi ch I have been hearing from you and others for over fifteen
years now and that s a l ong ti me— about domesti c relati ons here
-
’
.

“ ”
And espe ci all y added to thi s that you are suspi ci ous If i t had only been th e .

former i t i s probabl e that I shoul d have pai d no more attent i on to i t

, .

But your addi ti onal remark about your suspi ci ousness was a b i t too mu ch for
me and I have repeatedly begged you to wi thdraw the word or to exp lai n i t fo r
, ,

I will not tolerate such a thi ng being sai d to me wi thout my aski ng for an exp l ana
tion .

In my l ast l etter I compared suspi ci ousness i n general to l ooki ng thr ough

black gl asses .

And I sai d the ugli est mi s understandi ngs were caused by i t .

And thi s i s true .

If you o n your part turn tbis i nsi de out now and wri te me You make me thi nk
, ,

of o ld peop l e who are always saying that i n thei r young days everyt hi ng was
”
better meanwhi le forgetti ng that they themselves have changed thi s does not
, ,

stagger me i n the l east .

The thi ng we were di scuss i ng was suspi ci ousness wbicb was not menti oned by me ,

but byy ourself i e on your part wi th regard to me ; first app l y what y ou say about
, . .

o l d peop l e to thi s and after that see whet her i t may app l y to me If i t does app ly
,
.

to me after that— then I shall have to reform .

As to what I wrote about a certai n atmosphere at home whi ch I have more ,

opportuni ty to observe than I care fo r I am mu ch afrai d i t i s onl y too true

,
.

“
As i n your l etter y ou ask me how i t i s t hat you no l onger hear me say I shoul d ,
” —
li ke to be li ke thi s o r li ke that tbefa c t i s that i n my op i ni on those w h o pro clai m

228
3 93
Dear Theo , Nuenen January 1 8 8 5 ,

Y o u woul d greatly obli ge me by tryi ng to get for me

I llus tra ti on No 2 1 74 2 4 October 1 8 8 4
.
,
.

It i s already an old i ssue but you will probably be abl e to get i t at the offi ce
, .

There i s a drawing by Paul Renouard i n i t a stri ke of weavers at Lyons Al so , .

one from a seri es of Opera sketches (of whi ch he has al so publi shed etchi ngs)
“
—call ed Le Harpi ste whi ch I li ke very much .
,
“
Then j ust recentl y he al so di d Le Monde Judi ci ai re whi ch I got from ,

Rapp ard ; you probab l y know i t from the P a ri s I llustre by Damas

’
.

But I thi nk the dr awi ng of the weavers the most beautiful of all ; t here i s so
much li fe and de pth in i t that I think thi s drawi ng mi ght hol d i t s ow n besi de
Mill et Daumi er Lepage
, ,
.

When I think h ow he rose to such a hei ght by worki ng from nature from the
very beginni ng wi thout i mitati ng others and yet i s in harmony wi th the very
, ,

cl ever peop le even in techni que though from the very first he had hi s ow n styl e
, , ,

I find him proof agai n that by trul y foll owi ng natur e the work i mproves every year .

And every day I am more convi nced that peopl e who do not fir st wrestl e with
nature never succeed .

I thi n k that if one has tri ed to foll ow the great masters attent ively one finds ,

them all back at certai n moments deep i n reali t y I mean on e will see thei r so called
, ,
-

crea ti ons i n reali t y if one has si milar eyes a s i milar senti ment as they had An d , , .

I do beli eve th at if the cri ti cs and c onnoi sseurs were better acquai nted wi th
nat ure thei r judgment woul d be more correct than i t i s now whent he routi ne
, ,

i s t o li ve only among p i ctur es and t o compare them mutuall y W hi ch of course as

,
.
,

o n e s i de of the questi on i s good i n i tself but l acks a soli d foun dati on if on e

, ,

begins to forget nature and l ooks onl y superfici ally Can t you un derstand that .
’

I am perhaps not wrong i n thi s and to say what I mean even more cl early i sn t
, ,
’

i t a p i ty that y ou for i nstance sel dom or hardl y ever go i nto those cottages or
, , ,

associ ate wi th those peop l e or see that senti ment in the l an dscape whi ch i s
, ,

pai nted i n the pi ct ures you li ke best ? I do not say th at you can do thi s i n your
posi ti on just because one must l ook much and l ong at nat ure before one becomes
,

convi nced that the most tou ching thi ngs the great masters have pai nted still
ori gi nate i n life and reality i tself A basi s of sound poetry whi ch exi sts eternall y
.
,

as a fact and can be found if one di gs and seeks deeply enough

,
.

“
Ce q ui ne passe pas dans c e qui passe i t exi sts ,
.

And what Mi c helangel o sai d i n a splendi d metaphor I thi nk Mill et has sai d ,

wi thout metaphor an d Millet can perhaps best teach us to see an d get a fai t h
,
“
,
.

W hen I do better work l ater on I certa nl y shal l not work diflerently than n ow
i ,

I mean i t wi ll be the same appl e onl y ri per ; I shall not change my mi nd about
,

what I have thought from the begi nni ng And that s the reason why I say for .
’

my part If I am no good now I won t be any good l ater on ei ther ; but if l ater
, ,
’

on then now too For corn i s corn though c i ty peop l e may take i t for grass at
, .
,

first an d al so vi ce versa
, .

In any case whether people approve or do not approve of what I d o and how
,
I do i t I personally kn ow n o other way than to wrestl e wi th nature l ong enough
,

for her t o tell me her sec ret .

I am worki ng at vari ous heads and hands all the ti me .

I have al so drawn some agai n perhaps you woul d find somethi ng in them, ,

perhaps n ot I can t help i t I repeat I kn ow n o other w ay

’
.
, .

But I can t understan d that y ou say Perhaps l ater on we shall admir e even ,

the thi n gs done now .

If I were you I shoul d have so much self c on fi den c e and i ndependent opini on
,
-

that I shoul d know whether I coul d see now what there i s i n a thi ng or n ot .

Well you must kn ow those thi ngs for yourself

,
.

Though the month i s n ot quite over my purse i s qu ite empt y I am worki ng , .

on as hard as I can and I for my part thi nk that I shall keep a strai ght course
,

by constantly s tudyi ng the model .

I wi sh you coul d send me the money a few days before the first for the same
reason that the end of the month i s always hard because the work bri ngs su ch ,

heavy expenses and I don t sell any of i t But thi s will n ot g o on forever for
,
’
.
,

I work t oo hard an d too mu ch n ot to succeed event ually at l east i n defraying my

expen ses wi thout being in a dependent posi ti on For the rest natur e outsi de and .
,

the i nteri ors of the cottages are sp lendi d i n tone and senti ment just n ow ; I try
hard not to l ose ti me .

Good b y -
,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

3 94
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen Feb ruary 1 8 8 5 ,

Many thanks for the I llus trati ons y ou sent I am much ob li ged to you I thi nk , .

all the var i ous drawi ngs by Renouar d beauti ful and I di d not know one of

them .

However— thi s i s not t o gi ve y ou extra troubl e but because I wrote thi ngs ,

about them whi ch perhaps cannot qui te be appli ed t o other drawi ngs of hi s— th e
real Renouard composi ti on I meant i s not among them perhaps that i ssue i s ,

sol d out The breadth of the figure in i t w as superb i t w a s an ol d man and

.
,

some women and a chil d I beli eve si tti ng i dl e in a weaver s cottage where the
, ,
’

l ooms stood still .

I had not yet seen any tbi ng i n reproducti on from the Sal on of 8 4 and n ow ’
,

I at l east got some i dea of a few i nteresting pi ctur es from the S al on number For .

i nstance of that composi ti on by Puvi s de Chavan nes .

I i magi ne t hat the H arp i g ni es wi th the settin g sun must have been spl endi d .

And the pi ct ures by Feyen—Perri n whi ch they gi ve sketches of .

“
I was al so struck by the figure of a gi rl by Emi le Levy Japonai se and the , ,
“
pi cture by Beyl e Brfil eu ses de Varech [Women burni ng seaweed] and th e on e
, ,
”
by Cottin L Et é three figures of nude women
,
’
, .

I am very busy pai nti ng those heads I pai nt in the dayt ime and draw i n the .

eveni ng In thi s way I have already pai nted at least some thi rty and drawn as
.

many .
 Wi th the res ul t that I see a chance of doing i t even better before l ong I hope , .

I thi nk that i t wi ll belp me for tbc fig ure i n g enera l Today I ha d one whi te and .

black agai nst the flesh col or .

And I am al so l ooki ng for blue all the ti me Here the peasants figures are as .
’

a rul e blue That blue in the ri pe corn or against the wi thered leaves of a beech
.

hedge— so that the faded shades of darker and li ghter blue are emphasized and
made to speak by contrast wi th the gol den tones of reddi sh brown— i s very -

beauti ful and has str uck me here from the very first The peop le here i nsti nctively .

wear the most beautiful blue that I have ever seen .

It i s coarse li nen whi ch they weave themselves warp bl ack woof b lue the , , ,

res ul t o f whi ch i s a black and blue stri ped pattern Wh en thi s fades and becomes .

somewhat di scol ored by wi nd and weather i t i s an i nfini tely qui et deli cate tone
, ,

that parti cularl y bri ngs out the flesh col ors .

Well b lue enough to react to all col ors i n whi ch hi dden orange elements are
,

to be found and di scol ored enough not to j ar

, .

But thi s i s a questi on of col or and what matters more to me at the poi nt
!
,

I m at now i s the questi on of form I thin k the best way to express form i s wi th
’
.

an almost monochrome col ori ng the tones of whi ch di ffer princi pally in i ntensi t y
,
“ ”
and i n value For i nstance La Source by J ul es Breton was pai nted almost in
.

on e col or But one really ought to study each col or separatel y i n connecti on
.

wi th i t s contrast before one can be posi ti vely sur e of bei ng harmoni ous .

When there was snow I al so painted a few studi es of our garden The landscape
,
.

has changed much si nce then ; now we have spl endi d eveni ng ski es of lil ac wi t h
gol d over dark s ilh ouettes of cottages bet ween the masses of ru ddy col ored -

brushwood— above whi ch ri se the spare black popl ars whil e the foregroun ds ,

are o f a faded and b l eached green vari ed by stri ps of b lack earth an d pal e
, ,

wi thered rushes al ong the ditch edges .

I certainl y see all thi s too— I thi nk i t just as superb as anybody el se but I am ,

even more i nterested in the proporti on of a figure the di vi si on of th e oval of ,

the head and I cannot master the rest before I have a better gri p on the figure
, .

Well— fi rst comes the figure ; I personally cannot understand the rest wi t hout
i t and i t i s the figure that creates the atmosphere I can understand however
, .
, ,

that there are peop le li ke Daubi gny and H arp i g ni es and Ruysdael and s o many
,

others w h o are absolutely and i rresi sti bly carri ed away by the lan dscape i tself ;
,

thei r work sati sfies us fully because they themselves were sati sfied wi th sky an d
earth and a pool of water and a shrub .

But I thi nk i t a mi ghty clever sayi ng of Israel s when he remarked of a Dupr e ’

, ,
“ ”
It i s just li ke a pi cture of the figure .

Good b y and many thanks agai n for the I llustra ti ons

-
.

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

3 99
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen April 1 8 8 5 ,

I have wondered a li ttle at not having heard from you yet Y ou wi ll say that .

you have been too busy to thi nk of i t and of cour se I understan d thi s ,
.

2 2
3
 There are peop le as you know w h o support pai nters during the tim e when
, ,

they do not yet earn anythi ng very well ! ,

But how often doesn t i t happen that i t ends mi serably wretchedl y for both
’
, ,

parti es partly because the protect or i s annoyed about the money whi ch i s or at
, ,

l east seems qui te thrown away whereas on the other hand the pai nter feel s
, , ,

ent itl ed to more confidence more pati ence and i nterest than i s given hi m But
,

i n most cases the mi s understandings ari se from carel essness on both si des .

I hope thi s wi ll not be the case between us .

And I hope that by and by my studi es will gi ve you some new courage Nei ther .

you nor I are contemporari es of that race whi ch Gi goux in that book you sent ,
“ ”
me ri ghtly call s Les vai llants
,
.

But i t seems to me ri ght after all to keep the enthusi asm of those days in the
present ti me for i t i s often true that fortune favors the bol d and whatever may
, ,
”
be true about fort une or la “
de vi vre as i t i s call ed on e must work , ,

and da re if on e really wants t o li ve .

I repeat let us pai nt a s much as we c an and be produ ctive and wi tb a ll our

, , ,

faults a nd qua liti es be ourselves; I say us because the money from y ou whi ch I
, , ,

kn ow costs y ou troubl e enough to get fo r me gives you the ri ght if there i s , ,

some good in my work t o consi der half of i t your own creati on

, .

Try to speak to somebody at L e C ba t N oi r and ask t hem if they want a sketch

of those potato eaters and if so of what si ze for i t s all the same t o me Good by
, , ,
’
.
-
,

wi th a handshake ,

Ever yours Vi n cent ,

402
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen April 1 8 8 5 ,

By the same mail y ou will recei ve a number of copi es of the li thograph Pl ease .

gi ve Mr Porti er as many as he wants And I encl ose a l etter for hi m whi ch I am

. .
,

afrai d you will thi nk rather l ong and consequentl y unb u si ne sshk e But I thought
, ,
.

that what I had to say coul dn t be expressed more conci sely and that th e main
’

thi ng i s to gi ve hi m arguments for hi s own i nstincti ve feeli ngs And i n fact .

,

I al so say to you what I write to hi m .

Tbere is a scbool— I beli eve— of i mp ressi onis ts But I know very li ttle a bout i t But . .

I do know w ho the ori ginal and most i mportant masters are around whom— as ,

around an axi s— the landscape and peas ant p ainters will revolve Dela croix .
,

Corot Mill et and the rest That i s my own opini on n ot properly formul ated
, .
,
.

I mean there are (rather than persons) rul es o r pri nci pl es or fundamental
truths for drawing as well as for color whi ch one p roves to fa ll back on when on e ,

finds ou t an actual truth .

In drawi ng for i nstance— that questi on of drawi ng the figur e starti ng wi th

,

the ci rcle— that i s to say using th e elli pti cal planes as a foundati on A thi ng whi ch
,
.

the anci ent Greeks already knew and whi ch will remai n vali d till th e end of the
,

world As to col or those everlasting problems for i nstance that first ques ti on
.
, , ,

Corot addressed to Francai s when Francai s (w ho already had a reputati on) asked
Corot (wh o then had nothi ng but a negati ve or rather bad reputati on) when he
 F came to Corot o get some i nf ormati on Qu est —c e que c est un t on rompu ? ’ ’

( t ,

Qu est—c c que c est un ton neutre

’ ’

Whi ch c an be shown better o n the p al ette than expressed i n words .

So what I want to tell Porti er in thi s l etter i s my firm beli ef i n Eugene Delacroix
and the peopl e of that ti me .

And at the same ti me as the p i c t ufe I am working on i s di fferen t fr om lampli ght

,

scenes by Dou or Van Schendel i t i s perhaps n ot superfluous to poi nt out that,

o ne o f the most beautiful thi ngs thi s cou ntry s p ai nters have done i s to p ai nt
’

da rkness whi ch neverthel ess h a s lig bt in i t Well just read my l etter and you will .
,

see that i t i s not uni ntelli gi bl e and that i t treats of a subj e ct that j ust occurred
,

to me whil e painti ng .

I hope to have some luck wi th that pi cture of the potato eaters .

I am al so workin g on a red sunset .

One must be master of so many thi ngs t o pai nt rural hfe But on the other .

hand I don t know anythi ng at whi ch one works wi th so mu ch cal mness in the
,
’

sense of sereni ty however much on e may be worri ed by materi al thin gs

, .

I am rather worri ed j ust now about the moving ; i t s n o easy j ob on the ’

’

contrary But i t had to happen someti me— if not now then later— and the fact i s
.
,

that i n the l ong r un i t i s better to have a place of one s ow n ’

.

To change the subj ect H ow stri king that sayi ng about Mill et s fig ures i s
.
’

S onp ay san s emblep eint avec la terr e qu i l ensemence [H i s peas an t seems t o be painted
’

wi th the earth he i s sowing How exa ct and how true An d how i mportant i t i s .

to know how to mi x on the p al et te those col ors whi ch have n o name and yet are
the real foundati on of everyt hi ng Perhaps I daresay p osi tively the questi ons of
.
, ,

c olor and more pre ci sel y o f broken an d neutral co l ors will preoccupy you anew
, , .

Art dealers speak so vaguely and arbi trari ly about i t I thin k In fa ct painters do , .
,

t oo Last week I saw at an acquai ntance s a deci dedl y cl ever reali sti c study of an
’
.
,

o l d woman s head by somebody w h o i s dire ctl y o r in di re c tly a pupil of The

’

, ,

Hague School But in drawi ng as well as i n col or there w as a certai n hesi tati on
.
, , ,

a certain narrow mi ndedness— much greater in my opi ni on than one sees in an

-
, ,

o l d Blo mm ers or Mauve o r Mari s And thi s symptom threatens t o become more .

a n d more wi despread If one takes reali sm i n the sense of li tera l truth namel y
.
,

ex a c t dr awi ng and l ocal col or There are other thi ngs than t hat Well good b
y
-
. .
, ,

wi th a handshake ,

Ever yours Vincent ,

404
Dear Theo , Nuenen 5 0 April 8 5 ,
’

On your bi rthday I am sendi ng you my best wi shes for good heal th and seren ity .

I shoul d have li ked to send you the pi cture of the potato eaters on that day but ,

though i t i s gettin g on well i t i s not qui te fin i shed yet , .

Though the ul ti mate p i ct ure will have been pai nted in a relatively short time
and for the greater part from memory i t has taken a whol e wi nter of pai nti ng ,

s t udi es of heads and hands .

And a s to those few days i n whi ch I have pai nted i t n ow i t has been a real ,

2
35
battle but on e for whi ch I feel great enthusi asm Although I w as repeatedl y
,
.

“ ”
afrai d I shoul d never pull i t off But pai nti ng i s al so agi r créer.
-
.

When the weavers weave that cl oth whi ch I thi nk i s call ed Chevi ot or al so , ,

the peculi ar Scotti s h pl ai ds then you know thei r aim i s fo r the Chevi ot to get
, , ,

speci al broken colors and grays and for the mul ti col ored checkered cl oth to
, ,

make the most vi vi d col ors bal ance each other so that i nstead of the i ssue being ,

crude the efiet p rodui t of the pattern i s harmoni ous at a di stance

,
'
.

A gray woven from red blue yellow di rty whi te and bl ack thr eads a blue
, , , ,

that i s broken by a green and orange red or yell ow thread are qui te di fferent
,
-
, , ,

from p lain colors that i s to say they are more i ri descent and pri mary col ors
, ,

become ba rd col d and dea d i n compari son But for the weaver or rather the
, .
,

desi gner of the pattern or the combinati on of colors i t i s not always easy to ,

determi ne hi s es tim ati on of the number of threads and thei r di recti on no more ,

than i t i s easy to blend the strokes of the brush i nto a harmoni ous whole .

If you could compare the first pai nted studi es I made on my arrival here at
Nu en en and the pi cture I m now worki ng on I thi nk you woul d see that thi ngs
’
,

are getti ng a li ttl e more li vely as to color .

I beli eve that the questi on of the anal ysi s of col ors will preocc upy you too
someday for as a connoi sseur and expert I thi nk one must al so have a fix ed
, ,

i i on and possess certai n c onvi cti ons

op n , .

’
At l east for one s own pl easure and in order to substanti a te one s op ini on and
’
, ,

on e must al so be ab l e to exp l ai n i t i n a few words to others who someti mes ask

a person hke you for i nformati on when they wi sh to know somethi ng more
about art .

I have sti ll somethi ng to say about Porti er— of course I am not at all i ndi fferent
to hi s pri vate opini on and I hi ghl y appreci ate hi s sayi ng that he di d not ret ract
,

anyth i ng of what he had sai d .

Nei ther do I mi nd i t s appeari ng that he had not hung those fir st s tudi es .

But if I send a pi ct ure i ntended for hi m if he li kes be can only g et i t on c ondi ti on ,

tba t be wi ll s bow i t .

As to the potato eaters i t is a pi cture that wi ll show well i n gol d I am sure of

, ,

that but i t woul d show as well on a wall papered in the deep color of ri pe corn
, ,
.

I t si mp ly cannot be seen wi thout such a setting .

It does not show up well agai nst a dark background and not at all agai nst a ,

dull background That s because i t gi ves a glimpse of a very gray i nteri or In

.
’
.

reali ty too i t stands in a gol d frame a s i t were because the hearth and the gl ow
, ,

of the fire o n the whi te wall wou l d be nearer to the spectator now t hey are ,

o uts i de the pi cture but in reali ty they th row the whol e thing i nto perspective
,
.

I repeat i t must be shut off by frami ng i t in somethi ng of a deep gold or

,

brass col or .

If you yourself want to see i t as i t must be seen don t forget thi s p lease Thi s ,
’
,
.

putti ng i t next to a gold tone gi ves at the s ame time a bri ghtness to sp ots wbere
, ,

ou would not ex ec t i t and takes away the marb l ed aspect i t gets when unfo rt u
y p ,

n at ely p l aced ag ai nst a dull o r bl ack background The shadows are pai nted i n b lue .
,

and a gold col or puts li fe i nto thi s .

23 6
n ot mindi ng cri ti ci sms such as nasty coarse di rty sti nki ng etc etc so i t , , , , .
, .
,

woul d be a shame to waver .

N o o n e must p ai nt the peasants as being o ne of them as feeli ng thinki ng as

, , ,

they do .

Because one cannot help bei ng the w ay one i s .

I often thi nk h ow the peasants form a worl d apart in many respects so much ,

better than the ci vili zed worl d Not i n every respect for what do they kn ow
.
,

about art and many other thi ngs ?

I still have a few sma ll er s tudi es but you will understand that the large one
,

has preoccupi ed me so mu ch that I have been abl e to do very li ttl e el se As soon .

as i t i s qui te fini shed and dry I shall send you the pi ct ure in a box and add a
, ,

few smaller ones .

I thi nk i t will be well not to wai t l ong before sendi ng i t therefore I shall d o ,

so ; probabl y the second li thograph will not be ready then but I understand ,

that for i nstance Mr Porti er must be somewhat strengthened i n hi s opini on so

, , .
,

that we c an firml y c ount on hi m a s a fri end I s i ncerely hope thi s will succeed . .

I have been so absorbed in the pi cture that I li terally almost forget my movi ng ,

whi ch has to be l ooked to after all .

My cares will not become l ess but the lives of all p ai n ters of t hat kin d are so
,

full of them that I shoul d n ot wi sh t o have an easi er time of i t than they And .

seein g that they made thei r p i ctures i n spi te of everyt hing materi al di ffi culti es ,

will w orry me i t i s true but i n short they will not cr ush me or make me s l acken
, , , ,
.

I thi nk the potato eaters will get fini shed after all ; the l ast d aLs are al most
dangerous for a pi ct ure as you know because when i t i sn t qui te dry one
, ,
’
,

cannot work on i t wi th a large brush wi thout a great ri sk of spoili ng i t An d th e .

changes must be made qui etl y and calmly wi th a small brush Th erefore I have .

s impl y taken i t to my fri end and told hi m to ta ke care that I do not spoil i t
in that way and that I come to hi s house t o gi ve those fi ni shi ng touches You will .

see i t has ori gi nali ty .

Good b y I m sorry i t was n ot ready by today ; once more I wi sh you heal th

-
,
’

and sereni t y Beli eve me wi th a handshake

.
, ,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

Today I am stil l worki ng on some small er s t udi es whi ch are to be sent at ,

th e
same ti me .

Di d you send that copy of the Sal on e di ti on ?

413
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen June 1 8 8 5 ,

Thanks for your l etter and the encl osure It w as just what I wanted and helped .
,

me to work as hard at the end of the month as I did in the begi nni ng .

I am very gl ad to hear that Serret i s a p ainter about w hom y ou had already ,

wri tten thi ngs whi ch I perfectly remember but the name had escaped me I shoul d ,
.

li ke t o wri te y o u mu ch more than I am goi ng to i n thi s l etter but l ately when ,

I c ome home I don t feel li ke wri ti ng after I ve been si tti ng in the sun all day
,
’ ’ '

.
As to what S erret says I qui te agree wi th hi m— I am just dropping hi m a li ne
,

because I shoul d li ke to be fri ends wi th hi m A s I already tol d y ou recently I .

,

have been very busy drawi ng figures I will send them especi ally for S erret s sake ’

t o s how hi m that I am far from i ndi fferent to th e uni t y and the form of a figure .

Do y ou ever see Walli s i s that water col or of the aucti on perhaps somethi ng
,

for him If i t were somethin g for W i sselin g h be woul d be the one to take i t , .

I once gave a few heads to W i sselin g h and recentl y sent hi m that li thograph , .

But a s he di d not answer a single word I think if I sent hi m somethi ng agai n , ,

I shoul d get nothi ng but an i nsul t .

It just happened t o me that Van Rapp ard wi th whom I have been fri ends for ,

years after keeping si lent for about thr ee months wrote me a letter so haughty
, , ,

and so full of i nsul ts and so clearly wri tten after he had been in The Hague that
I am almost sure I have forever l ost hi m as a fri end .

Just because I tri ed i t first at Th e Hague i e i n my ow n country I have the , . .

,

full ri ght and cause to forget all those worri es and to try somethi ng outsi de my
ow n coun try .

You know Walli s well ; perhaps y ou c an broach the subj ect apropos of that
water c ol or but do what y ou think best If I coul d earn something wi th my
,
.

work if we had some firm ground— no matter h ow li ttl e under our feet for
,
-

o ur dail y exi stence and if i n your case then the desi re t o become an arti st took
,

the form of let me say H enn eb eau i n G ermina l apart from difference i n age
, , , ,

etc — what p i ctures you could make then ! The fut ure i s always di fferent from
.

what on e expects s o on e never can be sure The drawback t o pai ntin g i s that
, .
,

even if one does n o t sell one s pi ctures one still needs money for colors and
’

model s i n order to make progress And that drawback i s a bad thi ng But for the
. .

rest pain ti ng and in my opi ni on especi al l y painting r ur al life gi ves sereni t y

, , , ,

though on e may have all kin ds of superfici al worri es and mi seri es I mean pai nti ng .

i s a bome and one does n ot have that homes i ckness that pec uli ar feeli ng Henne
, ,

beau had .

That passage I copi ed for you lately struck me parti cul arly because at the ti me ,

I had al most literall y the same l ongi ng to be somethi ng li ke a g rassmow er or a

navvy And I was si ck of the boredom of ci vili zati on It i s better one is happi er
. .
, ,

if o n e carri es i t ou t— li terally though— at l east o ne feel s on e i s really alive And i t .

i s a good thi ng t o be deep i n the snow in wi nter ; i n aut umn deep i n the yell ow ,

l eaves ; i n summer ami d the ri pe corn ; i n spri ng in the grass ; i t i s a good thi ng
, ,

t o be always wi th the mowers and the peasant gi rl s wi th a b i sk overhead i n

g y ,

sum mer by the firesi de i n wi nter and to feel that i t has al ways been so and
, ,

always will be .

One may sl eep on straw eat b lack bread ; well on e wi ll onl y be the healthi er
, ,

for i t .

I shoul d li ke t o wri te more but I repeat I am not i n a mood for wri tin g and
, , ,

I al so wanted to encl ose a note for Serret whi ch you must read t oo because in , ,

i t I wri te about what I want t o send before l ong espe ci all y as I want t o show ,

Serret my fini shed figure studi es Good by .

-
,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

Serret may agree wi th you that pai ntin g good pi ct ures and sellin g them are two
separate thin gs But i t i s not at all tr ue When the publi c at last saw M ill et all
. .
,

hi s work together then the publi c w a s enthus i asti c both i n Pari s and London
, , .

And w h o were the persons wh o had kept hi m i n the shade and refused Mill et
The art deal ers the so called exp erts
,
-
.

418
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen Jul y 1 8 8 5 ,

I wi sh the four pi ctures I wrote about were gone .

If I keep them here l ong I mi ght pai nt them over again and I thi nk i t woul d
, ,

be better if you got them just as they came from the heath .

The reason I do not send them i s that I don t want to send them collect at a ’

moment when you yourself are pinched perhaps and yet I cann ot pay the carri age ,

myself .

I have never seen the li ttle house i n whi ch Millet lived but I i magi ne that ,

those four li ttle human nests are of the same ki nd .

One i s the resi dence of a gentleman who i s known by the name of the mourn
” “ ”
i n g peasant ; the other i s inh ab i ted by a good woman w h o wh en I came ,

there di d nothi ng more mysteri ous than turn over her potato p i t but sh e must
, ,
“ ”
also be ab l e to do wi tchcraft at any rate sh e bears the nam e of th e wi tch s head
— ’
.

You remember in G i g oux s book how i t happened that 1 7 of Delacroix s pi ct ures

’ ’

were refused at the same ti me One sees from thi s— ar l east I do— that he and
.

others of that peri od placed before connoi sseurs and non conn oi sseurs whom -
,

none of them ei ther understood or woul d buy— one sees from thi s that those
“ ”
wh o i n the book are ri ghtl y call ed the vali ant di d not call i t a hopel ess ,

struggl e but went on pai nting What I wanted to tell you once more i s that if w e
, .

take that story about Delacroix as a starting poi nt we sti ll have to pai nt a l ot , .

I am forced to be the most di sagreeab l e of all persons namely I have to ask ,

for money And as I do not thi nk that as to selli ng thi ngs will immedi ately take
.
, ,

a t urn for the better thi s i s bad enough But I ask you i sn t i t bet ter after all for
, .
,
’

both of us to work hard though i t wi ll bri ng di ffi culti es than to si t and phil os
, ,

o hi ze at a ti me li ke thi s ?
p
I do not know the future Th eo but I do know the eternal law that everythi ng
, ,

changes go back ten years and thi ngs were di fferent the condi t i ons th e mood
, , ,

of the peop le well everyt hi ng And ten years from n ow thi ngs wi ll have changed
, , .

again I am sure
, .

But the thi ng one does remai ns and one does not easil y regret havi n g done a
,

thi ng The more active one i s the better and I woul d rather have a fai l ure than
.
, ,

si t and do nothi ng .

Whether Porti er may or may n o t be the man to do something wi th my work ,

we want hi m n ow at any rate And thi s i s what I beli eve After having worked
. .

for a year o r so we shall have a l arger collecti on than now an d I know for sure
, ,

that my work wi ll show better the more I compl ete i t Peopl e w h o n ow have .

some sympathy for i t wh o speak of i t as he does an d show i t are useful because

, ,

after my having worked for i nstance an other year they wi ll have collected a
, , ,

2 40
 But just go and paint ou t of doors on the spot i tself ! then all kinds of things
- -

happen ; for i nstance I had t o wi pe off at l east a hundred or more fli es from the
,

four painti ngs you wi ll recei ve not counting the dust and sand not count ing , ,

that when one carri es them across the heath and th rough the hedges for several
hours some thorns will scratch them etc N ot countin g that when one arri ves
, ,
.

on the heath after some hours wal k i n thi s weather o n e i s ti red and exhausted
’
,

from the heat Not counting that the figures do n ot stand still li ke professi onal
.

model s and that the effects on e wants to catch change wi th the progressi ng
,

day .

I don t know how i t i s wi th y ou but as for myself the more I work i n i t the
’
, , ,

more I get absorbed in rural li fe And I begi n to care l ess and l ess ei ther fo r .

those Cab an el—li ke thi ngs among whi ch I al so in clude Jacquet and the present
day Benj ami n Constant or the so hi ghl y prai sed but so i nexpressi bly d ry tech
,

ni que of the Itali ans and Sp ani ards Imagi ers ! I often thin k of that phrase ofJacque s .
’
.

Yet I have no p arti p ris I feel for Raffaelli w h o pai nts qui te other thi ngs t han
,

peasants I feel for Alfred Stevens for Ti ssot to menti on somethi ng qui te
, , ,

di fferent from peasants ; I feel for a beauti ful portrai t .

Though i n my opini on he makes col ossal b lunders i n hi s judgment of p i ctures ,

Zola says a beautiful thing about art i n general i n M es H aines dans le tabl eau “
,
”
l m re d art e cherche j ai me l homme l the p i cture (work of art)
( )j [
’ ’ ’
i i
’ ’
u v — a rt st e n
,

I seek I l ove the man — the arti st]

,
.

Look here I thi nk thi s perfectly true ; I ask y ou what ki nd of a man what
, ,

ki nd o f a prophet or phi l osopher observer what ki nd of a human character i s

, , ,

there behi nd certain pai nti ngs the techni que of whi ch 1S prai sed P— in fact often
, ,

notbi ng But a Raffaelli i s a personali ty Lhermi tte i s a personali t y and before

.
, ,

many pi ctures by almost un known arti sts on e feel s that they are made wi th a ,

wi ll wi th feeli ng wi th pass i on and l ove The techni que of a pai nti ng from rural
, , .

li fe o r— li ke Raffaelli — from the heart of the ci ty workmen— bri ngs di ffi cul ti es
qui te di fferent from those of the smooth pai nti ng and pose of a Jacquet or Ben
j ami n Constant It means liy i ng i n those cottages day by day bei ng i n th e fields
.
,

li ke the peasants in summer i n the heat of the sun i n wi nter s u fferi ng from snow
, ,

and frost ; not i ndoors but outsi de and not during a walk but day after day li ke , ,

the peasants themselves .

And I a sk y ou i f one consi ders these thi ngs am I then so far wrong when ,

I find fault wi th the cri ti ci sm of those cri ti cs who these days more than ever , ,

talk humbug about thi s so often mi sused word techni que (i t s si gni ficance i s ,

getti ng more and more conventi onal) Consi deri ng all the troub le and drudgery .

“ ”
needed to pai nt the rouw b oerke and hi s cottage I dare mai ntai n that thi s i s I
,

a l onger and more ti ri ng j ourney than many pai nters of exoti c subj ects (maybe
“ ” “ ”
La Justi ce au Harem o r Recepti on at a Cardi nal s ) make for thei r most ex
,
’

q ui si t el
y eccentri c subj ects F or i n Pari s any k i nd of .Arab i c or Span i sh o r Moori sh

model s i s to be had provi ded only that one pays for them But he wh o pai nts .
,

li ke Raffaelli the ragpi ckers of Pari s i n thei r own qua rter h a s far more diffi cul ti es
, ,

and hi s work i s more seri ous .

I “
Mou n in g pe san t
r a .
 N otbi ng see ms s i mp ler tban p ai nting p easants ,
ra
gpi c kers d la borers
an o
f a ll ki nds but
,

a s tbes e c ommon la ce fi
ifi
'

—no s ub ects
j d
i n p a inting
cul t p
are s o
g ures I
A s far as I know t here i sn t a s i ngl e a ademy where o n e l earns t o draw and
’
c
paint a di gger a sower, a woman putti ng the kettl e over the fir e or a seamstress
, .

But i n every ci ty of some i mportance there i s an academy wi th a choi ce of model s

fo r hi stori cal Arab i c Loui s ! V i n short , a ll rea lb/ nonex is tent g ures
, , ,
fi .

When I send you and Serret some studi es of di ggers or peasant women weed
i n g gl eani ng etc , as tbe beg inning of a whol e seri es of all ki nds of l abor in the
, , .

fields , then i t may be that ei ther y ou or Serret will di scover faults i n them whi ch
wi ll be useful for me to know, and whi ch I may even a dm i t myself .

But I want to point ou t somethi n g whi ch i s perhaps worth while A ll academi c .

figures are put together in the same way and l et s say on nep eut mi eux Irrep roac h ,
’
,
.

f
able, a ultless You wi ll guess what I am drivi ng at, they do not reveal anything new
. .

Thi s i s not true of the figur es of a Millet a Lhermi tte, a R ég amey a Daumi er ; , ,

they are al so well put together, but after all in a different way than the academy
teaches .

But I thi nk that however correctly academi c a figure may be i t will be super ,
“
flu ou s i n these days t hough i t were by Ingres hi mself (hi s Source
,
however , ,

excepted because that reall y was and i s and will always be somethi ng new)
, , , , ,

when i t lacks the essenti al modern note the i nti mate character the real acti on , , .

Perhaps y ou will a sk : When will a figure not be superfluous though there ,

may be faults great faul ts i n i t in my opini on ?

,

When the di gger di gs when the peasant i s a peasant and the peasant woman
, ,

a peasant woman .

Is thi s somethi ng n ew — yes —even the figures by O stad e Terborch are not i n , ,

acti on li ke those painted nowadays .

I woul d li ke to say a l ot more about thi s and I woul d li ke t o say how much ,

I myself want to im prove my work and how much I prefer the work of some
other arti sts to my ow n .

I ask you d o you know a s ingl e di gger a si ngl e sower i n the ol d Dutch
, ,
“ ”
Di d they ever try to pai nt a l aborer ? Di d Velasquez try i t i n hi s
water carri er or t ypes from the peopl e No .

The figures in the pi ct ures of the old masters do not work I am dr udgi ng jus t .

now on the figure of a woman whom I saw di ggi ng for carrots i n the snow
l ast wi nter .

Look here Mill et h a s done i t Lhermi tte and in general the pai nters of rural
, , ,

li fe in thi s century— Israel s for i nstance— they thi nk i t more beautiful than any
thi ng el se .

But even i n thi s cent ury how rel ati vely few among the i nnumerabl e p ai nters
,

want the fi g ure— yes above all— for the fi g ure s sake that i s t o say for the sake of
,
’

li ne and modeli ng but cannot i mag ine i t otherwi se than in acti on and want t o do
, ,

what the ol d masters avoi ded— e ven the o ld D utch masters wh o clung to many
conventi onal acti ons— and I repeat— want to p a int tbe a cti on for tbc acti on s sa ke ’
.

S o t hat the p i ct ure or the drawi ng has t o be a drawi ng of the figure for the
sake of the figure and the i nexpressi bly harmoni ous form of the human body ,

243
but at the same ti me a di ggi ng of carrots in the snow Do I express myself cl early .

I hope so and just tell thi s t o Serret I can say i t in a few words : a nude by
,
.

Cab an el a l ady by Jacquet and a peasant woman not by Bas ti en L ep ag e bi mself but
, , ,

a peasant woman by a Pari si an w h o has l earned hi s drawi ng at the academy ,

will always i ndi cate the lim bs and the structur e of the body i n on e selfs ame w ay ,

somet im es charming— c orrect in proporti on and anatomy But when Israel s or .

,

when Daumi er or Lhermi tte for instance draws a figure the shape of the fig ure
, , ,

will be felt much more and yet— that s w hy I hke to i nclude Daumi er— the
,
’

proporti ons will someti mes be almost a rbi tra ry the an atomy and str ucture often ,
“ ”
qui te wrong i n the eyes of the academi ci an But i t will li ve A n d especi all y . .

Delacroix too .

It i s not yet well expressed Tell Serret that I s bould be desp era te if my fig ures
.

c orrec t tell hi m that I do not want them to be academi call y corre ct te ll hi m that
, ,

I mean : If on e photographs a di gger be certa inly would not be dig g ing tben Tell ,
.

hi m that I adore the figures by Mi chel angel o though the l egs are undoubtedl y
t oo l ong the hi ps and the backsi des too l arge Tell him that for me Mi ll et and
,
.
, ,

Lhermi tte are the real arti sts for the very reason that they do n ot pai nt thi ngs as
they are traced i n a dry analyt i cal way but as tbey — Mill et Lhermi tte, Mi chel
, , ,

ange o feel them Tell hi m that my great longi ng i s to learn to make those very
l — .

i ncorrectnesses t hose devi ati ons remodeli ngs changes i n reali ty so that they
, , , ,

may become y es li es if you li ke— but truer than the li teral truth
, , .

! And now I shall have to fini sh but I wanted to say once more that t hose w h o
i!
f
,

p a i nt rur al life or the life of the peop l e though t hey may not bel on
g t o the men ,

of the moment may wear better i n the l ong run than the p ai nters of the exo t i c
,

harems and Cardinal s recepti ons pai nted i n Pari s ’

,
.

I know that i t i s being very di sagreeabl e to a sk for money at i n conveni ent

moments ; my excuse however i s that pai nti ng the apparently most ordinary
, ,

thi ngs i s someti mes most di ffi cul t and expensi ve .

Tbe exp ens es I mus t ma ke if I wa nt t o work are someti mes very hi gh in proport i on
to what I have at my di spos al I assure you if my consti t ut i on had n ot become
.
, ,

i n all wi nds and weather li ke that of a peas an t I shoul d not be ab l e t o stand i t

, , ,

as absolutely nothi ng i s l eft for my own comfort .

But I don t want comfort for myself j ust as li ttl e as many peasants want to
’

li ve di fferentl y than they do .

But the money I a sk i s for colors and especi ally for model s ,
.

From what I wri te about drawi ngs of the figure you can perhaps judge ,

suffici ently how passi onately I want to carry them out .

You recently wrote me that Serret had spoken to you wi th convi c t i on about
certain faults in the structure of the figures of the potato eaters .

But y ou wi ll have seen from my answer that my own cri ti ci sm al so di sapproves

o f them on that score but I poi nted o u t that thi s w a s an i mpressi on after my
,

having seen the cottage in th e di m lamp hg h t for many eveni ngs after havi ng ,

pai nted forty heads so i t i s cl ear that I started from a di fferent poi nt of vi ew
,
.

But now that we begin to tal k about figure drawi ng I have a great deal more ,
“
to say In Raffaelli s words I find hi s opi ni on about char acter what he says
.
’
l east on my part, I feel i mpell ed to repeat again that you shoul d know once and
fo r all that there i s at your di sposal or at the di sposal of any pai nter whatever
,

who wants to come here t o make s t udi es a spare bedroom in the house where I ,

have my studi o And I for my part want to advi se you as well as W enkeb ac h
.
, ,

whom I shall probably see tomorrow to come here once in a whi le as there are
, ,

enough beauti ful thi ngs here If you are inclined to appreci ate thi s very good ; if
.
,

not very good just the same But if you come eacb g oes bis s ep a ra te way
,
.
, .

Here i s my exp lanati on of the li thograph I di d i t enti rely from memory and in a .

si ng le day ; I thought a certai n compos iti on somewhat forced and w a s usi ng an ,

altogether di fferent process i n an attempt to fi nd a new i dea t o put i t together .

Besi des i t was onl y an experi ment and nothi ng more and I used corrosi ves on the
, ,

stone later on .

Ori gi nally— although the faulty drawing of an arm or a nose that made you fly
i nto a rage remai ns— the chi aroscuro was much better as i t i s i n the compos i ti on ,

that I pai nted later And as for the latter al though there are faul ts i n i t too there
.
, ,

are still thi ngs in i t that keep me from regretti ng that I painted i t .

I cannot say that your l etter of today was the l east bi t useful or necessary to me .

Onl y I assure you that your sayi ng your beli ef in me was shaken and all that l eave s
me pretty i ndifferent— you are no excepti on i n thi s as far as certai n others are
concerned I let peopl e say of me a nd tbi nk of me wba tever tbey li ke a nd trea t mej us t a s
.

tbe y l i ke— t hat i s the i r bus i ness ; I am n o t ob li gated to li sten t o thei r everl as t ing
dri vel My parents my teachers Messrs Goupil Co an d furthermore all kinds
.
, , . .
,

of fri ends and acquai ntances have sai d s o many unpl easant thi ngs tomi e for my
ow n good and wi th the best i ntenti ons that in the end the burden has become a

li ttl e too heavy for me ; and s ince I let peop l e tal k wi thout payi ng any attenti on t o
i t I have not fall en off my fri end— tbis macb I tbi nk I knowfor s ure
, , .

In reply to your remarks however thi s It i s a fact t hat your work i s good ; but
, ,
.

thi s does n ot mean ami ce that y ou are always ri ght in thi nking that there are n o
, ,

other ways and methods of arriving at somethi ng good and sound than yours ; I
shoul d li ke very much t o talk thi ngs over wi th you— but p lease don t gather from ’

thi s that i t woul d mean consulti ng you— but our di scussi ons are becomi ng l ess
and l ess successful Speaki ng of self knowl edge— w h o h a s i t ? Here agai n i t i s a
.
-

“
matter of la sci ence— nul n e l a onl y de la s ci ence— everyone greatl y needs i t for
’
,

hi mself as regards hi s good or bad propensi ti es— a nd I started wi th myself But

, .

don t thi nk that y ou never decei ve yourself because of a lack of i t don t thi nk that
’

,
’

you never hurt others horri bly and undeservedly wi th superfici al

I know every one does thi s and yet we must try to put up wi th ea ch other But
, , .

fory ou to speak about self knowl edge— no my fri end I am awfull y sorry tha ty ou
-
, ,

shoul d touch upon the subj ect as I am afrai d i t i s the very weakest s i de of your
,

character from a human poi nt of vi ew Oh well— but I will try to state clearly
, .

wba t I tbink a bout wben I tbi nk a bout y ou .

As far as your work goes— here you are your present work i s excellent — I thi n k
— but here comes a thought exactl y as i t i s in my mi nd wi thout conceali ng any
,

thi ng— I have kn own you for a pretty l ong time There was a ti me— i mmedi atel y .

before and i mmedi ately after your ill ness — when you were much less dry as a human

2 46
being than you ha ve been at o ther ti mes— fuller milder broader more generous , , ,

— more str ai ghtforward and i ngenuous .

Now you are speaki ng t o me and behaving t o me exactly as a certai n a bomina bly
arrogant Rap p ard s t udyi ng at a certai n academy di d at on e ti me .

I am sorry that tbis acquai ntance has come back to me and I am still more sorry ,

for the l oss of you as a fri end whi ch y ou were i n the excepti onal peri od when I
,

found you changed and i mproved ; and seei ng that I have observed thi s I can t ,
’

help thi nki ng W hat about hi s work ? ?— will that too be broader fuller nob l er
, , ,

a s bor t ti me? ? D o you know the answer to that ?

for on
ly
I have taken onl y half a sheet of paper to express thi s thought but you will see ,

from i t that I am afrai d at ti mes that your work t oo may l ose the nobl er quali ty .

I thi nk I am stati ng thi s i dea cl early and si mp ly .

Whatever my faul ts of character may be i t i s my si ncere desi re to d o well in my

,

efforts as a p ai nter and I al so have the sincere desi re to treat others well— I have
,

too much heart to be as fri vol ous i n my work as you are always reproachi ng me
wi th being I need not take what you wrote to heart and I don t d o so And as for
.
,
’
.

your sayi ng that I am i n need of someone wh o will tell me some home truths that ,

may be true but i t may al so be true that I my self am the on e to tell me some home
,

truths and that I c an do wi thout other peopl e especi all y if they are a s prosy as
, ,

y o u are .

Greetin gs But your l etter a s a whol e w as unfai r even though there are
.
, , ,

detail s in i t that are more or l ess accurate .

Vincent
Y ou do not wri te me anything about your work nor do I about mi ne , .

423
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen 1 S eptember 1 8 8 5 ,

Th anks for your l etter and the encl osed 1 5 o francs I al so recei ved the tw o .

Lhermi ttes today He is the absolute master of the figure he does what he li kes
.
,

wi th i t— proceeding nei ther from the col or nor from the l ocal tone but rather
from the light— as Rembrandt di d— there i s an astoni shi ng mastery in everythi ng
he does above all excelli ng in modeli ng he perfectly sati sfies all that honesty
, ,

demands .

Peopl e tal k a great deal about Poussi n Brac quemon d al so speaks of him The
. .

French cal l Poussi n the very greatest p ai nter among the o ld masters Well i t i s .
,

certai nl y true that what i s s ai d about Poussi n of whom I know so very littl e i s
, ,

al so true of Lhermi tte and Millet But wi th thi s di fference that Poussi n seems
.
,

t o me the ori gi nal grai n ; the others the full c ar As fo r me I thi nk the modern
, .
,

ones tbc mos t s up eri or .

These l ast two weeks I have been worri ed a lot by the Roman Catholi c pri ests ,

who tol d me evi dently wi th th e best i ntenti ons an d feelin g obli ged li ke all the
, , ,

others t o meddl e wi th i t that I ought not t o get t oo fami li ar wi th peopl e bel ow

, ,

my rank ; expressi ng themselves t o me i n these terms but usi ng qui te a di fferent

“ ”
tone toward the peopl e o f l ower rank namely threateni ng them about havi ng
, ,

themselves painted I si mpl y tol d the Burgomaster at once and poi nted out t o
.
,

2
hi m that i t was a thi ng tha t di d n ot concern the pri ests at all w h o have to keep ,

to thei r own terri tory of more abstra ct things At all events they stopped thei r .
,

opposi ti on for the moment and I hope i t will remai n so .

A gi rl I had often pai nted was wi th child and they suspected me though I was , ,

i nnocent But I had heard the real state of affai rs from the gi rl herself and as i t
.
,
’
was a case i n whi ch a member of the pri est s congregati on at Nuenen had p layed
a very ugly part they cannot at l east for thi s once get at me
, , ,
.

But you see that i t i s not easy to p ai nt or draw peop l e i n thei r own houses
and at thei r work .

Well they will not easily get the better of me i n thi s case and thi s wi nter
, ,

I hope to keep the very same model s who are thoroughl y typ i cal of the ol d ,

Brabant race .

I agai n have a few new drawings But I coul d by no means get anybody to
.

pose for me i n the fields these days .

Happil y for me the pri est i s get ti ng rather unpop ul ar But i t i s a bad thing
,
.
,

and if i t contin ued I shoul d have to move Y o u will ask W hat s the use of
,
.
,
’

maki ng yourself di sagreeabl e — but someti mes i t cannot be avoi ded If I had .

argued gently wi th them they woul d undoubtedl y have g ot the better of me

, .

And when they hi nder me i n my work I somet imes do not see any other way ,

than an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth The pri est even went s o far as
,
. .

to promi se the peopl e money if they refused to be pai nted : but t hey an swered
qui te spi ri tedly that they woul d rather earn money from me than beg some from

But you they d o i t onl y for the sake of earni ng money and they do notbing
see ,

for notbi ng here .

Y ou ask me if Rap p ard has ever sol d anythi ng I know that at present he i s .

better off than he used to be that for instance for some t ime he took model s
, , ,

for the nude every day that now for the pi ctur e of a bri ckyard he rented a
, , ,

small house on the spot i tself and had i t i mproved wi th a skyli ght ; I know tha t
, '

he made another tri p through Drenthe and that he wi ll also go to Terschelli ng

, .

A ll these thi ngs are rathef expens i ve and the money for i t must come from
‘

somewhere Though he may possess some money o f hi s own he must certai nl y

.
,

earn something too otherwi se he coul dn t do what he does Perhaps hi s famil y

,
’
.

buys or fri ends— that may b e— but somebody must

, .

But toni ght I am too mu ch occupi ed wi th Lhermi tte s drawi ngs to go o n ’

wri ting about other thi ngs W hen I thi nk of Mi ll et or of Lhermi tte I find modern
.
,

art as great as Mi chelangel o and Rembrandt— anci ent art i s infini te modern art ,

i nfini te t oo— th e anci ent masters are g eni us es— the modern ones are g eni uses too .

A person li ke Chenavard does n ot thi nk so perhaps But I for my part am con .

, ,

vin c ed that i n thi s respect one can have fai th i n modern art .

The fact that I have a defini te beli ef about art makes me sure of what I want
i n my ow n work and I shall try to rea ch i t even at the ri sk of my own hfe
,
.

Good by -
,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

by Blai sse Desg offe reall y li ke Van Bey eren I coul dn t help thi nki ng that those
I—
.
’

si mp le sti ll lifes of hers had far more arti sti c value than many pretenti ous pi ctures
by other Amsterdam pai nters .

They struck me as very well done Especi ally one wi th a gol den vase a few .
,

empty oyster shell s a broken coconut shell an d a cr ust of bread I will send
, .

you the book by Blane ; I hope soon to get L A rt a u ! V II I me I ’

especi ally l ongi ng to hear somethin g from de Goncourt about Chardi n Lac aze s .
’

’
Rembrandt i s reall y al so in the senti ment of Rembrandt s last peri od ; i t i s about
twelve years si nce I saw i t but I still remember i t because i t str uck me j ust like
, ,

that head by Fab ri ti u s i n Rotterdam If I remember correctl y that nude woman .

,

in the Lacaze Coll ecti on i s al so very beauti fu l al so of a l ater peri od The frag , .

“ ”
ment Rembrandt s Lesson i n Anatomy yes I was absolutely staggered by
,
’
, ,

that too Do you remember those flesh col ors— i t i s— de la terre— especi all y the
.

feet.

You know Frans H al s s flesh c ol ors are al so earthy used here i n the sense that
,
’

you know Often at l east Someti mes I almost dare say always there i s also a
. .
, ,

rela ti on of contrast between the tone of the cos t ume and the tone of the face .

“ ”
Red and green are opposi tes The S i nger (Dupper Coll ecti on) w h o has tones ,

of carmi ne in the flesh co l or has tones o f green i n hi s b l ack s l eeves and ri bbons
, ,

a r ed otber than that carmine The orange whi te—

o n those s l eeves o f blue fellow .
-

I wrote about ha s a relatively neutral comp l exi on earthy pi nk vi ol eti sh in ,

-
, ,

contrast wi th hi s Frans Hals yell ow leather sui t - -

.

They ellow fell ow ci tron amorti deci dedl y has dull vi ol et i n hi s mug Well— the
, ,
.

darker the costume the li ghter the face i s someti mes— not acci dentally— at l east
,

hi s portrai t and that of hi s wi fe i n the garden contai n two b lacki sh vi ol ets (b lue
vi olet and reddi sh vi olet) and a pl ai n bl ack (yell ow b lack
-
I repeat reddi sh -
,

vi olet and blue vi ol et b lack and black the three gl oomi est thi ngs as i t were ;
-
, , ,

well the faces are very fai r ex tremely fai r even fo r Hal s
, , , .

Well Frans Hal s i s a col ori st a mong coloris ts a col ori st li ke Veronese li ke
, , ,

Rubens hke Delacroix hke Velasquez

, , .

Of Mi ll et Rembrandt and for i nstance Israels i t has trul y been s ai d tha t they
, , , ,

are more harmoni sts than col ori sts .

But tell me bla ck and wbi te may they be used or may they not are they for
, , ,

bi dden frui t ?
I don t thi nk so ; Frans Hal s has no less than twenty seven bl acks Whi te— but
’
-
.

y ou know yourself what stri ki ng p i ct ures some modern co l ori sts make of whi te
on whi te Wh at i s the meani ng of that phrase : one mus t not ? Dela croix called them
.

res ts ,used them as such You must not have a prejudi ce agai nst them for if
.
,

used only i n thei r p laces and i n harmony wi th the rest one may of course u se
, ,

all tones .

I can tell you that I often thi nk the thi ngs by Apol for instance whi te on , ,

whi te very well done

, .

H i s sunset i n The Hague Wood fo r instance whi ch i s in Amsterdam That , ,

.

thi ng i s damn good i ndeed .

I
A Fren c h still life p ainter of t he mi d n ineteenth c entury
- -
.
 N o— black and whi te have thei r reason and si gni ficance and when on e tri es ,

t o suppress them i t t urns out wrong ; to consi der both neutra l i s certai nl y the
,

most l ogi cal thing to d o whi te— the hi ghest combi nati on of the li ghtest red
, ,

blue yellow ; bl ack— the hi ghest combinati on of the darkest red b lue yell ow
, , , .

I have nothi ng to say agai nst that theory I find i t perfectl y true Well lig bt and ,
.
,

brown the t one i n i t s va lue stands i n di re ct rel ati on t o that 4th col or scal e from
,

wbi te t o black Fo r one finds there

.

a fourt h s c al e
(that o f t he n eutral ton es ,

that of re d ! lu e ! b y ll
e ow ) e x re t me li ht) g
That i s how I understand the blacks and the whi tes .

When I mi x red wi th green t o a red green or green red by mixing i t wi th - -

,

whi te I then get pi nk green or green p i nk And if you li ke by addi ng black

,
- -
.
, ,

I get brown green o r green brown Isn t that clear ? When I mix yell ow wi th
- -
.
’

vi ol et to a vi ol et yellow o r yellow vi ol et in other terms a neutralized yellow or a

- -
,

neutr alized vi ol et by addi ng whi te and b lack I get grays

, ,
.

Well g ray s and br owns there i s especi ally ques ti on of them when on e makes
, ,

col ors lig bter or da rker whatever thei r nat ure and thei r gradati on of red yellow
, ,

o r b lue may be .

It i s qui te correct to speak of li ght and dark grays and browns I think But , .

how beautiful what S ilvestre says about Delacroix i s— that he put a fortui tous
tone on hi s pal ette une nuance i nnomma ble vi olacee that he put that on e tone down
,
'

somewhere ei tber for big bes t lig bt or for deep es t s badow but that of thi s ma d he made
, ,

something whi ch ei ther sparkl ed li ke li ght or was gl oomil y silent li ke a deep

shadow .

S o I have heard of an experi ment wi th a sheet of neutral col ored paper

whi ch became greeni sh against a red background reddi sh on a green on e b lui sh , ,

o n orange orange on b lue yell owi sh on vi ol et and vi o l et i sh on yell ow

, , , .

Just li sten suppose on e wants such a muddy tone or dra b color t o become lig bt
,

in the pi ct ure li ke Del acroi x sai d of Veronese that he coul d pai nt a b l onde nude
, ,

woman wi th a col or li ke mud i n su ch a way that sh e comes ou t fai r and bl onde

i n the p i ct ure— then the questi on ari ses — how i s thi s poss i b le unl ess by c ontrast ,

of great forces in b lui sh b lacks or vi ol ets o r red di sh browns ? -

,
-

You— w h o are l ooki ng for dark shadows somewhere and thi nk that when the ,

shadows are dark aye b lack that i t i s all wrong then i s thi s ri ght ? I don t
, , , ,
’

“ ” “
thi nk s o For t hen for i nstance the Dante by Dela cr oi x the Fi sherman of
.
, , ,
”
Z an dvoort for i nstance woul d be wrong For i ndeed they contai n the most
, , .
,

vi gorous blue black or vi olet black values Rembrandt an d Hal s di dn t they use
- -
.
,
’

black and Velasquez ?

N ot onl y on e but twent y seven blacks I assure you S o as to o ne must n ot
,
-
, .

”
use bl ack are y ou yourself qui te sure that y ou know what you mean by i t
,

2
and d o you know what you want wi th i t ? Reall y thi nk i t over carefull y for you , ,

mi ght come to the conclusi on— I thin k thi s very probabl e— tha t you have l earned
and understood th at questi on of tones qui te wrongly or rather have l earned i t ,

vag uely and understood i t vag uely Many peop l e d o most of them d o But i n the
.
, .

l ong run Del acroi x and others of hi s tim e will teach you better .

Tell me— have you noti ced that those studi es of mi ne t hat have bl ack back
grounds have their big bes t lig bt put i n a low c olor s cale? 22 And when i n thi s way I
put my s t udy i n a lower c olor s ca le than nat ure I yet keep the harmony of tones ,

because I become darker n ot onl y i n my shadows but a ls o in the same degree

, ,

I pai nted my studi es j ust as a ki nd of gymn asti cs t o ri se and fall in tone so , ,

don t forget that I pai nted my whi te and gray moss li terally wi t h a mud col or
’
,

and yet i t l ook s li ght i n the study .

Good b y -
,
Ever yours Vi ncent ,

These thi ngs concerning comp l ementary col ors Si mul taneous contrast and th e , ,

neutrali zi ng of c omplem en tal s thi s questi on i s the first and pri nci p al on e ; the
,

second i s the mutual influence of t wo kindred c olors for i nstance carmi ne on a , ,

vermi li on a pin k vi olet on a b lue vi olet The thi rd questi on i s a li ght b lue agai nst
,
- -
.

the same dark blue a pi nk agai nst a brown red a ci tron yell ow agai nst a chamoi s
,
-
,

yell ow etc But the first questi on i s the most i mportant

,
. .

If y ou c ome across some good book on col or theori es mind you send i t to me , ,

for I too am far from knowi ng everythi ng about i t and am searchin g for more ,

every day .

429
Dear Theo ,
Nuenen 2 O ctober 1 8 8 5 ,

I read your l etter about black wi th great p leasure and i t convi nces me that you ,

have no prejudi c e agai nst; black .

Your descri pti on of Manet s st udy Le Toreador Mort was well analyzed
’
,
’

, .

And the whol e letter proves the same thi ng that your sketch of Pari s suggested
to me at the t ime namely that if you set yourself t o i t y ou c an p ai n t a thi ng
, ,

i n words .

It i s a fact that by studyi ng the l aws of the col ors one can go from an i ns t inc tive
beli ef i n the great masters t o the anal ysi s of why one admi res— what one admi res
,

— and that i s i ndeed necessary nowadays when one reali zes how terri b l y arbi trarily

and superfici ally peopl e cri ti cize .

Y ou just have to l et me s t i ck to my pess i mi sm about the present day art trade -

,

for i t does not at all include di scouragement Thi s i s my way of reasoni ng Suppos . .

in g I am ri ght i n c ons i dering that curi ous haggli ng about pri ces of p i ctures
more and more li ke the bul b trade I repeat supposi ng that li ke the bul b trade
.
, ,

at the end of the last centur y th e art trade togeth er wi th other bran ches of
, ,

speculati on will di sappear at the end of thi s cent ury the same way t hey came
, ,

namely rather qui ckly The bul b trade may di sappear— the flower g rowing remains
.
-
.
painfufly exa c t i mi tat i on ; one keeps i t by recreati ng i n a parall el col or scal e
whi ch may be n ot exactly or even far from exactly hke the model , , .

Always i ntelli gently maki ng use of the beauti ful tones whi ch the col ors form
o f the i r o w n accord when one breaks them o n the pa l ette I repeat— starti ng ,

from one s pal ette from one s knowl edge of the harmony of col ors i s qui te
’ ’

different from followi ng nature mechani call y and servil el y .

Here i s another examp l e : suppose I have t o pai nt an aut umn l andscape trees ,

wi th yell ow l eaves A ll ri ght— when I c oncei ve i t as a symphony in yellow what

.
,

does i t matter if the fun damental col or of yellow i s the same as that of the l eaves
o r n o t ? It matters ver y l i tt l e .

M ucb every tbing depends on my percepti on of the i nfi ni te vari ety of tones of

,

on e sa me fa mi ly .

Do y ou c all thi s a dangerous i nclina ti on toward romanti ci sm an i nfideli ty to ,

“ ”
reali sm a p ei ndre du chi c a caring more for the col ori st s pal ette than for
,
’ ’

nat ure ? Well que soi t Delacroix Mi ll et Corot Dupr e Daubi gny Breton thi rty
,
.
, , , , , ,

names more aren t they the heart and soul of the art of pai nti ng of thi s centur y
’

and aren t they all rooted in romanti ci sm though they surp assed romanti ci sm ?
, ,
’
,

Romance and romanti ci sm are of ou r ti me and pai nters must have i magi nati on ,

and senti ment Fortunately reali sm and naturali sm are not free from i t Zol a
. .

creates but does n ot hold up a mi rror to thi ngs he creates wonderful! but crea tes
, , ,

oeti es that i s why i t i s s o beauti ful So much fo r naturali sm and reali sm whi ch
p z , .
,

are still connected wi th romanti ci sm .

And I repeat that I am touched when I see a pi cture of about the years 5 o ’

“
a Paul Huet an old Israel s li ke the Fi sherman of
,
Cabat an ,

Isabey .

But I fin d so much truth i n that saying Ne pas peindre l e ton l ocal that , ,

I greatly prefer a pi cture in a l ower key than nature to one whi ch i s exactly li ke
nature .

Rather a water col or that i s somewhat vague and unfini shed than one whi ch
i s worked up to si mul ate reali t y .

“
That sayi ng Ne pas pei ndre le ton l ocal has a broad meaning and i t l eaves
, , ,

the pai nter free to seek col ors whi ch form a whol e and harmoni ze whi ch stand
,
,

o u t the more i n contrast to ano ther col or s cheme .

What do I care whether the portrai t of an honorabl e ci ti zen tell s me exactl y

the milk and watery blui sh i nsi pi d color of that p i ous man s face— whi ch I woul d
- -
,
’

never have l ooked at But the ci ti zens of the small town where the above men
.
-

t i on ed indi vi dual has rendered hi mself so meri tori ous that he thought hi mself
obli ged t o i mpress hi s physi ognomy on posteri ty are hi ghl y edifi ed by th e correct
exactness .

C olor exp resses s ometbing i n i tself on e cannot do wi thout thi s on e must u se i t ;, ,

what i s beauti ful really beautiful — i s al so correct When Veronese had p ainted
, .

“ ”
the portrai ts of hi s beau monde in the Noces de Cana he had spent on i t all
-
,

the ri chness of hi s pal ette in somber vi olets i n spl endi d gol den tones Then— h e ,
.

still thought of a fai nt azure and pearly whi te— whi ch does n ot appear i n the
foreground He hurl s i t on i n the background— and i t w a s ri ght spontaneous l y
.
,
itchanges into the surroundin g atmosphere f marble o palaces and sk
y, whi ch
characteri sti call y complete the cluster of figures .

That background i s so beautiful that i t arose spontaneous ly from a cal cu lati on

of col ors .

Am I wrong in thi s ?
Isn t i t pai nted dzfierently than i t woul d be by somebody w h o had thought at
'
’

the same ti me of the palace a nd of the figures as one whol e ?

A ll that archi tecture and sky i s conventi onal and subservi ent to the figures ,

i t i s cal cul ated to make the figures stand o u t beautifully .

Surely tba t is real pai nti ng an d the resul t i s more beauti ful than the exact
,

i mi tati on of the thi ngs themselves Thi nki ng of one thi ng and l etti ng the surround
.

i ngs bel ong t o i t and res ul t from i t .

T o study from nature to wrestl e wi th reali ty— I don t want to do away wi th

’

i t for years and years I myself have done just that almost frui tless ly and wi th a ll
, ,

kinds of sad resul ts .

I shoul d not li ke to have mi ssed that error .

I mean that i t woul d be fooli sh and stupi d to al ways go on in that same way ,

but not tha t all my pai ns should be absolutely l ost .

“ ”
On commence par tuer on fi ni t par g uéri r i s a doctor s sayi ng One starts
, ,
’
.

wi th a hopeless struggle to foll ow nat ure and everyt hin g goes wrong ; on e ends ,

by calml y creati ng from one s pal ette and nature agrees wi th i t and foll ows
’
, , .

But these two oppos i tes cannot be separated The drudgi ng though i t may seem .
,

futi l e gi ves an i nti macy wi t h nature a sounder knowl edge of thi ngs And a
, , .

beauti ful sayi ng of Doré s (who someti mes i s so cl ever !) i s j e me s ouvi ens Though
’

,
.

I beli eve that the best pi ctures are more or l ess freely pai nted by heart I ca n t ,
’

help addi ng that one can never s t udy nature too much and t oo hard The greatest .
,

most powerful i magi nati ons have at the same time made thi ngs directly from
nat ure that stri ke one dumb .

In answer to your descri pti on of the s t udy by Manet I send you a s till life of ,

an open— so a broken whi te— B i bl e bound in l eather agai nst a b lack background , ,

wi th yellow brown foreground wi th a touch of ci tron yell ow

-
, .

I pai nted that i n one rus b on one day , .

Thi s to show you that when I say that I have perhaps not p lodded enti rely in
vai n I dare say thi s because at present I find i t qui te easy to pai nt a given subj ect
,

unhesi tati ngl y whatever i t s form or col or may be Recently I p ai nted a few
, .

s t udi es ou t of doors aut umn l andscapes

- -
, .

I ll wri te agai n soon and I am sendi ng thi s l etter i n haste to tell y o u that I was
’

qui te p l eased wi th what y ou say about b lack .

Good b y -
, Ever yours Vincent ,

remini scence of Van Gogh by Anton Kerssemakers]

N uenen [Personal
It w a s some years after hi s stay in the Bori nag e— when after havi ng worked i n ,

The Hague and in Drenthe he had come to stay i n Nuenen about the year 1 8 8 4
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— that I made the pai nter s acquai ntance ’

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2 55
 At the ti me I was engaged in pai ntin g a number of landscapes on the wall s of
my offi ce i nstead of having them covered wi th wall paper and in hi s pe culi ar
, ,

way my house pain ter wh o furni shed me wi th colors thought thi s so ni c e that
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o n e day he brought Van Gogh al ong to show hi m my work .

Van Gogh w as of the op ini on t hat I coul d draw and ki nd heartedl y as was ,
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hi s w ay he at once showed hi mself willi ng to hel p me on wi th my painti ng

, .

The consequence was our more i nti mate acquai ntanceshi p and on hi s fri endl y ,

i nvi tati on my vi s i t to hi s studi o at Nuenen to whi ch I sh all revert l ater on

, , .

My house pai nter had qui te a l ot o f confidence i n Van Gogh and prepared ,

for hi m the colors h e most needed such as the whi tes and the ochers an d some
,

ot hers .

Seei ng that the house pai nter was no expert at thi s j ob these col ors often l eft ,

much to be desi red in the matter of consi stency but Van Gogh ha d t o content ,

hi mself wi th them because of a l ack of money .

I still have a li ttl e s t udy a s a souveni r of thi s unmanageabl e pai nt .

He pai nted i t i n a great hurry at my house t o i nstruct me ; i t w a s a vi ew from

,

my wi ndow i n wi nter wi th melti ng snow and the thin whi te col or ran all over ,

the l andscape .

On the occasi on of my first vi si t to hi s studi o at Nuenen i t w a s i mpossi bl e for

me to get the ri ght i nsi ght i nto hi s work ; i t was so totall y di fferent from what
I had i magined i t woul d be up to then so rough and unkempt so harsh and , ,

un fini shed that wi th the best will in the worl d I w a s un ab l e to thi nk i t good o r
,

beautiful ; and badly di sappoi nted I de ci ded n ot to go and see hi m agai n and
, , ,

g o my own way .

However shortly afterward I di scovered that hi s work had made a certai n

,

i mpressi on o n me after all whi ch i t was i mpossi bl e for me to di smi ss from my

,

mi nd ; every now and then hi s studi es rose up before my mi nd s eye again so

’

that I resolved to pay hi m another vi si t ; i t was as if I were d rawn to i t .

At my second vi si t the i mpressi on I g ot was consi derab ly bet ter al though in ,

my i gnorance I still thought that ei ther he could not draw or that he careless ly
neglected to draw hi s figures an d s o on and I took the li berty of telli ng hi m so
, ,

strai ght out .

He was not at all cross at thi s he onl y l aughed a li ttl e and sai d qui etl y Later
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o n you will thi nk different l y W hen I went away he gave me some engravi n gs
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,

from Tbe G rap bi c and some by Adolf Menzel and others to take wi th me sayi ng ,

that he advi sed me to l ook them over carefully and unhurri edl y at home an d ,
“
study them and draw copi es of them You wi ll l earn a thi ng or two from thi s
. .

On another occasi on I took al ong a number of small s t udi es that I had pai nted
in the meanti me so as t o hear what he woul d have to say about them
, .

Probably i n order not to di scourage me he sai d :

“
Well after all there i s some good in i t But now I advi se you to try and make
, .

a few still li fes first i nstead of l andscapes ; you wi ll l earn a l ot from that After .

y o u have pai nted some fifty o f them you w ill see how much progress you have
,

made And I am willin g to help you an d to pai nt th e same subj ects al ong wi t h
.

y o u for I myself s till have a good deal to l earn an d t her e i s nothi ng t o equal
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2 56
 On the other hand he li ked t o have some brandy in hi s flask on hi s ramb l es ,

a nd he wou ld not have li ked t o do wi thout i t ; but as far as I know thi s w a s the

onl y l uxury he permi tted hi mself H i s s t udi o t oo— h e had rented a coupl e of .

rooms in the sexton s house— had qui te a Bohemi an l ook

’
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One was amazed at the w ay all the availa b l e hanging or standi ng room w as
fill ed wi th pai ntings drawi ngs i n water col or and i n crayon heads of men an d
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women whose clowni sh t urned up noses protrudi ng cheekbones and large ears -
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were strongly accentuated the rough paws call oused and furrowed weavers and
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weavi ng l ooms women spooling yarn potato p lanters women wee di ng i nn umer
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abl e still lifes certainl y as many a s ten s t udi es in oil s of the li ttl e ol d chapel at
,

Nu en en tha t I menti oned whi ch he w as so enthusi as t i c about that he had pai nted
,

i t i n all seasons and i n all weathers (Later thi s li ttle chapel w as pull ed down by .

the Nu enen vandals as he call ed them ) ,

.

A great heap of ashes aroun d the stove whi ch had never kn own a b rush or stove ,

poli sh a s mall number of chai rs wi th frayed cane bottoms a cupboard wi th at

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l east thi rty di fferent bi rd s nests a ll ki nds of mo sses and p l ants brought al ong
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from the moor some stuffed b i rds a spool a spi nni ng wheel a comp l ete set of
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farm tool s old caps and hats coarse bonnets and hoods wooden shoe s etc etc
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,
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Pai ntbox and palette he had had made i n Nuenen accordi ng t o hi s di recti ons ,

as well as a perspecti ve frame ; thi s consi sted of an i ron bar wi th a l ong sharp
poi nt on whi ch he coul d mount by means of screws an empty frame hke a
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small window He sai d The pai nters of old used a perspective frame at ti mes
.
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so w hy shouldn t we ’

Some ti me l ater I vi si ted a number of museums in hi s comp any the Nati onal ,

Museum at Amsterdam bei ng the first .

A s I was unab l e to spend the ni ght away from home for domesti c reasons he ,

went the day before and made an appoi ntment to meet me the next day i n the
thi rd class wai ti ng room of the Central Stati on at Amsterdam
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When I came i nto thi s wai ti ng room I saw qui te a crowd of peop l e of all sorts ,

rail way guards workmen,travel ers an d so on and so forth gathered near the
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front wi ndows of the wai ting room and there he w a s s i tti ng s urroun ded by , ,

thi s mob i n all tranqui lli ty dressed in hi s shaggy ul ster and hi s i nevi tabl e fur
, ,

cap i ndustri ous ly maki ng a few li ttl e ci ty vi ews (he had taken a small t in pai ntbox
,

wi th hi m) wi thout payi ng the s li ghtest attenti on to the l oud di srespect ful observa
ti ons and cri ti cal remarks of the esteemed ( P) publi c As soon as he caught si ght .

of me he packed up hi s thi ngs qui te calmly and we started for the museum
, , .

Seein g that th e rain w as coming down i n torrents and Van Gogh i n hi s fur cap ,

and shaggy ul ster soon l ooked hke a drowned tomcat I took a cab at whi ch he , ,
“
grumbl ed consi derably sayi ng What do I care about the opini on of all Amster
, ,
”
dam I prefer walki ng ; well never mind have i t your own way
, , , .

In the museum he knew where to find what interested hi m most ; he took me

chi efly to the Van Goyens the Bol s and the Rembrandts ; he spent the l ongest
,
“ ”
ti me i n front of the Jewi sh Bri de ; I coul d n ot tear hi m away from the spot ;
he went and sat down there at hi s ease whi l e I myself went on to l ook at some ,
“ ”
other thi ngs You wi ll find me here when you come back he told me
.
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2 58
 When I came back after a pretty l ong while and asked him whether we shoul d
“
not get a move on he gave me a surpri sed l ook and sai d Woul d you beli eve i t
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—an d I honestl y mean what I say — I shoul d be happy t o gi ve ten years of m

y
life if I coul d go o n si tti ng here in front of thi s pi cture for a fortni ght wi th onl y ,
” ”
a crust of dr y bread for food ? At last he got up Well never mi nd he sai d .
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“ ”
we can t stay here forever can we ?
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,

After that we went to Van Gogh s Fi ne Art Estab li shment where at hi s rec ’

o mmen dati on I bought t wo books M usees de H ollande and Tresors d a rt en

’ ’ ’
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A ng leterre by W Burger ( Thor e) ; when I asked hi m if he woul d g o i nsi de wi th

.

“
me he rep li ed No I must not be seen on the premi ses of such a genteel ri ch
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family He s till seemed to be on bad terms wi th hi s family ; he remain ed standi ng
.

i n the street wai ti ng for me

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Some ti me later we vi si ted the museums at Antwerp and I still remember one ,

characteri sti c i nci dent vivi dly It was when he caught si ght of the fi sherb oy
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carryi ng a basket on hi s back (I thi nk i t i s by Velasquez) Suddenl y he di sappeared .

from my si de and I saw him run to the pi cture ; and of course I ran after hi m
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.

When I reached hi m he was standi ng i n front of the pi c ture wi th fol ded hands
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as if i n devout prayer and muttered G od ,
damn i t d o you see that ? After
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“ ”—
a whil e he sai d That i s what I call pai nti ng l ook a n d followi ng wi th hi s
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thumb the di recti on of the broad brush strokes— he w as one to l eave what he
”
had once put down al one and i ndi cati ng the gallery wi th a wi de all embracing
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ges ture : All the rest bel ongs to the peri wi g and pi gtail peri od - -
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He fel t a deep venerati on for Corot Daubi gny Di az Mill et and further the , , , ,

whol e Barbizon school he was always full of i t and in hi s di squi si ti ons on hi s

, ,

bel oved art he i nvari abl y reverted to them .

However he never spoke about art wi th totally unini ti ated persons and he
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was terri bly an noyed when a so—called pi c ture l over from hi s entourage told hi m
that he t hought a thing of hi s w a s beaut iful ; then he knew for certai n he Wa s ,

in the habi t of sayi ng that i t was bad and as a rul e such studi es were destroyed
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or repai nted Onl y wi th a few chosen fri ends to whom I al so had the good
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fortune of bel ongi ng— although in those days these fri ends were al so unabl e
fully to agree wi th hi s mann er of painti ng— di d he h ke to tal k about pai ntin g ,

drawin g etchi ng and so on and many a ti me I have reproached myself for not
, ,

havi ng understood hi m better at the ti me for if I had how much more mi ght , ,

I have l earned from hi m .

He w a s always drawi ng compari sons between the art of pai ntin g and musi c ,

and in order to get an even better understanding of the values and the vari ous
nuances of the tones he started taki ng pi an o l essons wi th an old musi c teacher
,

w h o was at the same ti me an organi st i n Ei ndh oven Thi s however di d n o t l ast .

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l ong for seei ng that duri ng the l essons Van Gogh was conti nuall y comparing
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the notes of the pi ano wi th Prussi an blue and dark green and dark ocher and so ,

o n all the way t o bri ght cadmi um yell ow the good man thought that he had to
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do wi th a madman i n consequence of whi ch he became so afrai d of hi m that he

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di sconti nued the l essons .

I was al so present at the pai ntin g of the water mi ll at Gestel whi ch pi cture ,
I later saw again at O ldenzeel s and i n the Boy man s Museum at Rotterdam ’
.

At the ti me he thought he had found a means of prevent ing the t o hi m so , ,

hateful s i nki ng i n of the col ors by us i ng copai ba bal sam but seei ng that he w a s
, ,

rather lavi sh i n the use of thi s i ngredi ent as he w a s of hi s col ors t o o he used , ,

too much of i t and the res ul t was that the whol e sky of the pi cture came floati ng
,

down so that he had to remove i t wi th hi s palette knife as may s t ill be seen in

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the pi cture on cl ose exami nati on .

Onl y a few p i eces were si gned by hi m When I once asked hi m why he di d n ot .

“
si gn hi s name in full he rep li ed : Van Gogh i s such an i mpossi bl e name for
,

many forei gn ers t o p ronounce ; if i t shoul d happen that my pi ctures found thei r
wa y to France o r England then the name woul d certai nl y be murdered whereas
, ,
”
the whol e world can pronounce the name Vi ncent correctl y .

He came to my house in Eindhoven very often Once w hen I was si tting pai nting .

“
i n my garden I suddenly heard behi nd me : Look here yes you are ri ght t o
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paint i n the open air you should do i t Yes do you see the slant of tha t
m
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roof ? It ust be an angl e of at l east forty fi y e degrees ; i t s far too steep li ke -

that And then I don t know how you are goi ng to handl e your col ors but all
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thi s i s of no i mportance just go ahead There i s nothing from whi ch on e l earns

,
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so much as from pai nting in th e open ai r In parti cular you shoul d compare the .

obj ects wi th each o ther especi all y for the tone Pai nting i s like algebra somethi ng
,
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i s to thi s as that i s to the other And above a ll s t udy your perspecti ve carefull y ;
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if you start by making thi ngs green i n the background how can y ou expect to ,
”
get them green i n the foreground ?
Whenever he saw a beautiful eveni ng sky he went i nto ec sta si e sfif on e may ,

use the expressi on Once when we were trampi ng from Nu en en to Ei ndh oven
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toward eveni ng he suddenl y stood stock still before a gl ori ous sunset and using
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hi s t wo hands as if to screen i t o ff a li ttl e and wi th hi s eyes hal f cl osed he ex , ,

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clai med God b less me how does that fell ow— o r God o r whatever name you
, , ,

gi ve hi m— how does he do i t ? We ought to be abl e to d o that t oo My God .

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my God how beauti ful that i s ! What a pi ty we haven t got a prepared pal ette
,
’

ready for i t wi ll be gone in a moment

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“
Do let us si t down here for a mi nute Take care you never forget to half shut .
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your eyes when y ou are pai nting in the open ai r Once in a whil e those c lo dh op .

pers i n Nuenen say that I am mad when they see me shuffli ng about over the
moor and stop an d crouch down i n a half si tting pos i ti on every n ow and then
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screwing my eyes half shut hol ding up my hands by my eyes n ow in thi s w ay

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now i n that i n order to screen thi ngs off But I don t give a damn about t hat
, .
’

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I j ust go my own way .

For weeks on end he would occupy hi mself exclusivel y wi th th e drawi ng of hands ,

“ ”
feet or wooden shoes That i s somethi ng I must get a fi rm gri p on he used to say
.
, .

One of the female model s whom he used for painti ng studi es of heads w as hi s
Dul cinea accordi ng t o vi llage gossi p One repeatedly encounters her in hi s
, .

pai ntings of heads It had even happened that thi s w a s obj ected t o by on e of th e
.

guardi ans of the villagers salvati on and moreover he b lamed the same person
’

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for hi s havi ng been given noti ce to qui t hi s studi o As he hi mself recounted he .

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2 60
later wri te about me when I m dead and go
on , an d ne I shall ta ke care of that ’
.
,
”
if Ican keep ali ve for some li ttl e tim e .

[Repr i nted from the Amsterdam wee kl y D e G roene ( The Gree n One) of April 1 4

and 2 1 ,

43 7
Dear Theo ,
Antwerp November 1 8 8 5 February 1 8 8 6 Saturday eveni ng
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I want to wri te you a few more i mpress i ons of Antwerp .

Thi s mornin g I took a most sati sfact ory walk i n the pouring rain the obj e ct ,

of thi s excursi on being to get my thi ngs at the customhouse ; the vari ous dock
yards and warehouses on the quays are splendi d .

I have walked along the docks and th e quays several ti mes already i n all ,

di recti ons Especi ally when one comes from the sand and the heath and the
.

qui et of a peasant vi llage and has been in none but qui et surroundi ngs for a
,

l ong t i me the contrast i s curi ous It i s an unfathomab l e confus i on One of de

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G on c ourt s sayi ngs was
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Japonai seri e forever Well those docks are a famous .
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Japonai seri e fantas tic pecu li ar unh eard of— a t l east one can take thi s vi ew of i t
, , , .

I shoul d li ke to walk there wi th y ou j ust to know whether we see ali ke One , .

coul d make everythi ng there ci ty vi ews— fi g ures of the most vari ed character
,

— the shi ps as the pri n ci pal thi ngs wi th water and sk a deli cate gray — but
y ,

above al l— Japonai seri e I mean the fig ures are al ways i n acti on on e sees them
.
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in the queerest surroundi ngs everythi ng fantasti c and at all moments i nteresti ng
, ,

contrasts present themselves .

A white horse in the mud i n a corner where heaps of merchandi se are l yi ng

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covered wi th oil cl oth— a gai nst the old smoky b lack wall s of the warehouse .

Qui te s impl e but an effect of Black and Whi te

, .

Th rough the wi ndow of a very el egant Engli sh bar o ne will l ook o ut on the ,

dirti est mud and on a shi p from whi ch for i nstance att racti ve merchandi se like
, , ,

hi des and buffal o horns i s bei ng unl oaded by hi deous dock hands or exoti c
sailors ; a very dainty very fai r young Engli sh gi rl I S standi ng at th e wi ndo w
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l oo k ing at i t o r at somethi ng el se The i nterior wi th the figure al together in

, .

tone and for li ght— the silvery sky above t hat mud and th e buffal o horns
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agai n a seri es of rather sharp contrasts There will be Fl emi sh sail ors wi th .
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al most exaggeratedl y heal thy faces wi th broad shoul ders s trong an d p lump and , , ,

thoroughl y Antwerp folk eati ng mussel s or drinki ng beer and all thi s wi ll
, , ,

happen wi th a l o t of noi se and bustl e— b y way of contrast— a tiny figur e i n b lack

wi th her li ttl e hands pressed agai nst her body comes stealing noi sel essly al ong
the gray wall s Framed by raven bl ack hai r— a small oval face brown ? orange
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yellow I don t know For a moment she lifts her eyeli ds and l ooks wi th a s lanting
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gl ance ou t of a p ai r of j et black eyes It i s a Chinese gi rl mysteri ous qui et li ke .

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a mouse —small bedbug li ke in character What a contrast to that group of Fl em

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i sh mussel eaters .

Another contrast— o n e passes through a very narrow s t reet between tremen ,

d ou sly hi gh houses warehouses and sheds , , .

But down bel ow i n the street pubs for all nati onaliti es wi th masculi ne and
femini ne i ndi vi dual s to match shops selli ng eatab les seamen s clothes glaringly
, ,
’

col orful an d crowded .

That street i s l ong every moment one sees somethin g stri king N o w and
, .

agai n there i s a noi se i ntenser than anywhere el se when a quarrel i s goin g on ;

, ,

fo r i nstance there you are walki ng l ooki ng about and suddenl y there i s a l oud
, , ,

cheeri ng and all ki nds of shouti ng In broad dayli ght a sail or i s being thrown .

ou t of a brothel by the gi rl s and pursued by a furi ous fell ow and a stri ng of

,

prosti tutes of whom he seems rather afrai d— at l east I saw hi m scrambl e over a
,

heap of sac ks and di sappear thr ough a warehouse wi ndow .

N ow wh en on e has had enough of all thi s tumul t— at the end of the l andi ng
,

stages where the Harwi ch and Havre steamers are moored— wi th the ci t y behi nd
one one sees nothi ng in front absolutely nothi ng but an in fini te expanse of flat
, , ,

half i nundated fiel ds awfully dreary an d wet wavi ng dry rushes mud the ri ver
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wi th a si ngl e li ttl e black boat the water in the foreground gray the sky foggy
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and cold gray— still li ke a desert

, .

As t o the general vi ew of the harbor or a do c k— at one moment i t i s more

tangl ed and fantasti c than a thorn hedge s o confused that on e finds no rest for ,

the eye and gets gi ddy i s forced by the whi rli ng of col ors and li nes t o l ook
, ,

first here then there wi thout bei ng abl e even by l ooking for a l ong ti me at on e
, , ,

poi nt to di stingui sh one thing from another But when on e stands on a spot
, .

where one has a vague pl ot as foreground then on e sees the most beautiful ,

qui et lines and th e effects whi ch Mol s for i nstance often paints
, , ,
.

Now one sees a gi rl wh o i s sp lendi dl y healthy and w ho l ooks or seems to ,

l ook l oyal si mp l e and j oll y then agai n a face so sly and fal se that i t makes one
, ,

afrai d hke a hyena s N o t t o forget the faces damaged by small pox having the
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color of boi led shri mps wi th pal e gray eyes wi thout eyebrows and sparse s leek
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thi n hai r the col or of real pi gs bri stl es or somewhat yell ower S wedi sh or Dani sh
,
’

typ es It woul d be fine to work there but how an d where ?

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,

For on e woul d very soon get i nto a scrape .

However I have trudged through qui te a number of streets and back streets
,

wi thout adventure and I have sat and tal ked qui te j ovi ally wi th vari ous gi rl s
,

w h o seemed to take me for a sail or .

’
I don t thi nk i t i mprobabl e that I shall get hold of good model s by pai ntin g
portrai ts .

Today I g ot my thi ngs and drawi ng materi al s for whi ch I w a s l onging very ,

much And so my studi o i s all fix ed up If I coul d get good model s for almost
. .

nothi ng I should n ot be afrai d of anythin g

, .

I do not thi nk i t so very bad ei ther that I have not got so much money as to
be ab le to force thi ngs by paying for them Perhaps the i dea of maki ng portraits .

and havi ng them pai d for by posing i s the safer way because i n a ci t y i t i s not ,

the same as i t i s wi th the peasants Well one thi ng i s sure Antwerp i s very .
, ,

curi ous and fine for a pai nter .

My s tudi o i s not bad especi ally as I have pi nned a l o t of h t tle Japanese pri nts
,

o n the wall whi ch amuse me very much Y ou know those li ttl e women s figures
’
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i n gardens o r on the beach horsemen flowers knotty thorn branches

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 I am glad I went and hope n o t to si t still thi s winter Well I feel safe n ow
,
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that I have a li ttle den where I can si t and work when the weather i s bad .

But of course I shall not exactly live in immense luxury these days .

Try and send your l etter off on the first because I have provi ded myself wi th ,

bread till then but after that I shoul d be in somethi ng of a fix

,
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My li ttle room i s better than I expected and i t certai nly doesn t l ook dull ,
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Now that I have the three studi es I took wi th me here I shall try t o approach ,

the pi cture deal ers who seem to li ve in pri vate houses however wi th n o show
, , ,

wi ndow on the street .

The park i s ni ce too I sat and drew there on e morni ng

, .

Well so far I have had no bad luck ; as to my l odgings I am well off as by

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spending a few francs more I have g ot a stove and a l amp .

I shall not easi ly get bored I assure you I have al so found the October by
, .

Lhermi tte women i n a potato fiel d i n the eveni ng beauti ful But I have not
, , .

“ ”
seen November have y ou got i t perhaps ? I have al so noti ced that there i s a
,

Fig a ro i llus trated wi th a fine drawing by Raffaelli .

My address you know i s 1 94 Rue des Images so p lease forward your l etter ,

there and the second part of de Goncourt when you have fini shed i t
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.

G 00d b Y -
,
Ever your s Vi ncent ,

It i s curi ous that my pai nted s tudi es seem darker in the ci t y than in the coun try .

Is that because the li ght i s l ess bri ght everyw here i n the ci t y ? I don t know ’

but i t may make a greater di fference than on e woul d say off hand ; i t \st ruc k me ,

and I could understand that thi ngs you have l ook darker than I i n the country
thought they were However the ones I have wi th me now don t come out
.
,
’

badl y for all that the mi ll avenue wi th aut umn trees and a still li fe and a few
, ,

li ttl e ones .

43 9
Dear Theo ,
Antwerp November 1 8 8 5 February 1 8 8 6 ,
-

I must wri te you agai n to tell y ou that I have succeeded in findin g a model .

I have made two fai rly bi g heads by w ay of tri al for a portrai t Fi rst that ol d
,
.
,

man whom I wrote y ou about a ki nd of head li ke Hugo s ; t hen al so a study of

’

a woman In th e woman s portrai t I have brought lighter tones i nto the flesh
.
’
,

whi te ti nted wi th carmi ne vermili on yell ow and a li ght background of gray

, ,

yellow from whi ch the face i s separated only by the b l ack hai r Lilac tones i n
,
.

the dress .

Rubens i s certai nl y making a strong i mpressi on on me ; I thi nk hi s drawing

tremendous ly good— I mean the drawi ng of heads and hands i n themselves .

I am qui te carri ed away by hi s way of drawi ng the li nes in a face wi th streaks of

pure red or of modeli ng the fingers of the hands by the same ki nd of streaks
,
.

I go t o the museum fai rly often and then I l ook at httle el se but a few heads and
,

hands of hi s and of Jordaens I know he i s not as i nti mate as Hal s and Rem
’
.

brandt but i n themselves those heads are so ali ve

, .

2 64
 I li ke Rubens j ust for hi s i ngenuous way o f pai nti ng hi s worki ng wi th the ,

s impl est means .

I don t count Henri de Braekeleer among those w ho l ook for mother of—pearl
’
-

effects everywhere because hi s i s a curi ous very i nteresting endeavor t o be

, ,

li terally true and he stands qui te apart I al so saw vari ous gray pai ntings i ncl ud
,
.
,

i ng a pri nti ng shop by Mertens a pi ct ure by V erhaert representin g hi s own studi o , ,

where he hi mself i s si tti ng etchi ng and hi s wife standi ng behi n d hi m .

By La Ri vi ere— an Amsterdam hi red mourner after a funeral very fine i n the ,

bl ack tones a Goya hke concepti on ; that li ttl e pi cture w as a masterpi ece In
,
-
.

both coll ecti ons I saw very beautiful l andscapes and mari nes But as t o the .

“ ” “ ”
portrai ts those I remember best are the Fi sherboy by Frans Hal s Saski a
—
,

by Rembrandt a number of smili ng or weepi ng faces by Rubens

,
.

Ah a p i c ture mu st be painted— and then w h y not s i mply Now when I l ook

,
e

i nto real life— I get the same ki nd of i mpress i ons I see the peop l e i n the street .

very well but I often thi nk the servant gi rl s so much more i nteresti ng and
,

beautiful th an the ladi es the workmen more i nteresti ng than the gentl emen ;
,

and i n those common gi rl s and fell ows I find a power and vi tali ty whi ch if one ,

wants to express them i n thei r pe culi ar character ought to be painted wi th a ,

firm brush stroke wi th a s imp l e techni que ,

.

Wauters understood thi s used to at l east for so far I haven t seen any work , ,
’

o f hi s here What I admi re so mu ch in Del acroi x too i s that he makes us feel

.
, ,

the li fe of thi ngs and the expressi on and the movement that he a bs olutely domina tes
, , ,

And i n a great many of the good thi ngs I saw though I admi re them there i s , ,

often far too much paint At present I am gettin g more and more in th e habi t of
.

tal ki ng to the model s whil e pai nting t o keep thei r faces ani mated ,
.

I have di scovered a woman— she i s old n ow— wh o used to li ve i n Pari s and

provi ded the pai nters wi th models for i nstance Scheffer Gi goux Dela croi x and , , , ,

another one who painted a Phr yne .

N ow she i s a washerwoman and knows a l o t o f women and coul d al ways ,

supp ly some she sai d

V

.
,

It has been snowi ng and the ci ty was spl endi d early thi s morni ng in the snow
, ,

fine groups of street cl eaners .

I am glad I came here for I am already full of i deas also for the time when
, ,

I shall be i n the count ry again .

It was i n the E toi le Belg e I thi nk that I read an art icl e by Eug ene Battaill e
, , ,

reprinted from the Fig a ro about condi ti ons i n Pari s an arti cl e whi ch i mpressed
, ,

me as bei ng very well thought out ; but ac cordi ng t o hi m condi ti ons i n general
are very bad Thi s Mr Battai lle has contrary to the opi ni on of the Dutch j our
. .
,

n ali st s expressed hi mself i n Amsterdam pess i mi sti c all y about the state o f affai rs
,

in Holl and .

As to art dealin g— as I have already wri tten you the deal ers here complai n ,

l i ke mi s ere ouverte And yet I beli eve that so mu ch mi ght still be done T o menti on
. .

one thing for i nstance one sees n o pi ctures in the cafe s res taurants cafe
, ,
'

, ,

chantants at least hardly any And how contrary thi s i s to nature Why don t
, . .
’

2 66
t hey h ang still lifes there like the splendi d decorations Fi jt H on deko eter and so
, ,

many others made i n ti mes of old ? Why n ot women s portrai ts if they want ’

prosti tutes ? I know one must work cheap ly for such purposes but on e can ,

work relati vely cheaply Rai si ng pri ces to such a hei ght i s the trade s ruin and
.
’
,

l eads to n o good after all .

Good b y wri te again bet ween ti m es if you can As to the money d o what
-
,
.
,

can but remember that we must try o u r utmost t o su cc eed And I won t l et
’

y ou ,
.

that i dea of p ainti ng portrai ts g o for i t i s a good thi ng to fight for to show , ,

peopl e that there i s more i n them than the photographer can possi bl y get out o f
them wi th hi s machi ne .

Good b y wi th a handshake
-
, ,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

I have noti ced the great number of photographers here who are just about the ,

s ame as every where and seem t o be pretty busy ,

.

But always those same conventi onal eyes noses mouths— waxlike and smooth , ,

and cold .

It cannot but always remai n lifeless .

And the p ai nted portrai ts have a li fe of thei r own coming strai ght from the ,

pai nter s soul whi ch the machi ne cannot reach The more one l ooks at photo
’
, .

graphs the more one feel s thi s I thin k

, , .

442
Dear Theo ,
Antwerp 2 8 December 1 8 8 5 ,

It i s hi gh ti me I thanked you for the 5 0 fr y ou sent whi ch helped me get thr ough .
,

the month though from today on i t will be pretty much the same
,
.

But— there are a few more studi es made and the more I pai nt the more , ,

progress I thi nk I make A s soon as I recei ved the money I took a beautiful
.
,

model and pai nted her head life size -

.

It i s qui te li ght except for the bl ack y ou know Yet the head i tself stands , .

o ut si mp ly agai nst a background in whi ch I tri ed to put a gol den s hi mmer

o f li ght .

Here foll ows the col or scheme a well toned flesh col or i n the neck rather - -
,

bronz e hke j et black hai r— b lack whi ch I had t o make wi th carmi ne and Pru ssi an
-
,
-

blue dul li sh whi te for the li ttl e j acket li ght yell ow mu ch li ghter than the whi te
, , , ,

for th e backgroun d A s c arl et note i n the j et b la ck hai r and another scarlet ri bbon
.
-

i n the dulli sh whi te .

S he i s a gi rl from a café chantant and yet the expressi on I sought was rather
-
,

Ecce Homo li ke -
.

But as I want to remai n true especi all y in the expressi on though my own , ,

thoughts are in i t t o o thi s i s what I wanted to express i n i t

, .

When the model came sh e had apparentl y been very busy the l ast few ni ghts
, ,
“
and she sai d something that was rather charact eri sti c : Pour moi l e champagne
”
n e m é a e pas il me rend tout tri ste
’
f r me champagne does n ot cheer
g y , [A s o

me up i t make s me qui te sad]

, .
 Then I understood and I tri ed to express somethi ng volup t uous and at the
,

same ti me cruell y tormented .

I began a second s t udy of the same model i n profil e .

Then I made that portrai t whi ch I menti oned the one that w a s promi sed me , ,

and I pai nted a study of that head for myself and now these last days of the ,

month I hope to pai nt another head of a man .

I feel qui te cheerful espe ci all y about the work and i t i s good for me to be here
, , .

I i magi ne that whatever those tarts may be one can make money out of them , ,

sooner than i n any other way There i s n o denyi ng that they are sometimes
.

damned beauti ful and that i t i s the spi ri t of the ti m e that thi s ki nd of pi ct ure i s
gai ni ng more and more ground .

And even from the hi ghest arti sti c poi nt of vi ew nothi ng can be s ai d agai nst ,

i t ; to p ai nt buman being s that was the ol d Itali an art that i s what Millet di d and
, ,

what Breton does .

The questi on i s onl y whether on e starts from the soul or from the cl othes ,

and whether the form serves as a cl othes peg for ri bbons an d bows or if on e
consi ders the form as the means of rendering i mpressi on and senti ment or if ,

on e model s for the sake of modeli ng because i t i s s o i nfini tel y beautif ul i n i tself
, .

Onl y the first i s transi tory and the latter t wo are both hi gh art
,
.

What rather p leased me w as that the gi rl w h o posed for me wanted me t o

pai nt a portrai t for her to keep herself exactly h ke the thi ngs I made fo r myself
, .

And she h as promi sed to let me pai nt a study of her i n her room in a dancer s ,
’

dress as soon as possi bl e She cannot do thi s now because the owner of the c af e
, .
,

where sh e 13 obj ects to her posi ng but as she is going t o take a room wi th another
,

gi rl both she and the other gi rl woul d li ke to have thei r portrai ts pain ted And
, .

I fervently hope that she will come back for she h as a stri ki ng face and i s wi tt y
,
.

But I must trai n myself seei ng that i t all depends on skill and qui ckness ; for
,

they haven t much time or pati ence though for that matter the work need n ot
’

, ,

be less well done for bei ng done qui ckl y and one must be abl e to work even if ,

the model does n ot si t ri gidl y still Well you see that I am at work wi th full vi gor
.
,
.

If I sol d somethi ng so that I earned a li ttle more I shoul d work even more ,

vi gorously .

As t o Porti er I do n o t l ose courage yet but poverty i s houndi ng me and at

, , ,

present all the dealers rather suffer from the same evil that of bei ng more or l ess ,
”
une nati on reti rée du monde i e i n hi di ng Th ey have too much spl een and
, . . .
,

how can on e be expected to feel i nclined to grub in all that i ndi fference and
dullness ? Bes i des thi s compl ai nt i s catchi ng
, .

Fo r i t i s al l nonsense that no busi ness can be done but i n any case on e must ,

work wi th convi cti on and wi th enthusi asm in short wi th a certai n war mth ,
.

As to Porti er you wrote me yourself that he was t he first to exhibi t the im

,

ressi o ni st s and that he was comp l etel y crowded o u t by Dur an d Ruel Well on e
p , .
,

might conclude from thi s that he i s a man of i ni ti ati ve not j ust sayi ng things ,

but doing them Perhaps i t i s the faul t of hi s sixty years and for the rest i t may
.
,

be on e of the many cases i n whi ch at the time when p i ctures were the fashi on
and busi ness prospered a l ot of i ntelligent persons were wantonly put a si de as
, ,

268
 Somethi ng about my consti tuti on whi ch made me very gla d w as wha t a do ctor
i n Amsterdam tol d me whom I consul ted once about a few thi ngs whi ch some
,

ti mes made me fear that I was not l ong for thi s worl d and whose opi ni on I di d ,

not ask strai ght out but j ust to know the first i mpressi on of somebody w h o
,

absolutely di d not know me It w as li ke thi s maki ng u se of a small comp laint

. .

I had then i n the course of the conversati on I referred to my const ituti on in

,

general— how glad I was when thi s do ctor took me for an ordinary worki ng
“
man and sai d I suppose you are an i ronworker That i s just what I have tri ed
,
.

to change in myself ; when I was younger I l ooked h ke one wh o w as i ntelle ct uall y ,

overwrought and n ow I l ook li ke a bargeman or an i ronworker

, .

“
And to change one s consti tuti on so that on e gets a tough hi de i s no easy
’

matter .

But all the s ame I must be careful and try to keep what I have and g ai n in, ,

strength .

Above all I want y ou t o wri te me if the i dea seems s o absurd to you that one
shoul d gai n i n c ourage i f o n e p l anted t h e seed of a bus i ness of one s own ?
’

As to my present work I feel that I can do better ; however I need some more
, ,

space and air I mean— I ought to be abl e to spend a lit tl e more Above all
,
.
,

above all I cannot take enough model s I coul d produce work of a better quali t y .
,

but then my expenses woul d be heavi er But oughtn t one t o ai m at somethin g .

’

l ofty somethi ng true somethi ng di s t in gui shed ?

, ,

The women s figures I see here among the peopl e make a tremendous i mpres
’

si on on me much more t o pai nt them than to possess them though i ndeed

, , ,

I shoul d li ke both .

I reread the book by de Goncourt It i s excell ent The preface t o Cberi e whi c h
’

. .
,

y o u will read tell s the story of what the de G on c ourt s went thr ough and how
, ,

at the end of thei r lives they were melancholy yes but felt sure of themselves , , ,

knowi ng that they had accomp lisbed something that thei r work woul d remai n ,
.

What fellows they were ! If we were more o f one mi nd than we are n ow if we ,

c ould agree completely why shoul dn t w e do tbc same?

,
’

By the w ay because in any case I s h all have four or fiv e days of absolute fast
,

i n all respects at the end of thi s year d o send your l etter on the fir st of January
,

and no t l ater Perhaps y ou wi ll not be abl e t o understand but i t i s true that when I
.
,

receive the money my greatest appeti te i s n ot for food though I have fasted but , ,

the appeti te for pai nt ing i s even stronger and I at once set out t o hunt for model s, ,

and conti nue until all the money i s gone While all I have to live on i s my break .

fast served by the peop le I live wi th an d i n the eveni ng for supper a c up of c offee
,

and some bread i n the dai ry or el se a l oaf of rye bread that I have in my trunk
,
.

As l ong as I am pai nti ng i t i s more than enough but a feeling of weakness ,

comes when the model s have left .

I am attached to the model s here because they are so di fferent from the model s
i n the country And espe ci al ly because the character i s so enti rely di fferent and
.
,

the contrast gives me new i deas especi ally for the flesh colors And what I have
,
.

n ow achi eved i n the l ast head I pai nted though i t i s not yet so that I am sat i sfied
,

wi th i t i s di fferent from the previ ous heads

, .
 I know t hat y ou are suffi ci entl y convi nced of the i mportance of bei ng true so
that I can speak out freely t o y ou .

If I pai nt peas ant women I want them to be peas an t women ; for the same
,

reason if I pai nt harl ots I want a harlot—li ke expressi on

,
.

That was why a certai n harl ot s head by Rembrandt struck me so enormous ly

’
.

Because he had caught so infini tely beautif ull y that mysteri ous smil e wi th a ,

gravi ty such as onl y he possesses the magi ci an of magi ci ans

, .

Thi s i s a new thi ng for me and i t i s essenti ally what I want Manet has done
, .

i t and Courbet damn i t I have the same ambi ti on ; bes i des I have fel t t oo
, , , ,

strongly i n the very marrow of my bones the i nfini te beauty of the analyses of
women by the very great men of li terat ure a Zola Daudet de Goncourt Balzac
, , , , .

Even Stevens does not sati sfy me because hi s women are n ot those I know
,

personall y And those he sele cts are not the most i nteresting I thi nk Well
.
, .
,

however that may b e— I want to get on a tout prix— and I want to be myself .

I feel qui te obs tinate and I no l onger care what peop le say about me or my work
, .

It seems very di ffi cul t to get model s for the nude here at l east the gi rl I p ai nted ,

refused .

Of c our se that refused i s perhaps only rel ative but at l east i t woul d not be ,

easy ; but I must say she woul d be sp l endi d From a business poi nt of vi ew I can
.

onl y say that w e are alr eady i n what they are starti ng t o call la fin d un si ecle— that ’

women have a charm as i n a tim e of revoluti on— i n fact have as much i nfluence
—and on e woul d be outsi de the worl d if on e kept them outsi de one s work ’
.

It i s the same everywhere i n the coun try as well as i n the ci ty ; one must take
,

the women i nto accoun t if one wants t o be up to date - -

.

Good—b y good wi shes for the New Year Wi th a handshake

, .
,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

444
Dear Theo ,
An twerp early in 1 8 8 6 ,

Last S unday I saw for the first ti me the t wo l arge pi ct ures by Rubens and as ,
“
I had l ooked at those i n the museum repeatedl y and at my ease these t wo — The ,
” “ ”
Deposi ti on from the Cross and The El evati on of the Cross were the more -

“ ”
i nteresti ng The El evati on of th e Cross has a pec uli ari t y that struck me at once
.
,

and that i s— there i s no femal e figure in i t Unl es s on the s i de panel s of the

.

tri ptych Consequently i t i s none the better for it Let me tell y ou that I l ove
.
, .

“ ”
The D eposi ti on from the Cross But not because of any depth of feeling such
.

as one woul d find i n a Rembrandt or in a pi cture by Del acroix or in a dr awi ng

by Mill et .

Nothi ng touches me l ess than Rubens expressing human sorrow .

T o expl ai n my meanin g more cl earl y let me begi n by sayi ng that even hi s

,

most beauti ful weep i ng Magdal enes or Mater Dol orosas always s imply remi nd
me of the tears of a beautiful pros tit ute w h o has caught a venereal di sea se o r
some such small mi sery of human life .

As su ch they are masterly but one must not l ook for more i n them
, .

27
 Rubens i s extraordi nary in pai nting ordi nary beautiful women But he i s n ot .

dramati c i n the expressi on .

Compare hi m for i nstance to that head by Rembrandt in the Lacaze Collee

, ,
“ ”—
t i on ; to the man s figure i n The Jewi sh Bri de y ou will understand what
’

I mean as for i nstance that hi s ei ght pompous figures of fell ows performi ng a
, ,
”
feat of strength wi th a heavy wooden cross in The El evati on of the Cross
seem absurd to me from the standpoi nt of modern analysi s of human passi ons
and feelings That Rub en s s expressi ons espe ci ally of the men (the real portraits
.
’
,

always excepted) are superfici al hollow pompous y es— altogether c onv en

, , , ,

t i onal li ke those of J u
,
l es Romai n and even worse fell ows of the decadence .

But I stil l l ove i t because he Rubens i s the very man w ho tri es t o express
, , ,

and really succeeds i n expressi ng a mood of cheerfulnes s of sereni t y of sorrow

, , , ,

by the combinati on of col ors— though sometimes hi s figures may be hollow etc , .

“ ”
Thus i n The El evati on of the Cross the pal e spot of th e corpse in a hi gh
accent of hg ht— i s dramati c i n i t s contrast t o the rest whi ch i s kept i n such a ,

l ow col or scal e .

Of the same order but i n my opi ni on far more beauti ful i s the charm of The
, ,
”
Deposi ti on from the Cross where the pal e spot i s repeated i n the b l onde hai r
, ,

the fai r face and neck of the female figures whereas the somber surroundi ngs are ,

enormous ly ri ch because of the vari ous l ow toned harmonizi ng masses of red -

,

dark green b lack gray and vi ol et

, ,
.

And once agai n Del acroi x has tri ed to make peop le beli eve in the symphoni es
of the col ors And o n e would ahn o st say i n vai n if one remembers h ow alm ost
.
,

everybody understands by good col or the correctness of the l ocal col or th e

”

narrow—mi nded exactness whi ch nei ther Rembrandt n or Mill et nor Del acroix n or
whoever el se nei ther Manet nor Courbet has ai med at as li ttle as Rubens or
, , ,

Veronese .

I have also seen several other pi ctures by Rubens in vari ous churches .

And i t i s very in teresting to s t udy Rubens because hi s techni que i s so very ,

s i mp le or rather seems fo be so Hi s means are s o s impl e and he p ai nts an d

, .
, ,

parti cularly draws wi th such a qui ck hand and wi thout any hesi tati on But
,
.

portrai ts and heads and figures of women are hi s speci alty There he i s deep and .

i nti mate too And how fresh hi s p i c tures remai n because of the very s i mp li ci ty
.

o f hi s techni que .

What more shall I say ? That I feel increasi ngly i n cli ned to do all my figur e
s tudi es over agai n very c ahnl y and qui etly wi thout any nervous hur ry I want
, ,
.

to progress so far i n the knowl edge of the nude and the structure of the figur e
that I mi ght be ab le to work from memory .

I should s till hke to work someti me ei ther at V erlat s or i n some other studi o ’
,

bes i des working for myself as much as possi bl e from the model .

For the moment I have depos i ted five pi ctures two portrai ts two l andscapes , , ,

and one still hfe i n V erlat s pai nti ng cl ass at the academy I have just been there
’
.

agai n but he was n ot there ei ther time

, .

But I shall soon be abl e to tell you the resul t and I hope that I shall be all owed ,

to paint from the model all day at the academy whi ch will make thi ngs easi er ,

272
great changes i n the art t rade And consequently many new chances will p resen t
.
, ,

themselves too if one has somethi ng ori gi nal t o show .

But tba t i s certai nl y necessary if one wants t o be of some use It i s no faul t or .

cri me of mine i f I must someti mes tell you w e must put more vi gor i nto su ch
and such a thi ng and if we haven t got the money ourselves w e must find fri end s
,
’
,

and new relati ons I must earn a li ttl e more or have some more fri ends prefer
.
,

ably both That i s the way t o success but recentl y i t has been t oo hard for me
.
, .

As for thi s month I absolutely must i nsi st on your sendi ng me at l east another
,

5 0 fr.

At present I am l osi ng wei ght and moreover my cl othes are get ti ng t oo ,

shabby etc Y ou know your self that i t i sn t ri ght as i t i s Yet I feel sort of con
, .
’
.

fi den t that w e shall pull through .

But y o u wrote that if I fell i ll we should be worse off I hope i t will not come
, .

t o that but I shoul d hke to have a ht t le more c ase just t o prevent illness
, , .

Just think how many peopl e t here are who exi st wi thout ever havi ng the
s lightest i dea what care i s and who always keep on thi nki ng that everyt hi ng will
,

turn out for the best as i f there were no peopl e starvi ng or completely rui ned !
,

I begin to obj ect more and more to your pretending t o be a fi nan cier and thinking ,

me exactly the opposi te A ll peopl e are not ali ke and if on e does not understand
.
,

that i n drawing up accounts some ti me must have passed over the account before ‘

one can be sure to have counted ri ght if one does n ot understand t hi s on e is no , ,

ca lcula tor And a broader i ns i ght i nto finances i s exa ctl y what chara cteri zes many
.

modern financi ers Namely not pi nchi ng but all owin g freedom of acti on
.
,
.

I know Theo that you may al so be rather hard up But your life has never
, ,
.
“

been s o hard as mine has these l ast ten or twelve years Can t you make all owances .
’

for me when I say Perhaps i t has been l ong enough now ? Meanwhil e I have
,

l earned somethi ng that I di d not know before that has renewed all my chances , ,

and I protest agai nst my always bei ng neglected And if I shoul d li ke to live .

agai n i n the ci ty for some ti me and afterward perhaps to work i n a stu di o i n

,

Pari s too woul d you try toprevent thi s ?

,

Be honest enough to let me go my own w ay for I tell you that I do not want ,

to quarrel and I wi ll not quarrel but I wil l n ot be hampered i n my career And

, ,
.

what can I do in the country unl ess I g o there wi th money for model s and col ors ?
,

There i s no chance absolutely none of maki ng money wi th my work i n the

, ,

c ountry and there i s such a chance in the city So I am not safe before I have
, .

made fri ends i n the ci ty— and that comes first For the moment thi s may compli cate .

thi ngs somewhat but after all i t i s the onl y w ay and goi ng back to the count ry
, ,

n ow woul d end in stagnati on .

Well good b y De G on c ourt s book i s fine

,
-
. Ever yours Vi ncent
’
.
,

45 3
Dear Theo ,
Antwerp J anuary February 1 8 8 6 ,
-

I wri te y ou often these days and I often wri te the same thing but l et i t prove
, ,

to y ou that I have one thi ng espe ciall y i n mind— the necessi ty of enteri ng that
peri od of figure drawing .

2 74
 And then i t may be egoi sti c if you li ke I want my health restored My impre s
, .

si on of the time I have spent here does not change ei ther ; i n a certai n sense
I am very mu ch di sappointed by what I have made here but my i deas have ,

been modified and refreshed and that was the real obj ect of my comi ng here
, .

But as I have percei ved that I reli ed too much on my heal th and that though the , ,

core i s sti ll all ri ght yet I am but a rui n compared to what I mi ght have been
, ,

so i t woul d not astoni sh me at all if y ou t oo were absolutely in need of that , ,

same more hygi eni c li fe that was prescri bed for me .

If I am n ot mi staken i n thi s I think we cannot j oi n each other soon enough

, ,

and I keep obj ecti ng t o a stay i n the cou ntry For though the ai r i s braci ng .
,

I shoul d mi ss there the di stracti on and the pl easant company of the ci ty whi ch ,

we shoul d enj oy so much more if we were together And i f w e were together .

soon I shoul d di sappoi nt you in many things yes t o be sure but n ot in every
, , , ,

thi ng and n ot i n my way of l ooking at thi ngs I suppose

, ,
.

N ow that w e are di s c uss i ng thi n gs I want t o tell you to begi n wi th that

,

I wi sh both of u s mi ght find a wife i n some way or other before l ong for i t i s ,

hi gh t ime and if w e shoul d wai t t oo l ong we shoul d n ot be th e better for i t

, , .

But I say thi s i n all calmn ess However i t i s on e of the first requi si tes for
.
,

o u r more hygi eni c li fe And I menti on i t because i n that respect w e may have
.

to overcome an enormous di fli c ul ty on whi ch a great deal depends And here

,
.

wi th I break the i c e on the subj ect ; w e shall always have to ret urn to i t And in .

the intercour se wi th women on e especi all y l earns so much about art .

It i s a pi ty that as on e gradually gai ns experi ence one graduall y l oses one s

, ,
’

youth If that were n ot so li fe woul d be too good

.
, .

Have you al ready read that preface to Cberi e by de Goncourt ? The amount of ’

work those fell ows have achi eved i s enormous when on e thi nks of i t .

It i s such a sp lendi d i dea that worki ng and thi nki ng together And every day .

I find new proof of the theory that the mai n reason for much mi sery among the
arti sts li es i n thei r di scord in thei r not c o operati ng not bei ng good but fal se
,
-
,

to each other And now if we were more sensi b le in that respe ct I do not doubt
.
, ,

fo r a moment that wi thi n a year s ti me we shoul d make headway and be happi er

’
.
,

I am not getti ng on very well wi th my work but I do not force thi ngs because , ,

in fact I am almost compl etel y forbi dden to .

And I want t o keep up my strength for tha t first ti me i n Pari s if that i s to ,

follow first wi th out any other i nterval than that on e month i n the country For
, .

I should li ke to go there i n good condi ti on .

It was Sunday today almost a sprin g day Thi s morni ng I took a l ong wal k
, .

al one all thr ough the ci ty i n the park al ong the boul evards The weather w a s
, ,
.

such that I thi nk i n the coun try they will have heard the lark si ng for the fir st time .

In short there w a s somethi ng of resurrecti on in the atmosphere

, .

Yet what depressi on t here i s i n busi ness and among the peop l e I do not think .

i t exaggerated to be pess i mi sti c about the vari ous stri kes etc everywhere ,
.
,
.

They will certai nl y prove not to have been useless for the foll owi ng generati ons ,

for tben they will have proved a success But n ow i t i s of cour se hard enough for
.

everybody wh o must earn hi s bread by hi s work the more so because w e can ,

2
foresee that i t will get worse and worse from year t o year The laborer agai nst .

the bourgeoi s i s as justifiabl e as was the ti ers état agai nst the other t wo a hundred
years ago And the best thi ng to do i s t o keep sil ent for fate i s n ot on the bour
.
,

eo i s s i de and we shall li ve to see more of i t ; we are still far from the end So
g , .

al though i t s spring how many thousands and thousands are wanderi ng about
’
, ,

desolate .

I see the l ark soari ng i n the spri ng air as well as the greatest op t imi st ; but
I al so see the young gi rl of about twenty who mi ght have been i n good heal th , ,

a vi cti m of consumpti on and who will perhaps drown herself before she di es
,

o f any ill ness .

If on e i s always i n respectable company among rather well to d o bourgeoi s - -

,

one does n ot n oti ce thi s so much perhaps but if one has di ned for years on la ,

vache enragée as I have one cannot deny that great mi sery i s a fact that wei ghts
, ,

the scale .

One may n ot be able t o cure or to save but one can sympathize wi th and pi ty them
, .

Corot wh o after all had more sereni ty than anybody el se who felt the spring
, ,

so deep l y was he n o t as s i mpl e as a worki ngman all hi s li fe and so sensi ti ve t o

, ,

a ll the mi seri es of others ? And what struck me i n hi s b i ography w a s tha t when

he w as already very old i n 1 8 70 and 1 8 7 1 he certainly l ooked at the bri ght sky , ,

but at the same ti me he vi si ted the ambul ances where the wounded lay dyi ng .

I llusi ons may fade but the sub lim e remains One may doubt everyt hi ng but
,
.
,

on e does not doubt peop l e li ke Corot and M illet and Del acroix And I thi nk .

that i n moments when one does n o t care for nature any more on e still cares fo r ,

humani ty .

If y ou can send me somethin g extra thi s month be i t more or l ess even if i t s

, , ,
’

onl y 5 francs do s o If you can t then i t can t be helped

, .
’
,
’
.

I am greatly l onging to know your deci s i on if perhaps you woul d approve of ,

my comi ng to Pari s already about April 1 At all events wri te soon about i t . .

Good by Wi th a handshake
-
.
,

Ever yours Vin cent ,

45 8 a
[Pi erar d ,
pp 1 5 5 — 1 5 9] On the subj ect of Van Gogh s arri val at the academy i n
.
’

Antwerp here are the remi ni scences noted down from the lips of Mr Vi ctor
, .

Hageman (who di ed in October 1 9 ,

At the ti me I was a pupi l in the drawi ng cl ass There were onl y a few weeks l eft .

until the end of the course I remember qui te well that weather beaten nervous
.
-
, ,

res tless man who crashed li ke a bombshell i nto the Antwerp academy upsetting ,

t h e di rector the drawi ng master and the pupil s

, .

Van Gogh who was then thi rty one years old first went i nto the p ai nti ng
,
-
,

class taught by V erlat the di rector of the academy th e perfect type of the offi ci al
, ,

pai nter whose duty i t was t o transmi t to posteri ty by means of th e i nterpretati ve

, ,

reali zati ons of the art of pai nti ng memori es of great patri oti c solemni t ies One
,
.

morni ng Van Gogh came i nto the class i n whi ch there were about si xty pupil s , ,

more than a dozen o f whom were German o r Engli sh ; he was dressed in a

them about those rough and kind hearted mi ners of the Bori nag e whom he had
-
,

catec hized and cared for and helped and nursed wi th so much l ove During the .

tragi c stri kes of 1 8 8 6 he even wanted to g o b ac k to that Bla ck Count ry .

The above was confi rmed by Emanuel de Bom i n an arti cl e publi shed i n the
Rotterdam newspaper N i euwe Rotterdamse Coura nt of November 3 1 9 3 8 in whi ch
, ,

he quotes a l etter wri tten by Vi ctor Hageman In thi s may be foun d (Tralbaut
.
,

P 1 5 4)

He was told to do a drawi ng of the Venus de Mil o De Bom wri tes He w as

, .
“

of the opini on that that woman must have hi ps and he gave her very un Greci an
‘
,
’
-

ones they were comme l a l The drawi ng master (I will n ot menti on hi s name
,
‘ ’

moreover he i s dead n ow) sent Van Gogh down t o a l ower class and there
, ,

Vi ncent w h o scorned nothin g di d drawings of noses and ears

, ,
‘
.
’

And Baseleer tol d Charles Bernard i n th e i ntervi ew already quoted that Vi ncent
“ ”
was reported t o have sai d of the Venus de Mil o : Fi ne femal e ni ce hi ps And
, .

he conti nues
I can still see before me that thi ckset Venus wi th an enormou s pelvi s tha t ,

extraordinary fat but to cked fig ure whi ch had i ssued from Vinc ent s dr awi ng
,
-
’

pencil Anti qui ty as seen by Rembrandt Greec e through the

.
, of a

di stortin g Wi ndowp ane on the Keizersg rac h t in Amsterdam .

1 887 — 1 8 8 8 PARI S AN D ARLE S

Y ears o f c o lo r an d lig ht

45 9a
[Le t ter wr i tten i n Eng li sh by Vi ncent van Gogh t o the Engli sh pai nter Levens .

The text i s reproduced wi thout al terati ons ] 1

My dear Mr Levens .
, Pari s A ug — O ct 1 8 8 7 , .

Si nce I am here i n Pari s I have very often thought of yourself and work Y ou .

will remember that I li ked your col our your i deas on art and h terat ure and I add , ,

most of all your person ali ty I have already before now thought that I ought to let
.

y o u know what I w a s doi ng where I w a s But what refrai ned me w as that I fi n d .

li vi ng in Pari s i s much dearer than i n Antwerp and n ot knowi ng what your

ci rcumstances are I dare not say come over to Pari s from Ant werp wi thout
warni ng y ou that i t c osts on e dearer and that if poor on e has to suffer many , ,

thi ngs as y ou may i magi ne

- But on the other hand there i s more chanc e of
selli ng There i s al so a good chance of exc angi ng pi ctures wi th other arti sts
.

h
In one word wi th much energy wi th a sincere personal feelin g of colour i n
.

, ,

nat ur e I woul d say an arti st c an get on here notwi thstandi ng the many obstrue
ti ons And I i ntend remaini ng here s till l onger
. .

There i s mu ch to be seen here— for i nstance D elacroix to name onl y one ,

master In Antwerp I di d n ot even know what the i mpressi oni sts were n ow
.
,

I have seen them and though not bei ng on e of the club yet I have much admi red
c ertai n i mpressi oni sts pi ctures— D eg as nude fi g ure— Claude M onet landscape
’
.

And n ow for what regards what I myself have been doing I have l acked money ,

for paying model s el se I had enti rely given myself to figure pai nti ng But I have .

made a seri es of col or s t udi es in pai nti ng si mp ly flowers red poppi es blue corn , , ,

flowers and my o sot y s whi te and rose roses yell ow Chrysanthemums— seeking
, ,

opposi ti ons of b lue wi th orange red and green yell ow and vi ol et seeki ng les tons
, ,

r om s et neutres t o harmoni se brutal extremes Tryi ng to render i ntense co l our

p u .

an d n ot a grey harmony .

Now after these gymnasti cs I l ately di d two heads whi ch I dare say are better
i n li ght and col our than those I di d before .

S o as we s ai d at the ti me : i n c olour seeki ng life the true drawi ng i s modell ing

wi th col our .

I did a dozen landscapes t oo frankl y g reen frankl y blue ,

.

And so I am struggli ng for life and progress in art .

A
di g J h R w ld f N w Y k thi
c c or n to o n e a o e or ,
s letter w a s fir st p bli h d i Tb S d y
u s e n e un a
L d F b y 7 9 9 ( dit d by E V L
on on , e ru ar 1 ,
1 2 e e . . u c as ) . Lv e en s p i t d m i l y f my d
a n e a n
“
ar ar s . The
letter was w ri tt en i n 1 886 (n o t
 Now I woul d very much li ke t o know what y ou are doing an d whether you
ever thi nk of going to Pari s .

If ever you di d come here wri te to me before and I wi ll if you li ke sha re my

, , ,

l odgi ngs and stu di o wi th you so l ong as I have any In spri ng— say February or .

even sooner I may be goi ng t o the South of France the l and of the blue tones an d ,

gay col ors .

And l ook here if I knew you had l ongings for the same we mi ght combi ne
, .

I felt sure at the time that y ou are a thorough col ouri st an d si nce I saw the
i mpress i oni sts I assure you that nei ther your col our nor mi ne as i t i s devel op p in g
i tself i s ex a ctly the same as thei r theori es But so much dare I say w e have a
,
.

chance and a good one findi ng fri ends — I hope your health i s all ri ght I w a s .
-
.

rather l ow down i n health when i n Antwerp but got better here

.
.

Wri te to me i n any case Remember me to All en Bri et Rin k Durant but

.
, , ,

I have not often thought of them as I di d thi nk of you— almost dai ly .

Shaking hands cordi al ly .

Yours trul y Vin cent

My present address i s
Mr Vi ncent van Gogh
.

5 4 Rue Lep i c Pari s , .

Wi th regard my chances of sale l ook here they are certai nl y not much but stil l ,

I do ba ve a beginni ng .

At the present moment I have found four dealers w ho have exhi bi ted s t udi es
of min e And I have exchanged s t udi es wi th many arti sts
. .

Now the pri ces are 5 0 francs Certai nl y not much —but —as far as I c an see .

o n e must sell cheap to ri se and even at costi ng pri ce And mi nd my dear fellow .
,

Pari s i s Pari s There i s but one Pari s and however hard li ving may be here and
.
,

if i t became worse and harder even— the french ai r cl ears up the brai n and does
good— a world of good .

I have been in Cormons stu di o fo r three o r four months but I di d not find that
,

s o useful as I had expected i t t o be It may be my faul t however anyhow I l eft .

,

there t oo as I l eft Antwerp and since I worked alone and fancy t hat si nce I feel ,

my own self more .

Trade i s sl ow here The great deal ers sell Mill et Del acroix Corot Daubi gny
.
, , , ,

Dupr e a few other masters at exorbi tant pri ces They d o li ttl e o r nothin g for
, .

young arti sts The second class deal ers contrari wi se sell those at very l ow pri ces
. .

If I asked more I would do nothing I fancy However I have fai th in colour , . .

Even wi th regards the pri ce the publi c will pay for i t in the l ong run But for th e .

present thi ngs are awfully hard Therefore let anyone w h o ri sks to go over here
.

consi der there i s no layi ng on roses at all .

What i s to be gai ned i s p rog ress and what the deuce that i s i t i s t o be foun d ,

here I dare say a s certai n anyone w ho has a soli d posi ti on el sewhere l et hi m stay
.

where he i s But fo r adventurers as myself I think they l ose nothi ng in ri skin g

.
,

more Especi ally as i n my case I am not an adventur er by c hoi ce but by fate an d

.
,
poi nt of vi ew of business I shoul d not blame her for choosi ng t o be top d og ,

and not underdog If sh e tramp les on my toes a b i t i n order t o get on well she
.
, ,

has my l eave When I saw her agai n sh e di d not t rampl e on my heart whi ch sh e
.
, ,

woul d have done i f she had been as bad as peop le sai d .

I saw Tanguy yesterday and he has put a can vas I ve just done in hi s window
,
’
.

I have done four si nce you l eft and am workin g on a b i g one ,

.

I know that these bi g l ong canvases are di ffi cul t to sell but later on peop l e ,

will see that there i s open ai r i n them and good humor .

S o now the whol e l ot woul d d o for the decorati on of a di ni ng room o r a

country house .

’
And if y ou fall very much in l ove and then get marri ed i t doesn t seem , ,

i mposs i b l e to me that you will ri se t o a countr y house yourself someday li ke so

many other pi cture dealers If you li ve well y ou spend more but you gain
.
, ,

ground that w ay and perhaps these days one gets on better by l ooki ng ri ch than
,

by l ooki ng shabby It s better t o have a gay life of i t than commi t sui ci de Re

.
’
.

member me t o all at home .

Ever your s Vi ncent ,

469
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 1 7 February 1 8 8 8 ,

Thank y ou very much for your letter whi ch I had not dared t o expect so soon , ,

as far as the 5 o fr note whi ch you added wa s concerned

-
. .

’
I see that y ou have not yet had an answer from Tersteeg I d on t thi nk that .

we need press him in another letter However if y ou have any offi ci al business .
,

to transact wi th B V Co i n The Hague y ou mi ght menti on i n a P S that

. . .
,
. .

you are rather surpri sed that he has in no w ay acknowl edged the recei pt of the
l etter i n questi on .

As for my work I brought back a size 1 5 canvas today It i s a drawbri dge wi th

,
.

a h ttle cart goi ng over i t outli ned against a b lue sky — th e ri ver blue as well
, ,

the banks orange col ored wi th green grass and a group of women washi ng li nen
i n smocks and mul ti col ored caps And another l andscape wi th a ht tl e country
.

bri dge and more women washing li nen .

Al so an avenue of p lane trees near the stati on Al together twelve s t udi es s i nce .

’
I ve been here .

The weather here i s changeabl e often wi ndy wi th murky ski es but th e al mond
, ,

trees are begi nni ng to flower everywhere I am very glad that the pi ctures shoul d .

g o t o the Independents You are ri ght to go to see S i gnac at hi s house I was very
. .

glad to see from your letter of today that he made a better i mpressi on on y ou
than he d i d the first ti me In any c ase I am glad to know that after today you
.

will n ot be al one i n the apartment .

Remember me ki ndl y to Koning Are you well ? I am better myself except .

,
’
that eati ng i s a real ordeal as I have a touch of fever and n o appeti te but i t s
, ,

onl y a q uesti on of ti me and pati ence .

I have company i n the eveni ng for the young Dani sh p ai nter wh o i s here i s a
,

decent soul : hi s work i s dry correct and ti mi d but I d o n o t obj ect t o that when
, ,
the pai nter i s young and i ntelli gent He ori gi nally began studyi ng medi ci ne : he .

has read Zola de Goncourt and Guy de Maupassant an d he has enough money
, , ,

t o do hi mself well And wi th all thi s a very genui ne desi re to do very di fferent
.
,

work from what he i s actually produ ci ng n ow .

I thi nk he would be wi se t o del ay hi s ret urn home for a year or t o come back ,

here after a short vi si t to hi s fri ends .

But old boy you know I feel as though I were in Japan— I say n o more th an
, , ,

that and mi nd I haven t seen anyt hi ng i n i t s usual spl endor yet

, ,
’
.

’ ’
Th at s why— e ven al though I m vexed t hat j ust n ow expenses are heavy and
’ ’
the p i ct ur es worthl ess— that s why I don t despai r of the future success of thi s
i dea of a l ong soj ourn i n the Mi di .

Here I am seei ng new thi ngs I am learning and if I take i t easy my body , , ,
’
doesn t refuse to functi on .

For many reasons I shoul d li ke to get some sort of li tt l e retreat where the ,

poor cab horses of Pari s— that i s you and several of our fri ends the poor i m , ,

ressi oni st s— coul d go out to pas t ure when they get too beat up
p .

I was present at the i nqui ry i nto a cri me commi t ted at the door of a brothel
here ; two Itali an s kill ed two Zouaves I sei zed the opportuni ty to go i nto one .

“ ”
o f the brothel s i n a small street c all ed des ri c olettes .

That i s the extent of my amorous advent ur es among the A rlési ennes The mob .

a ll but the Southerner li ke Tartari n bei ng more energeti c i n good i ntenti ons than
( , ,

in a c ti on)— the mob I repeat all but lynched the murderer s confined in the town
, ,

hall but in retali ati on all the Itali ans— men and women the S avoyard monkeys
, ,

i ncl uded— have been forced t o l eave town .

’
I shoul d not have told y ou about thi s except that i t means I ve seen th e streets ,

of thi s town ful l o f ex ci ted crowds And i t was i ndeed a fine si ght . .

I made my l ast thr ee studi es wi th the perspective frame I told y ou about .

I attach some i mportance to the use of the frame because i t seems not unli kely
t o me that i n the near future many arti sts will make use of i t just as the ol d ,

German and Itali an painters certainl y di d and as I am i nclined to think the , , ,

Fl emi sh t oo The modern use of i t may di ffer from the anci ent practi ce but in
.
,
’
the same way i sn t i t true that i n the process of painti ng i n oil s on e gets very
di fferent effects today from those of the men w h o i nvented the process Jan and ,
’
Hubert v an Eyck ? And the moral of thi s i s that i t s my constant hope that I am
n o t worki ng for myself al one I beli eve i n the absolute necess i ty of a new art of
.

col or of desi gn and— of the arti s t ic life And if w e work in that fai th i t seems
, , .
,

to me there i s a chance tha t w e d o not hope in vai n .

Y o u must know that I am a ct uall y ready t o send some s t udi es off to you ,
’
onl y I can t roll them yet A handshake for y ou On Sunday I shall wri te Bernard
. .

and de Lautrec because I solemnl y promi sed to and shall send you those l etters
, ,

as well I am deeply sorry for Gaug uin s p li ght especi ally because now hi s heal th
.
’
,
’
i s shaken : he hasn t the ki nd o f temperament that profits from hardshi ps — o n the
contrary thi s will onl y exhaust hi m from here on an d that will spoil hi m for
, ,

hi s work Good b y for the present

.
-
.

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

B 4 [4]
My dear comrade Bernard ,
Arles About 2 0 April 1 8 8 8 ,

Many thanks for the sonn ets you sent me ; I very much hk e the form and the
sonorous melody of th e first one
S ous les domes dormeurs des a rbres g ig antesques
‘
.

[B eneath the somno l ent domes of the g i ganti c tree s ]

However wi th regard to i dea
,
an d senti ment i t may be that I prefer the l ast one

Ca r l dans mon sei n a verse sa nevrose

’ ' ’

es oi r
p .

[For hope has poured i t s neur osi s into my bosom ] .

But i t seems to me that y ou do not say cl early enough what y ou want to ma ke

felt— the certai nty that on e seems to have and whi ch one c an i n any case prove
, ,

of the nothin gness the emptin ess the betrayal of the desi rabl e good an d beautiful
, ,

thi ngs ; and that despi te thi s knowl edge one lets oneself be eternall y fool ed by the
, ,

charm whi ch external hfe the thi ngs outsi de ourselves exerci ses on o ur six senses
, , ,

as if on e di d not know anyt hi ng and especi all y not the di fference between obj ect
,

i vi ty and subj ecti vi ty Fortun atel y for us we remai n stup i d and hopeful in thi s way
. .

Now I al so li ke :
L bi ver , n a voi r ni sou, ni fleurs
’ ’

[W i nter ,
hav i ng ne i ther a so u nor flowers

and Mep ris [Contempt]

'

“
I t hin k Coin de cbap elle [Corner of a Chapel] an d D ess in d A lbrecbt D urer ’

l ess clear ; for in stance whi ch exact ly i s the drawi ng by Al brecht D ii rer ? But
,

nevertheless there are excell ent passages i n i t :

V enus des p la ines bleues

”

Elemis p a r la long ueur des li eues

’

[Come from the b lue p l ai ns ,

P aled by the length of the leagu e s ]

renders very smartly the landscapes bri stling wi th b lue rocks between whi ch ,

the roads meander as in the backgrounds of Cranach and V an Eyck

, .

Tordu sur sa croix en s

p i ra l e

[Tw i sted on hi s spi ral ed cross]

conveys very well the exaggerated l ean ness of the mysti c Chri sts But why not .

add that the angui shed l ook of the martyr i s li ke th e eye of a cab horse infini tely
, ,

sa d ; that woul d make i t more Pari s i an of Pari s where one sees su ch l ooks in ,

the eyes of the superan nuated nags of the li ttl e carri ages as well as i n those of
the poets arti sts
, .

In short i t i s not as good as your p ai n ting yet ; never mind i t will come ; y o u ,
 S o get your b l ood in good condi ti on in advance ; here, wi th the ba d fo od , i t i s
di ffi cul t t o pull thr ough, but once one i s in good heal th agai n i t i s l ess di ffi ul t c
to remain so than in Pari s .

Wri te to me soon, always the same address : Restaurant Carrel, Arles .

A handshake ,

Si ncerely yours Vi nc ent ,

48 1
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 4 May 1 8 8 8 ,

Yesterday I went to the furni ture deal er s t o see if I coul d hi re a bed etc Un ’

, .

fortunately they would not hire and even refused t o sell on a monthl y i nstall ment
,

pl an Thi s i s rather awkward

. .

I thought perh aps if Koni ng leaves after seei ng the S al on whi ch I beli eve was ,

hi s ori gi nal i ntenti on that y ou mi ght send me the bed that he now occupi es
,

after hi s departure One must take i nto ac c ount that if I sl eep at the s t udi o i t
.
,

wi ll make a difference of 3 00 frs a year whi ch would otherwi se have to be pai d

.
,

to the hotel I know that i t i s i mpossi bl e to say i n advance that I shall sta y here
.

s o l ong but all the same I have many reasons for thi nking that a l ong stay here
,

i s probab l e .

I was i n Fon t vi eilles yesterday at M c Kni g ht s ; he had a good pastel— a pink ’

s

tree— and two water col ors j ust started and I found hi m worki ng o n the head ,

o f an o l d woman i n charcoal He h as reached the stage where he i s p l a ued by

.
g
new col or theori es and whi l e they prevent hi m from worki ng on th eold system
, ,

he i s not suffi ci entl y master of hi s n ew pal ette to succeed in thi s one H e seemed .

very shy about showi ng me the thi ngs I had to go there for that express purpose , ,

and tell hi m that I was a bsolutely set on seei ng hi s work .

It i s not i mpossi bl e that he may come to stay for some ti me wi th me here .

I thi nk we should both benefit by i t .

’
I thin k very often of Renoi r and that pure cl ean lin e of hi s Tha t s just h ow .

thi ngs and peop l e look i n thi s cl ear ai r .

We are havi ng a tremendous lot of wi nd and mi stral here just n ow three ,

days ou t of four though the sun shi nes anyw ay : but i t makes i t di fli c ul t to work
,

out of doors
- -
.

I thi nk there woul d be somethi ng to d o here i n portrai ts Although the peop l e .

are blankly i gnorant of p ai nti ng i n general they are mu ch more arti sti c than in ,

the North in thei r own persons and thei r man ner of life I have seen figur es here .

qui te a s beauti ful as those of Goya o r Velasquez They will put a touch of pi nk .

o n a b l ack frock or devi se a garment of whi te yell ow and p i nk o r el se green

, , ,

and pink or el se blue a ndy ellow i n whi ch there i s nothi ng t o be al tered from the
, ,

arti sti c point of vi ew Seurat woul d fin d some very pi cturesque men s figures
.
’

here in spi te of thei r modern clothes .

’
N ow as for portrai ts I am pretty sure they d take the b ai t
, , .

But first before I dare start al ong th at li ne I want my nerves steadi er and al so , ,

to be settled in so that I could have peop le i n my s t udi o And if I must tell you .

roughl y what I figure i t woul d take t o get me qui te well and accli mati zed for
28 6
good i t will mean a year and t o set me up completel y a cool thousand francs
, , , .

If during the first year— the present year— I spend 1 00 francs on food and 1 00
’
francs on thi s house per month y ou see there won t be a cent left in the budget
,

for p ai nting .

But at the end of that year I shoul d have a decent establi shm ent and my own
heal th t o show for i t— of that I am sure And i n the meantime I should spend .

my ti me drawi ng every day wi th t wo or three pi ctures a month bes i des

, .

In figuri ng what i t woul d cost to set me up I am al so count ing in a comp l ete ,

new set of li nen and cl othes and shoes .

And at the end of the year I shoul d be a di fferent man .

I shoul d have a home of my ow n and the peace to get back my health .

Need l ess o say if you have got canvases that take up t oo much room you
( t , ,

can send them here by goods servi ce and I will keep them i n the s t udi o here If , .

thi s i s not yet the case i t will be l ater on and I am keepi ng a good many st udi es
, ,
’
whi ch don t seem good enough to send to you ) .

And then I can hope not t o get exhausted before my time Monti celli was .

physi call y stronger than I I thi nk and if I had the strength for i t I d live from
, , ,
’

hand to mouth as he di d But if even he was paralyzed and that wi thout bei ng
.
,

such a t remendous dri nker there d be pre ci ous li ttl e hope for me
,
’
.

I was certainl y goi ng the ri ght way for a stroke when I l eft Pari s I pai d for i t .

ni cel y afterward ! W hen I stopped dri nki ng when I stopped smokin g so much , _
,

when I began to thi nk agai n i nstead of tryi ng not to thi nk— Good Lord the ,

depressi on and the prostrati on of i t W ork i n these magni ficent nat ural surround
i ngs ha s restored my moral e but even now some efforts are too much for me
,

my strength fail s me And that w as w hy when I wrote you the other day I sai d
.
, ,

t hat if you l eft the Goupi l s you woul d feel healthi er i n mi nd but that the cure
, ,

woul d be very painful Whereas one does not feel the di sease i tself
. .

My poor b oy our neurosi s etc comes i t s true from our w ay of li vi ng

,
.
, ,
’
, ,

whi ch i s too purely the arti st 5 life but i t i s al so a fatal i nheri tance si nce in
, ,

ci vili zati on the weakness i ncreases from generati on t o generati on If we want to .

fac e the real truth about our consti t uti on we must acknowl edge that w e bel ong ,

to the number of those wh o suffer from a neurosi s whi ch already has i t s roots
i n the past.

I thi nk G rub y i s ri ght about such c ases— to eat well to live well to see li ttl e
I
, ,

o f women i n sho rt to arrange one s lif e i n advance exa ctl y as if o n e were already
’
,

sufferi ng from a di sease of the brai n and spi ne wi thout counting the neurosi s ,

whi ch i s actually there Certai nl y that i s taki ng the bull by the horns whi ch i s
.
,
’
never a bad poli c y And Degas di d i t and succeeded All the same don t y ou
.
,
.
,

feel as I do that i t i s frig htq y hard And after all doesn t i t do one a ll the
, , ,
’

good i n the worl d to li sten t o the wi se advi ce of Ri vet and Pan gl oss t hose ,

excell ent opti mi sts of the pure and j ovi al Galli c race wh o l eave you your self ,

respect
However if w e want t o live and work w e must be very sensi bl e and l ook
, ,

after ourselves Cold water fresh ai r si mpl e good food decent cl othes a decent
.
, , , ,

An ol d ph ysi c i an i n Pari s wh o in hi s ti me had treate d Hein e

, .
 bed and no women And not t o let oneself go wi th women or wi th life that
,
.
,

i s hfe as much a s one woul d li ke to

,
.

I a m not set o n s l eep ing at the studi o but if I went to s l eep there i t woul d be , ,

because I saw a possi bili ty of settlin g down prett y defini tely for a l ong ti me .

Now that I need take up no more room i n the hotel seei ng that I ha ve the ,

s t udi o I shall beat these peopl e down to 3 francs a day whether they li ke i t o r
, ,
’
n o t Consequentl y t here i s nothing urgent But if i t s all the same to you send
. .
,

me 1 00 francs next time anyway as I want to get some drawers made just as , ,

I have had the shi rts and shoes and must send ahn o st all my cl othes t o be cleaned
,

an d mended Then they wil l be qui te all ri ght agai n Thi s i s urgent i n case I have
. .

t o g o t o Marsei lles o r see peop l e here The more precauti ons w e take n ow the .
,

surer we are of being abl e to hold ou t i n the l ong run and of getti ng the work ,

un der control .

’ ’
I have got ten canvases that I m l ooki ng for a case fo r and I ll send them one ,

o f these days .

A handshake for y ou and Koni ng t oo I got a postcard from Koni ng saying

,
.

that he had had a l etter telli ng hi m t o take back the pi ctur es from the In dep en d
’
ents show Nat urall y i t w as the onl y thi ng to do and what coul d I d o about i t ?
.
,

Ever yours Vincent ,

482
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 5 May 1 8 8 8 ,

I wri te you a li ne to say that on consi derati on I t hink i t woul d be best si mp ly

, ,
\
to get a rug and a mattress and make a bed on the s t udi o floor For during the .

summer i t will be so hot that thi s will be more than enough .

’
In winter we can see whether we ll have to get a bed or n ot As for the bed .

i n your p lace I thi nk that the i dea of havi ng a p ai nter stay wi th you i s t o the
,

advantage of both the pai nter and your self from the point of vi ew of havi ng ,

company and someone to tal k to so that when Koni ng goes somebody mi ght ,

come in hi s place And why shouldn t y ou keep t h e bed i n any case ?

,
’
.

It i s really qui te poss i ble that as far as the house goes I mi ght find something ,

even better ei ther i n M arti g nes o n the coast or some other place Onl y what i s so .

deli ghtful i n thi s studi o i s the garden opposi te .

’
But there we ll put off doi ng any repairs or furni shi n g i t better ; i t woul d be
,

wi ser especi ally because if we get cholera here in s ummer I may pi tch my camp
, , ,

i n the country .

It i s a filthy town th i s wi th the o ld streets A s for the women of Arles that

,
.

there s so much talk about— there i s i sn t there — do you want t o know my

’

,
’

real opini on of them ? They are no ques ti on about i t really charmi ng but no
, , ,

l onger what they must have been As thi ngs are now they are more often li ke a .
,
’
Mi gnard than a Mantegna for they are in thei r decadence That doesn t prevent
, .

them from bei ng beautiful— very beautiful and I am talki ng now onl y of the ,

typ e i n the Roman style— rather bori ng and commonplace But what excepti ons .

there are !
There are women li ke a Fragonard and li ke a Renoi r And some that can t be .
’

288
 Supposi ng y ou agree we need be in n o hurry to fix up the studi o It will d o
, .

’
well enough as i t i s i n the meanti me and if I s leep there as I ve s ai d i t will cost
, , ,

me nothi ng I save 3 0 francs at the hotel and I pay 1 5 for rent so that there i s
, ,

c lear profit .

Wi th a handshake for y ou and Koni ng ; I have another drawi ng .

I saw a heap of boxes for my purpose in the market and am going back t o take
measurements Was the subj ect of the De Groux whi ch you menti on the same as
.

“ ”
that in the Bru ssel s gall ery the Bénédi ci té It s true what you say of Braekeleer
,
’
.

Have y o u heard that he suffered from a di sease of the brai n whi ch l eft hi m im
’
I have heard thi s but wasn t i t onl y temporary ? Y ou talk of another
,

on e of hi s whi ch I do not know .

My dear Bernard , Arl es Second half of May 1 8 8 8 ,

I just received your last l etter You are qui te ri ght to see that those Negresses
.

were heart rending Y ou are qui te ri ght not t o thi nk such a thin g i nnocent
-
. .

I have just read a book— not a beautiful on e and not well wri tten for t hat
matter— about the Marquesas Islands but sad enough when i t tell s of the ex ,

termi nati on of a whol e nati ve tri be— cannib al i n the sense that once a month ,

l et us say an i ndi vi dual got eaten— what does i t mat ter !

,

The whites very Chri sti an and all that

,
i n order to put a stop to thi s b ar
b ari ty ( reall y n ot very cruel coul d find n o better means than the ext ermi nati on
of the tri be of canni b al nati ves as well as the tri be agai nst whi ch th e l atter fought

(in order t o provi de themselves from ti me t o ti me wi th the necessary palatabl e

pri soners of war) .

After whi ch they annexed the t wo i s les whi ch then became unutterably l ugu ,

b ri ou s l !
Those tattooed rac es eg roes Indi ans all of them all all are di sappeari ng , , , ,

o r degenerating And the horri b l e whi te man wi th hi s bottl e of al coho l hi s money

.
,

an d hi s syphi li s— when shall we see the end o f hi m ? The horri b l e whi te ma n

wi th hi s hyp o cri sy hi s greedi ness and hi s sterili ty

, .

And those savages were so gentle and so l ovin g !

Y ou are damned ri ght to thi nk o f Gaugui n That i s hi gh poetry those N e .
,

resses and everything hi s hands make has a gen t le pi ti ful astoni shi ng chara cter
g , , ,
.

People don t un derstand him yet and i t pai ns him so mu ch that he does n ot sell
’
,

anythi ng just li ke o ther true poets

, .

My dear c omrade I shoul d have wri tten y ou before onl y I had a l ot of thi ngs
, ,

t o attend t o I have sent a first bat ch of studi es t o my brother that s number

’
.
,

on e And I have been having troub le wi th my health that s number t w o

’
. .
,

And number three i s that I have ren ted a house p ainted yell ow outsi de , ,

whi tewashed wi thin in the ful l sun (four rooms), .

On t op of all that I am worki ng on new studi es And i n the eveni ng I was .

often t oo beat t o wri te Tha t s why my answer has been delayed

.
’
.

2
9 0
 Li sten that sonn et about the women of the boul evard has some good i n i t
, ,
“
but i t i sn t the real thi ng the end i s banal A subli me
’
,
I don t know .
’

what y ou mean by that nei ther do y ou when i t c omes ri ght down t o i t

,
.

Furthermore

D ans le clan des vi eux et des j eunes maraude

.

C eux qu elle a mmi nera coucber lo soi r, tri s ta rd

’
.

[Ensnari ng among the tri be of the ol d and young ones

Those whom sh e will take t o bed wi th her t hat ni ght very late ] ,

S omethi ng li ke thi s not chara cteri sti c at all for the women of our boulevard
is ,

— the h t tl e one— u sua ll s l eep al one by ni ght fo r t hey have five o r si x haul s
y
a
,

during the day or in the eveni ng and tres tard there i s that honorabl e carni vore , ,

thei r maquereau [pi mp] w h o comes and takes them home but he does not s leep
, ,

wi th them (or rarely) Th e worn out stup efi ed woman usuall y goes t o bed al one
.
-

and s leeps a leaden s leep .

But if y ou al ter t wo or three h ues i t wi ll be all ri ght ,

.

Wh at have y ou pai nted recently ? As for me I have done a sti ll life of a blue ,

enameled i ron coffeepot a royal b lue cup and saucer a mi lk jug wi th pale cobalt
,
-
,

and whi te checks a cup wi th orange and blue patterns on a whi te ground a b lue
, ,

maj oli ca jug dec orated wi th green brown and pi nk flower s and leaves The whol e ,
.

on a b lue tab l e cl ot h against a yell ow background and among thi s cro c kery
, ,

t w o oranges and thr ee l emon s I .

S o i t i s a vari ati on of blues livened up by a seri es of yellows that go as far

,

as orange .

Then I have an other sti ll life lemons in a basket against a yell ow background , .

Fur ther a vi ew of Arles Of the town i tself on e sees only some red roofs and a
.

tower the rest i s hi dden by the green foli age of fig trees far away in the back
, ,
‘

ground and a narrow stri p of blue sky above i t The town i s surrounded by
, .

i mmense meadows all abl oom wi t h coun tl ess buttercups— a sea of yell ow— in the
foreground these meadows are divi ded by a di tch full of vi olet i ri ses They were .

mowi ng the grass while I w as painti ng so i t i s onl y a study and not the fini shed ,

pi ct ure tha t I had i ntended t o d o But what a subject hei n ! That sea of yell ow .
,

wi th a band of vi olet i ri ses and i n the background that c oquetti sh l it tle town of
,

the pretty women ! Then two studi es of roadsi des— later— done wi th the mi stral
ragi ng .

If y ou were n ot expecting my prompt reply I should make you a sketch Keep .

y o u r courage up good l u c,
k A handshake I am exhausted toni
. ght I sha ll wri te . .

y ou again i n th e next few days more at my ease , .

Vi ncent
p .s The portrai t of a woman i n your last l etter but one i s very pretty My addres s
. .

2, Plac e Lamartin e Arl es , .

See l etter 4 8 9
'

. to Th eo .
489
My dear Theo ,
Ar l es 2 0 May 1 8 8 8 ,

What you wri te about your vi si ts to Gruby has di stressed me but all the same ,

I am reli eved that you went Has i t occurred to you that the dazedness the
.
-

feeling of extreme l assi tude— may have been caused by thi s weakness of the
heart and that in thi s case the i odi de of potassi um woul d have nothi ng to d o
,

wi th the feeling of collapse ? Remember how last winter I w a s stup efi ed to the

poi nt of bei ng absolutely i ncapab l e of doing anything at all except a h t tl e pai nting , ,

although I w as n ot taki ng any i odi de of potassi um So if I were you I shoul d .

,

have i t out wi th Ri vet if Gruby tell s you not to take any I am sure that in an y .

case you mean to keep on bei ng fri ends wi th both .

I often thi nk of Gruby bere and now and I am completely well but i t i s h aving
, ,

pure ai r and warmth that makes i t poss i bl e In all that racket and bad ai r of .

Pari s Ri vet takes thi ngs as they are wi thout tryi ng to create a paradi se and
, , ,

wi thout i n any w ay tryi ng to make us perfect But he forges a cui rass or rather .
,

he hardens o ne agai nst illness and keeps up one s morale I do beli eve by maki ng
,
’
, ,

li ght o f the di sease o n e has got If onl y you could have one year of li fe in the
.

country and wi th nat ure j ust now i t woul d make G rub y s cure much eas i er
,
’
.

I expect he will make you promi se to have nothi ng to d o wi th women except in

case of necessi ty but anyhow as httl e as possi ble
,
.

Now as for me I am doi ng very well down here but i t i s because I have my
, ,
’
work here and nature and if I di dn t have that I shoul d grow mel ancholy If
, , , .

work had any attract ion for you where you are and if the i mpressi oni sts were ,

getti ng on i t woul d be a very good thi ng For l oneliness w o rri esj di fli c ul ti es

, .
, ,

the unsati sfied need for ki ndness and sympathy— that i s what i s hard to bear ,

th e mental sufferi ng o f sadness o r di sappo i ntment undermi nes us more t han

di ssipati on— u s I say w h o fin d ourselves the happy possessors of di sordered hearts
, , .

’
I beli eve i odi de of potassi um purifies the b l ood and the who le system doesn t ,

i t ? And can you do wi thout i t ? Anyway you must have i t o u t frankl y wi th Ri vet ;
’
he oughtn t to be j ealous .

I wi sh y ou had company more roughl y warml y ali ve than the Dutch All the , .

same Koni ng wi th hi s capri ces i s an excepti on better than most And i t i s

, , .

always a good thing to have someone But I shoul d li ke you to have had some .

fri ends among the French as well .

Wi ll you do somethi ng whi ch will give me great p leasure ? My D ani sh fri end
wh o i s l eavi ng for Pari s on Tuesday wi ll gi ve you t wo littl e pi ctures nothi ng ,

much whi ch I should hke to give to Mme la Contesse de la Boi ssi ere at Asni eres
, . .

She lives in the Boul evard Voltai re on the first floor of the first house at the
, ,
’
end of the Pont de Cli chy O ld Perru c h ot s restaurant i s on the groun d floor
. .

Would you care to take them there for me in person and say that I had hoped ,

to see her agai n thi s spring and that even here I have not forgotten her ; I gave
,

them t w o h t tle ones last year her and her daughter

, .

’
I hope that you will not regret maki ng these ladi es acquai ntance for i t i s ,

really a fa mi ly The countess i s far from young but sh e i s countess first and then
.
,

a lady the daughter the s ame

, .

2
92
 I m getting ri d of I d o n ot feel so much need of di stra cti on I am less harassed by
’
.
,

my passi ons and I can work more calml y I coul d be alone wi thout get ti ng bored
, , .

I have come through rather older in the way I l ook at thi ngs but n o sadder , .

’
I shall not beli eve you if in your next l etter you tell me there s nothi ng wrong
wi th you It i s perhaps a more seri ous change and I shoul d not be surpri sed if
.
,

o u were a tri fle l ow duri ng the ti me i t will take y ou to recover In the fullness

y .

of arti sti c life there i s and remains and will al ways come bac k at t imes that
, , ,

homesi ck longi ng for the truly i deal life that can never come true .

And someti mes you l ack all des i re to throw yourself heart and soul i nto art and ,
’
to get well for that Y ou know y ou are a cab horse and that i t s the same ol d cab
.

’
you ll be hitched up t o agai n : that you d rather li ve i n a meadow wi th the sun a
’

ri ver and other horses for company li kewi se free and the act of procreati on , , .

And perhaps to get to the bottom of it the di sease of the heart i s caused by
, ,

thi s ; i t woul d not surpri se me One does not rebel against thi ngs nor i s one .
,
’ ’
resi gned to them ; one s ill because of them and on e does not get better and i t s , ,

hard to be preci se about the cure .

I do not know w ho i t was w ho call ed thi s condi ti on— bei ng struck by death
and i mmortality Th e cab you drag along must be of some use t o people y ou do
.

n ot know And so if we beli eve i n the new art and i n the arti sts of th e future
.
, ,

our fai th does not cheat us When good old Corot sai d a few days before hi s
.

”
death Last ni ght i n a dream I saw lands capes wi th ski es all p ink w ell haven t , ,
’

they c ome those ski es all pink and yellow and green into the bargai n i n the
, , ,

i mpress i oni st lan dscapes ? A ll of whi ch means that there are thi ngs one feel s
coming and they are comi ng i n very truth
, .

And as for us w ho are not I am i ncli ned to beli eve nearly so cl ose to death
, , ,

we neverthel ess feel that thi s thing i s greater than we are an d that i ts li fe i s of ,

l onger durati on than ours .

We d o n ot feel we are dying but we do feel the truth that we are o f small ,

ac count and that we are payi ng a hard pri ce to be a link in the chai n of arti sts
, ,

i n health i n youth in li berty none of whi ch w e en] oy any more than the cab
, , , ,

horse that haul s a coachful of peopl e ou t t o enj oy the spring .

So what I wi sh for y ou as for myself i s to succeed in getti ng back your

, ,
”
health because y ou must have that That Espérance by Puvi s de Chavannes i s
, .

s o true There i s an art of th e fut ure and i t i s go i ng to be so l ovel y and so young

.
,

that even if we gi ve up our youth for i t we must gai n i n sereni ty by i t Perhaps ,

.

i t i s very s ill y to wri te a ll thi s but I feel i t so strongly ; i t seems to me that hke
, ,

me you have been sufferi ng t o see your youth pass away li ke a puff of smoke ;
,

but if i t grows agai n and comes t o li fe i n what y ou make nothi ng has been l ost
, , ,

and the power to work i s another youth Take some pai ns then t o get well for .
,

we shall need your heal th .

A handshake for y ou and the same for Koning .

Ever yours Vincent ,

497
My dear Theo ,
Arles 1 2 June 1 8 8 8 ,

I am wri ting y ou another line because I have n ot yet received your l etter But .

I suppose y ou s ai d t o yourself that I w as probab ly at S tes Mari es .

-
.

As the rent of the house and the pai nti ng of the doors and wi ndows and the
purchase of canvas came on me all at once and cleaned me out you woul d d o ,

me a great kin dness if y ou would send me some money a few days earli er .

I am worki ng on a landscape wi th c ornfi el d s whi ch I think as well of a s say , , ,

t h e whi te orchard ; i t i s i n the styl e of the two l andscapes of the Butte Montmartre
whi ch were at the Independents but I thi nk i t has more firmness and rather ,

more style And I have another subj ect a farm and some ri cks whi ch will prob
.
, ,

abl y be a pendant .

I am very curi ous t o know what Gaugui n i s goi ng to do I hope he will be .

ab l e t o come Y ou will tell me that i t i s no good thi n ki ng about the fut ure but
.
,

pai nti ng goes s l owly and in it y o u must reckon well in advance It woul d not .

be Gaugui n s salvati on any more than mi ne to sell a few c anvases To be abl e

’
, , .

t o work y ou must order your li fe as much as possi b l e and i t takes a fai rl y firm
, , ,

basi s if exi stence i s t o be secure .

If he and I stay here l ong our p i ctures will be more and more i ndi vi dual
, ,

j ust because we shall know our country thr ough and through .

I do not fin d i t easy t o thi nk of c hanging my directi on now that I have begun

o n the South It i s better never to budge— but to get deeper and deeper i nto the
.

scenery .

I thi nk I have more chance of getti ng away wi th thi ngs and of even bi gger ,
’
res ul ts if I don t cramp myself by worki ng on too small a scal e And for that
, .

very reason I think I am goi ng to take a larger si zed canvas and l aunch out boldly
’
i nto the 3 0 square : they cost me 4 francs ap i ece here and i t i sn t expens i ve c on ,

s i d eri n g the carri age .

Th e l ast canvas absol utely kill s all the others ; i t i s onl y a stil l life wi t h coffee ,

pots and cups and p lates in b lue and yell ow ; i t i s somethi ng qui te apart .

It must be because of the drawi ng .

’
Insti ncti vely these days I keep rememberi ng what I have seen of Cézanne s ,
“ ”
because he has rendered s o for ci bly— as in th e Harvest we saw at Porti er s ’

the harsh si de of Provence It has become very di fferent from what i t was i n
.

spri ng and yet I have certai nl y no l ess l ove for thi s countrys i de s corched as i t
, ,

begi ns to be from n ow on Everywhere now there i s ol d gol d bronze c opper one

.
, , ,

mi ght say and thi s wi th the green azure of the sky bl anched wi th heat : a deli ci ous
,

c ol or extraordi naril y harmoni ous wi th the b l ended tones of Del acroi x

, ,
.

If Ga ugui n were wi lli ng t o j oi n me I thi nk i t woul d be a step forward for us ,

.

It woul d estab li sh us squarely as the expl orers of the South and nobody coul d ,

c omp lai n of that I must manage to get the firmness of col ori ng that I o t i n the
.
g
’
pi ct ure that kill s the rest I m thi nking of what Porti er used to say that seen by
.
,

themselves the Cézannes he had di dn t l ook li ke anyt hi ng but put near other ’
,

p i ctures they washed the col or ou t of everyt hi ng el se He al so used to say that

, .

the Cézannes did well in gold whi ch means that the color s cheme w as pi tch ed
,

2
95
v ery hi gh S o perhaps perhaps I am on the ri ght track and I am getti ng an eye
.
, ,

fo r thi s ki nd o f country We must wai t and make sure . .

Thi s l ast pi cture can bear the surroundi ngs of red bri ck wi th whi ch my s t udi o ,

i s paved When I put i t o n the ground wi th thi s background o f red very r ed

.
, ,

bri ck the col or of the pi c ture does not become holl ow o r bl eached The country
,
.

near A ix where C ezann e works i s j ust the same as thi s i t i s still the Crau If , .

“ ’
comi ng home wi th my canvas I say to myself Look ! I ve got the very tones
, ,
”
o f o l d C ezann e ! I onl y mean that C ezann e hke Zol a i s s o abso lutely part o f the
c ountrysi de and knows i t so i ntimately that you must make the same calculati ons
, ,

in your head to arri ve at the same tones Of course if you saw them s i de by s i de .
, ,

mi ne would ho l d thei r ow n but there would be no resemb l ance,

Wi th a handshake I hop e that you will be able to wri te one of these days
, .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

5 06
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 1 6 July 1 8 8 8 ,

I have come back from a day in Mont Maj our and my fri end the second li eutenan t ,

w as wi th me We exp l ored the o l d garden together and stol e some excell ent figs
.
, .

’
If i t had been bi gger i t would have made me thi nk of Zola s Paradou hi gh
, ,

reeds and vi nes iv y fig trees olives pomegranates wi th l us t y flowers o f the

, , , , ,

bri ghtest orange hundred year old cypresses a sh trees and will ows rock oaks
,
- -
, , , ,

half broken fli ghts of steps ogi ve wi ndows i n rui ns bl ocks of whi te rock covered
-
, ,

wi th li chen and scattered fragments of crumbli ng wall s here and there among
,

the green I brought back another b i g drawi ng but not of the garden That
.
, .

makes three drawi ngs When I have hal f a dozen I shall send them al ong
. .

Yesterday I went to Fon tvi eill es to vi s i t Bock and M c Kni g ht onl y these ,

gentlemen had gone o n a h ttle tri p to Swi tzerland for a week .

I thi nk the heat i s sti ll doi ng me good in spi te of the mosqui toes and fli es ,
.

The grasshoppers— not h ke ours at home but li ke those you see in Japanese ,

sketchbooks and Spani sh fli es gol d and green in swarms on the oli ves The
, , .

grasshoppers (I think they are call ed ci cadas) si ng as loud as a frog .

’
I have been thi nking t oo that when you remember that I pai nted old Tang uy s
portrai t and that he al so had the portrai t of the ol d lady (whi ch they have sold)
, ,

and of thei r fri end (i t i s true that I got 2 0 francs from hi m for thi s latter portrai t) ,
’
and that I have bought wi thout di scount 2 5 0 francs worth of p ai nts from Tan
guy on whi ch he naturall y made somethi ng and fi nally that I have been hi s
, ,

fri end no l ess than he has been mi ne I have good reason to doubt hi s ri ght to,

clai m money from me ; and i t reall y is squared by the study he still h a s of mi ne ,

all the more so because there was an express arrangement t hat he shoul d pay

hi mself by the sale of a pi cture .

By some queer freak of nature ! anti ppe Mother Tan guy and some other , , ,

good ladi es have heads of si lex or fli nt Certai nl y these ladi es are a good deal .

more dangerous in the ci vi li zed worl d they go about in than the poor soul s
bi tten by mad dogs wh o live i n the Pasteur Ins tit ute And old Tanguy woul d be .

2
9 6
pai nts and canvas i n reserve for when Gaug ui n comes I wi sh pai nt w a s as li tt l e .

troubl e t o work wi th as pen and paper I often spoil a pai nted s t udy for fear of
.

wasti ng color .

’ ’ ’
Wi th paper whether i t s a l etter I m wri tin g o r a dr awing I m doi ng i t doesn t
,
’
,

make much difference— so many sheets of W ha tman so many drawi ngs I thi nk ,
.

’
that if I were ri ch I d spend less than I do now
,
.

Well old Marti n woul d say then i t s up to y ou to get ri ch and he i s c ertainl y

, ,
’
,

ri ght just as he i s about the masterpi ece

,
.

Do y ou remember in Guy de Maupassant the gentl eman w h o hunted rabbi ts

and other game and who had hunted so hard for ten years and was so exhausted
, ,

by runni ng after the game that when he wan ted to get marri ed he found he w as
i mpotent whi ch caused the greatest embarrassment and consternati on Wi thout
,
.

bei ng i n the same si tuati on as thi s gentl eman as far as i t s being ei ther my duty or
my des i re t o get marri ed I begi n to resembl e hi m phys i call y Accordi ng t o the
,
.

worthy Zi em man becomes ambi ti ous as soon as he bec omes i mpotent N ow

,
.

’ ’ ’
though it s pretty much all the same to me whether I m i mpotent or not I m ,
’ ’
damned if that s goi ng t o dri ve me to ambi ti on It s only the greatest phil osopher .

o f hi s p lace and ti me and consequentl y o f a ll p l aces and a ll ti mes

,
good old ,

master Pangloss w ho could— if he were here— give me advi c e and steady my soul
, .

There— the l etter t o Russell i s i n i t s envel ope and I have wri tten as I i ntended , .

I asked hi m if he had any news of Rei d and I ask y ou the same questi on , .

I told Russell I l eft hi m free to take what he li kes and from the fir st l ot I sent ,

as well And that I was onl y wai ting for hi s expli ci t answer telli ng me whether
.
,

he preferred to make hi s choi ce i n your p lace or hi s ; that in the first place if he

wanted to see them at hi s ow n house y ou would send him al ong some orchards
, ,

and fetch the lot back agai n when he had made hi s choi ce S o he cannot quarrel .

wi th that If he takes nothi ng from Gaugui n i t i s because he cannot If he can

.
, .
,

I am i ncli ned to expect that he wi ll ; I told hi m that i f I vent ured to press him
’
t o buy i t w as not because nobody el se woul d if he di dn t but because Ga ugui n
, ,

having been ill and wi th the further compli cati on of hi s havi ng been lai d up
,

and havi ng to pay hi s doctor the b urden became rat her heavy for us an d w e
, ,

were all the more anxi ous to find a purchaser for a pi cture .

I am thi nki ng a l ot about Gaugui n and I woul d h ave p lent y of i deas fo r

,

pi ctures and about work i n general

, .

I have a charwoman now for one franc w h o sweeps and scrubs the hous e for ,

me twi ce a week I am counti ng heavily on her expecti ng her t o make our beds
.
,

i f we de ci de t o s l eep in the house Otherwi se we coul d make some arrangement

.

’
wi th the fellow where I am staying now Anyhow we ll try to manage so that .
,

i t woul d work out as an economy i nstead of an extra expense .

H ow are you now ? Are y ou still goi ng t o Gruby ? W hat y ou tell me o f the
conversati on at the Nouvelle Ath enes i s i nteresti ng You know the h ttle portrai t .

by Desb ou ti n that Porti er has ?

It certai n ly i s a strange phenomenon that all arti sts poets musi ci ans pai nter s , , , ,

are unfortunate i n materi al thi ngs— the happy ones as well— what y ou s ai d latel y
about Guy de Maupassant i s fresh proof of i t That brin gs up again the eternal .

2
9 8
 ’
ques ti on : Is the whole of life vi s ible t o us or i sn t i t rather that thi s si de of ,

death we see onl y one hemi sphere ?

Pai nters— to take them alone— dead and buri ed speak t o the next generati on
o r t o several su cc eedi ng generati ons thr ough thei r work .

Is that all or i s there more t o come ? P erhaps death i s not the hardest thi ng
,
’
in a pai nter s li fe .

For my own part I de cl are I know nothi ng whatever about i t but l ooki ng at
, ,

the stars al ways makes me dr eam as si mp ly as I dream over the b lack dots ,

representi ng towns and vill ages on a map Wh y I ask myself shouldn t the .
, ,
’

shi nin g dots of the sky be as accessi ble as the b lack dots on the map of France ?
Just as w e take the trai n t o get to Tarascon or Rouen we take death t o reach a ,

star One thi ng undoubtedl y true i n thi s reasoni ng i s that we ca nnot get t o a star
.

whil e we are a li ve any more than we can take the trai n when we are dead
, .

S o to me i t seems possi ble that chol era gravel tubercul osi s and cancer are the
, ,

cel esti al means of l ocomoti on j ust as steamboats buses and railways are the
, ,

terrestri al means T o di e qui etly of ol d age would be to go there on foot

. .

Now I am goi ng t o bed because i t i s l ate and I wi sh y o u good ni ght and good ,

luck .

A handshake ,
Ever yours Vi ncent ,

B 6 [5 ]
M y dear comrade Bernard Arl es Second half of June 1 8 8 8
, ,

M ore and more i t seems to me tha t the pi ctures whi ch must be made so that
p ai n ti ng shoul d be wholly i tself and shoul d rai se i ts elf to a hei ght equival ent to
,

t h e serene summi ts whi ch the Greek scul ptors the German mus i ci ans the wri ters , ,

of Fren ch novel s rea ch ed are beyond the power of an i so lated i ndi vi dual ; so they
,

wi ll probab ly be created by groups of men combi ning t o exec ute an i dea hel d in
common .

One may have a superb orchestrati on of colors and lack i deas Another on e i s .

cram funof new concepts tragi cally sad or charming but does not know how to
-
, ,

express them in a suffi ci entl y sonorous manner because of the timi d ity of a
limi ted p alette A ll the more reason t o regret the l ack o f corporati ve spi rit among
.

the arti sts wh o cri ti ci ze and persecute each other fortunately wi thout succeedi ng
, ,

in annihil ating each other .

Y ou will say that thi s whol e line of reasoni ng i s banal— so be i t ! How

ever the thin g i tself— the exi stenc e of a renai ssance— thi s fact i s certain l y no
,

b an ahty .

A techni cal qu esti on Just give me your opi ni on on i t i n your next l etter
. .

I am going t o put th e bla ck an d the wbi te just as the color merchant sell s them,

to us boldl y on my pal ette and use them just as they are When— and observe
, .

that I am speaking of the si mp lificati on of col or i n the Japanese manner— when

in a green park wi th pi nk paths I see a gentl eman dressed i n b lack and a justi ce
o f the peace by trade the Arab Jew i n D au d et s Ta r ta rin call s thi s honorabl e
(
’

fun cti onary zoug e de paix) wh o i s reading L Intransig eant ’

Over hi m and the park a sky of a si mple cobal t .

 then why not paint the sai d zou g e de paix wi th ordi na ry bone black and the
I ntransig eant wi th s i mpl e qui te raw whi te ? Fo r the Japanese arti st i gnores reflected
,

col ors and puts the flat tones si de by si de wi th characteri s t i c li nes marki ng off
, ,

the movements and the forms .

In another category of i deas— when for i nstance one composes a moti f of

col ors representi ng a yell ow eveni ng sky then the fierce hard whi te o f a whi t e ,

wall agai nst thi s sky may be expressed if necessary— a n d thi s i n a strange way
by raw whi te softened by a neutral tone for the sky i tself col ors i t wi th a deli cate
, ,

li lac hue Furthermore i magi ne in that l andscape whi ch i s so nai ve and a good
.
,

thing too a cottage whi tewashed all over (the roof t oo) standi ng in an orange
,

fi el d— certai nly orange for the southern sky an d the blue Medi terranean provoke
,

an orange t in t that get s more i ntense as the scal e of b lue col ors gets a more

vi gorous tone— then the b lack note of the door the windows and the li ttle cro ss ,

on the ri dge o f the roof produce a s i mu lt aneous contrast of b lac k and whi te just

as p leasing to the eye as that of blue and orange .

Or let us take a more amusi ng moti f : i magi ne a woman in a b lack and—whi te -

checked dress i n the same primi ti ve landscape wi th a blue sky and an orang e
soi l— that woul d be a rather fun ny si ght I thi n k In Arl es they often do wear ,
.

black and whi te checks .

S uffi ce i t to say that black and white are al so col ors fo r in many cases they ,

c an be l ooked upon a s col ors for thei r sim ultan eous contrast i s as stri king as
,

that of green and red for i nstan ce , .

The Japanese make u se of i t for that matter They express the mat and pale .

comp lexi on of a young gi rl and the pi quant contrast of the b lack hai r marvelously
w ell by means o f whi te paper and four strokes of the pen Not to menti on thei r .

black thornbushes starred al l over wi th a thousand whi te flowers .

At last I have seen the Mediterranean whi ch y ou will probably cross so ,

than I shall .

I spent a week at Sai ntes Mari es and t o get there I drove in a di li gence across the
-
,

Camargue wi th i t s vi neyards moors and flat fiel ds li ke Holland There at S ai ntes

,
.
,

Mari es were gi rl s wh o remi nded one of Ci mabue and Gi otto— thi n strai ght
,
’
, ,

somewhat sad and mysti c On the perfectly flat sandy beach httl e green red
.
, , ,

blue boats so pretty in shape and col or that t hey made one thin k of flowers
,
.

A single man i s thei r whol e crew for these boats hardly venture on the hi gh ,

seas They are off when there i s no wind and make for t h e shore when there i s
.
,

t o o much of i t .

Gaugui n i t seems i s still si ck

, , .

I am very eager to know what you have been working at lately I myself am -

s till doing nothi ng but landscapes— enclosed a sket ch [see the sket ch of the
boats] I should al so very much li ke to see Afri ca but I hardl y make any defini te
.
,

pl ans for the future i t wi ll all depend on ci rcumstances

,
.

What I should li ke to find out i s the effect of an i ntenser b lue in the sky .

Fromenti n and G er ome see the soil of the South as col orl ess and a l ot o f peop le ,

see i t hke that My God yes if y ou take some sand in you r hand if you l ook at
.
, , ,

i t cl osely and al so water an d al so ai r they are all col orl ess l ooked at i n thi s
, , , ,
 The Bi bl e i s Chri st for the O ld Testament l eads up t o thi s cul mina ting point
, .

St Paul and the evangeli sts dwell on the other s l ope o f the sa cred moun tain
. .

H ow petty that story i s ! My G o d onl y thi nk S o there are onl y Jews in the ,
.

world w ho begi n by declaring everythi ng whi ch i s no t themselves impure

, .

Why don t the other peopl es un der the great sun of those parts —the Egyptians
’

the Indians the Ethi opi ans Babyl on Nineveh— w hy don t they have their an
, , ,
’

nal s wri tten wi th the same c are ! The study of i t i s beautiful for all that and being
, ,

ab le to read every thi ng woul d be tantamount to not being abl e t o read at all .

But the consolati on of that saddening Bi ble whi ch arouses our despai r and
our i ndi gnati on— whi ch di stresses us once an d for all because w e are outraged by

i t s pettiness an d contagi ous foll y— the consolati on whi ch i s contained i n i t li ke ,

a kernel in a hard shell a bi tter pul p i s Chri st , ,

.

The figure of Chr i st as I feel i t has been painted onl y by Delacroi x and
, ,

Rembrandt and later Millet pai nted the do ctrin e of Chri st .

The rest makes me s mil e a li ttle all the rest of religi ous p ai n tin g— from the
,

reli gi ous point of vi ew not from the poi nt of vi ew of p ain tin g And the Itali an
,
.

pri miti ves— Botti celli ; or say the Flemi sh pri mit ives— V an Eyck ; Germans
Cranach— they are nothi ng but heathens wh o i nterest me only in the same respect
as the Greeks as Vel azquez an d so many other nat urah st s
,
.

Chri st a lone of all the phi losophers Magi etc — has affi rmed as a princi pal
-
, , .
,

certainty eternal li fe the infi ni ty of time the nothingness of death the necessity
, , , ,

and the rai son d etre of sereni ty an d devoti on He lived serenely as a g reater a rti st
’
.
,

tban a ll otber a rtists despi si ng marb l e an d clay as well as col or worki ng i n li vi ng

, ,

flesh That i s t o say thi s matchless arti st har dl y to be concei ved of by the obt use
.
, ,

i nstrument of ou r modern nervous st up efi ed brai ns made nei ther statues n or

, , ,

pi ctures n or books ; he l oudly proclai med that he made li ving men i mmortal s , .

Thi s i s seri ous espe ci ally because i t i s the truth

, .

Thi s great arti st did n ot wri te books ei ther ; su rely Chri sti an li terature as a
w ho le woul d have filled hi m wi th i ndi gnati on an d very rare i n i t are li terary ,

products that woul d find favor in di scerni ng eyes besi de Luk e s Gospel o r Paul s
k
’ ’

Epi stles— so si mpl e in thei r hard mi li tant form Though thi s great ar ti st— Chri st
, .

di sdai ned wri tin g books on i deas (sensati ons) he surel y di sdai n ed the spoken ,

word much less— parti cularly the parab le (What a sower what a harvest what a .
, ,

fig tree ! etc ) .

And w ho woul d dare tell us that he li ed on t hat day when scornfull y fore ,

telli ng the coll apse of the Roman edi fice he declared Heaven and earth shall pass , ,

away but my words shall not pass away

, .

These spoken words whi ch hke a prodi gal g rand seig neur he di d n ot even
, , ,

dei gn t o wri te down are on e of the hi ghest summi ts— the very hi ghest s ummi t
,

— reached by art whi ch becomes a creative force there a pur e creat ive
, ,

power .

These c onsi derati ons my dear comra de Bernard l ead us very far very far
, , ,

afiel d ; they rai se us above art i tself They make us see the art of crea ting hfe.
,

the art of bei ng i mmortal and alive at the s ame ti me They are connected wi th .

p ai nt ing .

3 02
 The patron saint of p ainters— S t Luke physi ci an painter evangeli st— whose
.
, , ,

symbol i s alas nothi ng but an ox i s there t o gi ve us hope

, , , .

Yet our real an d true lives are rather humb le these li ves of us painters w ho , ,

drag out our exi stence under the st upefyin g yoke of the di fficul ti es of a professi on
“
whi ch c an hardly be practi ced on thi s thankl ess p lanet on whose surface the l ove
”
o f art makes us l ose the t rue l ove .

But seein g that nothing opposes i t — supposi ng that there are al so lines an d
forms as well as col ors on the other i nnumerab le p lanets an d s uns— it woul d
remai n prai seworthy of us t o mai ntain a certai n sereni ty wi th regard to the
possi bili ti es of painting un der superi or and changed c onditi ons of exi stence an ,

exi stence changed by a phenomenon n o queerer an d n o more surpri sing than the
transformati on of the caterpillar i nto a butterfly or of the whi te grub i nto a ,

co ck chafer .

The exi stence of painter b u tt erfly woul d have for i t s fiel d of acti on one of the
-

i nnumerab l e heavenl y bodi es whi ch woul d perhaps be no more i naccessi b l e to us

'
, ,

after death t han the blac k dot s whi ch symbolize towns an d vill ages on g eog rap hi
,

c al maps are in our terre stri al exi sten c e .

S ci ence— sc i en tifi c reasoni ng— seems t o me an instrument that will lag far far ,

behi nd For l ook here : the earth has been thought t o be flat It was true so i t
. .
,

sti ll i s today for i nstance between Pari s and Asni eres Whi ch however does n ot
, .
, ,

prevent s ci ence from provi ng that the earth i s princi pall y roun d Whi ch no on e .

contradi ct s nowadays .

But notwi thstandi ng thi s they persi st nowadays in beli evi ng that life i s fla t an d
runs from bi rth t o death However life t o o i s probab l y round an d very superi or
.
, ,

in exp anse and capa ci ty t o the hemi sphere we know at present .

Future generati ons wil l probabl y enli ghten us on thi s so very interestin g
subj ect ; and then maybe S ci ence i tself wi ll arrive— wi lly ni lly— at conclusi ons -

more or l ess parall el t o the sayi ngs of Chri st wi th referenc e t o the other half of
our exi stence .

How ever thi s may be the fact i s that w e are pai nters in real life and tha t the
, ,

i mp ort ant thi ng i s to breathe as hard as ever w e can breathe .

“
Ah ! that l ovely pi c ture by Eu g Delacroi x : Chri st in the Boat on t h e Sea [si c]
.

”
of Gennesaret H e— wi th hi s pal e ci tron col ored aureo le— luminous ly as l eep
.
-

against t hat pat ch of dramat i c vi ol et somber blue bl ood red the group of , , ,

mortally fri ghtened di s ci pl es— on that terri b le emeral d sea ri si ng up ri sing up , ,

t o the very hei ght of the frame Oh ! that sub li mel y bri llian t concepti on I shou l d
. .

make some sket ches o f i t fo r you if I were n ot so beat after drawing and painting
from a model— a Zouave— for three or fou r days ; but on the contrary wri ting ,

rests and di stracts me .

What I have dashed off i s very ugly : a drawing o f a seated Zouave a p ainted ,

sket ch of the Zouave against a compl etely whi te wall and fin ally hi s portrai t ,

agai nst a green door and some orange bri cks of a wall It i s hard and utterly .

ugly and badly done All the same since i t means attacki ng a real di ffi culty i t
.
, ,

may pav e the way for me in the future .

The figures I d o are nearly always detestabl e in my own eyes and all the more ,
so the eyes of others ; yet i t i s the study of the fig ure that strengt hens one s
in
’

powers most i f on e does i t i n a mann er other than the on e taught us for

, ,
’
in stance at Mr Benjami n Constant s
,
. .

Your l etter d ehg h ted me the sketch i s very very i nterestin g ; many thanks for
, ,

it On
. my part I sha ll send you a draw i ng one of these days — toni ght I am t o o
exhausted ; my eyes are ti red even if my brai n i s not .

Just tell me do you remember John the Bapti st by Puvi s [de Chavannes] ?
,

I myself think i t amazi ng an d as magi cal as Eug ene Delacroix .

That passage you dug up i n the Gospel s about John the Bap ti st i s absolutely
“
what you have seen Peop l e crowding around a man : Are y ou the Chri st ? Are
.

”
you Eli as ? Just as i t woul d be now i f on e asked Impressi oni sm or one of i t s ,
“ ”
seeki ng representatives : Have you foun d i t ? It s just li ke that ’
.

At present my brother i s havi ng an exhi bi ti on of Claude Monet— 1 0 pi ct ur es

painted at Anti bes from Febr uary to May— i t i s very beauti ful i t seems , .

Di d you ever read a li fe of Luther ? For Cranach D urer Holbei n bel ong to hi m , , .

H e— hi s personality— i s the hi gh li ght of the Mi ddl e Ages .

I don t li ke the Roi Sol ei l any more than you d o — to me he seems more of an
’
-

extin gui sher thi s Loui s ! IV— my G o d what a l ousy bore i n general thi s sort
, , ,

o f Methodi st S o l omon I don t li ke Sol omon ei ther just as I don t li ke the

’ ’
,

.
,

Methodi sts the l east li ttle bi t— Sol omon seems a hypocri ti cal heathen to me ;
i ndeed I have n o respect for hi s archi te cture— an i mi tati on of other s t yl es — an d
,

still l ess for hi s wri tings for the pagans have done better than that
, .

Just tell me what about your mi li tary servi ce ? Do you want me t o speak to
,

that second li eutenant of the Zouaves or don t you ? Are you goi ng to Afri ca ,
’

o r not ? Do the years in your case co unt doub l e i n Afri ca o r not ? Above all try ,

to get b l ood ; one makes no progress wi t h anemi a painting goes sl owly You ,
.

must try to cult ivate a temperament whi ch can stand a l ot of wear an d tear a ,

temperament whi ch enab les you to hy e to a great age ; you ought to live h k e a
monk w h o goes to a brothel once every t wo weeks— that s what I do myself ; ’

i t s not very poeti c but I feel i t my duty after al l t o subordi n ate my life to p ai nti ng
’
.
,

If I were in the Louvre wi th you I should very much h ke t o l ook at the ,

pri mi t ives i n your comp an y .

As for me when I m in the Louvre I sti ll go wi th a great l ove in my heart

,
’

, , ,

to the Dutch Rembrandt first of all Rembrandt whom I used to s t udy so

, .
,

much— and then Potter for i nstan ce w h o ventur es t o p ain t a si ng l e white

, ,

stalli on on a size 4 o r 6 panel— a stalli on nei ghi ng and rutti ng— forl orn under a
sky pregnant wi th a t hunderstorm tragi ca ll y sad i n the deli cately green i mmensi ty
,

of a damp meadow In short there are marv el s i n those o l d Dut ch men whi ch
.
,

have no connecti on wi th anyt hing el se whatever .

A handshake and once agai n thanks fo r your l etter and your sketch
,
.

S incerely yours Vincent ,

P S
. The sonnets are doing well— that i s to say thei r color i s fine ; the drawing i s
.
,

l ess strong o r rather l ess sure the drawi ng i s sti ll hes i tant— I don t know how
’
, ,

to express i t— thei r moral purpose i s n o t clear .

 a study of a nude man reali sti c and si mpl e He stands l eani ng agai nst a door o r a
, .

pill ar i n a gl oomy interi or ; a shaft of li ght from above fleeti ng ly touches the
,

face whi ch i s bent forward and the mass of reddi sh hai r One mi ght call i t a
, ,
.

Degas on account of the true and deepl y felt ani mali ty of that body But look .

“ ” “
here di d y ou ever realb l ook at the Ox o r The Interi or of a Butcher s Shop
,
r
’

in the Louvre ? You haven t reall y l ooked at i t and Baudelai re i nfini tel y l ess It
’
, .

woul d be a huge pl easure for me to spend a morning wi th you i n the Gall ery of
th e Dutch Pai nters One c an hardl y descri be all that but wi th the p i c tures before
.
,

us I could show you marvel s and miracles whi ch are th e reasons why the ,

primi tives don t have my admi rati on at all that i s to say pri marily and most di rectly
’
, .

What do y ou expe ct — I am not so very eccentri c ; a Greek stat ue a peasan t ,

by Mi llet a Dutch portrai t a nude woman by Courbet or Degas th ose calm

, , ,

model ed perfecti ons are the reason why a l ot of other thi ngs— the primi tives
,

li ke the Japanes e— seem t o me so much p enwa mbzp It i nterests me enormous l y

’

.
,

but a complete thi ng a perfe cti on ren ders the in fini te tangi bl e to us ; and the
, ,

enj oyment of a beautiful thi ng i s li ke coi tus a moment of infini ty ,

.

Fo r instance do you know a pai nter call ed Vermeer who has pai nted a mong
, ,

other thi ngs a very beautiful p reg nant Dutch l ady ? The p al ette of thi s strange
,

painter i s blue ci tron yell ow pearl gray black whi te There are certainl y on
, , , ,
.
,

cl ose examinati on all the ri ches of a complete palette i n hi s rare pi ct ures ; but
,
.

the combi nati on of ci tron yell ow pale b lue pearl gray i s as characteri sti c of him
, ,

as black whi te gray and pink are o f Velazquez

, ,
.

Oh well I know— Rembrandt an d the Dutch pai nters are wi dely scattered over
,

[pub li c] museums and [pri vate] co ll ect i ons and i t i s n ot s o easy to

g a a n i dea o f ,

them if on e knows onl y the Louvre And yet the fact i s that Frenchmen— Charl es .

Bl anc Thor e Fromentin and certai n others— have better tha n the Dutch them
, , ,

selves wri tten about that speci al art

,
.

Those Dutchmen had hardly any i maginati on or fantasy but t hei r good taste ,

an d thei r sci enti fic knowl edge of compos i ti on were enormous They have n ot .

pai nted Jesus Chri st the Good God and so on— a lthough Rembrandt di d in fact
,

—but he i s the only on e and Bi bli cal subj ects are rel ati vely speaki ng not
( , ,

numerous i n hi s work) He i s the onl y one the excep ti on who has done Chri sts
.
, , ,

etc. And in hi s case i t i s har dl y li ke anythi ng whatever done by the other

reli gi ous painters ; i t i s metaphysi cal magi c .

Thus Rembran dt has p ainted angel s He paints a self portrait old toothl ess .
-
, , ,

wrinkl ed weari ng a cotton cap a pi cture from nature in a mi rror He i s dreaming

, , ,
.
,

dreami ng and hi s brush resumes hi s self portrai t but onl y the head whose
,
-
, ,

expressi on becomes more tragi cally sad more tragi cally saddeni ng He i s dream ,
.

in g sti ll dreami ng and I don t know w hy o r h ow but just as Socrates and

’
, , , ,

Mohammed had thei r fami li ar spi ri ts Rembrandt paints behi nd thi s old ma n , ,

w h o resemb les hi mself a supernat ural angel wi th a da Vi nci smil e

, .

I am showin g you a pai nter who dreams and pai nts from i magi nati on and ,

I began by contending that the character of the Dutch pai nters i s su ch that they
do not i nvent anyt hi ng that they have nei ther i maginati on n or fan tasy
, .

Am I i ll ogi cal ? N o .

3 06
 Rembrandt di d n ot i nvent anythi ng that angel that strange Chri st th e fa ct , , ,

i s tha t he knew them ; he fel t them there .

Dela croix p aints a Chri st by means of the unexpected effe ct of a bri ght ci tron
yell ow note a col orful lumi nous note whi ch possesses the same un speakabl e
,

strangeness and charm in the pi cture as a star does in a corner of the fi rmament ;
Rembrandt works wi th tonal values in the same w ay Del acroix works wi th colors .

Now there i s a great di stance between Delacroi x s an d Rembrandt s method ’ ’

an d that of all the rest o f reli gi ous pai nti ng .

I will wri te agai n soon The present i s to thank y ou for the drawi ngs whi ch
.
,

deli ght me enormousl y I have just fini shed a portrai t of a gi rl of twelve brown
.
,

eyes black hai r and eyebrows gray yellow flesh the backgroun d heavily tinged
, ,
-
,

wi th mal achi te green the bodi ce b l ood red wi th vi olet stri pes the ski rt blue
, ,

wi th large orange polka dots an oleander flower i n the charmi ng li ttle ha nd

, .

It has exhausted me so much that I am hardly in a mood for wri ting Ti ll .

soon again and once more man y thanks

,
.

S i ncerely yours Vi ncent ,

B 13 [8 ]
My dear comrade Bernard Arl es En d of J ul y 1 8 8 8
, ,

I don t have the sli ghtest doubt that you ll admi t that nei ther y ou n or I can have a
’ ’

compl ete i dea of Velazquez and Goya of what they were as men and as painters , ,

for nei t her of us has seen Spain thei r country and so m ny beauti ful thi ngs
a , ,

whi ch are sti ll l eft i n the South But what on e knows of them i s already something
.

nevertheless .

Of course as fo r the peop l e of the North Rembrandt first of all i t i s hi ghl y , ,

desi rab le when judgi ng these pai nters t o know thei r work as a whol e a s well as
, ,

thei r coun tr y and al so the somewhat intimate and conc i se hi story of the peri od
,

and of the customs of the ol d country .

I emphati cally repeat that nei ther Baudel ai re n or y ou has a suffici ently clear
i dea o f Rembrandt .

As for you I cannot encou rage you strongly enough to spend a l ong time
,

l ooki ng at the great and mi nor Dut chmen before formi ng a fixed opi ni on It i s n o t .

merely a quest i on of gems but a questi on of selecting marvel s among the marvel s
,
.

And then there i s not a li tt le paste among the di am onds .

So as for me w h o have been st udying the s chool of my coun try for twenty
, ,

years n ow I shoul dn t even answer if i t were bei ng di scussed because in general

,
’
,

I hear t oo much tal k whi ch i s besi de the poi nt when the pai nters of the North ,

are under di scussi on .

S o that my onl y answer t o y ou i s Bah ! l ook a li ttl e cl oser than that i t wi ll

,

trul y repay your troubl e a thous andfol d .

Look here for instance if I declare that the O stade in the Louvre representi ng
, ,
”
The P ainter s Family (man wife and a dozen chil dren) i s a pi cture infi ni tely
’

,
“ ”
worthy of st udy and reflecti on as well as The Peace of Mun ster by Terborch ,

— and then when those pi ctures in the gall ery of the Louvre whi ch I personall y
,

prefer and think most astoni shing are overl ooked very often by arti sts even by ,

0
5 7
those who have come to see the Dutchmen then I am n ot very surpri sed as , ,

I know that my choi ce i n that gall ery i s ba sed on a knowledge of thi s subj e ct
whi ch the maj ori ty of the French could not possi bl y share .

But if I di sagreed wi th you for i nsta nce about these subj ects I shoul d c on
, , ,

fi dent ly expect you t o grant that I was ri ght later on But wha t p ai ns me so .

terri bly in the Louvre i s to see thei r Rembrandts goi ng t o rui n an d the i di ots of
the admini strati on l etti ng so many beautiful pi ctures decay So the annoying .

yell ow tone of certai n Rembran dts i s the res ul t of deteri orati on from moi st ur e or
some other causes ; i n some cases I coul d poin t i t out to you wi th a wet finger .

It i s as di ffi cult to say what Rembrandt s color i s as i t i s to give a name to ’

“ ”
Velazquez gray For want of a better name one mi ght call i t Rembrandt gol d
’
. .

An d thi s i s what they have done but i t i s prett y vague , .

Comin g to France as a forei gner I perha ps better than Frenchmen born and
, ,

bred have felt Delacroix and Zola and my si ncere an d wholehearted admi rati on
, ,

for them i s boundl ess .

Sin ce I had a somewhat complete noti on of Rembrandt on e Dela croix got , , ,

hi s resul ts by col ors the other Rembrandt by tonal values but they are on a p ar
, , , , .
I

In thei r quali ty as painters of a soci ety of a nat ure in it s ent iret y Zola an d
, ,

Balzac produce rare arti sti c emoti ons in those w ho l ove them just because they ,

embrace the whol e of the epoch they depi ct .

When Delacroix pai nts humani ty li fe in general instead ofan epoch he bel ongs
, , ,

n o l ess to the same famil y of universal geni uses .

I very much li ke the last words of I thi nk S il vestre who ended a masterly, , ,
“
arti cle i n thi s w ay : Thus di ed— almost smili ng— Del acroix a pai nter of a nobl e ,

race w h o had a sun in hi s head and a thunderstorm i n hi s heart w h o tur ned

, ,

from the warri ors t o the s aints from the saints to the l overs from the l overs to
, ,
”
the ti gers an d from the ti gers to the flowers
,
.

Daumi er i s al so a great geni us .

And then Mi llet the painter of a whol e race and the envi ronment i t lives in
,
.

It i s possi ble that these great geni uses are only madmen and that on e must be ,

m a d oneself to have boundless fai th in them and a boundl ess a d mirati on for them .

If thi s i s true I shoul d prefer my i nsani ty to the sani ty of the others Perhaps the
, .

most di rect road i s to approa ch Rembrandt i ndirectly Let s talk about Frans Hal s .
’
.

He never ai nted Chri sts annunci ati ons to the shepherds angel s c ru c ifi x ion s
p , , ,

or resurre c ti ons ; he never p ai nted nude vo luptuous and besti al women ,

.

He di d po rtrai ts and nothi ng nothing el se

, , .

Portrai ts of soldi ers gatherings of offi cers portrai ts of magi strates assembl ed
, ,

to debate the affai rs of the repub li c portrai ts of matrons wi th p ink o r yell ow

,

ski ns wearing white caps an d dressed i n wool an d bl ack satin di s cu ssing the
, ,

budget of an orphanage o r an almshouse He p ainted the portrai ts of mi ddl e class.

-

men in thei r homes the man th e woman the chi ld He p ai n ted the drunken
.
, , .

toper an old fi shwi fe i n a mood of wi tchlike hilari ty the pretty gyp sy whore
, , ,

babi es in thei r di apers th e dashi ng self i ndul gent nobleman wi th hi s musta che
, ,
-
,

1 In h i s has te Vi nc ent must have left part of this t

sen e n c e o ut , b ut hi s m eani n i s c le ar g n o ne
t hel e ss .

3 0 8
5 14
My dear Theo ,
Arles 2 9 Jul y 1 8 8 8 ,
“
Many thanks for your ki nd l etter If you remember mi ne ended wi t h we are .
,
” ’
getti ng old that i s what i t is the rest i s i magi nati on and doesn t exi st Well
, ,
.
,

I sai d that more for myself than for y ou And I sai d i t because I felt the absolute .

necessi ty of behavi ng accordi ngly of working perhaps n ot more but wi th a , , ,

deeper understandi ng .

N ow you tal k of the empti ness you feel everywhere i t i s just the very thi ng ,

I feel myself .

Consi derin g i f you li ke the ti me i n whi ch w e li ve a great and true renai ssance
, ,

of art the worm eaten offi ci al traditi on sti ll alive but reall y i mpotent an d i nac ti ve
,
-
,

the new pai nters i solated poor treated li ke madmen and because of thi s treat
, , ,

ment actually becoming so at l east as far as thei r so ci al life i s concerned :

,

Then remember that you are doi ng exactl y the same work as these pri mi ti ve
painters since you provi de them wi th money and sell thei r canvases for them
, ,

whi ch enables them to produce others If a pai nter rui ns hi s character by worki ng .

hard at pai nti ng a thi ng whi ch l eaves hi m useless for many other thi ngs for
, ,

fami ly li fe etc etc if therefore he pai nts not onl y wi th col ors but wi th self
, .
, ,

deni al and self renunci ati on and wi th a broken heart— a s far as y ou are concerned
-
,

your own work i s not onl y no better pai d than hi s but i t costs y ou exactly what ,

the pai nter s costs hi m thi s sacri fice of the indivi duali ty half voluntary half
’
, , ,

acci dental .

That is to say that if you paint indi rect! y ou are more producti ve than I am ,

for i nstance The more i rrevo cably you become a dealer the more y ou become
.
,

an arti st .

And i n the same way I hope the same thi ng for myself The more I am spent .
,

i ll a broken pi tcher by so much more am I an arti st— a creati ve arti st— in thi s
, ,

great renai ssance of art of whi ch we speak .

These things are surel y s o but thi s eternall y li vi ng art and thi s renai ssance
t hi s green shoot spri ngi ng fro m
, , ,

the roots of the old felled trunk these are such ,

abstract thi ngs that a kind of melancholy remai ns wi thi n us when we thi n k that
one could have created life at l ess cost than creat ing art .

If possi ble you ought to make me feel that art i s ali ve you who l ove art
, ,

perhaps more than I do I tell myself that i t depends not on art but on mysel f tha t
.
,

the onl y w ay t o get back my confi dence and peace of mind i s to i mp rove my work .

And there w e are agai n back at the end of my last l etter— I am getti ng ol d
, ,

i t s sheer i magi nat i on if I shoul d thi nk that art i s o ld lumber t oo

’
.

“ ”
And now i f you know what a mousmé i s (y ou will know when y ou have
,

read Loti s M a da me Cbry rambeme) I have just pai nted on e It took me a whol e
’ ‘

,
.

week I have not been abl e to do anythi ng el se n ot havi ng been very well ei ther
, ,
.

That i s what ann oys me ; if I had been well I shoul d have attacked some lan d ,

s capes between ti mes but I had to reserve my mental energy t o d o the mousmé
,

well A mousmé i s a Japanese gi rl— Provencal i n thi s case— 1 2 t o 1 4 years old

. .

That makes two portrai ts now the Zouave and her , .

Take care of your heal th above all take baths if G mlgy reeommerzds i t for i n the
, ,

3 10
four years by whi ch I am older than you y ou will see how necessary comparativel y ,

good health i s for bei ng ab le t o work Now for us who work wi th our brai ns .
,

ou r on e an d onl y hope of not breaki ng down t o o soon i s thi s arti fici al eki ng o u t -

by an up t o date hygi eni c regi men ri gorously appli ed as much as w e can stand
- -
, .

Because I for on e do not do everythi ng I ought And a b i t of cheerfulness i s .

better than all the other remedi es .

I have had a letter from Russell He says that he woul d have wri tten me before .

if he hadn t been busy movi ng t o Bell e Is l e He i s there n ow and says that he

’
.
.
,

woul d be p leased if sooner or later I woul d g o and spend some ti me there He .

“
still wants to repai nt my portrai t He says t oo— I should have gone to Bou sso d s
.
’

’ ’
t o see Gaugui n s Negresses Tal ki ng if the same thi ng had not prevented me
‘

”
from that too .

In short he does not refuse to buy on e but makes i t clear that he does n ot
, ,

want anythi ng i nferi or to the one we have You see that at all events that i s .

better t han nothi ng .

I wi ll wri te thi s to Gaug ui n and ask him for sketches of pi ct ures We must .

hurry thi ngs and gi ve up R for the moment but regard i t as a matter that will
.
,

come off but i s in abeyance now

, .

And the same goes for G ui llau mi n .

I wi sh he [Russell] would buy a figure from G He says that he has had a very .

beauti ful bust of hi s wi fe done by Rodi n and that on thi s occasi on he lunched ,

wi th Claude M onet and saw the 1 0 pi ctures of Anti bes I am sendi ng hi m G effroy s .
’

arti cl e He cri ti ci zes the M onets very ab ly begi ns by li ki ng them very much the
.
, ,

attack on th e probl em the enfoldi ng ti nted ai r the col or After that he shows
, ,
.

what there i s to fi nd faul t wi th— th e total lack of construct i on for i nstance one ,

of hi s trees wi ll have far too much foli age for the thi ckness of the trunk and ,

so always and everywhere from the standpoi nt of the reali ty of things from ,

the standpoi nt of l ots of natural law he i s exasperat ing enough He ends by ,

.

sayi ng that thi s quali ty of attacki ng the di ffi cul ti es i s what everyone ought
t o have .

Bernard has sent me 1 0 sketches li ke hi s brothel ; three of them were ala Redon ;
I d o n o t altogether share the enthusi asm he has for that But there i s a woman .

washi ng herself very Rembrandtesque an effect li ke Goya and a landscape wi th

, , ,

figures very strange He express ly forbade me t o send them t o y ou but all the
, .
,

same y ou wi ll get them by the same post .

I thi nk that Russell will buy something more from Bernard .

M eanwhil e I have seen thi s Bock s work ; i t i s stri ctly i mpressi oni sti c but not
’
,

powerful i t i s the stage where thi s new techn i que still preoccupi es him so much
,

that he cannot be hi mself He will gai n i n force and then hi s i ndi vi dualit y will
.

break free I think But M c Kni g ht does water colors of the quali ty of those by
, .

Destr ee you remember that Dutchman w e used t o know However he has

, .
,

washed some s mall still lifes ; a yell ow pot on a vi ol et foreground a red p ot on ,

a green an orange p ot on blue better but very poor

, , , .

The village where they are stayi ng i s rea l M i llet poor peasants and nothi ng ,

el se absolutely rmtze and homely Thi s quali t y completely escapes them I think
'

, . .

3 11
 that Mc Kni g ht has ci vil ized and converted t o civili zed Chr i sti ani ty hi s brute of a
l andl ord Anyw ay the swi ne and hi s worthy spouse when you go there shake
.
, ,

hands wi th you— i r i s in a café of course— when y ou ask fo r drinks they have a

, ,

— “ ”
way of refusi ng money Oh ! I could n ot take money from an arti ss — wi th
tw o ses Anyway i t i s thei r own faul t that i t i s so abomi nab l e and thi s Bock
.
, ,

must get pretty well st ultifi ed i n M c Kni g ht s company ’

.

I thi nk that M c Kni g h t has some money but n ot much So they contami nate .

the vill age ; but for that I d go there t o work often W hat one ought to d o there
,
’
.

i s not to talk to the ci vilized peopl e ; n o w they know the stat i on master and a
sc ore of bores and that i s partly why they get nowhere Naturall y these s i mp l e
,
.

and artless country fol k laugh at them and despi se them But if they di d thei r .

work wi thout taki ng up wi th these vill age l oungers wi th thei r starched collars ,
’
then they coul d go i nto the peasan ts homes and let them earn a few pence And .

then thi s b l essed F ont vi eill es woul d be a gol d mi ne fo r them ; but the nati ves are
’
li ke Zol a s poor peasants i nnocent and gentl e bei ngs as w e know
, , .

Probably Mc Kni g ht will soon be maki ng li ttle landscapes wi th sheep for choc
olate boxes .

Not onl y my pi ctures but I myself have become haggard of l ate almost li ke ,

Hugo van der Goes in the pi cture by Emil Wauters .

Onl y havi ng g ot my whol e beard carefull y shaved off I thi nk t hat I am as

, ,

much li ke the very plac i d pri est in the same pi ct ure as lik e the mad p ai nter so in
t elli g entl y portrayed therei n .

And I do n ot mind being rather between the t wo for on e must li ve espe ci all y
’

, ,

because i t i s no u se i gnori ng the fact that there may be a cri si s some day o r other
if y o u were to change your relati ons wi th the Bou sso d s Another reason fo r .

keeping up thi s connecti on wi th arti sts on my part as mu ch as on yours , .

Besi d es I thi nk I have spoken the truth but if I shoul d succeed i n repl a cing
, ,

i n goods the money spent I shoul d onl y be doi ng my duty An d then somethi ng
, .
,

practi cal I can do i s portrai t pai nti ng .

’
As for dr i nki ng t oo much if i t i s bad I can t tell But l ook at Bi smarck ,
.
,

wh o i s i n any case very practi cal and very i ntelli gent hi s good doctor tol d hi m ,

that he was dri nki ng too much and that all hi s life he had overtaxed hi s stomach
,

and hi s brai n Bi smarck i mmedi ately stopped drinki ng After that he got run
. .

down and coul dn t pi ck up Secretly he must be laughing heart il y at hi s do ct or

’
.
,

because fortunately for hi m he did not consul t him sooner .

S o much fo r that a good handshake , .

Ever yours Vincent ,

Mind as ,
Gaugui n w e must n ot gi ve up the i dea of c oming to hi s ai d if the
to
suggesti on i s acceptabl e as i t stands but we do not need bim S o do n ot thi nk that
, .

worki ng alone bothers me and do n ot push the affai r on my a cc ount be very rare
, ,

The portrai t of the gi rl i s agai nst a background of whi te strongly ti nged wi th

mal achi te green her bodi ce i s striped bl ood red and vi olet the ski rt i s royal
, ,

b lue wi th l arge yell ow orange dots The mat flesh tones are yell owi sh gray ; t he
,
-
.
-

3 12
 Oh my dear boy
,
and the ni ce peopl e wi ll only see the exaggerati on as a
c ari cat ure .

But what ha s that to d o wi th us ? We ve read La Terre and G ermi na l and if w e ’

a re pai nti ng a peasant w e want to show that i n the end what w e h ave read has
,

c ome very near to bei ng part of us .

I do not know if I can pai nt the postman as I feel bi m ; thi s man i s li ke ol d

Tanguy in so far as he i s a revoluti onary he i s probably thought a good repub li can ,

b ecause he whol eheartedl y detests the repub li c whi ch we now enj oy and b e ,

c ause o n the who l e he i s begi nni ng to doubt to be a l i t tl e di s ill us i oned as t o , ,

t h e republ i can pri nci pl e i tself .

But I once watched hi m si ng the Marseilla i se and I thought I was watchi ng ,

8 9 not next year but the one 99 years a g o It w a s a Delacroi x a D aumi er

’
.
, , , ,

s trai ght from the o l d Dutchmen .

Unfortunately he cannot pose and yet to make a pi cture you must have an ,

i ntelli gent model .

And now I must tell y ou that these days as far as materi al thi ngs go are , ,

c ruell y hard Li fe no matter wha t I do i s pret ty expens i ve here almost lik e

.
, , ,

Pari s where you can spend 5 or 6 francs a day and h ave very li ttl e t o show for i t
,
.

’
If I have model s I suffer a good deal for i t But i t doesn t matter and I m
, .
’
,

o i ng t o continue And I can assure you that if you shoul d happen t o send me a
g .

li ttl e extra money someti mes i t woul d benefit the pi ctures but not me The onl y, ,
.

choi ce I have i s between bei ng a good pai nter and a bad on e I choose the first But . .

the needs of pai nti ng are li ke those of a wasteful mi stress you can do nothing ,

wi thout money and you never have enough of i t That s why p ain ting ou g ht to
'

’
.
,

be done at the publi c expense instead of the arti sts bei ng overburdened wi th i t ,
.

But there w e had better hold our tongues because no one if forcing us to work
, , ,

fate havi ng ordai ned that i ndifference to p ai nti ng be wi despread and by w ay of

being eternal .

Fortunately my di gesti on i s so nearly all ri ght again that I have li ved for thr ee
’
weeks i n the month on shi p s bi scui ts wi th mi lk and eggs It i s the bl essed warmth .

that i s bri ngi ng back my strength and I was certai nl y ri ght in g oing a t onoe to the ,

S outh i nstead of wai ti ng until the evil was past remedy Y es really I am as
, .
, ,

well as other men now whi ch I have never been except for a short while i n ,

Nuenen for i nstance and i t i s rather p leasant By other men I mean somethi ng
,
.

li ke the navvi es o l d Tanguy o l d Mi ll et the peasants When you are well you
, , ,
.
,

must be abl e to li ve on a pi ece of bread whi le you are worki ng all day and have ,
’
enough strength to smoke and to dri nk your glass i n th e eveni ng that s necessary ,

under the ci rcumstances And all the same to feel the stars and the infi ni te hi gh
.

and clear above y ou Th en life i s al most enchanted after all Oh ! those wh o

. .

’
don t beli eve i n thi s sun here are real i nfi del s .

Unfortunately along wi th the good god sun thr ee quarters of the tim e there
,

i s the devi l mi stral .

Saturday s post has gone damn i t and I never doubted but I shoul d get
’
, ,

your letter However y ou see I am n ot frett ing about i t

.
, .

Wi th a handshake . Ever your s Vi ncent ,

3 14
5 22
My dear Theo ,
Arles 1 3 August 1 8 8 8 ,

I have t o thank you for a l ot of thi ngs fi rst for your letter and the 5 o fr note ,
-
.

encl osed but al so just as much for the package of pai nts and canvas whi ch
, ,

I have been t o the stati on to get (the gerani um lake has come too) and lastly for ,

th e Cassagne book and for L a fin de L nei e P elleg ri n

,
.

If Tasset di vi ded hi s parcel s bett er i t woul d make a di fference in the cost of

,

carri age ; there were three parcel s thi s ti me tw o of them wei ghi ng more than ,

5 kil os If he had kept ba c k a few tubes the who l e woul d have c ost about 5 francs
.
, .

But I am very glad to have them all the same .

L uri e P elleg rin i s very fine i t i s qui ck wi th li fe and i s sti ll exqui s i te and movi ng
, ,

because i t keeps the human touch W hy shoul d i t be forbi dden to handl e these
.

subj ects unhealthy and overexci ted sexual organs seek sensual deli ghts such as
,

da Vi nci s Not I w h o have ha rdl y seen anything but the ki nd of women at

’
.
,

z francs ori gi nall y i ntended for the Zouaves But the peop l e who have l ei sure
, .

for l ove maki ng they want the da Vi nci mysteri es I reali ze t hat these l oves are
-
,
.

’
n o t fo r everyone s understan di ng But from the poi nt of vi ew of what i s all owed
.
,

on e coul d wri te books tr eating worse aberrati ons o f pervers i on t han Lesbi ani sm ,

j ust as i t woul d be permi ssi bl e t o wri te medi cal documents on thi s sort of story ,

surgi cal di squi si ti ons .

At all events l aw and j usti ce apart a pretty woman i s a li vi ng marvel whereas

, , ,

the pi ctur es by da Vi nci and Correggi o onl y exi st for other reasons Why am .

I so li ttle an arti st that I always regret that the stat ue and the pi ct ure are n ot
alive ? W hy d o I understand the musi ci an better why do I see the rai son d etre ,
’

of hi s abstracti ons better ?

At the fir st opportuni ty I will send you an engravi ng after a drawi ng by

Rowl andson representi ng two women as beauti ful as a Fragonard or a Goya
, ,
.

Just now we are havi ng a gl ori ous strong heat wi th no wi nd j ust what , ,

I want There i s a sun a li ght that for want of a better word I c an onl y call
.
,

yell ow pal e s ul phur yell ow pal e gol den ci tron H ow l ovely yellow i s ! And
, ,
.

h ow much better I shall see the North !

Oh ! I keep wi shi ng for the day when you will see and feel the sun of the

As t o studi es I have tw o studi es of thi stles in a vague field thi stles whi te wi th
, ,

the fi ne dust of the road Then a li ttl e s t udy of a roadsi de i nn wi th red and
.
,

green carts ; and al so a li ttle s t udy of Pari s Lyons Medi terran ee carri ages ; these - -

“ ”
l ast tw o s t udi es have been approved o f as havi ng qui te the modern touch by
the youn g ri val of good old General Boul anger the very respl endent a n d l i eu ,

tenant of Zouaves .

Th i s vali ant warri or h a s gi ven up the art of drawi ng i nto the mysteri es of ,

whi ch I endeavored t o i ni ti ate hi m but i t was for a p lausi bl e reason namely

, ,

that he had unexpectedly to take an exami nati on for whi ch I am afrai d he w a s ,

anythi ng but prepared .

Always supposing th e aforesai d young Frenchman al ways speaks the truth ,

he has astoni shed hi s exami ners by the confidence of hi s answers a c onfi ,

315
 dence he had reinforced by spendi ng the ev e of the exami nati on i n a b roth eL
As Francoi s Cop p ée I thi nk says in a sonnet one mi ght have a despai ri ng
, ,
“
,
” “ ” “
doubt on the subj ect of my li eutenant to be for Cop p ée goes on my , , ,
”
thoughts are on ou r defeat The fact remai ns that I have nothi ng to complai n
.

of in hi m and if i t i s true tha t he will shortl y be a full fle dg e d li eutenant on e must

,
-
,

an yhow acknowl edge hi s l uck He i s li tera ll y li ke the good ol d general i n that he

.

has often frequented the pretty ladi es of the so call ed café chantant t ype It will - -
.

be enough for me t o wri te you o r rather he will send y ou a wi re telli ng y ou by

,

what trai n he wi ll arrive on the 1 6th or i 7th Then he will hand over the p ainted .

s t udi es whi ch will save us the cost of carri age He owes me all that anyhow for
,
.

my l essons He wi ll only stay in Pari s on e or two days as he i s going North but

. ,
, ,

on h i s return he wi ll stop there l onger .

After such coolness i t i s rather kind of Uncl e to have l eft y ou a l egacy but ,

I cannot easily get i t i nto my head that C M and he di d n ot actuall y condemn . .

you t o penal servi tude for life that tim e they refused to l end you the capi tal
necessary to set you up i n busi ness for yourself Th i s will always remai n a grave .

’
error on thei r part But I won t harp on that All the more reason for tryi ng t o
. .

d o the utmost i n art even if we shall al ways be in comparati vel y strai tened
,

ci rcumstances as far as money i s concerned Well my b oy at the ti me you were .

, ,

rea dy
f y our p a rt to set up i n bus iness and consequently you have a perfe ct
or ,

ri ght to feel that y ou are doing y our duty for y our p a rt Consi dered as a whol e .
,

y o u have taken up t hi s bus i ness o f the i mpress i oni sts wi th t hei r he l p Wi thout .

thei r help the thi ng can t go on ; or will g o on in some di fferent w ay If you ha ve

’
.

made n o profit yet you have deserved somethi ng and if the Dutch c onfoun d
, ,
”
these t w o very di fferent thi ngs havi ng onl y thei r word verdi enen for bot h ‘‘
,

meani ngs so much the worse for them

, .

I am wri ti ng a lin e t o Mouri er t o o— y ou can read i r —and I gi ve you a hearty

handshake .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

Wi th regard to Gaugui n however much we appreci ate hi m I thi nk t hat we

, ,

must behave li ke the mother of a family and cal cul ate the actual expenses If on e .

li stened to hi m one woul d g o o n hopi ng for somethi ng vague i n th e future

, ,

and meanti me stay on at th e inn and g o on li vi ng in a hell wi th n o way out

, .

I would rather shut myself up i n a Cl oi ster li ke th e monk s free as the monks ,

are t o g o to the brothel or the wi ne shop if the spi ri t moves us But for our .

work we need a home Altogether Gaugui n l eaves me qui te in the dar k about
.

P ont Aven ; he taci tly accepts my suggesti on of comi ng to hi m if necessary but he

-
,

writes nothi ng about any means of fin di ng a studi o of our own or about what i t ,

woul d cost to furni sh i t And I c an t help feelin g there s somethi ng queer about i t
.
’ ’
.

So I have de ci ded n ot t o go t o Pont Aven unl ess we could find a house there
-
,

at a low rent li ke the on e here ( 1 5 fr per month i s what mine costs) and coul d
.

arran ge i t so that we c oul d sleep i n i t .

I am goi ng to wri te our si ster thi s eveni ng if I c an find ti me .

A handshake . Vi ncent
3 16
I coul d do wi thout the mi stral and wi thout the fatal condi ti ons of vani shed youth
and comparati ve poverty For my part I am in no way set on cha ngi ng my
.

condi ti on and I count myself onl y t oo happy to be abl e t o go on as I do

,
.

N 0 answer from fri end Russell and Gauguin certainl y deserved one , .

I have put in thi s package a drawi ng after a pi ct ure whi ch I am worki ng on

n ow — the boats wi th the man unl oadi ng sand If some s t udi es are not qui te dry .
,

s o much the worse for them They must be l eft to dry out then washed wi th
.
,

pl enty of water and retouched if necessary But they cannot come to much
,
.

harm and i t w as a good opportuni t y for sendi ng them

,
.

A good handshake and I do hope to hear from you by Fri day or Saturday
, .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

531
My dear Theo , Arles 3 September 1 8 8 8 ,
“
I spent yesterday wi th the Belgi an w h o al so has a si ster among the vi ng ti stes
,
.

The weather w a s not fine but a very good day for talki ng ; we went for a walk
,

and al l the same saw some very fine thi ngs at the bullfi g h t and outsi de of town .

We tal ked more seri ously about the i dea that if I keep a p lace i n the South he ,

ought to set up a sort of post among the coal mi nes Then Gauguin and I and .

he if the i mportance of a pi cture made i t worth the j ourney coul d change places
, ,

—thus bei ng someti mes i n the North but i n fami li ar country wi th a fri end i n i t
, ,

and someti mes in the South .

You wi ll soon see hi m thi s young man wi th the l ook of Dante because he i s
, ,

going t o Pari s and if you put hi m up — if the room i s free— you will be doi ng
,

him a good turn ; he i s very di sti ngui shed l ooki ng and will become s o I thi nk -
, , ,

i n hi s pai nti ng .

He li kes Delacroix and we tal ked a l ot about Delacroix yesterday He even

,
.

“
knew the vi olent cartoon for the Bark of Chri st .

Well thanks to h i m I at l ast have a first sketch of that pi ctur e whi ch I have
,

dreamed of for s o l ong— the poet He posed for me H i s fine head wi th that keen
. .

gaze stands ou t i n my portrai t agai nst a starry sky of deep ul tramar ine ; for
cl othes a short yell ow coat a coll ar of unbl eached linen and a spotted ti e He
, , ,
.

gave me two si tti ngs i n one day .

Yesterday I had a l etter from our s i ster w h o has seen a great deal Ah if sh e ,
.
,

coul d marry an arti st i t woul dn t be such a bad thin g for her

,
’
.

I have fini shed L I mmort el by Daudet I rather like the s cul ptor V edri ne s
’
.
’

sayi ng that achi evi ng fame i s somethi ng li ke ramming the li ve end of your ci gar
,

i nto your mouth when y o u are smoking But I certai nl y li ke L I mmortel l ess far
’
.
,

l ess than Ta rta ri n .

You know i t seems to me that L I mmortel i s not so fine i n col or as Ta rta ri n

,
’
,

because wi th i t s mass of true and subtl e observati ons i t remi nds me of the dreary
pi ctures by Jean B erend whi ch are so dry and col d Now Tarta rin i s rea lbrg rea t
, .
,

wi th the greatness of a masterpi ece just like Candi de , .

I beg y ou t o keep my studi es of thi s place as well air ed a s possi bl e because ,

3 18
 they are n ot yet thoroughly dry If they remai n shut up or i n the dark the col ors
.
,
“ ” “ ”
will l ose thei r quali ty S o the portrai t of The Young Gi rl
. The Harvest ,

(“a w i de l andscape w i th the rui n i n the background and the li ne of the Alps
) th e ,
” “ ”
Li ttl e Seascape the Garden wi th the weepi ng trees and clumps of coni fers
,

i t woul d be a good thi ng if you coul d put these on stret chers I am rather keen .

on them You will easi l y s ee from the drawi ng o f the li tt l e seascape that i t i s the
.

most thought out pi ece -

.

I am havi ng t wo oak frames made for my new peasan t s head and for my P oet ’

study Oh my dear brother someti mes I know so well what I want I can very
.
, , .

well do wi thout God both i n my life and i n my pai nting but I cannot ill as I , ,

am do wi thout something whi ch i s greater than I whi ch i s my li fe— the power

, ,

to create .

And if frustrated i n the physi cal power a man tri es to create thoughts i nstea d
, ,

of chi l dren he i s still part of humani ty

,
.

And in a pi cture I want to say somethi ng comforti ng as musi c i s comforti ng , .

I want to pai nt men and women wi th that somethi ng of the eternal whi ch t he
hal o used to symboli ze and whi ch w e seek t o convey by the act ual radi ance an d
,

vi brati on of our col ori ng .

Portrai t ure so understood does n ot become li ke an Ary Scheffer just becaus e

“ ”
there i s a blue sky in the backgrou nd as i n St Augusti ne For Ary Scheffer , . .

i s s o li ttl e of a col ori st .

But i t woul d be more i n harmony wi th what Eu g Delacroi x attempted and .

“ ”
brought off in hi s Tasso in Pri son and many other pi ct ures representin g a real , ,

man Ah ! portrai ture portrai ture wi th the thoughts the soul of the model i n i t
.
, , ,

that i s what I thi nk must come .

The Belgi an and I tal ked a l ot yesterday about the advantages and di sadvantages
of thi s pl ace We qui te agree about both And o n the great advantage i t woul d
. .

be to us if we coul d more now North now South , .

He i s goi ng to stay wi th M c Kni g h t agai n so as to live more cheaply That .

,

however has on e di sadvantage I thi nk because livi ng wi th a s lacker make s

, , ,

on e s l ack .

I think y ou woul d enj oy meeti ng him he i s still young I think he will a sk ,

.

your advi ce about buying Japanese pri nts and Daumi er li thographs A s to thes e .

—the Dau mi ers— i t woul d be a good thi ng t o get some more of t hem becaus e
,

later o n there won t be any more avai l ab le

’
.

The Belgi an was sayi ng that he p ai d 8 0 francs for board and l odging wi th
M c Kni g ht So what a di fference livi ng together makes s i nce I have t o pay 4 5 a
.
,

month for nothi ng but l odging I al ways come back to the same cal culati on that
.
,

wi th Gaugui n I should n ot spend more than I d o al one and be no worse off ,

.

But w e must consi der that they were very badly housed n ot fo r sl eepi ng but , ,

for the poss i bili t y of worki ng at home .

S o I am always between tw o currents of thought first the materi al di ffi cul ti es , ,

t urni ng ro und and round to make a livi ng ; and second the study of col or I am ,
.

always in hope of making a di scovery there t o express the l ove of two l overs by ,

a weddi ng of tw o comp lementary c olors thei r mi ngli ng and thei r opposi ti on , ,

31
th e mysteri ous vi brati ons of ki ndred tones To express the thought of a brow .

by the radi ance of a li ght tone agai nst a somber background .

To express hope by some star the eagerness of a soul by a s unset radi ance, .

Certai nl y there i s no delusi ve reali sm i n that but i sn t i t somethi ng that actuall y ,

’

exi sts ?
Good b y for now I ll tell y ou another tim e when the Belgi an may be l eavi ng
- .
’

because I ll see hi m agai n tomorrow

’
.

Wi th a handshake , Ever yours Vi ncent ,

The Belgi an told me that they have a De Groux at home the cartoon for the ,
“ ”
Bénédi ci té i n the museum in Brussel s .

The executi on of the portrai t of the Belgi an i s somethi ng li ke the portrai t of

Rei d whi ch you have .

533
My dear Theo , Arl es 8 September 1 8 8 8 ,

Thank you a thousand times for your ki nd letter and the 3 00 francs i t conta ined ;
after some worrying weeks I have j ust had on e of the very best And j ust as the .

worri es do not come si ngl y nei ther do the j oys For just because I am al ways
, .

bowed under thi s diffi culty of payi ng my landl ord I made up my mi nd to take ,

i t gai ly I swore at the sai d l andl ord w h o after all i sn t a bad fell ow and tol d
’
.
, ,

hi m that t o revenge myself for payi ng him so mu ch money fo r nothing I woul d ,

p ai nt the whol e of hi s rotten j oint so a s t o repay myself Th en to the great joy .

o f the l andl ord of the postman whom I had already pai nted of the vi s i ting
\

, ,

ni ght prowlers and of myself for thr ee ni ghts runni ng I sat up to p ai nt and went
,

t o bed duri ng the day I often thi nk that th e ni ght i s more ali ve and more ri ch ly
.

col ored than the day .

N ow a s for getti ng back the money I have pai d to the l andl ord by means of
,

my pai nti ng I do not dwell on that for the pi ct ure i s one of the ugli est I have
, ,
“ ”
done It i s the equi valent though di fferent of the Potato Eaters
.
, , .

I have tri ed t o express the terri bl e passi ons of humani ty by means of red and
green .

The room i s bl ood red and dark yell ow wi t h a green billi ard tab l e in th e
mi ddle ; there are four ci tron yell ow l amps wi th a gl ow of orange and green
-
.

Everyw here there i s a clash and contrast of the most di sparate reds and greens
i n the figures of li tt le s leep i ng hooli gans i n the empty dreary room in vi ol et , , ,

and b lue The bl ood red and the yell ow green of the bi lli ard tabl e for i nstance
.
- -
, ,

contrast wi th the soft tender Loui s ! V green of the counter on whi ch there i s ,

a pi nk nosegay The whi te coat of the l andl ord awake i n a corner of that fu rnace
.
, ,

turns ci tron yellow or pal e lumi nous green

-
, .

I am maki ng a drawi ng of i t wi th the tones i n water col or to send to y ou

tomorrow to give y ou some i dea of i t .

I wrote thi s week to Gauguin and Bernard but I di d not tal k about an yt h ing ,

but pi ctures just so as not to quarrel when there i s probabl y nothi ng t o quarrel
,

about .

20
3
al ready bought many other thi ngs besi des the beds and the beddi ng I have ,

al ready spent the greater part of the 5 0 francs fo r the week and I ha ve partl y ,

economi zed on both beds by havi ng one of them somewhat plai ner .

I am convi nced that in the end we shall do well by furni shi ng the s t udi o And .

I already feel freer i n my work and l e ss harri ed by unnecessary annoyances tha n

,

I have been .

Only if as I hope I take more pai ns wi th the styl e and quali ty of my work
, , ,

i t wi ll go a li ttl e more sl owl y o r rather I shall have t o keep the p i ctur es wi th

,

me l onger That is if they are subj ects that are connected and compl ement each
.
,

other And al so be cause there will be some pi ctures whi ch I certainl y do not
.

want to send you till they are bone dr y .

In thi s l ast category there i s a square si ze 3 0 canvas a corner of a garden wi th ,

a weeping tree grass round clipped cedar shrubs and an ol eander bush The
, ,
.

same corner of the garden that i s whi ch you have already had a study of in the
, ,

l ast parcel But as thi s on e i s bi gger there i s a ci tron sky over everyt hi ng and
.
, ,

al so the colors have the ri chn ess and i ntensi ty of aut umn And besi des i t i s in .

even heavi er pai nt than the other one p lai n and thi ck That i s p i cture number , .

on e thi s week .

The second represents the outs i de of a café wi th the terrace li t up by a b i g ,

gas l amp in the blue ni ght and a corner of a starry b lue sky
,
.

The third pi cture thi s week i s a portrai t of myself a lmos t colorless in gray tones , ,

agai nst a background of pale malachi te .

I purposely bought a mi rror good enough to enabl e me t o work from my

i mage in defaul t of a model because if I can manage t o p ai nt the c olori ng of my
,

ow n head whi ch i s not to be done wi thout some di ffi c ul ty I sha ll li kewi se be

, ,

able t o pai nt the heads of other good soul s men and women , .

The probl em of pai nti ng ni ght scenes and effe cts on th e spot and actually by
ni ght i nterests me enormous ly Thi s week I have done absolutely nothi ng but
.

pai nt and s leep and have my meal s That means si t tings of twelve hours of six
.
,

hours and so on and then a s l eep of twelve hours at a stretch

, .

I read in the literary supplement of Sat urday s Fig aro ( 1 5 September) the de ’

scri pti on of an i mpressi oni st house Thi s house w as buil t wi th bri cks— as i t were
.

li ke the bottoms o f bottl es — o f convex gla ss vi ol et glass Wi th the sunshin e , .

reflected i n i t and the yell ow refracti ons the effe ct was i ncredi ble T o support
, ,
.

these wall s of glass bri cks shaped li ke vi olet col ored eggs they had i nvented a
,
-
,

support of b lack and gilt i ron represent ing the wei rd bran ches of Vi rgi ni a
creeper and other cli mbi ng plants Th i s vi ol et house was ri ght in the mi ddle of a
.

garden where all the paths were of bri ght yellow s and The ornamental flower .

borders were of course most unusual i n col ori ng The house i s if I remember .
,

correctly in Auteui l
, .

Wi thout changi ng anyt hi ng i n thi s house ei ther n ow or afterward I want all ,

the same to make i t an arti st s house through the dec orati ons That will come
’
. .

A g ood handshake I went for a splendi d walk by myself today among the
.

vi neyards .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

My dear comrade Bernard Arles Begin nin g of Augu st 1 8 8 8
, ,

I see I forgot t o answer your questi on as t o whether Gaug ui n i s still in Pont

Aven Y es he i s still there and if you shoul d lik e to wri te t o hi m I am i nclined
.
, , ,

t o think he will be p l eased He has been stayi ng there t i ll n o w but he will

.
,

probably j oi n me here before l ong a s soon a s he hi mself o r both of us can get ,

the money for the j ourney .

I don t beli eve that thi s questi on of the Dut ch p ai nters whi c h we are di scussing
’
,

at the moment i s wi thout i nterest A s soon a s vi rili t y ori gi nali ty nat urali sm of
,
.
, ,

whatever ki nd come i nto questi on i t i s very i nterestin g to consul t them But ,

“

I must speak to you agai n first of al l about yourself the two st ill li fes you have ,

done an d the tw o portrai ts of your gran dmother Have y ou ever done anythin g .

bett er than that and have y ou ever been more y ourself and a personali t y ? I think
,

n ot The profoun d study of th e first thi ng whi ch came to hand of the first person
.
,

wh o came along w as enough t o erea te reall y D o you know wh y I lik e these t hree .

o r four studi es so much ? Because of tha t unknown quali t y of deli berateness o f ,

great wi sdom that i nexpressi bl e quali t y of bein g steady and firm and self assured
,
-
,

of whi ch they give evi dence Y ou have never been cl oser to Rembrandt old
.
,

fell ow than in these studi es

,
.

In Rembrandt s st udi o that incomparab le sphi nx Vermeer of Delft foun d thi s

’
, ,

extremel y soli d techn i que whi ch ha s never been surpassed whi ch at present ,

we are burning t o find Oh I know w e are worki ng and reasoni ng wi th eolors

.
, ,

just as th ey were wi th ebi a roseuro tona l va lues ,

.

But what d o these differences matter when the great thi ng after all i s to express ,

oneself strongly ?
At present you are studyi ng the methods of the Itali an and German primi tives ,

the symboli c s i gni ficance whi ch the abstract mysti cal dr awin g of the Itali ans may
contain G o a bea d I myself rather li ke that an ecdote about Gi otto There w as a
. . .

contest fo r paintin g some pi cture or other representi ng a Vi rgin A lot of cartoons .

were submi tted to the Admi ni strati on of Fi ne Arts of the ti me One of these .

cartoons si gned Gi otto w a s si mp ly an oval an egg shape The Admi ni strati on

, , ,
.
,

perp l exed— a n d c onfi d ent— entrusted the Vi rgin i n questi on to Gi otto I don t .
’

know whether i t i s true o r not but I li ke that an ecdote qui te a l ot ,

.

However let us return to Daumi er an d your grandmother

, .

When are y ou goi ng t o show us studi es of such vi gorous soundness agai n ?

I urgentl y invi te y ou t o d o i t al though I most certai nl y do not despi se your
,

resear ches relating to the property of lines i n opposi te moti on— as I am not at all
indi fferent I hope t o the s i mul taneous contrasts of lines forms The troub l e i s
, , ,
.

— ou see my dear comrade Bernard— that Gi ott o an d Ci mabue as well as

y , ,

Holbei n and Van Dyck li ved in an obeli scal— e xcuse the word— soli dl y framed
,

soci ety archi te ct urally constru cted in whi ch each i ndi vi dual w a s a stone and all
, , ,

the stones clung together formi ng a monumental soci ety When the so ci ali sts
, .

constru ct thei r l ogi cal soci al edi fi c e— whi ch they are still pretty far from doi ng
I am sure man kind will see a reincarnati on of thi s soci ety .

w e are i n the mi dst of downri ght lai sser aller and ana rchy -
.
l ove order and symmetry i solate ourselves and are worki ng to defin e
, ly
on one

Puvi s [de Chavan nes] knows thi s all ri ght, and when he , so just and so wi se
”

forgetti ng hi s Elysi an Fi el ds — was so good as to descend ami ab ly i nto the i ntima y c

of our ti me, he painted a fine portrai t i ndeed : th e serene o l d man in the cl ea r

li ght of hi s b lue i nteri or, readin g a novel wi th a yell ow cover— besi de hi m a glass
of water wi th a water col or brush and a ro se i n i t Al so a fashi onab l e l ady, as the
-
.

de Co n c o urt s have depi cted them .

N ow w e see that the Dutch pai nt thi ngs just as they are, apparently wi thout
reasoni ng ju st as Courbet pai nted hi s beautiful nude women They painted p o r
,
.

trai ts , l andscapes , still lifes Well , one c an be stupi der than that, and commi t
.

greater folli es .

If we don t know what t o do, my dear comrade Bernard, then l et s do as they

’ ’

di d, if onl y not to l et o u r rare intell ect ual power evaporate in steril e metaphys i al c
medi tati ons whi ch cann ot possi b ly put the chaos into a goblet, as chaos i s chaoti c
for the very reason that i t contains n o glass of our caliber .

We can— and thi s was done by these Dutchmen who are so desperately naughty
in the eyes of peop l e wi th a system— w e c an pain t an atom of the haos ,a horse, c
a portrai t, your gran dmother, appl es , a l andscape .

Why do you say Degas i s i mpotently flabby ? Degas lives li ke a small lawyer
and does not li ke women, fo r he knows that if he l oved them and fucked them
c
often, he, in telle tually di seased, woul d become insi pi d as a p ai n ter .

Degas s painting i s vi ri le and i mpersonal for the very reason that he has
’

resi gned hi mself t o be nothing personally but a small l awyer wi th a horror of

going on a spree He l ooks on whi le the human ani mal s , stronger than hi mself,
.

c
get ex i ted and fuck, and he pai nts them well, exa tly because he doesn t have ’
c
the pretenti on to get exci ted hi mself .

Rubens ! Ah that on e ! he was a handsome man and a good fucker Courbet t o o

, , .

Thei r health permi tted them to dri nk eat fuck A s for you my poor dear
, , ,

comrade Bernard I al ready tol d y ou in the spring : eat a l ot do your mili tary
, ,

ex c er c i se s well don t fuck t o o much ; when you do thi s your p ai nti ng wi ll be all
’
,

the more spermati c .

Ah ! Balzac t hat great and powerful arti st has ri ghtly tol d us that relative
, ,

chasti ty fort ifi es the modern arti st The Dutchm en were marri ed men a nd beg ot
.

ebi ldren a fin e very fine craftsmanshi p and deep l y rooted in nature

, , ,
.

One swall ow does not make a summer I don t say that among your new .
’

Breton studi es there are none whi ch are vi ri l e an d sound ; I have not seen them
yet so I coul d not possi bly di scuss them But what I have seen were those vi ril e
, .

things : the portrai t of your gran dmother those sti ll li fes But judging from your
,
.

drawi ngs I have vague mi sgivi ngs that your new studi es will not have the s ame
,

vi gor exactly in point of vi ri lity

, .

Those studi es whi ch I am speaking about first are the first swall ow of your
, ,

arti sti c spring .

If w e want to be reall y potent males in our work we must sometim es resi gn ,

ourselves to n ot fuck much and for the rest be monks o r sold iers accordi ng to
, ,
B 17 [74]
My dear comrade Bernard ,
Arl es S econd half of September 1 8 8 8
,

Just a word to thank you for your drawi ngs ; I thi nk they were done a li ttl e t oo
ha stil y and I li ke the drawings of the whores better ; but for the rest there i s an
,

i dea i n all of them I have been overwhelmed wi th work latel y for the weather i s
.
,

gl ori ous and I must make the most of the fine days whi ch are short
, , .

I cann ot wi thdraw what I sai d about the pri ce : three francs just for food and , ,

then the extras ! But I have no doubt that all tha t Gaug ui n tol d you about the
pri ces here i s c orrect But all that I c an see i s t hat the moment of your departure to
.

d o your mi li tary servi ce i s drawin g near an d I very mu ch wi sh to i nduce you r

,

father t o provi de y ou wi th what s necessary t o forti fy yourself wi t h good food

’

wi thout your work sufferi ng under i t Let hi m do the handsome thi ng and give
.

o u a ll that i s reasonab l e in the i nterv al bet ween n ow an d the ti me of your servi ce

y .

I have wri tten you insi stently and repeatedly that if y ou g o t o Afri ca y ou will , ,

work t here and y ou will see the very s cenery whi ch y ou ought to see t o devel op
,

your talent as a pai nter and a c ol ori st to it s full ext ent Bu t thi s c an onl y be done .

at the expense of your poor carcas s unl ess before your Afri can hardships your
,

father enables y ou t o avoi d getti ng anemi c or catchi ng a debili tating dysentery as

a result of a lack of strengtheni ng food .

It i s hardl y possi bl e t o fortify one s body over there ; far be i t from me to say
’

that when on e i s going into a hot climate one ought to fatten oneself up first ,

but what I do say i s that on e shoul d at tend t o one s nouri shment some ti me in ’

advance ; and I abi de by thi s through thi ck and thi n as thi s regi men agrees wi th ,

me so well here because there i s some di flerenc e between the heat of Afri c a and
'

the heat of Arl es .

Y o u will ei ther come out of thi s tri al of your servi ce much stronger st rong ,

enough for a whole arti sti c career— o r a broken man .

However that may be I shoul d be enormou sly deli ghted if y ou came here
, ,

an d if Gaugui n came t oo ; and t hen the onl y thin to be regretted w ill be that i t
g
i s wi nter an d not the season of fin e weather I am comin g t o beli eve more and
.

more that the cui sine has somethi ng to d o wi th ou r abilit y to thi nk and t o make
pi ctures ; as for me when my stomach bothers me i t i s n ot condu cive t o the
,

success of my work .

In short I thi nk that if your father made up hi s mi nd qu i etl y t o preserve your

, ,

pi ct ures and grant you a somewhat generous credi t he woul d l ose less in the end ,

than if he a cted differently In the South one s senses get keener one s hand b e
.
’
,
’

comes more agil e one s eye more alert one s brain cl earer however on condi ti on
,
’
,
’

that all thi s i s not spoi led by dysentery o r something el se of a debili tati ng nat ure .

But apart from that I venture to beli eve most firmly t hat anyone w h o l oves
arti sti c work will fi nd hi s producti ve facul ti es devel op in the South ; but take care
o f your b l ood an d take care o f everyt hi ng el se .

And now you wi ll tell me perhaps that I am boring y ou wi th all thi s — that
you want t o go to the brothel wi thout giving a damn about all the rest Good .

heavens i t a ll depends but I cannot speak di fferently than I d o A rt i s l ong and

, , .

li fe i s short and w e must be pati ent whil e tryi ng to sell ou r lives d earl y H ow
, ,
.
 I wi sh I were you r age an d coul d g o off knowing what I know to do my mili tary
, , ,

servi ce in Afri ca ; but then I shoul d get myself a better body than I have n ow ,

and n o mi stake !
If Gaugui n an d I are here together whi ch wi ll probabl y happen then we shall
, ,

certai nly do our utmost to save you expense ; but then your father on hi s part , ,

ought t o d o hi s utmost t oo and have confidence in u s an d reali ze that we are

, ,

n ot tryi ng t o d o hi m ou t o f more money tha n necess ary T o d o good work on e .

’
must eat well be well housed have one s fli ng from ti me t o ti me smoke one s
, , ,
’

pi pe and dri nk one s coffee in peac e

’
.

I d o n ot say tha t all the other things are wi thout value I want t o l eave every ,

body free to do what he li kes ; but what I do say i s that thi s system seems prefer
abl e t o me t o a good man y other s .

A hear ty handshake . Sincerely yours Vincent ,

B 19a
My dear comrade Bernard , Arl es End of O ctober 1 8 8 8 ,

We have worked a l ot these days and in the meanti me I read Le réoe [The Dream]
,
'

by Z ol a an d because of thi s I had hardl y any ti me to wri te Gauguin i nterests

,
.

me very much as a man — very much .

Fo r a l ong ti me n ow i t has seemed t o me t hat i n our nasty professi on of painting

we are most sorely in need of men wi th the hands and the stomachs of workmen .

M ore natu ral ta stes— more l oving and more chari tabl e temperament s— than th e
decadent dandies of the Pari si an boul evards have .

Well here w e are wi thout the sli g htest doubt in the presence of a virgin
,

creat ure wi th savage i nsti nc ts Wi th Ga uguin bl ood and sex prevail over ambi ti on
. .

Bu t enough y ou have seen hi m at cl ose ran ge for a l onger ti me t han I have ;

,

I onl y wanted t o tell y ou in a few words what my first i mpressi ons are M oreover .
,

I do n ot thi nk y ou will be greatl y amazed if I tell y ou that ou r di scussi ons tend

t o treat of the terri b l e subj e ct of an asso ci ati on of certain pai nters Thi s associ a .

ti on must or may have yes or no a commer ci al charact er We haven t arri ved at

, , .
’

an conclusi on yet nor have w e set foot on a new contin ent

fim w w m m
.
,

m
ili
p s
g sil
f a t y o an i mmense renai ssan ce o f art . Wh oever beli eve i thi s new art s n

wi ll have the tropi cs for a home .

I have the i mpressi on that w e our selves ser ve as n o more than in termedi ari es .

by experi ence and nothi ng el se I am a b i t surpri sed at the fact that I have n ot yet
.

recei ved the studi es y ou promi sed me in exchange for mi ne .

N ow something that will in terest y ou — w e ha ve made some excursi ons t o the

brothel s an d i t i s probabl e that in the end we sha ll often go and work there
,
.

At the moment Gaug ui n i s worki ng on a canvas of the same ni ght café I

painted t oo but wi th figures seen i n the brothel s It promi ses t o turn o ut beauti ful
, . .

I myself have done two studi es of the fall of l eaves in an avenue of pop lars ,

and a thi rd study of thi s whol e avenue enti rel y yell ow ,

.
 I must say I cannot understand why I don t do studi es after the fig ure seeing ’
,

that i t i s often so di ffi cul t for me to i magine the painti ng of the fut ure t heoreti call y
as ot herwi se than a new successi on of powerful si mpl e portrai t i sts c omp reh en , ,

si bl e to the general publi c Well perhaps I sha ll g o do the brothel s before l ong
.
,
.

I leave a page open for Ga ugui n w h o will probably wri te to you too an d I , ,

hearti ly shake your hand i n thought

Sin cerely yours Vi ncent
.

M i lli et the second li eutenant of the Zouaves has gone to Afri ca ; he woul d li ke
, ,

you to wri te hi m a letter on e o f these days .

[Underneath thi s l etter there i s a postscri pt by Gaugui n in whi ch he says that ,

he agrees wi th Vincent s i dea of a new generati on of painters in the tropi cs He

’
.

intends t o go there as soon as he gets a chance The two p i ctures by Vincent of .

the falli ng leaves are hanging in hi s room an d Bernard woul d think them fi n e ] ,

538
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 1 8 S eptember 1 8 8 8 ,

Many thanks for your l etter and the 5 0 franc note whi ch i t contai ned -
.

I al so recei ved M auri n s drawi ng whi ch i s magnificent That man i s a great

’

,
.

arti st Last ni ght I s lept in the house and though there are some thi ngs still to
.
,

be done I feel very happy i n i t Besi des I feel that I can make somethi ng l asti ng
, .
,

out of i t from whi ch others can profit as well N ow money spent will no t be
, .

money l ost and I thi nk that you will soon see the di fference At present i t reminds
, .

me of Bo sb oom s i nteri ors wi th the red t il es the whi te wall s the furni ture of
’
, , ,

whi te deal and walnut and the g li mpses of an i ntense blue sky and greenery
th rough the wi ndows Its surroundings the publi c garden the ni ght cafés and
.
, ,

the grocer s are not Millet but instead they are Daumi er absolute Zola
’

, , ,
.

And that i s qui te enough t o supply one wi th i deas i sn t i t ? ,

’

Yesterday I had already wri tten to you saying that if I figure the t wo beds at ,

3 00 francs the pri ce will not allow of any further redu cti on If I ha ve al ready
, .

bought more than that anyway i t i s because I put half of l ast week s money i nto i t
,
’
.

Y esterday agai n I had to pay 1 0 francs to the i nn keeper and 3 0 francs for a
mattress .

At the moment I have 5 francs left so I must beg you to send me what y ou ,

can or el se— but do let i t be by return mail— a l oui s t o l ast me the week or
, ,

i ndeed 5 0 francs if i t s poss i bl e

’
.

In on e way or another I d li ke to be abl e to count on getti ng thi s month

’
,

meani ng the whole month another 1 00 i nstead of the 5 0 as I asked you in

, ,

yesterday s l etter ’
.

If I myself save 5 0 francs duri ng the month and add the other 5 0 to that , ,

I shoul d have spent al together 400 franc s on furni tur e My dear Th eo here w e .
,

are on the ri ght road at l ast Certai nl y i t does not matter bei ng wi thout hearth or
.

home and living in cafés li ke a traveler so l ong as on e i s young but i t w a s b e ,

coming unbearable to me and more than that i t di d not fit in wi th thoughtful

, ,

work So my p lan i s all complete I will try to paint up t o the val ue of what y ou
.
,
 arti sts an d thei r art At present I d o n ot thi nk my pi ctures worthy of the advan
.

tages I have received from y ou But once they are worthy I swear that y ou will .
,

have created them as much as I and that we are maki ng them together , .

But I will n ot say more about that bec ause i t will be as cl ear as dayli ght t o ,

you when I begi n t o do thi ngs more seri ous ly At the moment I am worki ng on .

another square s ize 3 0 canvas another garden or rather a walk under pl ane ,

trees wi th the green turf and bl ack clumps of pi nes

, ,
.

Y o u di d well to order the pai nts and the canvas because the weat her i s ,

magnificent We s till h ave the mi stral but there are calm i nter val s and then i t
.
,

i s wonderful .

If there were l ess mi stral thi s p lace woul d really be as l ovely as Japan and
, ,

woul d lend i tself as well to art .

As I was wri ti ng a very ki nd l etter arri ved from Bernard ; he i s thi nki ng of
,

c oming t o Arl es thi s wi nter just a whi m but i t i s possi bl e that Gaugui n i s
, ,

sendi ng him as a substi t ute and woul d rather stay i n the North him self We
, .

shall soon know because I am convi nced that he will wri te y ou one way o r
,

th e other .

In hi s l etter Bernard speaks of Gaugui n wi th great respect and sympathy and ,

I am sure that they understand one another .

And I really thi nk that Gaug ui n has done Bernard good .

Whether Gaugui n comes o r n ot he will remai n fri ends wi th us and if he does , ,

n o t come now he will c ome another ti me

,
.

I feel i nstincti vely t hat Gaugui n i s a s chemer who seei ng hi mself at the bot tom ,

o f the so ci al l adder wants to regai n a posi ti on by means whi ch will c ertai nl y be

,

honest but at the same ti me very poli ti c

, ,
.

Gaugui n li ttle knows that I am abl e to take all thi s i nto acc ount And perhaps .

he does n ot know that i t i s absolutely necessary for hi m t o gai n ti me and that ,

w i th u s he will gai n that if he gai ns nothi ng el se , .

If someday he decamps from Pont—Aven wi th Laval or Mauri n wi thout payi ng

hi s debts I thi nk i n hi s case he woul d still be justifi ed exa ctl y li ke any other
, ,

creature at bay I do n ot think i t woul d be wi se to offer Bernard s trai ght OH 1 5 0

.

francs for a pi ctur e every month as you di d Gaugui n And Bernard who ha s , .
,

evi dently been over and over the whol e busi ness wi th Gaugui n— i sn t b e rather ’

counti ng on taki ng Gaugui n s p lace ? ’

I thin k i t will be necessary t o be very firm and very exp li ci t about the whol e
thi ng.

And wi t hout gi vi ng any reasons to speak very plainl y , .

I cannot bl ame Gaugui n— spe cul ator though he may be as soon as he wants to
ri sk something i n business onl y I will have nothi ng to do wi th i t I woul d a
, .

thousand ti mes rather go on wi th y ou whether you are wi th the Goupil s or not , .

And in my opini on y ou know the new deal ers are exa ctl y and i n every way the
, ,

same as the old .

In pri ncipl e and in theory I am for an asso ci ati on of arti sts w ho guar antee
, ,

e ach other s work and li vi ng but i n pri nci p l e an d i n theory I am equall y agai nst
’
,

attempts t o destroy ol d establi shed busi nesses Let them rot i n peace and di e a
, .
,
natural death It i s pure presumpti on t o hope to regenerate trade Have nothi ng
. .

t o do wi th i t ; l et s gu arantee a livi ng among ourselves live li ke a family li ke

’

, ,

brothers and fri ends and thi s even if i t shoul d n ot succeed— I woul d li ke to be
,

i n thi s but I will never have any thing t o d o wi th an attac k o n other dealers
, .

Wi th a handshake and I hope that what I have been ob li ged to ask you will
,

not be too terri bly i nconveni ent But I di d not want to postpone sl eep ing at .

home And in case you are short yoursel f 2 0 francs more will get me through
.
,

the week but i t i s urgent

, .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

I am keepi ng all Bernard s l etters they are someti mes really i nteres ting Y ou
’
, .

s hall read them someday there i s qui te a bundl e already , .

When I sai d that we must be firm wi th Gaugui n i t i s onl y because y ou had ,

already gi ven your opini on when he told y ou hi s p l an of acti on in Pari s Y ou .

made hi m a good answer then wi thout commi tti ng yourself but al so wi thout ,

woundi ng hi s self respect -

.

And the same thi ng may become necessary agai n .

I thi nk I shall see Milli et today Thank you i n advance for the Japanese thi ngs . .

5 42
My dear Theo ,
Arles 2 6 September 1 8 8 8 ,

The fine weather of the l ast few days has gone and we have mud and rain instead ,

but i t will certai nl y come back agai n before winter .

Onl y the thing will be t o make u se of i t because the fine days are short Espe ,
.

c i all y for pai nti ng Thi s wi nter I i ntend to draw a great deal If onl y I coul d manage
. .

to dr aw figu res from memory I shoul d always have somethi ng to do But if ,

.

y ou take the cl everest figure done by all the arti sts who sketch on the spur of
the moment Hokusai Daumi er in my opini on that figur e will never come up
, , ,

t o the fig ure pai nted from the model by those same masters or other portrai t ,

painters .

And in the end if model s especi all y i ntelli gent model s are doomed to fail us
, , ,

too often we must n ot despai r for thi s reason or grow weary in the struggl e
, .

In the s t udi o I have arranged all the Japanese pri nts and the Daumi ers and ,
“ ”
th e Del acroix s and the G eri caul ts If you fin d the Pi et a by Delacroi x again
.

o r the G eri caul t I strongl y advi se o u t o get as many o f them as y o u can What
, y .

”
I shoul d l ove to have i n th e s t udi o t oo i s Mill et s Travaux d es Champs an d
“ ’
,
“ ”
Lerat s etchi ng of hi s Sower
’
whi ch D urand Ruel sell s at ,
francs And .

”
l astl y the li ttl e etchi ng by Jacquemart after Mei ssoni er th e Man Readi ng a , ,

Mei ssoni er that I have al ways admi red I cannot help liki ng Mei ssoni er s thi ngs .
’
.

I am reading an arti cl e in the Revue des deux M ondes on Tol stoi It appears that .

Tol stoi i s enormously i nterested i n the reli gi on of hi s race li ke George Eli ot i n ,

Engl and .

There must be a book by Tol stoi about religi on I thi nk i t i s called [ M y R elig i on .
,

i t must be very fine In i t he i s tryi ng t o find so I understand from thi s arti cl e

.
, ,

what remai ns eternally true in the reli gi on of Chr i st and what all reli gi ons have ,

5
in common It appears that he does n ot admi t the resurrecti on of the body nor
.
,

even of the soul but says h ke the nihili sts that after death there i s nothi ng more
, , , ,

yet though the man di es and di es thoroughl y human i ty livi ng humani t y abi des
, , , , .

Anyw ay not havi ng read the book i tself I can t say wha t hi s concept i s but
, ,
’
,

I thi nk that hi s reli gi on cannot be a cruel one whi ch woul d i ncrease our sufferin gs ,

but that on the contrary i t must be very comforting and woul d i nspi re sereni t y
, ,

and energy and courage to li ve and many other thi ngs .

I thi nk the drawi ng of the blade of grass and the carnati ons and the Hokusai
’
i n Bi ng s reproducti ons are admi rabl e .

But whatever they say the most common pri nts col ored wi th a flat wash are
,

admi rabl e to me for the same reason as Rubens and Veronese I know perfectly .

well that they are not real pri mi tive art But even if the primi tives are admi rab l e .
,

that s no reason whatever for me to say a s i t i s becomi ng the fashi on to do

’
, ,
“ ”
When I go to the Louvre I cannot get beyond the pri mi tives
, .

If o ne s ai d to a s eri ous; co ll ector of Japanese pri nts to Levy hi mself My dear , ,

”
si r I cannot hel p admi ri ng these pri nts at 5 sous
,
he woul d probab ly be rather ,

shocked and woul d p ity one s i gnorance a n d bad taste Just a s formerly i t w a s
,
’
.

consi dered bad taste to li ke Rubens Jordaens and Veronese ,

.

I thin k I shall end up not feeling l onesome i n the house and that during th e ,

bad days i n the wi nter for in stance and the l ong eveni ngs I shall find some
, , ,

occupati on that wi ll take all my attenti on Weavers and basket makers often .

spend whole seasons alone or ahno st al one wi th thei r handi craft thei r onl y di s ,

tracti on .

But what makes these peopl e stay in one place i s feeli ng at home t h e reassuring ,

a mi li a r look o tbi n s I d certai nl y l ike company but if I haven t got i t I shal l

f f
’ ’

g .
, ,

not be unhappy because of i t ; and then t oo the ti me wi ll come when I shall

have someone wi th me I have li ttle doubt of i t I thi nk that if you were will i ng
. .

to put peopl e up i n your house too you woul d find p lenty of arti sts for whom ,

the questi on of l odgi ngs i s a very seri ous problem For my part I thi nk t hat i t i s .

absolutely my duty to try to make money by my work and so I see my work ,

before me very clearly .

Oh if onl y every arti st had somethi ng t o li ve on and t o work on but as that

, , ,

s not s o I want to produce to produce a l ot and wi th the u t most energy And

, , .

perhaps the tim e wi ll come when w e can extend our busi ness and be more of a
help t o the others .

But that i s a l ong way off and there i s a lot of work to get through first
,
.

If you li ved i n ti me of war you mi ght poss ibly have to fight ; you woul d,

regret i t you would lament that you weren t li vi ng in ti mes of peace but after
,
’
,

all the necess i ty woul d be there and you woul d fight , .

And i n the same way we certai nly have the ri ght to wi sh for a state of affai r s
i n whi ch money woul d n o t be necessary in order to live .

However as everyt hi ng i s done by means of money now one has to thi nk

, ,

about maki ng i t as l ong as one spends i t but I have more chance of maki ng i t ,

by p ai nti ng than by drawi ng On the whole a good many more peopl e can do
.

clever sket ches than paint readil y and attack nature wi th col or That wi ll al ways .
same author wh o wrote the book on Wagner H ow one needs the same thi ng i n .

pai ntin g .

It seems that in the book My Relig i on Tol stoi i mp li es that whatever ha ppens,

in the way of vi ol ent revol uti on there will al so be a pri vate and secret revo luti on
,

in men from whi ch a new reli gi on will be born or rather somethi ng al together
, ,

new whi ch will have no nam e but whi ch will have the same eflec t of comfortin g
'

, , ,

of maki ng life possi bl e whi ch the Chr i sti an reli gi on used t o have It seems t o
'

.
,

me that the book ought to be very i nteresti ng .

In the end we shall ha ve had enough of cyni ci sm and skepti ci sm and hu mbug ,

and w e shall want to li ve more musi cally H ow will that come about and what .
,

will we really fin d ? It woul d be i nteresti ng to be abl e to prophesy but i t i s even ,

better to be abl e to feel that ki nd of foreshadowi ng i nstead of seei ng absolutel y ,

nothi ng i n the future beyond the di sasters that are all the same bound t o strik e
the modern worl d and ci vili zati on li ke terri bl e li ghtni ng through a revoluti on ,

or a war or the bankruptc y of worm eaten states If we s t udy Japanese art w e

,
-
.
,

see a man who i s undoubtedl y wi se phi l osophi c and i ntelli gent who spends hi s
, ,

ti me doing what ? In studyi ng the di stance between the earth and the moon ? N o .

In studyi ng Bi smarck s poli cy ? N o He studi es a singl e b lade of grass

’
. .

But thi s blade of grass l eads hi m t o dr aw every pl ant and then the seasons ,

the wi de aspects of the countr ysi de then ani mals then the human figure So he
, ,
.

passes hi s li fe and life i s t oo short to do the whol e

, .

Come now i sn t i t ahn ost a true reli gi on whi ch these s i mpl e Japanese teach
,
’

us who live i n nat ure as though they themselves were flowers ?

,

And y ou cannot s t udy Japanese art i t seems to me wi thout bec oming mu ch

, ,

gayer and happi er and we must return t o nat ure in spi te of our educat i on and
,

ou r work i n a worl d of conventi on .

Isn t i t sad that the M onti c elli s have never yet been reproduced i n good li tho
’

r aphs o r i n etchi ngs whi ch vi brate wi th li fe ? I shoul d very mu ch li ke to know

g
what arti sts woul d say if an engraver li ke the man who engraved th e Velasquez
made a fine etchin g of them Never mi nd I thi n k i t i s more our job to try to
.
,

admi re and know thi ngs for ourselves than t o teach them to other peopl e But .

the t wo can g o together .

I envy the Japanese the extreme cl earness whi ch everythi ng has i n thei r work -
.

It i s never tedi ous and never seems to be done t o o hurri edl y Their work i s as
, .

si mp l e as breathing and they d o a figure i n a few sure strokes wi th the same

,

ease as if i t were as si mpl e as but toni ng your coat .

Oh ! someday I must manage t o d o a figure in a few str okes That will keep .

me busy all wi nter Once I can do that I shall be ab le to d o peopl e s t rolli ng on

.
,

th e boul evards i n the street and heaps of new subj ects Whi l e I have been
, , .

wri ti ng thi s l etter I have drawn about a dozen I am on the track of i t but i t i s .
,

very compli cated because what I am after i s that in a few strokes the figure of a
man a woman a chi ld a horse a dog shal l have a hea d a body l egs all in th e
, , , , , , , ,

ri ght proporti on .

Good b y for the present and a good han dshake from

-

Ever yours Vi nc ent ,

Mme de Lareby Laroqu ett e once sai d t o me
. But Monti celli Monti celli w hy , ,

he was a man w ho ought to have been at the head of a great studi o i n the Sou
I wrote t o our si ster an d t o y ou the other day y ou remember that someti mes , ,

I thought that I was continui ng M onti c elli s work here Well don t y ou see ’
.
,
’
,

that s t udi o in ques t i on w e are foun di ng i t What Gaug ui n does what I d o wil l
,
.
, ,

be i n li ne wi th that fin e work of Monti c elli s and we will try to prove t o the ’

,

good peop le that M onti celli did not di e sprawl ed over the café tables of the
Cann eb i ere but that the good o ld boy i s still alive And the thi ng won t end
’
.
,

even wi th us we shall set i t going on a prett y soli d basi s

,
.

5 44a
My dear Gaugui n , Arl es 2 9 September 1 8 8 8 ,

Thi s morning I recei ved your excell ent l etter whi ch I sent on t o my brother ; ,

your c oncept of i mpressi oni sm i n general of whi ch your portrai t i s a symbol i s , ,

stri king I can t tell you how curi ous I am to see i t— but thi s much I know in
.
’

advance : thi s work i s t oo i mportant to all ow me to make an exchange But if you .

wi ll keep i t for u s my bro ther will take i t at the first opportuni ty— whi ch I
,

asked him di rectl y— if you agree and l et s hope that i t will be soon ,
’
.

For once agai n we are tryi ng t o hasten th e possi bi li ty of your comi ng here
, , .

I must tell y ou that even whi le worki ng I keep thi nki ng i nces santl y of that p lan
t o found a s t udi o whi ch will have you and myself as permanent res i dents but
, ,

whi ch the t wo of u s woul d t urn i nto a refuge and p lace of shelter for comrades
at moments when they are encounteri ng a setback in thei r struggl e .

After y ou l eft Pari s my brother and I stayed together for a ti me whi ch wi ll

, ,

forever remai n unforgettab l e t o me ! The di scussi ons covered a wi der fi el d— wi th

G ui llaumi n wi th the Pi ssarro s father and s on wi th S eurat whose a c quai ntance
, , , ,

I had not made (I vi si ted hi s studi o onl y a few hour s before my departure) .

Often these di scussi ons had t o d o wi th the prob lems that are so very near my
brother s heart and mi ne i e the measures to be taken t o safeguard the materi al
’
, . .

exi stence of painters and to s afeg uard the means of produ cti on (p ai nts canvases) ,

and t o safeguard in thei r di rect in terest thei r share i n the pri ce whi ch under
, , ,

the present ci rcumstances pi ctures onl y bri ng a l ong ti me after they l eave the
,

arti sts possessi on

’
.

When you are here we are going to g o over all these di scussi ons
,
.

However thi s may be when I l eft Pari s seri ous ly si ck at heart and in body
, , ,

an d nearl y an al coholi c because of my ri si ng fury at my s t rength fai l ing me— then

I shut myself up wi thi n myself wi thout having the courage to hope ! ,

N ow however hope i s breaking for me vaguel y on the horizon ; that hope i n

, ,

intermi t tent flashes li ke a li ghthouse whi ch has someti mes comforted me duri ng
, ,

my soli tary life .

And now I am l ongi ng s o much to give you a l arge share i n that fai th namely ,

that t o a certai n extent w e shall succeed i n l ayi ng the foundati ons of something
that will endure .

Wh en w e are talki ng over those s trange days of di scuss i ons in the poverty
“ ”
stri cken studi os and the cafés of the li tt le boulevard y ou will get a cl ear i nsi ght ,

55
i nto that i dea of my brother s and mi ne whi ch until n ow has n ot b een realized
’
,

at all at least as far as startin g a company i s concerned Neverthel ess y ou will

,
.
,

see that thi s i dea i s such t hat all that will have to be done to end t h e terri b l e

s i tuati on of the last few years i s pre ci sely what w e s ai d or somethi ng along ,

parallel li nes Wh en y ou hear the whol e explanat i on you will see tha t w e have
.
,

put thi ngs on an unshakabl e basi s And you will admi t t hat w e have gone a l ong.

way beyond the plan w e communi cated to y ou That we have gone beyond i t i s .

no more than our duty as pi ct ure dealers for perhaps you know that i n the past ,

I w as i n the art deali ng business for years and I d o not despi se the professi on in
-
,

whi ch I once earned my bread .

Suffi ce i t t o say that al though apparentl y you have i solated yourself from
,

Pari s yet y ou will not stop feeli ng i n fai rly dir ect contact wi th Pari s
,
.

These days I have an extraordi nary feveri sh energ y ; at the moment I am

struggli ng wi th a landscape that has a b lue sky over an i mmense vi ne green , ,

purp l e yellow wi th black and orange branches Li ttl e figures of l adi es wi th red
, ,
.

sunshades and of vi ntagers wi th thei r cart enli ven i t even more In the fore .

ground gray sand Yet another square s ize 3 0 canvas for the adornment of the
, .

house .

I have a portrai t of myself all ash col ored The ashen gray color that i s the
,
-
.
-

result of mixi ng malachi te green wi th an orange hue on pal e mal achi te ground , ,

all in harmony wi th the reddi sh brown cl othes But as I al so exaggerate my

-
.

personali ty I have i n the first p lace ai med at the character of a si mpl e bonze
,

worshi pin g the Eternal Buddh a It has cost me a l ot of troubl e yet I shall ha ve
.
,

to do i t all over again if I want t o succeed in expressing what I mean It will even .

be necessary for me t o recover somewhat more from the stul ti fyi ng i nfluence
of our so call ed state of ci vilizati on i n order to have a better model for a better
-

pi cture .

One thi ng gave me enormous pl eas ure : yesterday I recei ved a l etter from
Bock (hi s si ster bel ongs t o the Belgi an who wri tes t o tell me that
he has settled down in the Bori n ag e to p ai nt th e mi ners an d coal mi nes t here Yet .

he intends to return to the South— i n order t o vary hi s i mpress i ons— an d i n that

case i t i s certai n that he wi ll come t o Arles .

I always thi nk my arti sti c concepti ons extremely ordi nary when compared to
yours .

I have always had the coarse lusts of a beast .

I forget everythi ng in favor of the external beauty of thi ngs whi ch I cann ot ,

reproduce for in my pi ctur es I render i t as somethi ng ugly and coarse whereas

, ,

nature seems perfect t o me .

However at present the élan of my bony carcass i s su ch that i t goes s trai ght
,

for i t s goal The resul t of thi s i s a s i nceri ty perhaps ori gi nal at ti mes i n what
.
, ,

I feel if onl y the subject can l end somethi ng to my rash and cl umsy executi on
, .

I think that if from now on y ou begi n to feel li ke the head of th e s t udi o

, , ,

whi ch w e shall try to t urn into a refuge for many— li ttl e by li ttle as our strenuous ,

work furni shes u s wi th th e means t o compl ete the thi ng— I thi nk that then you
willmfeel more or l ess comforted after the present mi s eri es of povert y an d ill ness ,

3 36
he woul d li ke to have one li ke i t though he al ready has on e of me whi ch I
, ,

exchanged wi th him some time ag o for the portrai t of hi s grandmother .

And I am p leased t o hear tha t they did not di sli ke what I have done in figure
painti ng .

I ha ve been an d still am nearly half dead from the past week s work I cannot ’
.

do any more yet and besi des there i s a very vi ol ent mi stral that rai ses cl ouds of
, ,

dust whi ch whi ten the trees on the plain from t op to bottom So I am forced t o .

be qui et I have just sl ept si xteen hour s at a stretch and i t has restored me c on si d
.
,

erab ly .

And tomorrow I shall have recovered from thi s queer turn .

But I have done a good week s work trul y wi th five canvases If tha t some
’
, ,
.

what takes i t out on thi s on e well i t s natural If I had worked more qui etly
, ,
’
.
,

you can easily see that the mi stral woul d have caught me agai n If i t i s fin e here .
,

you must take advantage of it otherwi se you woul d never do anyt hi ng

, .

Say what i s Seurat doi ng ? If y ou see hi m tell hi m once more from me t hat
, ,

I am worki ng on a scheme of decorati on whi ch has n ow got to 1 5 square si ze

3 0 canvases and wh i,
ch wi ll take at l east 1 5 others t o make a who l e and th at i n ,

thi s work on a larger scale i t i s often the memory of hi s personali ty an d of th e

,

vi si t we made to hi s studi o to see hi s beautiful great canvases that encourages

me i n thi s task .

I wi sh w e had the self—portrai t of Seurat I tol d Gaugui n that if I urged hi m .

t o make an exchange of portrai ts i t w as because I thought t hat Bernard and he

were sure to have made several s t udi es of each other already An\d s i nce that .

was n ot so and he had done the portrai t expressly for me I di d n o f want i t a s ,

an ex chan ge as I thought i t w a s t oo i mportant fo r that He wrote to say that he

,
.

was determi ned I shoul d have i t i n exchange hi s l etter i s agai n very c ompli mentary ; ,

as I don t deserve i t we will say n o more

’
,
.

I am sendi ng you an arti cl e on Provence whi ch seems well wri tten to me .

These Féli bres are a li terary and arti s ti c soci ety Cl ovi s Hugues Mi stral and , ,

others w ho wri te fai rl y good sometimes very good sonnets i n Provencal and
, , ,

someti mes i n French .

If the Feli bres stop being unaware of my exi stence someday they will al l come
’

to the li ttle house I woul d rather thi s di d not happen b efore I have fini shed
.

my decorati ons But si nce I l ove Provence as unreservedl y as they do I perhaps

.
,

have a ri ght to thei r attenti on If I ever i nsi st on that ri ght i t will be s o that
.
,

my work may remai n here or i n Marseill es where as y ou k now I shoul d so ,

mu ch li ke t o work Because I beli eve that the arti sts of Mars eilles woul d do well
.

t o conti nue what Monti celli began .

If Gaugui n and I were to wri te an articl e in one of the papers here that woul d ,

be enough t o get i n tou ch wi th them .

A han dshake ,
Ever your s Vi ncent ,
1 889 — 1 8 9 0 A R LE S, S T R E M Y .
,
A N D A UV E R S

Calm ev en i n t he c at a st ro
p h e .

5 74
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 2 8 January 1 8 8 9 ,

Onl y a few words t o tell y ou that my heal th and my work are n ot progressi ng
so badl y .

It astoni shes me already when I c ompare my c ondi ti on today wi th what i t was

a month ago Before that I knew well enough that one could fracture one s
.
’

legs and arms and recover afterward but I di d not know that y ou coul d fract ure
,

the brai n in your head and recover from that t o o .

“ ”
I s till have a sort of what i s the good of getting better ? feeli ng about me even ,

i n the astoni s h ment aroused i n me by my gettin g well whi ch I hadn t dared hope for
’
.
,

Duri ng your vi si t I thi nk you must have noti ced the t w o si ze 3 0 canvases of
sunflowers in Gaugui n s room I have j ust put the fini shi ng touches to copi es
’
.
,

absolutely i denti cal repli cas of them I thi nk I have alr eady told you that besi des
.

“ ”
these I have a canvas of La Berceuse the very o ne I w a s worki ng on when ,

my illness i nterrupted me I n ow have two copi es of thi s one t o o

. .

I have just sai d to Gaugui n about thi s pi cture that when he and I were
talki ng about the fishermen of Iceland and of thei r mournf ul i solati on exposed ,

to all dangers al one on the sad sea— I have just sai d t o Gaugui n that foll owin g
,

those i nti ma te talks of ours the i dea came to me t o pai nt a pi cture in such a way
that sai l ors w ho are at once chil dren and martyrs seei ng i t i n the cabi n of thei r
'

, ,

Icelandi c fishing boat woul d feel the ol d sense of bei ng rocked come over them
,

and remember thei r ow n lullabys .

Now i t may be sai d that i t i s li ke a chromoli thograph from a cheap shop

, .

A woman i n green wi th orange hai r standi ng ou t against a background of green

wi th p i nk flowers Now these di s cordant sha rps of crude pi nk crude orange
.
, ,

and c rude green are softened by flats of red and green .

I pi c ture t o myself these same canvases bet ween those of the s unflowers whi ch ,

woul d thus form torches or candelabra besi de them the same si ze and so the , ,

whol e woul d be composed of seven or ni ne canvases .

I shou l d hk e t o make another dup li cate for Holl and if I c oul d get hol d of the
(
model agai n ) .

S ince i t i s still winter look here let me g o qui etly on wi th my work ; if i t i s

, ,

that of a madman well so mu ch the worse I can t help i t

, , .
’
.

However th e un bearabl e hall u ci nati ons have ceased and are now getti ng
, ,

reduced t o a si mpl e ni ghtmare in consequence of my taki ng bromi de of potassi um

, ,

55
 It i s still beyond my powers to g o into the detail s of thi s money questi on and ,

yet I want to do that very thi ng and I am furi ous ly at work from morni ng till ni ght
, ,

t o prove to you (unl ess my work i s another halluci nati on) to prove t o y ou that ,

i ndeed and i ndeed we are foll owi ng M on ti c elli s t rack and what s more that we
’ ’
, ,

have a li ght before our feet and a l amp upon ou r path in the powerful work of
Bri as of Montpelli er who di d so much t o create a school i n the South
, .

Onl y don t be t oo amazed if duri ng the next month I shall be obli ged t o ask
’

for the month s money fu and some extra money as well

’

y o u i n ll .

After all i t i s onl y ri ght that duri ng peri ods of producti vi ty o n whi ch I spend ,

all my vi tal warmth I shoul d i ns i st on what i s necessary i n order to take a few

,

precauti ons .

Even in that case the difference in expendi ture i s certainl y not excess ive on
my part .

And once agai n ei ther shut me up in a madhouse ri ght away— I shan t oppose
,
’

i t for I may be decei vi ng myself— o r el se l et me work wi th al l my s trength

, ,

whi le taki ng the precauti ons I speak of If I am not mad the tim e will c ome
.
,

when I shall send you what I have promi sed you from the begi nni ng Now .

perhaps the pi ctures are al as bound to be di spersed but when you for on e see ,

the whole that i s i n my mi nd I dare hope i t will make a comforting i mpressi on

,

on y ou .

You saw as I di d part of the Faure coll ecti on being passed in revi ew one by
, ,

o n e i n the li ttl e wi ndow of that pi cture framer s shop i n the Rue Lafitte d i dn t
’ ’

y o u ? L i ke me y o u saw t,
hat thi s s l ow success i on o f once desp i sed canvases w as

s t rangely i nteresti ng .

Good My great desi re woul d be that sooner or later you should have a seri es
.

of canvases of mi ne whi ch mi ght li kewi se march past in just that same wi ndow .

Now by conti nui ng thi s furi ous work duri ng next February and Mar ch I shall ,

hope to have fini shed the qui etly composed repeti ti ons of a number of studi es
I made last year And these together wi th some canvases you have alr eady had
.

”
from me such as the Harvest and the W hi te Orchard
” “
,
wil l form a tolerably ,

firm foundati on By that same ti me not later than March t hat i s we can arrange
.
, , ,

what there i s to arrange on the occasi on of your marri age .

But durin g February and March though worki ng I shall g o on consi dering
, ,

myself an i nvali d and I tell you beforehand that for those two months I shall
,

perhaps have t o take 2 5 0 a month from the year s allowance ’

.

You will perhaps understand that what woul d reassur e me in some fashi on as
to my i llness and the poss i bi lity of a relapse would be to see that Gaug ui n and
I had not exhausted our brai ns for nothi ng but that some good canvases have ,

come ou t of it .

And I dare to hope that someday you will see that by keepi ng steady and
strai ght in thi s money business in th e l ong run i t will prove to be i mposs ibl e
,

that you have acted agai nst the interests of th e Goupi l s .

But i f I should have eaten thei r bread i ndi re ctly t hrough y ou as an i ntermedi ary ,

in that case my i ntegri ty woul d be di rectly i nvolved .

Then however far from going on feeli ng more or l ess embarrassed by ea ch

, ,

3 40
 Now in the pl ay that woman led before the mysti c cri b began to si ng in her , ,

quaveri ng voi ce and t hen the voi ce changed changed from the voi c e of a wi tch
, ,

to that of an angel an d from an angel s voi ce to a chil d s and then the an swer
,
’ ’
,

came in another voi ce strong and warm and vi brant the voi ce of a woman
, ,

behi nd the scenes .

It w a s amazing I can tell y ou these so call ed Féli bres had certainl y put
.
-

themselves to expense .

As for me bei ng in thi s li ttl e country of mi ne I have no need at all to go to

, ,

the tropi cs I beli eve an d I shall always beli eve i n the art th at i s to be created i n
.

the tropi cs and I thi nk i t will be marvel ous but personally I am too old and
, ,

( espec i all y if I have a pap i er mac h é ear put on) too j erry buil t to g o there -
.

Will Gaugu in do i t ? It i s not essenti al For if thi s ought to be done i t will .

,

happen of i tself .

We are nothi ng but li nks i n a chai n .

O ld Gaugui n and I understand each other bas i cally and if we are a bi t mad , ,

what of i t ? Aren t we al so thoroughl y arti sts enough to contradi ct suspi ci ons on

’

that score by what we say wi th the brush ?

Perhaps someday everyone wi ll have neurosi s St Vi tus dance or somethi ng ,
.
’

el se .

But doesn t the an ti dote exi st ? In Del acroix in Berli oz and Wagner ? And
’
, ,

really a s for the arti st s madness of a ll the rest of u s I do not say that I especi all y
,
’
,

am n ot infected thr ough and through but I say and wi ll mai ntain that our ,

anti dotes and conso l ati ons may wi th a li ttle good will be consi dered ampl e , ,

compensati on .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

See Hope by Puvi s de Chavannes .

5 77
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 1 7 February 1 8 8 9 ,

I have been so completely out of sorts mentall y t hat i t would have been useless
to try to wri te an answer t o your ki nd l etter Today I have just come home .

provi si onally I hope for good I feel qui te normal s o often and real ly I shoul d
, .
,

thi nk that i f what I am s uffering from i s onl y a di sease peculi ar to thi s place ,

I must wai t here qui etly till i t i s over even if i t returns agai n (and l et s say t hat ,
’

i t won t)
’
.

But thi s i s what I tol d M Rey once and for all If sooner or later i t i s desi rabl e
. .

that I go to Aix as has already been suggested I consent beforehand an d I will

, ,

submi t t o i t .

But i n my character as a pai nter and a workman i t i s not permi ssi bl e for
anyone not even you or a doctor to take such a step wi thout warni ng me and
, ,

consul ti ng me about i t al so because si nce up till now I have always kept a compar
,

ati ve presence of mind in my work I shoul d have the ri ght t o say (or at l east to ,

have an opi ni on on) whether i t woul d be better to keep my studi o here or t o

move t o A ix altogether Thi s so as to avoi d the expenses and l oss of movi ng as
.

much as possi b le and not to d o i t except i n ca se of absolute necessi ty .

3 42
 It seems t hat peop le here have some supersti ti on th at makes them afrai d of
painti ng and that they have been tal ki ng about i t i n the town Very good
, .
,

I know i t i s the same thi ng in Arabi a but nevertheless we have l oads of p ai nters
,
’
i n Afri ca haven t w e
,

Whi ch shows that wi th a li ttl e fir mness y ou can modi fy these prejudi ces at ,

l east as far as pai ntin g i n spi te of i t i s concerned .

The unfortun ate thi ng i s that I am rather i ncli ned t o be affe cted by the beli efs
of others and t o feel them myself and I cannot al ways l augh at whatever foun d a
, ,

ti on of truth there may be in the absurdi t y .

As I have already been staying here for more than a year and have heard ,

ahno st all the ill that coul d

what place worse coul d I g o than where I have twi c e been : in the madhouse ?
“
The advanta ges I have here are what Rivet used t o say They are a si c kly l ot , ,
”
all of them so t hat at l east I d o n o t fee l al one
, .

Then as you well know I am so fond of Arl es though Ga ug uin has un

, , ,

commonl y good reason t o call i t the dirti est town i n the whol e South .

An d I have already met wi t h such fri endl iness from my nei ghbors from M Rey , .
,

an d from everyone at the hospi tal bes i des that reall y I woul d rather be al ways ill
,

here than forget the ki ndness there i s i n the very peopl e wh o have the most
i ncredi b l e prejudi ces ag ai nst pai nters and pai nti ng or at any rate have n o cl ear , ,

sane i dea of i t as we have .

Then they know me n ow at the hospi tal and if i t comes on agai n nothi ng , ,

woul d be sai d and they would know what to do at the hospi tal I have no desi re
, .

at all t o be treated by other doctors nor i s there any necessi ty

,
.

The onl y thin g I shoul d li ke t o be abl e to do i s t o g o on earni ng wi th my

hands what I spend Koni ng wrote me a very ni ce l etter sayi ng that he and a
.

fri end woul d probably be comin g South to me for a l ong ti me It w a s i n rep ly .

t o a l etter I wrote hi m some days ago I do not dare persuade p ai nters to come
.

here after what has happened to me they run the ri sk of l osi ng thei r wi ts li ke
,

me ; the same app li es t o De Haan and Isaacson Let them go to Anti bes Ni ce or .
, ,

M entone i t i s perhaps healthi er

, .

Mother and our si ster have al so wri tten the latter w a s terri bly di stressed ,

about the pati ent sh e wa s nursi ng At home they are very very glad about your
.
,

marri age .

N ow mi nd you must not thi nk too mu ch about me n o t fret yourself It will

, ,
.

probably have t o take i t s course and we cannot change much i n our fate by taki ng
,

precauti ons .

Once more let u s try to resi gn ourselves to ou r fate whatever i t i s Our si ster .

wrote that your fi an c ée had just been stayi ng some time at home That i s good . .

Well I send my l ove wi th all my heart and don t l et s l ose courage

, ,
’ ’
.

Beli eve me ,

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

Address next letter to Place Lamarti ne .

Ki nd regards to Gaugui n I hope he i s goi ng t o wri te me I shall wri te hi m t o o

. . .

54
5 79
My dear b rother ,
I
Arles 1 9 March 1 8 8 9 ,

I seemed t o see so much brotherly anxi et y in your ki nd letter that I thi nk i t my

duty to break my silence I wri te to you i n the full possessi on of my fac ul ti es
.

and not as a madman but as the brother you know Thi s i s the truth A certai n
,
. .

number of peopl e here (there were more than 8 0 si gnat ures) addressed a peti ti on
to the Mayor (I think hi s name i s M Tardi eu) descri bi ng me as a man not fit to .
,

be at liberty or somethi ng li ke that ,

.

The c ommi ssi oner of poli ce or the chi ef commi ssi oner then gave the order to
shut me up agai n .

Anyhow here I am shut up in a cell all the li velong day under l ock and key
, , ,

and wi th keepers wi thout my guilt bei ng proved or even open to proof

, .

Needless to say in the secret tri bunal of my soul I have much to rep ly to all that
,
.

Needl ess to say I cannot be angry and i t seems to me a case of qui s exc u se s ac c u se
, ,
’ ’
.

Onl y to let you know that a s for setti ng me free— mi nd I d o not ask i t bei ng , ,

persuaded that the whole accusati on wi ll be reduced to nothi ng— but I d o say
that as for getti ng me freed y ou woul d find i t di ffi cul t If I di d not restrai n my
, .

i n di gn ati on I shoul d at once be thought a dangerous l unati c Let us hope and

, .

have pati ence Besi des strong emoti on can onl y aggravate my case That i s why
.
, .

I beg you for the present to l et t hi ngs be wi thout meddli ng .

Take i t as a warni ng from me that it mi ght onl y compli cate and confuse thi ngs .

A ll the more be cause you wil l un derstand that whil e I am absolutel y calm at ,

the present moment I may easil y relapse into a state of overex ci tement on
,

account of fresh mental emoti on .

So y ou understand what a staggering bl ow between the eyes i t was to find so

many peop l e here cowardly enough to j oi n together agai nst one man and th at ,

Very good— so much for your better gui dance ; as far as my mental state i s
concerned I am greatl y shaken but I am recovering a sort of calm i n spi te of
, ,

everything so as not to get angry

, .

Besi des humility becomes me after the experi ence of the repeated at tacks So
,
.

I am being pati ent .

The mai n thi ng I cannot tell you thi s t oo often i s that you shoul d keep calm
, ,

t oo and l et nothi ng u set y ou i n your busi ness After your marri age w e c an set
, p .

ourselves to cleari ng all thi s up and meanwhile I beg y ou to l eave me qui etl y ,

here I am convi nced that the Mayor as well as the commi ssi oner i s reall y rather
.

fri endly and that they will do what they can to sett le all thi s Here except for
, .
,

li berty and except for many thi ngs that I coul d wi sh o therwi se I am not t o o
, ,

badly off .

Besi des I told them that we were i n no posi t i on to bear the expense I cannot
,
.

move wi thout expense and here are three months t hat I haven t been worki ng
,
’
,

and mi nd I coul d have worked if they had n ot vexed and worri ed me

, .

H ow are ou r mother and si ster ?

A s I have nothi ng el se t o di stract me— they even forbi d me t o smoke— though
O n Feb 7 1 8 8 9 Th eo w rote t o hi s wi fe th at Vi n c ent h ad be en ta ken t o t h h o s pit l a g ai n
. 2 , ,
e a .
 Once more ki nd regards to your fi an c ée an d Bonger .

I woul d rather not have wri tten to you yet for fear of draggi ng you i nto i t and
upsetti ng you i n what i s before y ou Thi ngs will set tl e down i t i s too i di oti c t o last
.
, .

I had hoped that M Rey woul d have come t o see me so that I coul d talk t o
.

hi m agai n before sendi ng ofl thi s l etter but though I sent word that I am expe cti ng
'

hi m no one has come I beg you once more to be cauti ous Y ou know what i t
, . .

means to g o t o the ci vil authori ti es wi th a complai nt At l east wai t till after .

you ve been t o Holl and

’
.

I am myself rather afrai d that if I were at li berty outsi de I shoul d not al ways
, ,

keep control of myself if I were provoked or i nsul ted and then they woul d be ,

ab l e to take advantage of that The fact remai ns that a peti ti on has been sent to
.

the Mayor I answered roundl y that I was qui te prepared for i nstance to chuck
.
, ,

myself i nto the water if that would please these good folk once and for all but ,

that i n any case if I had in fact i nfli cted a wound on myself I had done nothi ng ,

of the sort to them etc ,

.

So cheer up t hough my heart fail s me sometim es For you to come just n ow

,
.
,

honestly would preci pi tate everyt hi ng I shall move out of course as soon as
, .
, ,

I see how to manage i t .

I hope thi s wi ll reach y ou all ri ght D o not be afrai d of anythi ng I am qui te .

,

calm n ow Let them al one Perhaps i t woul d be well if y ou wrote once more but
. .
,

nothi ng el se for the ti me bei ng If I have pati ence i t can onl y strengthen me so as
.
,

t o l eave me in l ess danger of a rel apse Of course si nce I reall y had done my best .
,

to be fri endl y wi th peopl e an d had no suspi ci on of i t i t w a s rather a bad b l ow

, , .

Good b y my dear boy for a little whi le I hope and don t w orrfi Perhaps i t
-
, , , ,
’

i s a sort of quaran tine they are forci ng o n me fo r all I know , .

5 81
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 2 4 Mar ch 1 8 8 9 ,

I am wri ti ng to tell you that I have seen S i gnac and i t has done me qui te a lot ,

of good He w a s so good and strai ghtforward and si mp l e when the diffi cult y of
.

openi ng the door by force or not presented i tself— the poli ce had closed up the
house and destroyed the l ock They began by refusi ng to let us do i t but all the
.
,

same we finally got in I gave hi m as a keepsake a st ill di fe whi ch had annoyed

.

the good gendarmes of the town of Arl es because i t represented two b l oaters , ,

and as you know they the gendarmes are called that Y ou remember that I di d
, ,
.

thi s same still li fe tw o or t hree times i n Pari s and exchanged i t once for a carpet ,

i n the o l d days That i s enough to show you how meddl esome and what i di ots
.

these peopl e are .

I found S i gnac very qui et though he i s s ai d to be so vi olent ; he gave me th e

,

i mpressi on of someone who has bal ance and poi se that i s all Rarely or never , .

have I had a conversati on wi th an impressi oni st so free from di scords or confli ct

on both si des For i nstance he has been to see Jul es Dupr e and he admi res
.
,

hi m Doubtless you had a hand i n hi s comi ng t o s t iffen my moral e a b i t and

.
,

thank you for i t .

I took advantage of my out i ng t o buy a book C eux de la Gli be by Camill e , ,

5 46
Lemonni er I have devoured two chapters of i t— i t has su ch gravi ty such depth !
.
,

Wai t till I send i t to y ou Thi s i s the fir st ti me i n several months that I have had a
’

book i n my hands That means a l ot t o me and does a good deal toward curi ng me
. .

Altogether there are several canvases to be sent t o you as S i gnac coul d see , ,

he was not fri ghtened by my pai nti ng as far a s I saw S i gnac thought an d i t i s .
,

perfectl y true that I l ooked healt hy

,
.

And wi th i t I have the desi re and the i nclin at i on for work Still of course if .
, ,

I had to endure my work and my private life bei ng i nterfered wi th every day by
gendarmes and poi sonous i dlers of muni ci pal el e ctors peti ti oni ng the Mayor whom
they have elected and w h o consequently depends on thei r votes i t woul d be ,

no more than hum an of me to rel apse all over agai n I am i nclined to thi nk that .

S i gnac will tell you very much the same thi ng In my opi ni on w e must firml y
.

oppose the l oss of the furni t ure etc Then— my Lord— I must have li berty t o
, .

carry on my handi craft .

M Rey says that i nstead of eatin g enough and at regul ar ti mes I kept myself
.
,

goi ng on coffee and al cohol I admi t all that but all the same i t i s true that to
.
,

attai n th e hi gh yellow note that I attai ned l ast summer I really had to be pretty ,

well keyed up And that after all an arti st i s a man wi th hi s work to do and i t
.
, ,

i s not for the fir st i dl er who comes al ong to cru sh hi m for good .

Am I to suffer i mpri sonment o r the madhouse ? Why not ? Di dn t Ro chefort ’

and Hugo Quinet and others gi ve an eternal exampl e by submi t ting to exil e
, ,

and the first even to a convi ct pri son ? But all I want to say i s that thi s i s a thi ng
above th e mere questi on of ill ness and heal th .

Naturally one i s besi de oneself in parallel cases I do not say equi val ent bei ng
.
,

i n a very i nferi or and secondary p la c e to thei rs but I d o say parall el

,
.

And that i s what the fir st and l ast cause of my aberrati on w a s D o you know .

“
those words of a D utch poet s— 1k ben aan d aard g ehec ht met meer dan
’ ’

”
aard se ban den
[I am attached t o the earth by more than earthl y ti es] .

That i s what I have experi enced i n the mi dst of much sufferi ng— a bove al l— in
my so call ed mental ill ness
-
.

Unfort unately I have a handi craft whi ch I do not know well enough to expres s
myself a s I shoul d li ke .

I pull myself up short for fear of a relapse and I pass on to something el se

,
.

Before you l eave coul d you send me

,

Thi s i n case— probabl e enough i f I find a way of resumi ng my work agai n

I shoul d set to work shortly on the orchards agai n Oh if onl y nothi ng had .
,

happened to mess up my li fe !
 Let s t hink well before goi ng to another place Y ou see that I have no better
’
.

luck i n the South than i n the North It s pretty much th e same everywhere
’
. .

I am thi nki ng of frankl y accepti ng my rol e of madman the way Degas a cted ,

the part of a notary But there i t i s I do n ot feel tha t al together I have s t rength
.
,

enough for such a part .

Y ou tal k to me of what y ou c all the real South The reason w hy I shall .

never g o there i s above I ri ghtly leave that to men w h o have a more well balance d
.
-

mind more i ntegri ty than I I am onl y good for somethi ng i ntermedi ate and
,
.
,

second rate and self effaced

,
-
.

However intense my feelings may be or wha tever power of expressi on I may ,

acquire at an age when physi cal passi ons have l essened I c oul d never buil d an ,

i mposi ng struct ure on such a mol dy shattered past , .

S o i t i s more o r less all the same t o me what happens to me— even my stayi ng
here— I thi nk that i n the end my fate will be evened up So beware of sudden .

starts — si nce you are getti ng marri ed and I am getting too ol d— that i s the onl y
poli cy to sui t u s .

Good b y for n ow wri te me wi thout much delay and beli eve me after aski ng
-
, ,

you to gi ve my ki ndest regards to Mother our si ster and your fiancee your very , ,

affecti onate brother ,

I wi ll send the book by Ca mille Lemonn i er pretty soon .

5 85
My dear Theo ,
Arl es 2 2 Apri l 1 8 8 9 ,

Y ou will probabl y be back i n Pari s at the moment when thi s l etter arri ves I wi sh .

you and your wife a great deal of happi ness Thank you very much for your .

ki nd l etter and for the 1 00 franc note i t contained

-
.

Out of the 6 5 francs whi ch I ow e I have pai d onl y 2 5 francs to my landl ord
, ,

havi ng had to pay thr ee months rent in advance for a room whi ch I shan t be
’ ’

li vi ng in but where I have sent my furni t ure and havi ng bes i des had expenses
, ,

o f 1 0 francs o r s o for movi ng etc , .

Then as my clothes w ere not in t o o brilli ant a condi ti on and I had to have
somethi ng new to go out i n the street in I g ot a sui t for 3 5 francs an d spent ,

4 francs on six pai rs of socks So o ut of th e note I have onl y a few francs l eft
.
,

and at the end of the month I must pay the landl ord agai n though he mi ght be ,

kept wai ti ng for a few days .

I settl ed my bill at the hospi tal today and there i s stil l almost enough for the
,

rest of the month out of the money I still have on deposi t At the end of the .

month I shoul d li ke to go to the hospi tal in St R emy o r another i nsti tuti on of .

,

thi s ki nd of whi ch M Salles has told me Forgive me if I don t go into detai l s

,
. .
’

and argue the pros and cons of such a step .

Talki ng about i t woul d be mental torture .

It will be enough I hope if I tell y ou that I feel quite unabl e to take a new
, ,

studi o an d to stay there al one— here in Arles or el sewhere for th e moment i t i s ,

3 48
 I shoul d thi nk that wi th an all owance of 7 5 francs or so a month there must
be a way of interni ng me so that I shoul d have everyt hi ng I need .

Then if i t i s possi bl e I d very much li ke to be abl e t o g o out in the dayt im e

, ,
’

and draw o r pai nt outsi de .

Seei ng that I go out every day n ow here and I thi nk that thi s coul d continue , .

Payi ng more I warn you would make me l ess happy The company of other
, , .

pati ents y ou understand i s not at all di sagreeabl e to me ; on the contrary,i t

, ,

di stracts me .

Ordinary food sui ts me qui te well especi all y if they gave me a li ttl e more
,

wine there as they d o here usuall y a half li ter i nstead of a quarter for i n
, ,
-
,

stance .

But a private room— i t remains to be seen what th e arrangements of an i n sti t u

ti on li ke t hat woul d b e Mi nd y ou Rey i s overburdened wi th work overburdened
, ,
.

If he wri tes t o you or M Sall es better d o exac tly what they say Af ter all w e
,
.
, .

must take our share my boy of the di seases of our ti me— in a way i t i s onl y fai r
, ,

after all that havi ng li ved some years i n comparati vel y good health w e shoul d
, ,

have our share sooner or l ater As for me you know well enough that I shoul d
.
,

not exactl y have chosen madn ess if I had had a choi ce but once y ou have an ,

affli cti on of that sort y ou can t catch i t agai n An d there ll perhaps be the con
,
’
.
’

solati on of bei ng ab l e to go on worki ng a bi t at pai nti ng .

How will y ou manage not to speak too well or too ill of Pari s and man y other
thi ngs to your wife ? Do you feel i n advance that you w ill be qui te capabl e of
keeping exactl y the gol den mean all the ti me and from all poi nts of vi ew ?
I shake your hand i n thought I do not know if I shall wri te very very often
.
,

because n ot all my days are clear enough for me to wri te fai rly l ogi cally .

A ll your ki ndness to me seemed greater than ever to me today I can t put

’
.

the way I feel i t in words but I assure you that thi s ki ndness has been pure gol d
, ,

and if y ou d o not see any resul ts from i t my dear brother don t fret about i t , ,
’

your own goodness abi des Onl y transfer thi s affecti on to your wi fe as mu ch as
.

possi b le And if we correspond somewhat l ess you wi ll see that if she i s what
.
,

I thi nk her she will comfort y ou That i s what I hope

, . .

Rey i s a very ni ce fell ow a tremendous worker always on the j ob What

, ,
.

men the modern do ctors are !

If y ou see Gaugui n or wri te to hi m remember me t o hi m ,
.

I shall be very glad to hear any news y ou can gi ve me of our mother and si ster ,

and if they are well ; tell them to l ook upon thi s affai r of mi ne— I mean i t— as
nothi ng to be i nordi nately di stressed about because I may be comparatively ,

unfortunate but after all i n spi te of t hat I may still have some al most normal
, , ,

years before me It i s a di sease hke any other and now almost everyone w e know
.
,

among ou r fri ends has something the matter wi th him So i s i t worth tal king .

about ? I am sorry to give tr oubl e to M S al les and Rey an d above all to you .
, ,

t oo but what i s one to do ? My head i sn t steady enough t o begi n agai n as before

’
,

— then the i mportan t thi ng i s not to cause any more scenes i n pub li c an d natu rally
, ,

bein g a littl e calmer n ow I di sti nctly feel that I w a s mentally and phys i cal l y i n
,

an unheal thy c ondi ti on And then peop le have been kind t hose I remember
.
, ,
and a s for the ot hers after all I caused some uneasi ness and if I had been i n a
, ,

normal condi ti on thi ngs woul d never h ave happened the w ay they di d
, .

Good by wri te when y ou can

-
,
.

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

5 88
My dear Theo ,
April 1 8 8 9 Ar l es , 3 0
Tomorrow bei ng the first of May I wi sh you a tolerabl e year and above all health
, , .

I shoul d so li ke to be able to pass some physi cal strength on t o y ou At the .

moment I feel that I have more than enough That doesn t mean that my head i s .
’

sti ll all that i t ought t o be .

H ow ri ght Delacroi x w as who li ved on bread and wi ne onl y and who succ eeded
, ,

i n findi ng a manner of li fe i n harmony wi th hi s professi on But the fatal questi on .

of money remains— Delacroi x had property Corot too And Mill et— Mi ll et was , .

a peasant and the son of a peasant Y ou will perhaps read wi th some i nterest the
.

arti cl e whi ch I have c ut out of a Mar seill es paper because you wi ll catch a gli mpse ,

o f Monti celli in i t and I thi nk th e des c ri pti on of the p i ct ure representi ng a corner
,

of the cemetery very i nteresting But al as that i s still another lamentab le story
.
,
.

H ow sad i t i s to thi nk that a pai nter w h o succ eeds even onl y parti ally i nvolves , ,

i n hi s turn half a dozen other arti sts w h o are worse failures than hi mself .

However thin k of Pangl oss thi nk of B ouva rd et P eeuebet I know i t then even
, ,
'

.
,

that bec omes cl ear but perhaps these peop le do not know Pangl oss or el se forget
,

all they know of hi m i n the face of the fatal b i te of actual desp ai r and great

gri ef .

And besi des under the name of opti mi sm we are falli ng back once more i nto a
,

reli gi on whi ch l ooks to me h ke the tai l end of a ki nd of Buddhi sm No harm in .

that ; on the c ontrary if you li ke ,

.

I do not much li ke the arti cl e on Monet in the Fig aro How much superi or that .

other arti cle was in the ! ] ! m S i eele ! There y ou saw the pi ct ures and thi s onl y
c ontai ns commonplaces that depress me .

Today I am busy packi ng a case of pi ctur es and studi es One of them i s flaki ng .

o ff and I have stuck some newspapers o n i t ; i t i s one of the best and I thi nk
, ,

that when you l ook at i t y ou will see better what my n ow shipwrecked s tudi o
mi ght have been .

Thi s s t udy li ke some others has g ot spoiled by moi s t ure duri ng my i llness
, ,
.

The flood water came t o wi thi n a few feet of the house and on t op of that , ,

the house i tself had n o fires in i t durin g my absence so when I came back the , ,

wall s were oozi ng water and sal tpeter .

That touched me to the qui ck not only the s tudi o wrecked but even the
, ,

s t udi es whi ch woul d have been a souveni r of i t rui ned ; it i s so fin al and my ,

enthusi asm to found somethi ng very si mpl e but l as ting was so strong It was .

a fight against the i nevi tabl e or rather i t w a s weakness of character on my part

, ,

fo r I am l eft wi th feeli ngs of profound remorse di ffi cul t to descri be I thi nk that ,
.

was th e reason w hy I have cri ed o u t so much duri ng the attacks i t was because ,

I wanted t o defend myself and coul d not do i t For i t w as n ot for myself i t w a s .

,

351
just for pai nters li ke the unfort unates the encl osed arti cl e speaks of tha t that
s tudi o woul d have been of some u se .

Anyhow we haven t been the onl y ones

,
’
.

Bri as at Montpelli er gave a whol e fort une a whol e life to i t and wi thout the , ,

s li ghtest apparent resul t .

Yes— a cold room i n the muni ci pal gall ery where you see a heartbroken face ,

and many fine p i ctures where you are certainly moved but moved al as as i n a
, , , ,

graveyard .

Neverthel ess i t w ould be di ffi cul t to wal k thr ough a graveyard that showed
more clearly the exi stence of that Hope whi ch Puvi s de Chavannes pai nted .

Pi ctures fade li ke flow ers— even some of the Delacroixs have suffered i n the
“ ” “ ”
same way the magni ficent Dani el the Odali sques (qui te di fferent from
, ,

t hose i n the Louvre i t was i n a si ngl e scal e of purp l e shades) but h ow they
, ,

i mpressed me those pi ct ures fadi ng there li ttl e understood by most of the

, ,

vi si tors who l ook at Courbet and Cab an el and Vi ctor Gi raud and so on
, , .

What are w e worth we painters ? Well I thi nk Ri c h epin i s often ri ght for
, , ,

i nstance when he brutall y bursts in and sends them all back to th e madhouse
wi th hi s blasphemi es .

Now however I assure you that I know of no asyl um where they woul d be
, ,

willi ng to take me i n for nothing even supposi ng I took on myself all the ex ,
.

penses of my p ai nti ng and l eft the whole of my work to the hospi tal And perhaps .

thi s i s I d o not say a great but still a small i njusti ce I shoul d be resi gned if I
, , .

foun d i t If I were wi thout your fri endship they woul d remorsel essly dri ve me t o
.
,

sui ci de and however cowardl y I am I should end by doi ng i t There as y ou t oo

, , .
,

will see I hope i s the junct ure where i t i s permi ssi bl e for us t o protest agai nst
, ,

soci ety and defend ourselves You can be fai rly sur e that the Marseill es arti st
.

who commi tted sui ci de di d not i n any way do i t as the resul t of absi nth e for the ,

si mpl e reason that no on e woul d have offered i t to hi m and he coul dn t have had ’

anyt hin g t o buy i t wi th Besi des he woul d dri nk i t not sol ely for p l easure but
.
, , ,

because bein g i ll al ready he needed i t to keep hi mself goi ng

, , .

M Salles has been t o St R emy— they are not willi ng to let me p ai nt outsi de
. .

the i nsti tuti on nor to take me for less than 1 00 francs

, .

Thi s i nformati on i s pretty bad If I could get out of i t by enli sti ng i n the .

Forei gn Legi on for five years I thi nk I d prefer that ,

’
.

For on the one hand if I am shut up and not workin g I shall recover wi th
, ,

difficul ty and on the other hand they woul d make us pay 1 00 francs a month
, ,

during the whole l ong life of an i ncurable madman .

It i s seri ous and what i s on e to thi nk ? But will they be willi ng to take me as
,

a sol di er ? I feel very ti red after the conversati on wi th M Sal les and I do not .

qui te know what to do .

I myself advi sed Bernard to do hi s servi ce so i s i t surpri sing that I thi nk of ,

going to Arabi a a s a sol dier myself ?

I say thi s to make sure that y ou will not b l ame me t oo mu ch if I g o It s all so .
’

vague and strange And you know h ow doub tful i t i s that w e shall ever recover
.

what i t costs to g o on pai nti ng Fo r that matter I think th at physi call y I am well
.
, .

5 5?
 Serret can say nothi ng about the ci rcumstances under whi ch Vi ncent l eft Arles
at firsthand The fact i s that before that tim e he had gone on a worl d tour whi ch
.

l asted several years and of whi ch he gave a descri pti on— Serret i s a wri ter— i n a
,

several volume work When he came back the star of the dead p ainter had ri sen
-
.
,

gl ori ously Then at hi s own expense he had a memori al tabl et put up in th e front
.
, ,

o f the house where V an Gogh had worked and s u ffered whi ch tabl et contai ns ,
“
the simpl e words : The Dutch painter Vi ncent van Gogh li ved i n thi s house i n -

b ll da i s V v G ba bi ta rette ma i s on en 1 8 87
1 8 8 7— 1 8 8 8 ( p
L e ei ntre o an . . .

At the appoi nted hour we Professor Julius Seyl er and I call ed on D r , , .

Feli x Rey As hi s daughter had already told him what ki nd of informati on w e

.

wanted from hi m he started tal ki ng wi thout any ci rc uml ocuti on :

,
“
Fi rst and foremost Vi ncent was a mi serable pi tiful man small of stature , ,

(p l ease get up for a moment ! about your s i ze) l ean He al ways wore a sort of , .

overcoat smeared all over wi th col ors— h e pai nted wi th hi s thumb and then
,

wiped i t on hi s coat— and an enormous straw hat wi thout a hatband of the ty pe ,

usually worn by the shepherds of the Camargue as a protecti on against the

scorchi ng sun He often used to compl ai n of bei ng the onl y pai nter i n the regi on
.
,

so that he could not talk to anybody about pai nting In the absence of any coll eagu e .

he used to converse wi th me on the nature of the complementary colors But for .

the li fe of me I coul d not understand that red should not be red and green not ,

In exactl y the same way as Serret Dr Rey now des cri bed how Vi ncent used , .

“
t o take hi s food In the morni ng before setti ng out to work wi th hi s easel and
.
,

canvases he woul d put a p ot of chi ck peas on the coal fire Then wh en he came
, .
,

back generally i n the eveni ng dead ti red and hungry the fire had gone ou t of
, , , ,

course and the mess of peas was usually onl y hal f done and i n fact i nedi bl e
, .

All the same he consumed the hardl y i nvi ti ng food unl ess he preferred to dri nk
, ,
”
spi ri ts to reli eve hi s stomach .

5 91
My dear s i ster ,
St Remy 1 5 May 1 8 8 9 .
,

Many thanks for your l etter i n whi ch I especi ally l ooked for news of my brother .

And I find i t excellent I see y ou have already noti ced tha the li kes Pari s and thi s more
.
,

or l ess surpri ses you s ince you d o not li ke i t at all or rather li ke mostl y the flowers
, ,

there such as the wi steri as I suppose whi ch are probab ly coming i nto b l oom
, , , .

Mi ght i t n ot be a fact that when y ou are fond of something you see i t bett er ,

an d more truly than when you are n o t fond of i t ? For hi m and me Pari s i s certai nl y

already somethi ng li ke a graveyard where many arti sts have peri shed whom w e
once knew di rectly or i ndi rectl y .

Certainl y Millet whom you are learni ng to li ke so very mu ch an d many others

, ,

wi th hi m tri ed t o get out of Pari s But as for Eug ene D el a croix for i nstance i t
, .
, ,

i s di ffi cul t t o i magi ne hi m as a man otherwi se than as a Pari s i an

, , .

All thi s i s t o urge you— wi th all cauti on i t i s true— t o b eli eve in the p oss i bi li ty
that there are bomes in Pari s and n o t just apartments .

Anyway— fortunately y ou are yourself hi s home .

3 54
 It i s rather queer perhaps that the resul t of thi s terri bl e attack i s that there i s
hardl y any very defini te desi re or hope l eft i n my mi nd and I wonder i f thi s i s ,

the way on e thinks when wi th the passi ons l essened on e descends the hill
, ,

i nstead of climb i ng i t And anyhow my s i ster if you c an beli eve o r ahn o st

.
, , ,

beli eve that everythi ng i s always for the best i n the best of worl ds then perhaps
, ,

o u will al so be ab l e to beli eve that Pari s is the best of the ci ti es in i t

y .

Have you noti ced that the old cab horses there have large beautiful eyes as ,

heartbroken as Chri sti ans someti mes have ? However i t may be we are nei ther ,

savages nor peasants and i t i s perhap s even a duty to h ke civili zati on (so called)
, .

After all i t woul d probably be hypocri sy to say or think that Pari s i s bad when
one i s livi ng there Besi des the fir st ti me one sees Pari s i t may be that everyt hi ng
.
, ,

in i t seems unnatural foul and sad ,

.

Anyw ay if y ou do not li ke Pari s above all d o not li ke paint ing n or those

, ,

w h o are di rectly or i ndi rectl y c oncerned i n i t for i t i s onl y too doubtful whether ,

i t i s beauti ful o r useful .

But what i s to be done —there are peop le w ho l ove nat ure even though they
are cracked o r ill those are the pai nters ; then there are those w h o li ke what i s
,

made by men s hands and these even go so far as to li ke pi ctures

’
,
.

Though here there are some pati ents very seri ously ill the fear and horror of ,

madness that I used t o have has alrea dy l essened a great deal And though here .

you conti nuall y hear terri ble cri es and howl s li ke beasts in a menageri e i n spi te ,

of that peop le get to know each other very well and help each other when thei r
attacks come on When I am worki ng i n the garden they all come t o l ook and
.
, ,

I assure y ou they have th e di screti on and mann ers to l eave me al one— more than
the good peopl e of the town of Arles for i nstance ,
.

It may well be that I shall stay here l ong enough— I have never been so peaceful
as here and i n the hospi tal i n Arl es— to be ab le to pai nt a li ttle at last Qui te .

near here there are some li ttl e mou ntai ns gray and b lue and at thei r foot some , ,

very very green c ornfi el d s and pi nes

, .

I shall count myself very happy if I can manage to work enough to earn my
li vi ng for i t worri es me a l o t when I thi nk that I have done so many pi ctures
,

and drawi ngs wi thout ever selli ng on e Do not be in too much of a hurry t o .

thi nk that thi s i s an i njusti ce I myself don t know in the l east

.
’
.

Thanki ng you agai n for havi ng wri tten to me I am so very glad to thi nk that ,

n ow my brother i s not goi ng home to an empty apartment when he goes back

i n the eveni ng .

I shake your hand in thought an d beli eve me , ,

Your brother Vi ncent ,

5 92
My dear Theo ,
St Remy 2 2 May 1 8 8 9 .
,

The l etter I have just received from you gi ves me great pl easure You tell me .

that J H Wei ssenbruch has t wo pi ctures at the exhi bi ti on— but I imagi ned he
. .

w a s dead— am I wrong ? Certai nl y h e s a mi ghty good arti st and a decent b i g

’

hearted fell ow t o o .

355
 ”
What y ou say about La Berceuse p l eas es me ; i t i s very true tha t the co mmon
peop le who are c ontent wi th chr omos and melt when they hear a barrel organ
, ,

are i n some vague way ri ght perha ps more si ncere than certai n men about town,

who g o to the Sal on .

”
If he will accept i t gi ve Gaugui n the copy of La Ber ceuse that w as n ot
,

mounted on a stretcher and another t o Bernard as a token of fri endshi p But if

, .

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T u V u t ’ q w u ! Q M C N M M A J

Gaugui n wants the s unflowers i t i s only fai r that he should gi ve you somethi ng ,

y ou li ke equall y we ll i n exchange .

Gaugui n hi mself li ked the sunflower s better l ater on when he had been l ooking
at them for a good while .

Y o u must realize that if you arrange them thi s way say La Berceuse in the ,

mi ddl e an d the t wo canvases of sun flowers to the ri ght and l eft i t makes a sort ,

of tri p t ych .

And then the yell ow and orange tones of the head will gai n i n brilli ance by
the proxi mi ty of the yell ow wi ngs .

And then y ou will understand what I wrote y ou that my i dea had been t o ,

make a sort of decorati on for i nstance for the end of a shi p s cab i n Then a s the
,
’
.
,

size increases the c on ci se c omposi ti on i s jus t i fied The frame fo r the cent ral pi ece
, .
suffi ced for my work and I have n ot yet gone outsi de However the country
, .
,

roun d St R emy i s very beautiful and li ttl e by li t tl e I shall probably wi den my

.

field of endeavor .

But if I stay here the do ctor will nat urall y be better abl e to see what i s wrong
, ,

and will I hope be more reassured as to my bein g all owed to pai nt

, ,
.

I assure y ou that I am qui te all ri ght here and that for th e tim e bei ng I see no
reason at all for going to a boardi nghouse i n or near Pari s I have a li ttl e room .

wi th greeni sh gray paper wi th t wo curtains of sea green wi th a desi gn of very

- -

pale roses bri ghtened by s li ght touches of bl ood red

,
-
.

These curtains probabl y th e reli cs of some ri ch and rui ned deceased are very
, ,

prett y in desi gn A very worn armchai r probab ly comes from th e same source ;
.

i t i s uphol stered wi th tapestry sp lashed over li ke a Di az or a Monti celli wi th brown , ,

m O m
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red pink whi te cream b l ack forget me not blue and bottl e green Thr ough
, , , , ,
- -
.

the i ron barred wi ndow I see a s qu arefi eld of wheat i n an enclosure a perspecti ve
-
,

li ke Van Goyen above wh i ch I see the morni ng sun ri s i ng in a ll i t s gl ory Bes i des
, .

thi s one— as there are more than thi rty empty rooms— I have another one to
work in .

The food i s so so Naturall y i t tastes rather moldy li ke in a cockroach infested

-
.
,
-

restaurant in Pari s or i n a boardi nghouse As these poor soul s do absolutely .

nothing (not a book nothing to di stract them but a game of bowl s and a game
,

of checkers) they have no other dai ly di stracti on than to stuff themselves wi th

chi ck peas beans l enti l s and other groceri es and merchandi se from the coloni es
, , ,

i n fixed quanti ti es and at regul ar hours .

As the di gesti on of these commo di t ies offers certai n di fficul t ies they fill thei r ,

days in a way as i noffens i ve as i t i s cheap .

But all j okin g asi de the fea r of madnes s i s l eavi ng me to a great extent as
, ,

I see at cl ose quarters those who are aflec t ed by i t in the same w ay as I may very
easily be i n the future .

3 58
 Formerly I felt
aversi on to these creat ures and i t was a harrowi ng t hought
an ,

fo r me t o reflect that so many of o ur professi on Troyon Marchal Méry on , , , ,

Jundt M Mari s Monti celli and many more had ended li ke thi s I could n o t
, .
, .

even bri ng myself to pi ct ure them i n that condi ti on Well n ow I think of all .
,

thi s wi thout fear that i s t o say I find i t no more fri ghtful than if these peopl e
,

had been stri cken wi th something el se phthi si s o r syphili s fo r i nstance These , .

arti sts I see them take on thei r old sereni ty again and i s i t a htt le thi ng I ask
, , ,

you thus t o meet the old ones of ou r professi on agai n ? That j oking asi de i s a
, , ,

t hi ng I am profoun dl y than kful for .

For though there are some w h o howl o r rave conti nually there i s much real ,

fri endshi p here among them ; they say we must put up wi th others so that others
will put up wi th us and other very sound arguments whi ch they really put into
, ,

practi ce And among ourselves w e understand each other very well For i nstance
. .

I c an someti mes chat wi th on e of them w h o c an only answer i n i ncoherent

sounds because he i s n ot afrai d of me
,
.

If someone has an attack the others l ook after hi m and i nterfere so that he does
,

not harm hi mself .

The same for those whose mani a i s to fly often i nto a rage The old inhabi t .

ants of the menageri e come runni ng and separate the combatants if combat there ,

is .

It i s true there are some whose conditi on i s more seri ous w ho are ei ther dirty ,

or dangerous These are in another ward. .

I take a bath twi ce a week now and stay i n i t for two hours ; my stomach i s ,

i nfini tely better than i t was a year ago ; so as far as I know I have only t o go on , .

Bes i des I shall spend less here I thi nk consi deri ng that I have work i n prospect
, , ,

agai n for the scenery i s l ovely

, .

What I hope i s that at the end of a year I shall know what I can do and what
I want t o do better than n ow Then li ttle by litt le the i dea of a fresh start wi ll
.

come to me Goi ng back to Pari s o r anywhere at all i n n o way attracts me

. .

I think my p lace i s here Extreme enervati on i s in my op ini on what most of

.
, ,

those wh o have been here for years suffer from Now my work will preserve me .

from that to a certai n extent .

The room where we stay on w et days i s hke a thi rd class wai ti ng room i n -

some stagnant vill age the more so as there are some di sting ui shed lunati cs w h o
,

al ways wear a hat spe ct acl es and a cane and traveli ng cl oak ahn o st li ke at a
, , , ,

wateri ng place and they represent the passengers

, .

I am forced t o a sk you agai n for some pai nts and especi all y for canvas W hen .

I send you the four canvases of the garden I am working on you will see that , ,

consi deri ng my life i s spent mos tly in the garden i t i s not so unh appy ,
.

Yesterday I drew a very b i g rather rare ni ght moth called the death s head , ,
’

i t s col ori ng of amazi ng di sti nct i on b l ack gray cl oudy whi te tin ged wi th carmi ne , , ,

or vaguely shadi ng off i nto olive green ; i t i s very b i g I had to kill i t to pai nt i t
,
-
.
,

and i t w a s a pi ty the beasti e was so beautiful I will send you the dr awi ng al ong
, .

wi th some other drawi ngs o f plants .

When they are dry enough you coul d take the canvases at Tang uy s or at ,
’

3 59
your p lace off the stretchers and then put any new ones that y ou thi nk worth i t
,

on t o them . Gau g ui n ought t o be abl e to tell y ou the address of a man w h o coul d

“ ”
recanvas the canvas of The Bedroom and n ot t oo expensively That I i mag ine ,
.
, ,

ought t o be repai red for 5 francs ; if i t i s more then don t have i t done I do not ,
’
.

think that Gaugui n pai d more when he had hi s own canvases rec anva sed prett y
’ ’
often or Cézanne s o r Pi ssarro s
, , .

I am agai n— speaking of my c ondi ti on— so grateful fo r another thi ng I gather .

from others that duri ng t hei r attacks they ha ve al so heard strange sounds and
voi ces as I did and that i n thei r eyes t o o thi ngs seemed t o be changi ng And that
, .

l essens the horror that I retai ned at first of the at tack I have had and whi ch , ,

when i t comes on y ou unawares cannot but fri ghten y ou beyond measur e Once
, .

o u know that i t i s part of the di sease y ou take i t li ke anyt hi ng el se If I had

y , .

not seen other lunati cs cl ose up I shoul d n ot have been abl e to free myself from
,

dwelli ng on i t constantly For the ang ui sh and sufferi ng are no j oke once y ou
.

are caught by an attack Most epilepti cs bi te thei r tongue and i njure themselves
. .

Rey tol d me that he had seen a c ase where someone had mutilated hi s own ear ,

as I di d and I thi nk I heard a doctor here say when he came to see me wi th the
, ,

di rector that he al so had seen i t before I really thi nk that once you know what
, .

i t i s once y ou are cons ci ous of your c ondi t i on and of bei ng subj ect to attacks
, ,

then you can do somethin g yourself t o prevent your bei ng taken unawares b y
the sufferi ng or the terror N ow that i t has gone on decreasi ng for five months
.
,

I have good hope of getti ng over i t or at l east of not h avi ng su ch vi ol ent attacks
, .

There i s someone here w h o has been shouting and talki ng li ke me a ll tbe ti me

for a fortni ght he thinks he hears voi ces and words in the echoes of the corri dors
,

probably beca use the nerves of the ear are di seased and t oo sensi t ive an d i n my ,

case i t was my si ght as well as my heari ng whi ch according t o what Rey told ,

me on e day i s usual in the beginni ng of epil epsy Then the shock was such that .

i t si ckened me even to move and nothi ng woul d have p l eased me better than
,

never t o have woken up agai n At present thi s borror of life i s less s trong al ready
.

and the melancholy l ess acute But I have no wi ll hardl y any desir es o r none at
.
,

all and hardl y any wi sh for anythi ng bel ongi ng t o ordinary life for i nstance
, ,

ahn o st no des i re t o see my fri ends al though I keep thi n ki ng about th em That i s
, .

why I have n ot yet reached the poi nt where I ought t o thi nk of l eavi ng here
I should have thi s depressi on an ywhere .

An d i t i s onl y duri ng these very l ast days that my aversi on t o li fe i s i n an y

way bei ng radi cally modi fied There i s stil l some way t o go from that t o will
.

and acti on .

It i s a pi ty that y ou are always condemned to stay in Par i s and that y ou never

see the country except the i mmedi ate envi rons of Pari s I thi nk that i t i s n ot .

more unfortunate for me to be i n the c ompany I am i n than for y ou t o have

always to do wi th the i nevi tabl e Goupil Co From thi s poi nt of vi ew w e are .

pretty much even For i n your case y ou can only carry out your i deas parti all y
. .

However once we have g ot used t o these annoyances i t becomes sec ond

, ,

nat ure .

I thi nk that though the pi ctures c ost canvas p ai nt etc nevertheless at th e , ,

.
,
 That i s wh y as far as p ainti ng goes a househol d l oaf i s especi ally good when
, ,

i t i s p ai nted by Chardi n .

N w what makes Eg ti an art for i nstance extraord i nary — i sn t i t that these ’

o yp , ,

serene cal m ki ngs wi se and gentle pati ent and ki nd l ook as though they coul d
, , , ,

never be other than what they are eternal till ers of the soil worshi pers of , ,

the sun ?
I shoul d so have liked t o have seen an Egypti an house at the exhibi ti on c on
struc ted by J ul es Garni er the archi tect— pai nted in red yell ow and blue with a , , ,

garden regul arly di vi ded in to beds by rows of bri cks— the dwelling place of beings
whom w e know only as mummi es or in grani te .

But then t o come back to the poi nt the Egypti an arti sts havi ng afai t/7 worki ng , , ,

by feeli ng and by i nstinct express all these i ntangi bl e thi ngs— kindness i nfi ni te
, ,

pati ence wi sdom sereni ty— b y a few knowi ng c urves an d by the marvel ous
, ,

proporti ons That i s t o say once more when the thi ng represented and the
.
,

manner of representi ng i t agree the thi ng has s t yl e and quali t y ,

.

S o al so the servant gi rl i n Ley s s great fresco once sh e i s engraved by Braque

’

,
“ ”
mond becomes a n ew work of art— or the li ttl e Reader by Mei ssoni er when
, ,

i t i s Jacquemart who engraves i t — s i nce the manner of eng ra vi ng i s o n e wi th the

thing represented .

”
A s I wi sh to preserve thi s study of the Bedroom if you woul d send i t back
‘

to me rolled up when you send me the canvas I will repai nt i t

, , ,
.

At first I had wi shed t o have i t rec anv a sed because I di d n ot thi nk I coul d do
i t agai n But as my brai n ha s grown c ahri er s i nc e I can qui te well do i t a g ai n n ow
.
, v
.

The thing i s that among the number of thi ngs y ou make there are al ways ,

some that you felt more or put more i nto and that you want t o keep in spi te of
everyt hi ng When I see a pi cture that i nterests me I can never help aski ng myself
.
, ,
“
In what house room corner of a room i n whose home woul d i t do well
, , , ,
”
woul d i t be in the ri ght p l ace ?
Thus the pi ctures of Hals Rembran dt V an der Meer [Vermeer] are onl y at
, , ,

home i n an ol d Dutch house .

N ow as to the i mpress i oni sts — once agai n if an i nteri or i s not comp l ete wi th ,

out a work of art nei ther i s a pi ct ure compl ete if i t i s not in harmony wi th
,

surroundi ngs ori gi nati ng in and resulti ng from the peri od i n whi ch i t w as pro
d u c ed And I do not know if the impressi oni sts are better than thei r ti m e o r
.
,

on the contrary are n ot yet so good In a word are there mi nds and i nteri ors of
, .
,

homes more i mportant than anyt hi ng that has been expressed by paint ing ? I am
i n clined to thi nk so .

I have seen the announcement of a coming exhi bi ti on o f i mpressi oni sts called
Gaugui n Bernard Anqueti n and other names So I am i ncli ned to thi nk that a
, , .

n ew sect has agai n been formed no l ess i nfal li bl e than those al ready exi sti ng
,
.

Was that the exhi bi ti on y ou spoke of? What storms i n teacups .

My heal th i s all ri ght consi dering ; I feel happi er here wi th my work t han
,

I coul d be outsi de By stayi ng here a good l ong time I shall have l earned regul ar
.
,

habi ts and i n th e l ong run the resul t will be more order i n my li fe and l ess su sc ep
ti b i lity That will be so much to the good Bes i des I sho ul d not have th e cour age
. .
,

3 6 2
to begi n agai n outsi de I went once s till accompani ed to the vill age ; the mere
.
, ,

s i ght of peop l e and thi n gs had such an effect o n me that I thought I was goi ng
t o fai nt and I fel t very ill Face t o face wi th nature i t i s the feeling fo r work that
.

supports me But anyway thi s i s to show y ou that there must have been wi thi n
.
,

me some too powerful emoti on to upset me li ke that and I have no i dea what ,

can have caused i t .

I get bored to death someti mes after worki ng and yet I h ave n o desi re to ,

begi n agai n The doctor w h o has just call ed says that he i s not goi ng to Pari s
.

for several weeks so do not expect hi s vi si t yet

,
.

I hope y ou will wri te me soon .

Duri ng thi s month I shal l really again be i n need o f

It i s queer that every time I try to reason wi th myself to get a cl ear i dea of thi ngs ,

w hy I came here and that after a ll i t i s onl y an acci dent li ke any other a terri b l e ,

di smay an d horror sei zes me and prevents me from thi nki ng It i s true that thi s .

i s tendi ng to di mi ni sh s li ghtly but i t al so seems to me to prove that there i s qui te

,

defini tely somethi ng o r other deranged i n my brai n i t i s astoundi ng to be afrai d ,

of nothi ng li ke thi s and to be unab l e to remember thi ngs Onl y you may be sure
,
.

I sh all do a ll I can to become act ive agai n and perhaps useful at l east i n the sense ,

that I want to do better pi ctures than before .

In thi s country there are many thi ng s that often make you thi nk of Ruysdael ,

but the figures of the l aborers are absent .

Everywhere at home and at all times of the year you see men women chil dren , ,

and ani mal s at work and here not a thi rd of that and besi des i t i s not the genuin e
, , ,

worker of the Nort h They seem to work here wi th lan gui d clumsy hands wi th
.
, ,

out energy Perhaps thi s i s a wrong i dea I have got hol d of not bel onging to the
.
,

country anyhow I hope s o But thi s makes thi ngs col der than on e would think
, .

when reading Tarta ri n but perhaps he had been exil ed wi th hi s whol e famil y
for many l ong years .

Above all wri te me soon because your l etter i s very s l ow i n c oming ; I hope
, ,

y o u are we ll It i s.a great conso l ati on to me to know that y o u are not livi ng
al one any more .

If some month or other i t shoul d be too di ffi cul t t o send me paint canvas etc , ,
.
,

then d o not send them for beli eve me i t i s better to li ve than t o work at art in
,

the abstract .

And above all your home must n ot be sad or du ll That first and p ain ting after . .

36
 Then I feel tempted t o begin agai n wi th the si mpler col ors the ochers for ,

i nstanc e .

Is a Van Goyen ugly because i t i s pai nted enti rely in oils wi th very littl e neutr al
c olor or a Mi chel ? The shrubbery wi th the i vy i s c ompletel y fini shed I very
, .

much want t o send i t t o y ou as soon as i t s dry enough t o be rolled up

’
.

Wi th a ri ght good handshake fo r y ou and your wife .

Ever yours Vi nce nt ,

5 96
My dear Theo ,
St Remy 2 5 June 1 8 8 9 .
,

En cl osed y ou will find an order for pai nts t o replac e the on e i n my last l etter .

We have had some gl ori ous days and I have set even more can vases goi ng s o ,

that there are t welve si ze 3 0 canvases i n prospect Tw o studi es of cypresses of .

that di ffi cul t bottle green hue ; I have worked their foregrounds wi th thi ck l ayers
-

of whi te l ead whi ch gi ves firmness t o the gro und

, .

I thi nk that very often the Mon ti c elli s were prepared li ke thi s Y ou put other .

c olors on that But I d o not know if the canvases are strong enough for that
.

sort of work .

S peakin g of Gaugui n and Bernard and that they may well gi ve us p ai nting of
,
‘

greater consolati on I must however add what I have al so sai d many a ti me to

,

Gaugui n hi mself namely that we must n ot then forget that others have done i t
,

al ready But however i t may be outsi de P ari s y ou qui ckl y forget Pari s when
.
, ,

throwi ng yourself i nto the heart of th e c ountry your i deas change ; but I for ,

o n e cannot forget all those l ovel y canvases of Barb i zon and i t seems h a rdl y ,

probabl e that anyone will do better than that and unnecessary besi des ,
.

What i s A n dr e Bonger doin g ; y ou have not menti oned hi m i n the last t wo or

three letters .

A s for me my health remai ns very good and work di stracts me I have re c ei ved
, .

— probabl y from o ne o f o ur s i sters— a book by Rod whi c h i s not bad but the
, ,

ti tl e L e S ens de la vi e i s reall y a li ttle pretenti ous for the contents i t seems to me , .

It certainl y i s not very cheeri ng I thi nk the author must be sufferi ng a good
.

deal from hi s lungs and consequentl y a li ttle from everyt hi ng .

Anyway he admi ts that he find s c onsolati on i n the compani onshi p of hi s wi fe

, ,

whi ch i s all to the good but after all for my own use he tea ches me nothi ng
, ,

about the meani ng of hfe whatever i s meant by i t For my par t I mi ght well
, .

thi nk him a li ttl e tri te and be surpri sed that he has had a book like that publi shed
these days and gets i t sol d at fr Altogether I prefer Al phonse Kar r S ouvestre
.
,

and D roz because they are a bi t more al i ve than thi s It s true that I am perhaps .
’

ungrateful not even appre ci ati ng Abbé Constanti n and o t her li terary works
, ,

whi ch gave luster t o the gentle rei gn of the nai ve Carnot It seems that thi s book .

has made a great i mpressi on on o u r good si sters At l east W il had menti oned i t
.
,

to me but good women and books are tw o different things

, .

I have reread wi th mu ch pleasure Z a dig on Io desti née by Voltai re It i s li ke .

C a ndi de Here the mi ghty aut hor gi ves at l east a gli mpse of the poss i bili t y tha t
.

3 64
sky wi th a crescent moon The foreground especi all y i s p ai nted very thi ck
.
,

cl umps of brambl es wi th touches of yell ow vi ol et and green , .

I wi ll send y ou the drawi ngs of i t wi th tw o other drawi ngs that I have done t o o .

That will keep me busy these days The great questi on here i s to fin d occupati on .

for the day .

'

What a pi ty on e cannot shi ft thi s buil din g here It would b e sp len di d to hol d .

an exhi bi ti on i n all the empty rooms the large wi ndows

, , .

I shoul d have very much li ked to see that p i cture by Rembran dt whi ch you
spoke of in your l ast l etter .

Some ti me ago I saw in Braun s window a photo of a pi c t ure whi ch must ’

bel ong to the fine l ast peri od (probab ly in the Hermi tage seri es) In thi s were .

”
great figures of angel s i t w a s Abraham s Meat five figures I thi nk That w a s
“
,
’
, , .

“ ”
extraordinary too As movi ng as the Men of Emmaus for instance
.
,
.

If la ter on there should ever be a questi on of gi vi ng somethin g to M Sall es .

“
for the trouble he has taken w e shoul d gi ve hi m Rembrandt s Men of Emmaus
-
’
.

Is your health good ? A handshake for you and your wife I hope t o send you ,

some new drawi ngs next week .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

5 99
Dear brother and si ster ,
St Remy 6 Jul y 1 8 8 9 .
,

J o s l etter told me a very great p i ece of news thi s morni ng I congrat ulate you
’
,

on i t and I am very glad to hear i t I wa s much touched by your thought when .

o u sai d that ne i ther o f you bei ng i n such good hea l th a s seems dé s i rab l e on
y
such an occasi on you fel t a sort of doubt and i n any case that a feeling of p i ty
, ,

for the chil d w h o i s to come passed through your heart .

Has the chil d i n thi s case even before i t s bi rth been l ess l oved than th e chi ld o f
very heal thy parents whose first movement must have been qui ck wi th j oy ?
,

Certai nly not We know li fe so li ttle that i t i s very li ttl e i n ou r power to di stin
.

gui sh ri ght from wrong just from unj ust and to say that one i s unfortun ate
, ,

because o ne suffers whi ch has not been proved Remember that Roulin s chi ld
, .
’

came to them smiling and very healthy when the parents were in strai ts S o take .

i t as i t comes wai t i n confidence and possess your soul in great pati ence a s a
, ,

very ol d sayi ng has i t and wi th good will Leave nat ure al one As for what you
, . .

about Theo s hea th a though my dear s ster I share your anx ety w th all
’
sa
y l l i,
i ,
i ,

my heart I must comfort you j ust because I have realized that hi s heal th i s
, , ,

li ke mi ne t o o more changeab l e and uneven than feebl e

, .

I very much li ke to thi nk that i llness somet imes heal s us that i s to say when , ,

the di scomfort comes to a cri si s i t i s necessary for the recovery of th e body s

,
’

normal condi ti on No after he has been marri ed for some ti me he will recover
.
, ,

hi s strength as he still has a reserve of youth and power to restore hi m

,
.

I am very glad that he i s not al one and trul y I do not doubt but t hat after ,

some ti me he will recover hi s ol d temperament And then above all when he i s a .

,

father an d the sense of hi s fatherhood has come to hi m i t wi ll be so much ,

gai ned .

3 66
 In my li fe as a pai nter and especi all y when I am in the country i t i s l ess di fli c ul t
, ,

for me t o be al one be cause i n the country you feel more eas i l y the ti es that uni te
,

us all But i n town as he has been for ten years on end wi th the Goupil s i n Pari s
.
, ,

i t i s i mposs i b l e to exi st al one So wi th pati ence i t wi ll all come back

. .

I am goi ng t o Arl es tomorrow t o get the canvases whi ch are still there and ,

whi ch I will send you soon And I am goi ng to send some of them as soon as
.

possi bl e t o try to give you even though you are i n town a peasant s thoughts
, ,
’
.

Thi s morni ng I tal ked a li ttle wi th the doctor here— he tol d me exactly what
I already thought— that I must wa i t a year before thi nking myself cured s i nce ,

the l east li ttl e thing mi ght bri ng on another attack .

Then he offered to store my furni t ure here s o that we shoul d not be payi ng ,

doubl e Tomorrow I am goi ng to Arles to talk i t over wi th M Sall es When

. . .

I came here I left M Sall es 5 0 francs to pay the hospi tal i n Arles ; he i s sure to
,
.

have some of i t l eft But a s I w a s still pretty often in need of vari ous thi ngs here
.
,

the surp lus whi ch M Peyron had i s exhausted I am rather surpri sed myself
. .
, ,

that whi le I have been livi ng wi th the greatest possi bl e frugali ty and reg ulari ty
fo r six months not counti ng havi ng my s t udi o free I spend no l ess and produce
, ,

no more than the previ ous year whi ch was comparati vely l ess frugal and i n , ,

w ardl y I feel nei ther more nor l ess remorseful as i t i s call ed That i s as much as ,
.

to say that wha t i s call ed good and bad i s however— as i t seems to me— pretty ,

relati ve .

I hve soberly because I have a ch ance to I drank in the past because I di d n ot ,

qui te know h ow to do otherwi se Anyw ay I don t care in the . Very ,

’

deli berate sobri ety— i t s true— l eads neverthel ess to a condi ti on i n whi ch thoughts
’
,

if y o u have any move more readily In short i t i s a di fference li ke pai nti ng i n

, .
,

gray or in colors I am goi ng t o pai nt more i n gray i n fact

.
, .

Onl y i nstead of payi ng money t o a l andl ord y ou gi ve i t t o the asylum I do , ,

not see the di fference— and i t i s hardl y any cheaper The work i s a thi ng apart .

and has always cost me a l ot .

Thank y ou very much for the package of col ors and canvas whi ch I am very ,

glad t o have I hope t o go and do the olives agai n Unfort unatel y there are very
. .

few vi neyards here .

I am well however and I have a feeling rather h k e I had when I was younger
, , ,
’
when I w as very sober too sober they used to say then I thi nk But i t doesn t
, ,
.

matter I shall try to overc ome my di fli c ulti es

, .

As for bei ng godfather to a s on of yours when to begi n wi th i t may be a ,

daughter honestly i n the ci rcumstances I woul d rather wai t until I am away

, ,

from here .

Then Mother woul d certai nl y rather set her heart on i t s bei ng call ed after
ou r father I fo r o n e woul d think that more l ogi cal in the ci rcumstances
. .

I enj oyed myself very much yesterday reading M easurefor M easure Then I read .

H enry VIII in whi ch there are such fi ne passages such as that o f Bucki ngham
, , ,

and W ol sey s words after hi s fall

’
.

I thi nk that I am lucky to be abl e t o read or reread thi s at lei sure and then
I very much hope to read Homer t oo at last .

3 67
 Outsi de the ci cadas are s i ngi ng fit t o burst a ha rsh screechi ng ten ti mes , ,

str onger than that of the cri ckets and the scorched grass takes on l ovely tones
,

of ol d gol d And the beautiful towns of the South are i n the same state as our
.

dead towns al ong the Z uy d er Zee that once were so bustli n g Yet i n the decli ne .

an d de c adence of thi ngs the ci cadas dear t o the good S o crates abi de And here
, .

certainly they still sing in anci ent Greek If our fri end Isaac son heard them i t .
,

would rej oi ce hi s heart .

What J o wri tes about your having all your meal s at home i s sp lendi d Altogether .

I think i t i s all goi ng very well and once more whi le sharing wi th all my heart
, ,

all possi b l e un eas in ess about Theo s health wi th me the hope predomi nates that
’
,

in thi s case a more or l es s si c kly c ondi ti o n i s onl y the resul t of nature s efforts t o
’

ri ght herself Pati ence Mauve always asserted that nature w as good an d even
. .

much more so than i s generally believed ; w a s there anyt hing in hi s life that proves
he w as wrong ? The fits of depressi on during hi s last days do y ou think ? I should ,

be in cli ned to thi nk otherwi se .

Good b y for the present but I wanted to wri te straight off and tell y ou h ow
-
,

pleased I am wi th thi s mo rni ng s news ’

.

A handshake from
Ever yours Vi ncent ,

6 01 1

M y dear Theo ,
Augu st 1 8 8 9 S t Remy
.
,
1 8
I thank J o very mu ch for havi ng wri tten and knowi ng that y ou want me t o drop ,

y o u a li ne I must
,
l et y o u know that it i s very di fi
f cul t for me to wri te my head is ,

so di sordered S o I am taki ng advantage of an i nterval D r Peyron is very ki nd

. . .

t o me and very pati ent Y ou can i magi ne that I am terri b ly di stressed because the
.

attacks have come back when I was al ready begi nni ng t o hope that i t woul d n ot
,

return .

It woul d perhaps be a good thi ng if y ou wrote a few words t o Dr Pey t on t o .

tell hi m that worki ng on my pi ctures i s almo st a necessi ty for my rec overy for ,

these days wi thout anyt hi ng to d o and wi thout bei ng ab le to go t o the room they
,

had all otted me t o do my pai nti ng i n are almost unbearable , .

(My fri end Rouli n has wri tten me t oo ) .

I have recei ved a catalogu e of the Gaug ui n Bernard S c huffen ec k er etc ex , , ,

.
,

hibi ti on whi ch I find i nteresting Gaugui n has al so wri tten a ki nd letter though
, .
,

a li ttl e vague and obscure but after all I must say that I thi nk t hey are ri ght t o
,

have an exhi bi ti on among themselves .

For many days my mind bas been a bsolutely wa nderi ng as i n Arles qui te as mu ch if , ,

not worse and presumab ly the attacks will come back agai n in the future ; i t i s
,

a bomi na ble .

For four days I have been unab le to eat because of a swoll en thr oat .

I hope i t i s n ot c omp laini ng t o o much if I tell y ou these detail s but I d o i t to ,

show y ou that I am n ot yet i n a condi ti on t o g o t o P ari s or to Pout Aven unless i t -

,

were t o Charenton I no l onger see any possi bili ty of havi ng courage or hope but
.
,

1
W ritten i n blac k crayon .

3 68
the i dea y ou mi ght get i nto your head of thi s necessary and salutar y quarantine
woul d have li ttl e j usti ficati on when we need a sl ow and pati ent recovery If we .

can manage that we will save our strength for next wi nter Here I i ma gi ne the
, .

wi nter must be rather di smal Anyway I must try to occupy myself all the .
,

same I often thi nk that next wi nter I mi ght retouch a l ot of l ast year s studi es
.
’

from Arl es So just l atel y havi ng kept back a bi g study of an orchard whi ch
.
,

had given me great diffi cul ty (i t i s the same orchard y ou will find a vari ant
of but very vague i n the package)
,
I set myself to work i t over agai n from
, ,

memory and I have found the w ay t o express the harmony of the tones more
,

strongly .

Tell me have you received those drawi ngs of mine ? I sent y ou half a dozen
,

once by parcel post and ten or so l ater on If by chance you have not recei ved .

them yet they must have been l yi ng at the stati on for weeks on end
, .

The doctor here sai d to me about Monti celli that he always thought hi m an
eccentri c but that as for madness he had onl y been a littl e that w ay toward the
, ,

end Consi deri ng all the mi sery of M on ti c elli s l ast years i s there any reason to
.
’
,

be surpri sed that he gave w ay under too heavy a l oad and has on e any ri ght to ,

deduce from thi s that arti sti cally speaki ng he fell short i n hi s work ?
I d o n ot beli eve i t he had such a power of l ogi cal calcul ati on and ori gi nalit y
,

as a pai nter that i t i s still regrettable that he hadn t the stami na to make i t s flower ’

i n g more compl ete .

I am sendi ng y ou encl osed a sketch of the ci cadas here .

Thei r song i n the great heat here has the same charm for me as the cri cket on
the hearth for the peasants at home O l d man — don t let s forget that the li t tl e .
’ ’

emoti ons are the great captains of ou r lives and that we obey them wi thout ,

knowi ng i t If i t i s still hard for me to take courage agai n i n spi te of faul ts c om

.

mi tted and t o be commi tted whi ch must be my cure don t forget henceforth
’

, , ,

that nei ther our sp leen nor our mel ancholy nor yet ou r feelings of good natur e or ,

common sense are our sol e gui des and above all n ot our final prote cti on and that
, , ,

if you too find yourself faced wi th heavy respons i bili ti es to be ri sked if not under
taken honestly don t l et s be too much concerned about each other si nce i t so
, ,
’ ’
,

happens that th e ci rcumstances of livi ng in a state so far removed from our youth
fu l concepti ons of an art i st s life must make us brothers i n spi te of everyt hi ng as
’

we are i n so many ways compani ons i n fate Thin gs are so cl osely conne cted that .

here you someti mes find c ockroaches i n the food as if y ou were really in Pari s ;
o n the other hand i t may be that i n Pari s y ou someti mes catch a real feeling of
,

the fields It certainl y i s n ot much but after all i t i s reassuri ng So take your
.
,
.

fatherhood as a good soul on our old heaths woul d take i t those heaths whi ch , ,

through all the noi se tumult an d fogginess of t he ci ti es sti ll remai n wi t h us in

, , ,

expressi bly dear— however timi d ou r tenderness may be That i s to say let thi s .
,

be your noti on of fatherhood exil e an d stranger and poor man that y ou are , ,

and henceforth find strength wi th the insti nct of the poor i n the probabili ty of
, , ,

a real real life of one s fatherland a li fe real at l east in memory even though we
,
’
, ,

may forget i t every day Sooner or later such as i t i s we meet our desti ni es but
.
, , ,

certai nly i t would be a sort of hyp o cri sy if I were to forget all the good humor ,
th e happy g o l ucky carel essness
- -
the poor devil s that w e were comi ng and of ,

goi ng i n thi s Pari s that has become so strange and to let i t wei gh us down out ,

of proporti on t o o u r real l oad of cares .

Indeed I am so glad that if there are someti mes cock roaches i n the food here
, ,

y o u have your w i fe and chil d at home .

Besi des i t i s cheering that Vol tai re for i nstance has l eft us at liberty not t o
, , ,

beli eve absolutel y in everyt hing w e i magine .

’
Thus whil e shari ng your wi fe s anxi ety about your heal th I am n ot going s o
, ,

far as t o beli eve what n ow and then for a moment I i magi ned— namely that
worry on my account was the cause of your comparati vely l ong silence— though
that i s so easil y exp lai ned when one reali zes h ow her condi ti on must o c cupy
your mi nd But i t i s qui te all ri ght and i t i s th e road that everyone must take
.
,

in o ur worl d .

Good b y for n ow and a good handshake for you and Jo

-
.

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

In haste but I wanted

,
n ot t o delay sendi ng the l etter for ol d Gauguin , y ou
sur ely have the address .

6 05
My dear Theo , St Remy 1 0 September 1 8 8 9 .
,

I li ke your l etter very much what y ou say of Rousseau and arti sts such as Bodmer
, ,

that they are in any case men and men such as you woul d li ke to see the world ,

peopl ed wi th— yes certainl y that i s what I feel t oo

, .

And that J H Wei ssenbru ch knows and does the muddy towpaths the stunted
. .
,

will ows the foreshorteni ng the strange and subtl e perspecti ve of the canal s as
, ,

D aumi er does lawy ers I thi nk that i s perfect , .

Tersteeg has done well t o buy some of hi s work ; I thi nk the reason why
peop l e li ke that d on t sell i s because there are t oo many deal ers tryi ng to sell
’

different stuff wi th whi ch they decei ve the publi c and l ead i t astray
, .

Do y ou know that even now if by chance I read an account of some energeti c ,

manufact urer or even more of a publi sher that then I feel the s ame i ndi gnati on , ,

the same wrath as I used to feel when I w as wi th Goupil and Co .

Li fe passes li ke thi s tim e does not ret urn but I am dead set on my work for
, , ,

just thi s very reason that I kn ow the opportuni ti es of worki ng do n ot ret urn
,
.

Especially i n my case in whi ch a more vi ol ent attack may forever destroy my

,

power t o p ai nt .

D uring the attacks I feel a c oward before the pai n and suffering— more of a
coward than I ought to be and i t i s perhaps thi s very moral cowardi ce whi ch
, ,

whereas I had no desi re to get better before makes me eat li ke two now work , ,

hard limi t my relati ons wi th the other pat i ents for fear of a relapse— altogether
,

I am n ow tryi ng to re cover li ke a man w h o meant t o commi t sui ci de and findi ng ,

the water t oo cold tri es t o regai n th e b ank

, .

My dear brother y ou know that I came to the South and threw myself i nto
,

my work for a thousand reasons Wi shi n g t o see a di fferent li ght thi nki ng that .
,

5 7I
l ooki ng at nat ure under a bri ght sky mi ght gi ve us a better i dea of the Japanese
way of feeli ng and dr awi ng Wi shi ng al so to see thi s stronger sun, because o ne
.

feel s that one coul d not understand Delacroix s pi tures from the poi nt of vi ew
’
c
c
of executi on and te hni que wi thout knowi ng i t and because one feel s t hat the
,

col ors of the pri sm are veiled i n the mi st of the North .

A ll thi s i s still prett y true Then added to thi s i s the nat ural i n linati on toward
. c
thi s South whi ch Daudet descri bed in Ta rtarin, and that occasi on ally I have al so
found fri ends and things here that I l ove .

Can y ou understand then that whil e fin di ng thi s di sease horri ble, I feel that
c
a ll the same I have formed ti es to the p l a e whi ch are perhaps too strong— ti es

whi ch may later i nduce me t o long t o work here agai n— and yet in spi te of
c
everythi ng, i t may be that i n a omparati vely short ti me I shall ret urn to the North ?
Yes for I wi ll n ot hi de from y ou that in the same way that I now eat my food
,

eagerly, I have a terri ble desi re coming over me t o see my fri ends agai n and to
see the northern countrys i de again .

My work i s goi ng very well I am findi ng thi ngs that I have sought i n vai n
,

for years and feeling thi s , I am always thi nki ng of that sayi ng of Delacroix s
’
,

that you know, namely that he di scovered painting when he no l onger had any
breath or teeth left .

Well, I wi th my mental di sease I keep thi nki ng of s o many other arti sts suffer
,

i ng mentally, and I tell myself that thi s does not prevent one from exer i s i ng c
the pai nter s professi on as if nothing were ami ss
’
.

c
When I realiz e that here the atta ks tend to take an absurd rehg i ou s turn,
I should almos t venture to thi nk that thi s even neeessi ta tes a return to the North .

Don t tal k too much about thi s to th e doctor when you see hi m— but I d o not
’

know if thi s i s not caused by li ving i n these ol d cl oi sters so many months , both
i n the Arl es hospi tal and here In fact, I really must not li ve i n such an atmosphere ,
.

one woul d be better i n the street I am not i ndi fferent, and even when sufferi ng
.
,

sometimes religi ous thoughts bri ng me great consolati on So thi s l ast t ime duri ng .

c
my illness an unfortunate ac i dent happened to me— that lithograph of D el a roi x s c ’

“ ”
Pi et a, al ong wi th some other sheets , fell i nto some oil and p ai nt and was rui ned .

I was very di stressed— then i n the meantim e I have been busy p ai nti ng i t and ,

you wi ll see i t someday I made a copy of i t o n a si ze 5 or 6 canvas ; I hope i t

.

has feeli ng .

Besi des , havi ng seen the Dani el and the Odali sques and the portrai t of
“ ”
Bri as and the Mulatto Woman at Montpelli er not l ong ag o, I s t ill feel the
i mpressi on they made on me .

That i s what braces me , just hke readi ng a fine book li ke one by Beec her ,

Stowe or Di ckens ; but what annoys me i s conti nui ng to see these good women
who beli eve i n the Vi rgi n of Lourdes , an d make up thi ngs li ke that and thinki ng ,

that I am a pri soner under an admi ni strati on of that sort whi h very wi lli ngly ,
c
fosters these si ckly reli gi ous aberrati ons whereas the ri ght thi ng woul d be to
,

cure them So I say agai n better to g o , if not to pri son, at least i nto the army
.
, .

c
I reproa h myself wi th my cowardi ce I ought rather to have defended my
,

s tudi o, even i f I had had to fight wi th the g enda rmes and the nei ghbors O thers i n .

5 7 2
thing but I do n ot think I bel ong to that category of soul s who are ready to
,

li ve and al so at any moment ready to suffer .

What a queer thing the toueb i s the stroke of the bru sh ,

.

In the open ai r exposed to the wind to the sun to the curi osi ty of peop le
, , , ,

u work as ou c an y ou fill your canvas anyhow Then however y o u catch

y o y ,
.
, ,

the real and essenti al— that i s the most di ffi cul t But when after a time you again .

take up thi s study and arrange your brush strokes in the di re cti on o f the obj e cts
— certainl y i t i s more harmoni ous an d pleasant to l ook at and y ou add wha tever ,

you have of sereni ty and cheerfu lness .

Ah I shall never be ab le t o convey my i mpressi ons of some faces tha t I have

m
,

seen here Certa . thi s i s the road on whi ch there i s something new the road ,

to the South but men of the North fin d pen etrati ng i t di fficult And al ready
,
.

I can see myself in the future when I shall have had some success regrett ing my ,

soli tude and my wretchedness here when I saw the reaper in the fiel d bel ow ,

between the i ron bars of the cell Mi sfort une i s good for somethi ng . .

To succeed to have lastin g prosperi ty y o u must have a temperament different

, ,

from min e ; I shall never d o what I mi ght have done and ought t o have wi shed
and pursued .

But I cann ot li ve si nce I have thi s di zziness so often except in a fourth o r

, ,

fifth rate s i t uati on When I reali ze the worth and ori gi nali ty an d the superi ori ty
“
-
.

of Delacroi x and M ill et for i nstance then I am bol d enough to say — yes I am
, , ,

somethi ng I can do somethi ng But I must have a foundati on in those arti sts
,
.
,

and then produce the li ttl e I am capabl e of in the same di rect i on v

S o ol d Pi ssarro i s cruelly smi tten by these two mi s fortunes at onee l

‘

A s soon as I read that I thought of aski ng hi m if there woul d be any way of

,

going t o stay wi th hi m .

If y ou wi ll pay the same as here he will find i t worth hi s while fo r I d o not

, ,

need much— except work .

Ask hi m offhand and if he does not wi sh i t I could qui te well go to Vi g n on s

, ,
’
.

I am a li ttl e afrai d of Pont Aven there are so many peop le there but what y ou
-
, ,

say about Gaugui n in terests me very mu ch And I sti ll think that Gaugui n an d .

I wi ll perhaps work together agai n .

I kno w that Gauguin i s capable of better thi ngs than he has done but to make ,

that man comfortabl e !

I am still hoping to do hi s portrai t .

Have you seen that portrai t that he di d of me p ainti ng some sun flowers ? ,

Afterward my face got much bri ghter but i t was really me very ti red and charged , ,

wi th electri city as I was then .

And yet t o see the country you must li ve wi th the poor peopl e and i n the
,

l ittle cottages and pub li c houses etc , .

And that w a s what I told Bock w ho compl ained of seei ng nothing that ,

tempted hi m o r i mpressed h im I went for wal ks wi th hi m for two days and

.

I showed him how to make thi rty pi ctures as di fferent from th e North as Morocco
would be I am curi ous to know what he i s doing now
. .

1
Pi ssarro h d lost his mother an d was havin g troub le with his eyes
a .
 And then do you kn ow why the pi ctures of Eu g Delacroi x s— the reli gi ous .
’

“ ” “ ” “ ”
and hi stori cal pi ctures the Bark of Chri st the Pi et a the Crusaders have
, , , ,
“ ”
such a hol d on on e ? Because when Bu g Delacroix di d a Gethsemane he had .
,

first gone to see firsthan d what an olive grove was and the same for the sea ,

whi pped by a strong mi stral and because he must have sai d t o hi mself— These
,

peop le whom hi story tell s us about doges of Veni ce Crusaders apostl es holy , , , ,

women were of the same character and lived i n a mann er analogous to that of
,

thei r present descendants .

And I must tell y o u— and y ou wi ll see i t i n La Berceuse however mu ch of ,

a fai lure and however feebl e that attempt may b e— if I had had the strengt h to
conti nue I shoul d have made portrai ts of saints and holy women from hfe wh o
,

woul d have seemed t o bel ong t o another age and they woul d be mi ddl e class ,
-

women of the present day and yet they woul d have ha d somethi ng in common
,

wi th the very pri mi tive Chri sti ans .

However the emoti ons whi ch that rouses are too strong I shall stop at that
, , ,

but later on l ater on I do not say that I shall not return to the charge
, .

What a great man Fromenti n was for those w h o want to see the East— he -

will always remai n the g uide He was the fir st to estab li sh a li nk between Rem
.

bran dt and the Mi di between Potter and what he saw hi mself

, .

You are ri ght a thousan d ti mes over— I must n ot think of all that— I must
make thi n gs even if i t s onl y studi es of cabbages and sal ad t o get calm and
,
’

, ,

after getti n g calm then— whatever I am capabl e of When I see them agai n
, .
,
“ ” “
I shall make dupli cates of that study of the Tarascon Diligence of the Vine ,
“ ”
yard the Harvest an d especi ally of the Red Cabaret that ni ght café whi ch
, , ,

i s the most characteri sti c of all i n i t s col or But the whi te fig ure ri ght in the .

mi ddl e must be don e all over agai n as to col or and bett er composed But that ,
.

I venture t o say — i s the real Mi di and a cal culated combinati on of greens wi th

,

reds.

My streng th has been exhausted t oo qui ckl y but in the di stance I see the ,

possi bili ty of others doi ng an i nfini te num ber of fin e thi ngs And agai n and agai n .

thi s i dea remai ns true that to make the j ourney easi er for others i t would have
, ,

been a good thi ng to found a studi o somewhere in thi s vi cini t y For instance to .
,

make the j ourney from the North t o Spain in on e stage i s not good you will ,

not see what you sbould see there— you must g et y our ey es a eoustomed fir st and
gradually t o the di fferent li ght .

’
I haven t much need to see Ti tian an d Velasquez i n the gall eri es I have seen ,

some li vin g types whi ch have enabl ed me to kn ow bett er what a Mi di pi cture i s

now than before my poor j ourney .

Good Lord Good Lord the good peopl e among the arti sts w ho say that
, ,

Delacroi x i s n ot of the real East Lo ok here i s the real East the ki nd of t hing
.
,

that Pari si ans hke G erome d o ?

Because y ou pai nt a b it of a sunn y wall from nat ure and well and truly according
to ou r w ay of seeing in tbe N ortb does that al so prove that you have seen the peopl e
,

o f the East ? Now that i s wha t Del acroi x was seeki ng but i t i n no w a prevented
y ,
“ ” ”
hi m from pai nti ng wall s i n the Jewi sh Wedding and the Odali sques Isn t that
’
.

375
true — a n d then Degas says that drinki ng i n the cabaret s while you are painting
pi ctures i s paying too dearly for it ; I don t deny it but would he li ke me then ’
, , ,

o i nto cl o i sters o r t o church — i t i s there that I am afrai d That i s why I make

g .

an attempt to escape by wri ti ng thi s l etter ; wi th much l ove to y ou and Jo .

Ever your s Vi ncent ,

I still have to congratulate you on the occasi on of Mother s bi rt hda y I wrote to ’

.

them yesterday but the l et ter has not yet gone off because I have n ot had the
,

brains t o fini sh it It i s queer that already t wo or thr ee ti mes before I had had
.
, ,

the i dea of going to Pi ssarro s ; thi s time after your telli ng me of hi s re cent ’
,

mi sfortunes I do not hesitate to ask him

,
.

Yes we must be done wi th thi s place I cannot d o the two thi ngs at once
, , ,

work an d take no end of pains t o live wi th these queer pati ents here— it i s up
setti ng .

I tri ed i n vain to force myself to go downstai rs And yet it i s nearly tw o months .

since I have been in the open ai r .

In t he l ong ru n I shall l ose the faculty for work and that i s where I begi n to ,

call a halt and then I shall send them i f you agree— a bout thei r business And
,
-
.

then to go on paying for i t no then some arti st w ho i s hard up will agree to share
, ,

a home wi th me .

It i s fortu nate that you can wri te that you are well and Jo t o o an d that her , ,

si ster i s wi th you .

I very much wi sh that when your chi l d comes I shoul d be back— not wi th ,

ou certai nl y not that i s i mposs i b l e but i n the vi cini ty of Pari s wi th another

y , , ,

painter T o menti on a thi rd possibi li ty I mi ght g o t o the Jouves who ha ve a

.
, ,

l ot o f chi l dren an d qui te a househol d .

Y ou un derstand that I have tri ed to compare the se c ond att ack wi t h the fir st ,

and I onl y tell y ou thi s i t seemed to me t o be caused more by some outsi de

,

influence than by somethi ng wi thi n myself I may be mi staken but however i t .

,

may be I thi nk y ou will feel it qui te ri ght that I have rather a horror of all religi ous
,

exaggerati on The good M Peyron wi ll tell you l oads of thi ngs probabili ti es an d
. .
,

possi bili ti es an d involun tary a cts Very good but i f he i s more defini te than
, .
,

that I shall beli eve none of i t And we shall see then wba t be wi ll be defini te a bout
, .
,

i f i t i s defini te .

The treatment of pati ents in thi s hospi tal i s certainl y easy on e coul d foll ow i t ,

even whi le travelin g for they d o absolutely notbing ; they leave them to vegetate
,

i n i dl eness and feed them wi th stal e and s li ghtly spoi l ed food And I wi ll tell you .

now that from the first day I refused to take thi s food and unti l my attack I ate ,

only bread and a li ttl e soup and as l ong as I remain here I shall continue to do
,

thi s It i s true that a fter thi s at tack M Peyron gave me some wi ne and meat
. .
,

whi ch I accepted willi ngly the first days but he di dn t want to make an excepti on ,
’

to the rul e for l ong and he i s ri ght to respect the regul ar rules of the estab li sh
,

ment I must al so say that M Pey t on does n ot give me mu c h hope for th e future
. .
,

an d I think thi s ri ght he makes me reali ze t hat eve tbin i s doub t ful that on e
ry
, g ,

can be sure of nothing beforehand I myself rather expect i t t o return however .

,
6 07
My dear Theo ,
St Remy 2 0 September 1 8 8 9 .
,

Many thank s for your letter Fi rst of all I am very pl eased t o hear that you too
.
,

had already thought of old Pi ssarro You will see that there are still some chances .
,

if n ot there then el sewhere Meanwhi l e busi ness i s business and you ask me t o
,
.
,

answer you categori call y— and you are ri ght— a bout going i nto a home i n Pari s
i n case o f an i mme di ate departure thi s wi nter I answer Y e s to that wi th the .
,

same calm and for the same reasons I had when I came t o thi s p lace— e ven if
thi s home i n Pari s shoul d be a makeshi ft arrangement which mi ght easil y be ,

the case for the opportuni ti es to work are not bad here and work i s my onl y
, ,

di stracti on .

But havi ng sai d thi s pl ease note that i n my l etter I gave a very seri ous reason
,

as a moti ve for wi shin g to make a change .

And I i nsi st on repeati ng i t I am astoni shed that wi th the modern i deas that
.

I have and being so ardent an admi rer of Zola and de Goncourt and caring fo r
,

things of art as I do that I have attacks su ch as a superst it i ous man mi ght have
,

and that I get perverted and fri ghtful i deas about reli gi on su ch as never came
into my head i n the North .

On the supposi ti on that I am very sensi ti ve to surroun dings the already ,

prol onged stay in those old cl oi sters such as the Arles hospi tal and t he house
here woul d be enough in i tself to explain these attacks Then— even as a last .

resort— i t mi ght be necessary for the moment to g o i nto a private asylum i nstead .

Nevertheless to avoi d doi ng o r havi ng the appearance of doin g any t h ing rash
, , , ,
\
I as sure y ou after havi ng thus warned you of what I might w i sh at a gi ven
,

moment— that i s to go away— I assure you that I feel calm and confident enough
,

to wai t here another l ength of ti me to see if a new attack materi alizes thi s wi nter .

“ ”
But i f I wri te you i ben— I want t o g o away from here — y ou shoul d not
hesi tate an d thi ngs shoul d be arran ged beforehand for y o u woul d know t hen
, ,

that I had a seri ous reason or even several for going in to a home not run as thi s ,

on e i s by nuns however excell ent they may be

, , .

Now if by some arrangement or other sooner or later I should make a move , , ,

then l et s begi n as i f practi call y nothi ng w as wrong being very cauti ous all the
’
,

same and ready to li sten to Ri vet in the smallest matt ers but don t l et s begi n ,
’ ’

by taki ng t oo formal measures strai ght off as i f i t were a l ost cause As fo r eat ing ,
.

a l ot I do— but i f I were my do ctor I d forbi d it I don t see any advantage for
, ,
’
.
’

myself in enormous physi cal streng th because it woul d be more l ogi cal for me ,

to get absorbed in the thought of doi ng good work and wi shing to be an arti st
and nothi ng but that .

Both Mother and W i l have changed thei r sur roun di ngs after Cor s dep arture ’

-
they were damned ri ght Gri ef must not gat her in our heart li ke water in a
.

swamp But i t i s somet imes both expensive and i mpossi ble to change Wil wrote
. .

very ni cely it i s a great gri ef t o them Cor s departu re

, ,
’
.

It i s o dd just when I w as maki ng that copy of the Pi eta by Del ac roix

, ,

I foun d where that canvas has gone It belongs to a queen of Hungary or of .

,

some other coun try thereabouts w ho has written poems un der the name of ,
Carmen Sylva The arti cl e menti oni n g her and the pi ct ure w as by Pi erre Lot i
.
,

an d h e made y o u feel that thi s Carmen Sylva as a person was even more tou chi ng

than w hat she wrote— a n d yet she wrote thi ngs li ke thi s : a chil dl ess woman i s
li ke a bell wi thout a cl apper— the sound of the bronze woul d perhaps be beauti ful ,

but n o on e will ever hear it I have now seven copi es out of the ten of Mi ll er s
.
’

”
Travaux des Champs .

I can assure y ou that makin g copi es i nterests me enormously and i t means ,

that I shall n ot l ose si ght of the figure even though I have n o model s at the
,

moment .

Besi des thi s wi ll make a studi o decorati on for me or someone el se

, .

“ ” “ ”
I shoul d al so li ke t o copy The Sower and The Di ggers .

“ ”
There i s a photograph of th e drawi ng after The Di ggers .

“
And there i s Larat s etchi ng of The Sower at Durand Ruel s
’ ’
.

Among these same etchi ngs i s the snow covered fiel d wi th a harrow Then -
.

“ ”
the Fou r Hours of the Day ; there are copi es of them in the collecti on of
wood engravi ngs .

I shoul d li ke t o have all these at l east the etchin gs and the wood engravin gs
, .

It i s a ki nd of study that I need for I want t o l earn Although copyin g may be

,
.

the old system that makes absolutel y no difference to me I am goi ng to copy

,
.

”
the Good S amari tan by Delacroi x t oo
“
.

I have done a woman s portrai t— the attendant s wi fe— whi ch I thi nk you
.
’ ’

woul d li ke I have done a dupli cate of it whi ch i s l ess good than the on e from l ife
. .

And I am afrai d t hey wi ll take the latt er ; I shoul d have li ked y ou to have it .

It i s pi nk and bl ack .

I am sendi ng y ou my ow n portrai t today you must l ook at i t for some ti me ;,

y ou will see I hope that my face i s much calmer though i t seems to me that
, , ,

my look i s vaguer than before I have anoth er on e whi ch i s an att empt made
.

when I was i ll but I thi nk thi s wi ll p lease you more and I have tri ed to make i t
, ,

s i mpl e Show it to ol d Pi ssarro when y ou see hi m

. .

“
Y ou will be surpri sed at the effect Les Travaux des Champs takes on i n
col or it i s a very profound seri es of hi s I am goi ng to try t o tell y ou what I am
,
.

seekin g i n i t and w hy it seems good to me to copy them We painters are always .

asked t o eomp ose ourselves and be notbing but eomp osers .

S o be i t— but i t i sn t li ke that in musi c— and i f some person or other plays

’

Beethoven he adds hi s personal interpretati on— in mus i c and more especi ally in
,

s ingi ng— the interp reta ti on of a composer i s something and i t i s not a hard an d ,

fast rule that only the composer should play hi s own composi ti on .

Very good— and I mostly because I am i ll at present I am tryi ng to do some

, ,

thing to consol e myself fo r my own pl easure ,

.

I let the black and whi te by Delacroi x o r Mill et or somethin g made after thei r
work pose for me as a subject .

And then I i mprovi se col or on i t n o t you understand altogether myself but

, , , ,
“
searchi ng for memori es of tbei r pi ctures— but the memory the vague consonance ,
”—
of col ors whi ch are at least ri ght in feeli ng t hat i s my own interpretat ion .

Many peopl e do not copy many others do —I started on i t acci dentally and I
, ,

57
fin d that i t teaches me things an d above all i t someti mes gives me consolati on
,
.

And then my brush goes between my fin gers a s a bow woul d on the vi olin and ,
“ ”
absolutely for my own pl easure Today I tri ed the Woman Sheari ng Sheep i n a
.

col or scheme ranging from lilac to yellow They are li tt l e canvases o f about si ze 5
. .

Thank y ou very much fo r the package of canvas and paints In return I am .

sending y ou wi th the portrai t the foll owin g canvases

Moonri se (ri cks)
Study of Fi el ds
Study of Oli ves
Study of Ni ght
The Moun tai n
Fi eld of Green Wheat
Oli ves
Orchard i n Bl oom
Entrance to a Quarry
T h e first four canvases are studi es wi thout the effe t of a whol e that th e ot hers havec .

“ ” —
I rather li ke the Entrance t o a Quarry I was doi ng i t when I fel t thi s
c
att a k comi ng on— because to my mind the somber greens g o well wi th th e o her c
tones ; there i s something sad in i t whi ch i s healthy, and that i s w hy i t does not
“ ”
bore me Perhaps that i s true of the Moun tai n too They will tell me that
. .

mountain s are not li ke that an d that there are black outli nes of a finger 3 wi dth
’
.

But after all it seemed t o me i t expressed the passage i n Rod s book— o n e of the
’

very rare passages of hi s i n whi ch I found somethi ng good— about a deso late
country of somber mountains , among whi ch are some dark goatherds huts ’

where sunflowers are bl oomi ng .

“ ”
The Olives wi th a whi te cloud and a background of mountains , as well as
“ ”
the Moonri se and the ni ght effect, are exaggerati ons from the point of vi ew of
arrangement, thei r lines are warped as i n old wood The oli ves are more in char .

acter, as in the other s t udy, and I tri ed to express the ti me of day when you see
the green rose beetles and the ci cadas flyin g about in the heat The other can vases , .

“ ”
the Reaper etc are not dry ,
.
, .

And now i n the bad weather I am going to make a lot of copi es for really ,

I must d o more figures It i s the study of the figure that teaches you t o seize the
.

essenti al and to si mp hfy .

When y ou say i n your l etter that I have always onl y been worki ng no— I can ,

not agree— I am myself very very di ssati sfied wi th my work and the onl y thing
, ,

that comforts me i s that peop l e of experi ence say you must paint ten years for
nothi ng But what I have done i s only those ten years of un fortunate studi es that
.

d idn t come off Now a better peri od may come but I shall have to get the figur e
’
.
,

stronger and I must refresh my memory by a very cl ose study of Dela croix and
Mi llet Then I shall try to get my drawing clearer Yes mi sfortun e i s good for
. .
,

somethin g y ou gain ti me for study I am addi ng a study of flowers to the roll of

, .

canvases— nothi ng much but after all I do not want to tear i t up

,
.

“
Altogether I thin k nothing in i t a t a ll good except the Fi el d of Wheat the ,
y o u ,
I have confidence enough to wai t for the win ter and th e att ack whi ch will
perhaps come back then But i f i t i s a fit of religi ous exaltati on again then no
.
,

del ay I woul d li ke to leave a t onee wi thout givin g reasons Only we are not
, , .

permi tted at l east i t would be indi screet to meddl e wi th the si sters man agement
, ,
’

or even to cri ti cize them They have thei r own beli efs and thei r own ways of
.

doing good t o others someti mes i t does very well,

.

But I do not wa rny ou lig btly .

And i t i s not to recover more li berty or anythin g el se that I don t have S o ’

.

l et s wai t very calmly ti ll an opportuni ty to settl e thi ngs presents i tself

’
.

It i s a great advantage that my stomach i s behaving well and then I do n ot ,

thin k I am so sensi ti ve to col d And besi des I kn ow what to do when the weather
.

i s bad having thi s proj ect of copyi ng several things that I li ke

,
.

I shoul d very much li ke to see Mi ll et reproducti ons in the school s I thi nk .

there are chi ldren w ho would become pai nters if only they saw good things .

Regards t o Jo and a handshake Good b y for now .

-
.

Ever yours Vincent ,

B 21 [27]
My dear fri end Bernard Saint R emy Beginni ng of December 1 8 8 9
, ,

Thanks for your letter and especi all y for the photographs whi ch give me an ,
:

i dea of your work .

My brother wrote t o me about i t the other day for that matter and tol d me ,

that he li ked the harmony of the col ors and a certai n nobili t y i n m any of the
figures very much .

“
N ow l ook here I am too charmed by the l andscape in the Adorati on of the
,

Magi to vent ure t o cri ti ci ze but i t i s neverthel ess t oo much of an i possi bili ty m
’
,

t o i magi ne a confinement li ke that ri ght on the road the mother starti ng to pray
, ,

i nstead of gi vi ng suck ; then there are those fat eccl esi asti cal frogs kn eeli ng down
as though i n a fit of epil epsy God knows h ow and w hy ! , ,

No I can t thi nk such a thing sound but personally if I am capabl e of spi ri tual
,
’

, ,

ecstasy I adore Truth the possi ble and therefore I bow down before that s t udy
, , ,

— powerful enough t o make a Mi ll et tremb l e— o f peasants carryi ng home to the

farm a calf whi ch has been born i n the fields Now thi s my fri end all peopl e .
, ,

have felt from France to Ameri ca ; an d aft er that are you goi ng to revi ve med ieval
tapestri es for us ? N ow honestly i s thi s a s incere convi cti on ? N o ! you can do
,

better than that an d y ou know you must seek after th e possi bl e t h e l ogi cal the
, , ,

true even i f you should have to forget the Pari si an thi ngs a la Baudel ai re a li ttl e
,
.

H ow much I prefer Daumi er t o that gentl eman !

“ ”
An Ann u nci ati on of what ? I see figur es of angel s— dear me qui te elegant
, ,

— a terrace wi th t w o c resses wh i ch I li ke ve y much there i s an enormous

yp r ;
amount of ai r of bri ghtness in i t ; but once thi s first i mpressi on i s past I ask
, , ,

myself whether i t i s a my stifi c at ion an d those secondary figures n o l onger ,

mean any thi ng to me .

But i t wi ll be enough i f you wi ll just un derstand that I am yearni ng t o kn ow

such thi ngs of yours as that pi ctu re whi ch Gauguin has those Breton women ,
strollin g i n a meadow so b eauti q y ordered so nai vely di stingui shed i n col or
, , .

And y ou wi ll trade thi s for what i s— must I say the word — c oun terfei t affected ! ,

Last year y ou di d a pi ct ure— a ccordi ng to what Gaugui n tol d me— whi ch I

thi nk w as somethi ng li ke thi s : on a grassy foreground a figure of a young gi rl
in a b lue o r whi ti sh dress l yi ng stretched ou t full l engt h ; on the second p lan e
,

the edge of a beech wood th e ground covered wi th fall en red l eaves the v er
, ,

di g ri s col ored tree trun ks formi ng a verti cal barri er

-
.

I suppose the hai r i s an accent of a color tone whi ch i s necessary as a color c om

l em ent ary to the pal e dress b lack if the dress i s whi te oran ge if i t i s b lue But
p , , .

what I sai d to myself was what a si mpl e subj e ct an d how well he knows how to
, ,

create elegance wi th nothin g .

Gauguin tol d me about another subj ect nothi n g but thr ee trees an effec t of , ,

orange foli age agai nst a blue sky ; but then very clearly desi gned and very ,

categori cally di vi ded into planes of c ontrastin g and candi d col ors— bravo !
“
And when I compare such a thi ng wi th that ni ghtmare of a Chri st in the
”
Garden of Olives good Lord I mourn over i t and so wi th the pre sent l etter
, , ,

I ask you again roaring my l oudest and calli ng you all kinds of names wi th the
, ,

full power of my lungs— to be so ki nd as to become your own self agai n a li ttle .

“ ”
The Chri st Carryi ng H i s Cross i s app alli ng Are those patches of color in i t .

harmoni ous I won t forgive y ou the sp uri ousness— yes certai nly spur i ousness— in
’

, ,

t h e c omposi ti on .

As you know once or twi ce whil e Gaugui n w as in Arl es I gave myself free
, , ,
“ “
rei n wi th abstracti ons for i nstance in the Woman Ro cki ng in the Woman
, ,
”
Readi ng a Novel black in a yellow library ; and at the ti me abstracti on seemed
,

to me a charmi ng path But it i s enchanted ground old man and on e soon finds
.
, ,

oneself up again st a stone wall .

’
I won t say that one mi ght not venture on i t after a vi ri l e lifeti me of research ,

of a hand to hand struggl e wi th nat ure but I personall y don t want to bo t her
’
- -
,

my head wi th such thi ngs I have been sl avi ng away on nature the whol e year
.
,

hardl y thinki ng of i mpressi oni sm or of thi s that and the other An d yet once ,
.
,

agai n I let myself go reachi n g for stars that are t oo bi g — a new fai lure —and
I have had enough of i t .

So I am working at present among the oli ve tr ees seeki ng after the vari ous ,

effects of a gray sky agai nst a yell ow soi l wi th a green black note i n the foli age ; ,
-

another tim e the soi l and the foli age all of a vi ol et hue against a yellow sky ; th en
again a red ocher soi l and a pinki sh green sky Yes certai nl y thi s i nterests me far
-
.
, ,

more than the above menti oned abstra cti ons -

.

If I have n ot wri tten y ou for a l ong while i t i s because as I had to struggl e , ,

agai nst my i lln ess I hardl y felt incli ned t o enter i nto di scussi ons— a nd I foun d
,

danger i n these abstracti ons If I work on very qui etl y t h e beautiful subj ects
.
,

will come of thei r own accord ; really above all the great thi ng i s t o gather new , ,

vi gor in reali ty wi thout an y preconceived pl an or Pari si an prejudi ce Apart from

, .

that I am very di scontented wi th thi s year s work ; but perhaps i t will prove to
,
’

be a soli d foundati on for next year I have l et myself be saturated wi th the air .
My ambit i on i s li mi ted t o a few clods of earth sprouting wheat an olive grove , , ,

a cyp ress— the latter fo r i nstance by no means easy to do I ask myself why
, , .

you who li ke the primi ti ves and st udy them do n ot seem to know Gi otto
, , , .

Gauguin and I saw a ti ny p anel of hi s at Montpelli er the death of some good ,

holy woman The expressi on o f pain and ecstasy in i t i s so utterly huma n that
.

however ni n eteenth centur y on e may be on e feel s as though on e were present ,

— so strongly does one share the emoti on .

If I saw the pi ctures themselves I thi nk i t possi ble that I mi ght be enraptured
,

wi th the colors all the same ; but you al so speak of portrai ts y ou have done and
whi ch you have worked hard on ; that s what will be good and where you will ’

have been yourself .

Here i s the descripti on of a canvas whi ch i s in front of me at the moment .

A vi ew of the park of the asylum where I am stayi ng ; on the ri ght a gray terrace
and a si de wall of the house Some deflowered rose bushes on the l eft a stret ch
.
,

of the park— red—ocher— the soil scorched by the sun covered wi th fallen pi ne ,

needl es Thi s edge of the park i s planted wi th large pine trees whose tru nks an d
.
,

branches are red ocher the foli age green g loomed over by an admixture of black
-
, .

These hi gh trees stand out again st an eveni ng sky wi th vi olet stripes on a yell ow
groun d whi ch hi gher up turns i nto pi nk into green A wall— al so red o cher
, ,
.
-

shuts off the vi ew and i s topped onl y by a vi olet and yell ow ocher hi ll Now the
,
-
.

nearest tree i s an enormous tr unk struck by li ghtni ng and sawed off But on e
, .

si de branch shoots up very hi gh and l ets fall an avalan che of dark green pine
needl es Thi s somber gi an t— li ke a defeated proud man— contrasts when con
.
,

si d ered in the nature of a li vin g c reat ure wi th the pal e smil e of a fast rose o n ,

the fadi ng bush i n front of hi m Underneath the trees empty stone benches
.
, ,

sullen box trees ; the sky i s mi rrored— yell ow— in a puddle left by the rai n A .

sunbeam the l ast ray of dayli ght rai ses the somber ocher al most t o orange Here
, , .

and there small b lack figures wan der around among the tree trun ks .

Y ou wi ll realiz e that thi s comb inati on of red o cher o f green gl oomed over by -
,

gray the b lack streaks surroun di ng the contours produces somethi ng of the
, ,
“ ”
sensati on of angui sh called noi r rouge from whi ch certain of my compani ons
,
-
,

in mi sfortun e frequently s uffer Moreover the moti f of the great tree struck by
.

li ghtning the si ckly green pi nk smi l e o f the l ast flower o f autumn serve to
,
-

confirm thi s i mpressi on .

Another canvas shows the sun ri si ng over a fiel d of young wheat ; li nes fleeting
away furrows ri sing up hi gh in to the pi cture toward a wall and a row of lil ac
,

hi ll s The fiel d i s vi ol et and yellow green The whi te sun i s surrounded by a

.
-
.

great yell ow halo Here i n contrast t o the other canvas I have tri ed to express
.
, ,

calmness a great peace

,
.

I am telling y ou about these two canvases espe ci ally about the first on e to , ,

give an i mpressi on of angui sh wi thout

strai ght at the hi stori c Garden of Gethsemane ; that i t i s not necess ary t o
t h e characters of the S ermon on the Mount in order to produce a conso

it is wi se and proper to be moved by the Bi ble but modern ,

The lat ter wrote me that your mili tary servi ce has been postponed for a year
because of your health Thanks all the same for your des crip ti on of th e Eg y p t ian
.

house I shoul d have li ked t o know t oo whether i t i s l arger o r small er than a

.

rural cottage in thi s country— i n short i t s proporti ons in rel ati on to the human,

figure But i t i s above all about the c ol orati on that I am aski ng for i nformat i on
. .

6 15
My dear Theo , St Remy 1 6 November 1 8 8 9 .
,

I have t o thank you very much for a package of pai nts whi ch was accompani ed ,

by an excellent woolen wai stcoat .

H o w ki nd you are t o me and how I wi sh I coul d do somethi n g good so as to

, ,

prove to you that I woul d li ke to be l ess ungrateful The p ai nts reached me at .

the ri ght moment because what I ha d brought back from Arl es w as almost
,

exhausted The thi ng i s that thi s month I have been worki ng i n the olive groves
.
,

because thei r Chri sts i n the Garden wi th nothin g reall y observed have gotten , ,

on my nerves Of course wi th me there i s n o ques ti on of doin g anyt hing from

.

the Bi bl e— an d I have wri tten t o Bernard and Gaugui n t o o t hat I c onsi dered that
our duty i s thi nki ng n ot dreami ng so that when l ookin g at thei r work I was
, ,

astoni shed at thei r l etti ng themselves go li ke t hat For Bernard has sent me .

~
photos of hi s can vases The troubl e wi th them i s that they are a sort of dream
.

or ni ghtmare— that they are e ru di te enough— you can see that i t i s someone

w h o i s gone on the pri mi ives— but frankl y the Engli sh Pre Raphaeli tes di d i t
t
-

much better and then agai n Puvi s and Del acroi x much more healthi ly than the
, ,

Pre Raphaelites
It is not that i t l eaves m
-
.

e col d but i t gi ves me a p ai nful feelin g of collapse

,

i nstead of progress Well to shake that off morni ng and evenin g these b ri ght
.
, ,

col d days but wi th a very fin e clear sun I have been knocking about in the
, , ,

orchards and the resul t i s five si ze 3 0 canvases whi ch al ong wi th the three
, ,

studi e s of olives that y ou have at l east consti t ute an attack on th e probl em The
,
.

olive i s as vari abl e as our wi ll ow or poll ard wi llow in the North you know the ,

wi ll ows are very stri ki ng in spi te of thei r seeming monotonou s they are the
, ,

trees characteri sti c of the country Now the oli ve and the cyp ress have exa ctly
.

the si gni ficance here as the willow has at home What I have done i s a rat her .

hard and coarse realit y besi de thei r abstracti ons but i t will have a rusti c qualit y , ,

an d wi ll smell of the earth I shoul d so li ke to see Gaugui n s an d Bernard s studi es

’ ’
.

from nature the latter talks t o me of portrai ts— whi ch doubtless woul d pl ease
,

me better .

I hope to get myself used to working in the col d— in the morni ng there are
very interestin g e ffects of whi te frost an d fog ; then I still have a great desire to
d o for the mo un tai ns an d the cyp resses what I have just done fo r th e oli ves an d
have a good g o at them .

The thing i s that these have rarely been painted the oli ve and the cyp ress an d , ,

from the point of vi ew of di sposing of the pi ctur es t hey oug bt t o g o in England , ,

I know well enough what they l ook for there However that may be I am almost .
,

sur e that in thi s way I ll do something tolerab le from ti me to t ime It i s really

’
.
my opini on more an d more as I s ai d t o Isaacson i f you work di li gently from
, ,
“ ”
nature wi thout sayi ng to yourself beforehand I want to do thi s o r that if
—
,

o u work as i f you were mak i ng a pai r of shoes wi thout arti sti c preoc cupati ons
y , ,

o u w ill not a lways do well but the days you l east expect i t y ou find a subj e ct
y , ,

whi ch holds i t s own wi th the work of those w h o have gone before You l earn .

t o know a coun try whi ch i s basi call y qui te di fleren t from what i t appears at
first si ght .

On the contrary you say to yourself I want to fini sh my pi ctures better

, ,
”
I want to do them wi th care l ots of i deas li ke that when on e i s confronted by
, ,

the di ffi cul ti es of weather an d of chan gi ng effect s are reduced to i mpracti cabi li ty , ,

and fin ally I resi gn myself an d say It i s the experi ence and the poor work of every ,

day whi ch al one wi ll ri pen i n the l ong run and all ow on e to do somethi ng truer
an d more comp l ete So s l ow l ong work i s the onl y w ay and all amb i ti on and
.
, ,

keenness to make a good thi ng o f i t fal se For y ou must spoi l qui te as many ,
.

canvases when y ou ret urn to the charge every morni ng as you su c ceed wi th
, , .

To pai nt a regul ar tranqui l exi stence woul d be absolutel y necessary and at the
, ,

present ti me what can y ou do when y ou see that Bernard for i nstance i s hur ri ed
, , ,

always hurri ed by hi s parents ? He c annot do as he wi shes an d many others are ,

i n the same fix .

Tell yourself I wi ll not p aint any more but then what i s one to do ? Oh w e
, , ,

must i nvent a more expedi ti ous method of p ai n tin g l ess expensi ve than oil and , ,

yet lasting A pi ct ure

. that wi ll end by becomi ng a s commonplace as a sermon
" .
,

an d a pai nter wi ll be li ke a creat ure l eft over from the l ast cent ury All the same .
,

i t i s a p i ty i t shoul d be thi s way N ow if the pain ters had understood Mi ll et .

better as a man as some e g Lhermi tte and Roll have now grasped him thi ngs
, ,
. .
, ,

woul d not be li ke thi s We must work as much and wi th as few pretensi ons as a
.

peasant if w e want to l ast .

And i nstead of gran di ose exhi bi ti ons i t would have been better to address ,

oneself t o the peopl e and work s o that each on e coul d have in hi s home some
pi ctures or reproduc ti ons whi ch woul d be l essons li ke the work of Mi ll et ,
.

I am qui te at the end of my canvas and I beg you to send me ten meters as
soon as y ou c an Then I am going to attack the cy presses an d the moun tains
. .

I thi nk that thi s will be the core of the work that I have done here and there in
Provence and then w e can conclude my stay here when i t i s conveni ent It i s
, .

not urgent for after all Pari s only di stracts I don t know however— not always
, .
’
,

bein g a pessi mi st— I thi nk that I sti ll have i t in my heart someday to paint a
book shop wi th the front yellow and pi nk in t h e eveni ng and the black passers , ,

b y — i t i s such an essenti all y modern subje ct Because i t seems t o the i magi nati on .

such a ri ch sour ce of li ght— say there woul d be a subje ct that woul d g o well ,

between an olive grove and a wheat fiel d the sowing s eason of books and prints ,
.

I have a great l ongin g to do i t li ke a li ght in the mi dst of darkness Yes there i s .

,

a w ay of seeing Pari s beautiful But after a ll book shop s do not run away lik e .
,

hares and there i s no hurry and I am qui te wi lli ng to work here for an other
, ,

year whi ch will probably be the wi sest thi n g t o do

, .

Mother must have been i n Leyden for a fortni ght now I have delayed sendi ng .

3 87
you the canvases for her because I will put them in wi th the pi cture of the
,
“ ”
Wheat Fi el d for the V in g ti st es .

Ki ndest regards to J o she i s being very good t o go on being well Tha nk you agai n
,
.

for the pain ts and the woolen wai stcoat and a good h andshake in thought
, , .

Ever yours Vi ncent ,

6 20
My dear brother ,
St Remy 3 1 December 1 8 8 9 .
,

Many thanks for your l etter of December 2 2 containi ng a 5 0 fr note Fi rst of all ,
-
. .

I wi sh y ou and J o a happy New Year and regret that I have perhaps though ,

qui te unwi llingly caused you worry because M Peyron must have informed
, ,
.

you that my mind has once more been deranged .

At the moment of wri tin g I have not yet seen M Peyron so I do n ot know if
,
.
,

he has wri tten anyt hi ng about my pi ctures Whi l e I was i ll he came to tell me .
,

that he had heard from you an d to a sk whether or not I wanted to exhi bi t my

pi ctures I tol d hi m that I woul d rather not exhi bi t them There was n o ju stifi c a
. .

ti on for that and so I hope they were sent o ff anyw ay But anyw ay I am sorry .

not t o have been ab l e t o see M Peyron today to ask hi m what he has wri tt en
.
,

you Anyway i t doesn t seem very i mportan t on the whol e since y ou say tha t
.
,
’
,

i t starts as l ate as J anuary 3 so that thi s wi ll sti ll reach you in ti me

,
.

W hat a mi sfortun e for Gaugui n tha t chil d falli ng out of the window an d hi s
,

not being abl e t o be there I often thi nk of hi m what mi sfortunes that man ha s
.
,

in spi te o f hi s energy an d so many unusual qualiti es I thi nk i t i s spl en di d that .

our si ster i s comin g to help y ou when Jo has her confi n ement .

May that g o well— I think about you two a great deal I assure you ,
.

N ow what y ou say about my work certainl y pl eases me but I keep thi nki ng ,

about thi s accursed trade in whi ch on e i s caught as in a net and in whi ch one ,

becomes l ess useful than other peop le But there i t s n o use alas ! fret ting about .
,
’

that— and we must do what we c an .

Odd that I had been working perfe ctl y calml y on some canvases that you will
soon see and that suddenly wi thout an y reason the aberrati on sei zed me again
, , ,
.

I do n ot know what M Peyron i s goi ng t o advi se but whil e taking what he

.
,

tell s me in to account I thi nk that he wi ll dare l ess than ever to commi t hi mself
,

a s to the possi b ilit y of my li vi ng as I u sed t o It i s to be feared that th e attacks .

wi ll return But that i s n o reason at all for not tryin g to di stract oneself a
.

c
Fo r oopin g up all these lun ati cs in thi s o ld l oi ster becomes I thi nk , a danger c ,

ou s thi ng i n whi ch y o u ri sk l osi ng the htt le good sense that y ou may sti ll have
,

kept N ot that I am set on thi s or that by preference I am used t o the li fe here,

. .

but on e must not forget to make a ht tle tri al of the opposi te .

However that may be, you see that I wri te comparativel y cal ml y .

What you wri te about M Lauz et s vi si t i s very i nteresti ng I thi nk that when
’
. .

c
I send the canvases whi h are sti ll here, he wi ll certain ly come ba k once more, c
and if I were there, I think I al so shoul d start li thographin g .

P erhaps these can vases in quest ion will be the very thi ng for Rei d .

3 88
that thi s be the end Ah woul d seem that we are n o t the masters of
.
,
ll —
we i t
thi s— o f our exi stence— i r seems that what matters i s tha t on e shoul d l earn t o
want t o go on li vi ng even when sufferi ng Oh I feel so cowardl y in thi s respect ;
,
.
,

even when my health has ret urned I am st ill afrai d So w ho am I to encour age , .

others you wi ll say for act uall y thi s i s hardly my styl e Well i t i s onl y t o tell
, ,
.
,

you my dear fri ends that I hope so ardentl y and even dare beli eve that Mrs
, , , , .

G in o ux s i llness wi ll be o f very short durati on an d that sh e will ri se from her

’
,

s i ckbed a much stronger fell ow but sh e knows onl y too well how fond we all ,

are of her an d h ow much we wi sh to see her i n good heal th In my ow n case

,
.

my di sease has done me good i t woul d be un grateful not to acknowl edge i t

— .

It ha s made me easi er i n my mind and i s wholly di fferent from what I exp ected ,

and i magined ; thi s year I have had better luck than I dared hope for .

But if I had n ot been so well cared for i f peopl e had not been so good to me ,

as they have been I am convi nced I should have dr opped dead or l ost my reason
,

comp l etely Business i s business and in the same way duty i s dut y an d therefore
.
, ,

i t i s only fai r that I go back t o se e my brother soon but I assur e y ou that i t will ,

be ha rd for me t o l eave the South ; I say thi s to all of y ou who have become my
fri ends— my fri ends for a l ong ti me .

I have forgotten t o thank you for the oli ves you sent me some ti me ago t hey ,

were excell ent ; I shall bri ng back the boxes in a li ttl e whil e
So I wri te you thi s l etter my dear fri ends in order to try and di stract our dear
, ,

pati ent for a moment so that sh e may once agai n show us her habi tual smil e
,

and give p leasure t o all w ho know her As I tol d y o u wi thi n a fortni ght I hope .
,

to vi si t y ou wholl y rec overed ,

.

Di seases exi st t o remind u s that we are not made of wood and i t seems to ,

me thi s i s the bri ght si de of i t all .

And after that on e dreams of taki ng up one s dai ly work agai n bei ng l ess ’
,

afrai d of obstacl es wi th a new stock of sereni ty ; and even at parting one will
,
“ ”—
tell oneself And when y ou are fri ends you are fri ends for a l ong ti me for
, ,

thi s i s the way to l eave each other .

Well we shall be seein g each other soon and my be st wi shes for Mrs G in oux s
, ,
.
’

swi ft recovery .

Beli eve me Ever yours Vi ncent ,

6 26a
Dear Mr A uri er .
, St Remy 1 1 February 1 8 9 0 .
,

Man y thanks fo r your arti cle i n the M ereure de Franee whi ch greatly su rpri sed me ,
.

I li ke i t very much as a work of art i n i tself i n my opini on your words produce ,

color i n short I redi scover my can vases in your arti cle but better than they are
, , , ,

ri cher more full of meani ng However I feel uneasy i n my mi nd when I reflect

,
.
,

that what you say i s due to others rather than t o myself For exampl e Monti celli .
,
“
i n parti cul ar Sayi ng as you do : As fa r as I know he i s the onl y pai nter to per
.
,

c ei v e the chromati sm of thi ngs wi th su c h i ntens i ty wi t h su ch a metalli c gemli ke , ,

luster be so ki nd as to go an d see a cert ai n bouquet by M onti celli at my brother s

’

— a bouquet i n white forget me n ot b lue and orange— then ou wi ll feel what -

y
-
,
I wan t t o say But the best the most amazi ng M onti c elli s have l ong been in
.
,

Scotland an d England In a museu m in the North— the one in Li sl e I beli eve

.
,

t here i s s ai d to be a very marvel ri ch i n another way and certainl y n o l ess French

,
“ ”
t han W at te au s Départ pour Cyt h ere At the moment Mr Lauzet i s engaged in
’
. .

reproducing some thi rty works of M on ti c elli s ’

.

Here you are ; as far as I know there i s no col ori st w h o i s descended so ,

str ai ghtly an d di rectly from Delacroi x and yet I am of the opini on t hat Monti celli ,

probably had Delacroix 8 col or theori es onl y at secondh and ; that i s to say that
’

he got them more parti cularly from Di az an d Zi em It seems to me that Monti .

c elli s personal art i sti c temperament i s exact l y the same as that of the author o f
’

th e D eea meron— Boccacci o— a mel ancholi c somewhat resi gned un happy man , , ,

who saw the weddi ng party of the worl d pass by paintin g and an alyzing the l overs ,

of hi s ti me— h e the on e w h o had been l eft out of thi ngs Oh ! he no more i mi tated
,
.

Boccacci o than Henri Leys i mi tated the primi tives Y ou see what I mean to say .
,

i s that i t seems there are thi ngs whi ch have foun d thei r way to my name whi ch ,

you coul d better say of Monti celli to whom I ow e so much And further I owe , .
,

much to Paul Gauguin wi th whom I worked in Arl es for some months and
, ,

whom I al ready kn ew in Pari s for that matter ,

.

Gaugui n that curi ous arti st that ali en whose mi en and the l ook in whose eyes
, ,
“ ”
vaguel y remi nd on e of Rembrandt s Portrai t of a Man in the Galeri e Lacaze ’

—thi s fri end of mi ne li kes to make one feel that a good p i ct ure i s equi val ent to a

good deed ; not that he says so but i t i s di ffi cult t o be on i nt imate ter ms wi th
,

hi m wi thout bei ng aware of a cert ai n moral responsi bi li ty A few days before .

parting company when my di sease forced me to g o in to a lun ati c asylum I tri ed

, ,
“ ”
t o p aint hi s empty seat .

It i s a study of hi s armchair of somber reddi sh brown wood the seat of greeni sh -

,

straw and in the absent one 3 p lace a li ghted torch and modern novel s
,
’
.

If an opport uni ty presents i tself be so ki nd as to have a l ook at thi s study , ,

by w ay of a memento of him ; it i s done enti rel y i n broken tones of green and red .

Then y ou will percei ve that your arti cl e woul d have been fai rer an d consequentl y ,
“
more powerful I think if when di scussin g the questi on of the future of tropi cal
, , ,
”
p ai n ti ng and of colors you had done justi ce to Gauguin and Monti celli before
,

speaki n g of me For tbe p art wbi eb i s a llotted to me or wi ll be a llotted to me wi ll

.
, ,

rema in I assurey ou
, ,
very s eeonda
ry .

And then there i s another questi on I want t o ask y ou Suppose that the tw o .

pi ctur es of sunflowers whi ch are now at the V ing ti stes exhi bi ti on have certai n
,
’
,
“ ”
quali ti es of col or and that they al so express an i dea symbolizing grati tude
, .

Is thi s di fferent from so many flower pi eces more skillfully painted and whi ch , ,
“ ” “ ”
are not yet suffici ently appreci ated such as Hollyhocks Yell ow Iri ses by , ,

Father Quo st ? The magni ficent bouquets of peoni es whi ch Jeanni n produces so
abun dantl y ? You see i t seems so di fli c ul t to me to make a di stin cti on bet ween
,

i mpressi oni sm and other thi ngs ; I do not see the u se of so much sectari an sp iri t
as w e have seen these l ast years but I am afrai d of tbe p rep osterousness of i t
, .

And i n conclusi on I declare that I do n o t un derstand w hy y ou shoul d speak of

,
“
Mei ssoni er s Infami es It i s possi b l e that I have i nheri ted from the excell ent
’
.
Mauve an absolutely unli mi ted admirati on for Mei ssoni er ; Ma uve s eul ogi es on ’

Troyon and Mei ssoni er used to be i nexhaustible— a strange pai r .

I say thi s t o draw your attenti on to the ext ent t o whi ch peopl e i n forei gn countri es
admire the arti sts of France wi thout maki ng the l east fuss about what di vi des
,

them often enough so damnabl y What Mauve repeated so often w as somethi ng

,
.

“
li ke thi s : If on e wan ts to paint col ors one shoul d al so be ab l e t o draw a chi mney
,
”
corner o r an i nteri or as Mei ssoni er does .

In the next batch that I send my brother I shall i nclude a study of cypresses for ,

you i f y ou wi ll do me the favor of accepti ng i t in remembrance of your arti cl e

, .

I am sti ll worki ng on i t at the moment as I want to put in a littl e fig ure The , .

cyp ress i s so characteri sti c of the scenery of Provence ; you will feel i t and say :
“ ”
Even the col or i s b lack Unti l now I have not been abl e to do them as I feel
. s

them ; the emoti ons that gri p me in fron t of nature c an cause me to l ose consci ous
ness and then follows a fortni ght duri ng whi ch I can not work Nevertheless
,
.
,

before l eavi ng here I feel sure I shall return to the charge and attack the cypresses .

The study I have set asi de for you represents a group of them i n the corner of a
wheat fiel d duri ng a summer mi stral So i t i s a note of a certai n namel ess black i n the
.

restless gusty blue of the wi de sky and the vermi li on of the poppi es contrasti ng
,

wi th thi s dark note .

Y ou will se e that thi s consti tutes somet hi ng li ke the combi nati on of tones i n
‘

those pretty Scotch tartans of green b lue red yell ow b lack whi ch at the ti me
, , , , ,

seemed so charmi ng to you as well as to me and whi ch al as on e hardl y sees any , , ,

more nowadays .

Meanwhil e dear Sir accept my grati tude for your arti cle When I go to Pari s
, , .

i n the spri ng I certainl y shall n ot fai l to call on y ou to thank you in person

,
.

'

It will be a year before the st udy that I am going t o send you will be thoroughl y
dry al so in the thi ck l ayers of paint ; I thi nk y ou wi ll do well t o lay on a goodl y
,

coat of varni sh .

In the mean ti me i t wi ll be necessary t o wash it a good many times wi th pl enty

of water i n order to get the oil out The study i s p ai nted wi th p lai n Pru ssi an b l ue
.
,

the much mali gned col or nevertheless used so often by Delacroi x I beli eve t hat as
-
.

soon as the tones of thi s Prussi an b lue are qui te dry you will by varni shi ng get , , ,

the b lack the very black tones necessary to bring out the vari ous somber
, ,

greens .

I am not qui te sure h ow thi s st udy ought to be framed but seeing that it makes ,

one think of those ni ce Scotch materi al s I ment i on t hat I have observed that a ,

very si mp l efla t fra me i n V I VI D O RAN G E LE A D woul d produce t h e des i red effe ct in

conjuncti on wi th the blues of the background and the dark greens of the trees .

Wi thout i t there woul d not be enough red in the p i cture and the upper p a rt ,

woul d seem a li ttle cold .

6 29a
Dear Mother and si ster , St Remy 2 9 April 1 8 90 .
,

After havi ng been unwell for tw o months i t i s onl y n ow that I am abl e to w ri te

,

you a l etter .

Until today I have not been abl e ei ther to bri ng myself t o read your l etter or
t o wri te one and the do ctor n ot bei ng at home today I can not get the l etters
, ,

and the package you sent me but in the meanti me I don t want to postpone
,
’

thanking you both most hearti ly Wi th all my heart I hope tha t all i s well wi th
.

o u both and al so wi th Anna a n d Li es and thei r famili es

y ,
.

Today I wrote Theo and sent hi m a number o f pi c tures some of whi ch I ,

expect hi m t o send on to you S o y ou see I have not been abl e to work duri ng
.

the most favorab le part of spri ng consequently thi ngs aren t goi ng too well
,
’
.

But what can a man do about i t ? Every change i s not a chan ge for the bett er ,

but I am longi ng to get away from here ; what on e has to endure here i s hardl y
bearabl e.

These last few days I have been worki ng on the p i c ture of a lawn in the bl azi ng
su n wi th yell ow dandeli ons I conti nued pai nt i ng even when my ill ness w a s at
.

i t s hei ght among other things a memory of Brabant hovel s wi th moss covered
, ,
-

roofs and beech hedges on an autumn eveni ng wi th a stormy sky the sun settin g ,

ami d ruddy cl ouds Al so a t urni p fiel d wi th women gatherin g green stuff in

.

the snow .

I have asked Theo to l et me have as man y of my old drawi ngs a s he has kept .

Do you happen t o ha ve any of my old studi es an d drawings at home ? Though

they may not be good i n themselves they may serve t o refresh my memory and , ,

s o be the subj ects for new work but I do n o t want those

y ou have hangin g on
,

the walls for i nstan ce I shoul d prefer qui ck sketches of peas ant figures But i t i s
,
. .

n ot i mportant enough for you to rummage a l ong ti me t o fi n d them .

W i th all my heart I hope y ou are both well ; and before l ong I shall wri te more .

Beli eve me I often thi nk of you I embrace you in thought

,
. .

Your lovi ng Vi nc ent

As soon as I heard that my work was havi ng some success and read the arti cl e i n ,

questi on I feared at once that I shoul d be puni shed for i t ; thi s i s how things nearly
,

always go i n a painter s li fe : success i s about the worst thin g t hat c an happen

’
.

63 5
My dear Theo and dear Jo , Auvers sur Oi se 2 0 May 1 8 9 0 - -
,

Having made J o s a cquai ntance henceforth i t wi ll be difficul t for me to wri te to

’

Theo onl y but J o wi ll all ow me —I hope— to wri te i n Frenc h ; beca use after
,

tw o years i n the South I reall y thi nk that I shal l say what I have to say more
,

clearly by doin g so .

Auvers i s very beauti ful among oth er things a lot of old thatched roofs
, ,

whi ch are getti ng rare So I shoul d hope that by settling down t o do some
.

can vases of thi s there would be a chance of recovering the expenses of my stay
— fo r really i t i s profoundl y beaut iful i t i s the real country characteri sti c and
, ,

p i ctur esque .

I have seen Dr Gachet w ho gi ves me the i mpressi on of being rather eccentri c

.
, ,

but hi s experi en ce as a doctor must keep hi m balan ced enough to combat the
nervous troubl e from whi ch he certain l y seems t o me t o be s ufferi ng at l east as
seri ously as I .

He pi l oted me to an inn where they ask 6 franc s a day A ll by myself I found .

o n e where I shall pay fr a day . .

And I thin k I ought to stay there un ti l a new arrangement i s made When .

I have done some studi es I shall see if i t woul d be bet ter to move but i t seems
, ,

unfair t o me when you are willi ng and abl e to pay a nd work li ke any other
,

laborer to have to pay al most doub l e because y ou work at pai nti ng Anyway
,
.
,

I am going t o the i nn at first .

Probably you wi ll see Doctor Ga chet thi s week— he has a very fi ne Pi ssarro ,

win ter wi th a red house i n the snow and t wo fine flower pi eces by Cézanne , .

Al so an other Cézan ne of the vill age And I in my turn will gl adly very gl adly
, .
, ,

d o a b i t of b ru shwork here .

I tol d Dr Ga chet that for 4 franc s a day I shoul d thi nk the i nn he ha d shown
.

me preferable but that 6 was 2 francs too much consi deri ng the expenses I have
, , .

It w as usel ess for hi m t o say that I shoul d be qui eter there enough i s enough , .

H i s house i s full of black anti que s b lack b l ack b lack except for the i mpres
, , , ,

si oni st pi ctures menti oned The i mpressi on I got of hi m was n ot u nfavorab l e

. .

When he spoke of Belgium and the days of the ol d p ai n ters hi s gri ef hardened ,
-

face grew smi li ng agai n and I really thi n k that I shall g o on being fri ends wi th
,

him and that I shall d o hi s portrai t .

Then he sai d that I must work bol dly on and n ot thi nk at all of what went ,

wrong wi th me .

In Pari s I felt very strongly that all the noi se there w as not for me .

I am so glad to have seen J o an d the li ttl e one an d your apartment whi ch i s ,

certai nly better than the other on e .

Wi shi ng y ou good luck and good health and hopin g to see y ou agai n soon a ,

good handshake ,

Vincent

Dear Mr Isaacson.
, Auvers sur Oi se 3 — 8 J une 1 8 9 0 -
,

Back i n Pari s I read th e conti nuati on of your arti cles on i mpressi oni sm .

Wi thout wanti ng t o enter i nto a di scussi on of the detail s of the subj ect tha t
y ou have attacked I wi sh t o i nform ou that i t seems t o me that
,y y ou are c on s c i en

ti ou sly tryi ng t o tell our fell ow countrymen how thi n s are basi ng yourself on
g -
,

facts As i t i s possi bl e that in you r next arti cl e you will put i n a few words about
.

me I will repeat my s crup l es so tha t you will not g o beyond a few words because
, , ,

i t i s a bsolutely eerta in that I shall never do i mportant thi ngs .

And thi s al though I beli eve i n the possi bili ty that a l ater generati on will be an d
, ,

will g o on being concerned wi th the i nteresti ng research on the subj ect of c ol ors
,
an d modern senti ment al ong the same li nes as and of equ al val ue t o t hose of , ,

Delacroix of Puvi s de Chavannes— a nd tha t i mpressi oni sm will be thei r sour ce if

, ,

you li ke and fut ure Dutchmen will li kewi se be engaged i n the struggl e — a ll thi s i s
,

wi thi n the realm of possi bili ty and certainl y your arti cles have their rai son d étre ’
.

But I was strayin g into vag uenesses : so here i s the reason for thi s l etter
I wan ted t o l et y o u kn ow that in th e South I have been tryi ng t o pai nt some
oli ve groves You surely know the exi sti ng pi ctures of oli ve trees It seems
. .

probabl e to me that there are such in M onet s and Renoi r s work But ap art ’ ’
.

from thi s I have not seen any thi ng of th e work I suppose to exi st— a part from
,

thi s not mu ch has been made of oli ve trees

,
.

Well probably the day i s not far off when they wi ll p ai nt oli ve trees i n all
,

ki nds of ways just as they paint the Dutch will ows and pollard will ows just as
, ,

they have painted the Norman apple tree ever si nce Daubi g ny and César de Cock .

The effe ct of dayli ght of the sky makes i t possi bl e to extract an in fini ty of subje cts
, ,

from the olive tree N ow I on my part sought contrastin g eflec t s i n the foli age
.
, ,

chan ging wi th the hues of the sky At ti mes the whol e i s a pure all pervadi ng .
-

b lue namely when the tree bears i t s pal e flowers and bi g blue fli es emeral d
, , ,

rose beet les and ci cadas i n great numbers are hoveri ng aroun d i t Then; as the .

bronzed l eaves are getting ri per i n tone the sky i s brilli ant an d radi ant wi th ,

green an d orang e or more often even i n autumn when the l eaves acqui re
, , , ,

somethi ng of the vi ol et ti nges of the ri pe fig the vi ol et eflec t will mani fest i tself ,

vivi dl y through the c ontrasts wi th the l arge sun taki ng on a whi te tint wi thi n
,

a hal o of clear and pal e ci tron yellow At ti mes after a shower I have al so seen .
, ,

the whol e sky c ol ored pi nk and bri ght orange whi ch gave an exqui si te value ,

and c ol ori ng t o the silvery gray green And in the mi dst of that there w ere -
.

women lik ewi se pink gatheri ng fr uits

, , .

These canva ses together wi th a number of flower s t udi es are all that I have
, ,

done si nce our l ast c orrespondence These flowers are an avalanche of rose s .

agai nst a green backg round and a very bi g bouquet of iri ses vi ol et again st a
, ,

yell ow background agai nst a pi nk background , .

I begin to feel more and more that on e may l ook upon Puvi s de Chavannes as
havi ng the same i mportan ce as Del acroix at l east that he i s on a par wi th the ,
“ ”
fell ows whose styl e consti tutes a hi therto but no fur ther c omforting for ever , ,

more .

Among other pi ctures hi s canvas n ow at the Champ de Mars seems t o contai n , ,

an allusi on t o an equivalence a strange and provi dential meeting of very far off
,
-

anti qui ti es and crude moderni ty H i s canvases of the l ast few years are vaguer
.
,

more propheti c if possi ble than even Delacroix before them one feel s an emoti on ,

as if one were present at the continuati on of all ki nds of thi ngs a benevolent ,

renai ssance ordai ned by fate But i t i s better n ot to pursue the subject when one
.

“
i s standing gratefull y enthrall ed before a fini shed p ai n ting li ke the Sermon on
the Moun t Ah he woul d know how t o do the olive trees of the South he
.
, ,

i be S eer A s for me I tell you as a fri en d I feel i mpotent when confronted wi th

.
, ,

such nature for my Northern brai ns were oppressed by a ni ghtmare i n those

,

peaceful spots as I felt that one ought t o do better thi n gs wi th the foliage Yet
,
.

3 96
6 SZ I

My dear brother ,
Auvers sur Oi se 2 3 July 1 8 9 0 - -
,

Thanks for your ki nd l etter and fo r the 5 o fr note i t contai ned -

. .

There are many thi ngs I shoul d li ke to wri te you about but I feel i t i s usel ess , .

I hope you have foun d those worthy gentlemen favorab ly di sposed toward you .

Your reassuri ng me as to the peacefulness of your househol d w a s ha rdl y worth

the troub le I think havin g seen the weal and w oe of i t for myself And I qui te
, , .

agree wi th you that rearin g a boy on a fourth floor i s a hell of a job for you as
well as for J o .

Si nce the thi ng that matters most i s goi ng well w hy shoul d I say more about ,

thi ngs of l ess i mportance ? My word before we have a chance to tal k business ,

more collectedl y w e shall probab l y have a l ong way t o go

,
.

The other painters whatever they think i nstincti vel y keep themselves at a
, ,

di stance from di scussi ons about the actual trade .

Well the truth i s we c an onl y make ou r pi ctures speak But yet my dear
, ,
.
,

brother there i s thi s that I have always told you and I repeat i t once more wi th
, ,

all the earnestness that c an be expressed by the effort of a min d dili gentl y fixed

on trying to do as well as possi bl e— I tell y ou again that I shall always consi der
you t o be somethi ng more than a si mpl e dealer in Corot s that through my ,

mediati on y ou have your part i n the actual produ cti on of some can vases whi ch ,

will retai n thei r calm even in the catastrophe .

For thi s i s what we have got to and thi s i s all or at l east the main thi ng that
,

I can have to tell you at a moment of comparati ve cri si s At a moment when .

thi ngs are very strained between dealers in pi ct ures of dead arti sts and ,

arti sts .

Well my own work I am ri ski ng my life for i t an d my reason has half foundered
, ,

because of i t— that s all ri ght— but y ou are not among the deal ers in men as far
’

as I know an d y ou c an sti ll choose your si de I thi nk acti ng wi th hu mani ty but

, , , ,

que veux tu ? -

1
Nt
o e o n t he l ett er i n Theo ’
s d
han wri tin g L tt
: e er fou n d on hi m on J ly
u 29 .

398