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Purbi Maini

Department of English

9 November 2020

Learning Vincent; a deep dive into Van Gogh’s letters and the artistic piece, Loving Vincent.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, attention will be brought to the remarkable relationship between Van Gogh’s book of

letters called Ever Yours which consists of letters sent to his family and their following replies. And

the first fully hand-painted film Loving Vincent directed by Dorota Kobeila and Hugh Welchman.

The main goal is to focus on Van Gogh’s nine hundred and two letters that survived after he was

long gone. And how these letters have inspired certain aspects and the journey behind the movie.

This paper will be taking a historical and analytical approach to discover the passion for his master-

pieces. It will explore possible artworks that are represented in the film as real as they were in Van

Gogh’s life. This research will also inspect Van Gogh’s mental state during the last few months of

his life through relevant letters and depiction in the movie. Examining the origins of Van Gogh’s

biography is a paramount because of the effect it has had on people all around the globe.

INTRODUCTION

“I also have nature and art and poetry and if that isn’t enough, then what is?” ( Vincent Van Gogh

letter 17 1874). Born with quite an intellectual mind, Vincent Willem van Gogh took birth in a

Dutch reformed church family in the town of Grootzundert in southern Netherlands. He was born

on 30th march, 1853. Although being blessed with a lot of siblings, his closest bond was with his
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younger brother, Theodore Van Gogh. He was frequently defined as a grave and considerate child

who did not have a jolly childhood. He is now one of the most well known post impressionist mod-

ern painters, granted that he was constantly dismissed and under appreciated while he lived, ru-

moured to have only sold one painting The Red Vineyard at Arles in his entire lifetime. Loving Vin-

cent is the world’s first hand painted featured film and entirely inspired by Van Gogh’s life and art.

Every scene of that film is painted in Van Gogh’s impressions. And at first look, one would think it

brings focus to his death but through his death, it shows some of his deepest thoughts. Van Gogh’s

last letter is beautifully portrayed. And all of it made it through because the nine hundred and three

letters that he wrote with all his passion survived.

The goal of this paper is to examine the connection of some of the letters that Van Gogh wrote

Ever Yours and the movie, Loving Vincent . It is to find and discuss the beautiful interplay between

art and literature.

To achieve this goal, this paper is divided into three main sections with multiple sub sections. In

the first section, there is a detailed discussion and analysis of Van Gogh’s written letters. It is fur-

ther divided into subsections explaining different aspects. In the second section includes other liter-

ature that inspired Van Gogh to make his paintings will be used and observed if they were used in

the movie. It has two sub sections, which discover the underlying notions of his death. In the third

section, Van Gogh’s death is explained from different points of view through the connection be-

tween his letters and the movie Loving Vincent . It also explains his relationship with important

people in his life and their characters in the art film.

ANALYSIS OF VINCENT’S LETTERS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

As it’s known, the only reason the world is aware of so much about the creativity and tragedies of

Van Gogh’s life isn’t only through his paintings but also because of the letters that survived him.
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There were a total nine hundred and three letters that made it through and now are preserved at the

Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The writing style of the Van Gogh family was that of the typical

nineteenth-century books where one was allowed to express themselves freely to the ones they are

close to. Also known as familiar letters. These letters mostly consisted of family members elaborat-

ing on their daily lives, recent updates about their financial situation, marriages , birthdays etc. Let-

ters were considered to be an initial part of socialisation and the Gogh family did its best to perform

in it.

Some specific letters were used in the film. It starts from Joseph Roulin, who was Van Gogh’s

postman and all letters were delivered by him while the painter lived in Paris. Joseph had recently

set his son, Armand Roulin to deliver Van Gogh’s last letter to his brother Theo in Paris. And that

letter was the final draft of the last piece he ever wrote.

The reason Armand Roulin was taken in as the narrator of the movie even though he was not very

connected with Van Gogh’s life was to show and understand his life through the view of a stranger

just like the audience. Van Gogh had painted him at least three times including the rest of his family.

PAINTINGS MENTIONED

The movie has recreated and in a way represented Van Gogh’s masterpieces through the investiga-

tion of paintings and letters.

On 29th September 1888, a letter to his brother, he describes the night when he was painting the

Starry Night, The Ploughed Fields and The Night Cafe. He talks about the difficulty of the subject

and how he had painted the night cafe to the left of the restaurant. He describes The Starry Night as

a likeable painting to his brother because it seems very calm and harmonious. He also mentions

how easy it would be sell paintings if he made them less chaotic.

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Other paintings that are displayed in the movie from his own life are Bridges across the Seine at

Asnieres, Landscape with a Carriage and a Train, The Railway Bridge over Avenue Montmajour,

Belvedere Overlooking Montmartre and Vincent’s self portrait.

These letters have played a very important part in portraying Van Gogh’s deep interest in literature

and different writers. He would occasionally quote writers that inspired him and was deeply at-

tached to reading. He had always been very bookish even when he was a child. He believed reading

books to be something, that without hesitation, just be admired. The movie shows Van Gogh’s place

to be full of canvases, painting supplies and books. That was his life until he died.

A LITERARY LIFE

Van Gogh, had quite a literary mind. His letters are full of beautiful details and vocabulary that you

can only find in a writer’s hand. It was this passion for literature that made him write thousands of

letters. Historians usually seem to use his letters as a technical aid for his art but it is important to

recognise his talent in the old writing and inspiration. A number of reading styles can be explored

like the dutch and the Parisian period in Van Gogh’s life. Although he read widely, like Dickens,

Victor Hugo etc, he soon became very interested in the French naturalist and realist authors that

subsequently affected his art. As it is mentioned before, Van Gogh didn’t have any particular tech-

niques , he really disliked them. His conception of art can be found to be connected with the con-

cept of literature. He found truth in them. Emile Zola, a French naturalist and impressionist was one

of his favourites. He was so smitten by his ideas and work, that the correspondence that Van Gogh

took part in can be found to be quite similar to Zola’s own literary projects and art criticism. He

worked on ‘de-romanticisation’ and appreciating the beauty of natural art. His painting Sorrow,

1882 was heavily inspired by Zola and of the first paintings that he ever made.

Loving Vincent did a very attractive job at displaying Van Gogh’s technique of art which was no

technique at all. The film explores all the people who played an important role in his life. This art
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film used 64,000 frames to portray Van Gogh’s art. The movie took a deep dive into a lot of the

events that took place after his death, it could’ve made more effort to show Van Gogh’s life because

he was more than just his last final days. The movie takes place in a structured manner, where Ar-

mand goes around the village where Van Gogh spent his last breaths. It is almost a dreamlike imag-

inary world that movie contained in itself just like the masterpieces that Van Gogh himself created.

The goal of the director was to reflect on Van Gogh’s creativeness and for that he had to take a sip

of his thoughts. And his letters were a swarm of literary pieces to drink from.

It showed the importance of two most significant people in Van Gogh’s story ,his beloved brother

Theo, who was his financial and emotional support throughout his life. Their lives were connected

till the end, so much so, that Theo passed away six months right after Van Gogh’s tragic death. It

was Theo who had advised to paint and make it a career and until this day their brotherly love is

discussed and admired.

Armand went to Dr Gachet’s house in Auvers sur oise after talking to the art dealer Pere Tanguy

who told him that Theo had passed away. But taking interest in this story of Van Gogh’s death be-

came a prime subject for him. He wanted to enquire more and so he reached the doctor’s house in

search of more answers. The doctor was a very big part of Van Gogh’s life. He mentioned him in

his letters like he was family. After Van Gogh left the Saint Remy asylum, he sought help from Dr

Gachet and in that process, he became very connected to him. He painted him and his daughter

Marguerite twice as well. Van Gogh’s payment to the doctor for his treatment were his paintings

and Dr Gachet was almost envious of how good Van Gogh was at his art. He was everything he

could never be. As found in a lot of Van Gogh’s letters to Theo, he appreciated the connection be-

tween him and he thought that the doctor and himself were very closely similar. The movie showed

certain important aspects of their relationship that people still contemplate to this day. “I’ve found

in Dr Gachet a ready-made friend and something like a new brother would be – so much do we re-

semble each other physically, and morally too.” (Vincent van Gogh to Willemien letter 879)
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TRAGIC DEATH

The film tried to show various perceptions of how Van Gogh’s tragic death took place. The movie

captured all of his emotions that he poured into his letters and into his paintings.

Van Gogh had told everyone that he had simply just shot himself and his last words were reputedly

being “La tristesse durera toujours” which meant that “the sadness will last forever” (Theo to Eliz-

abeth 5th August 1890). Theo stayed by his side forever.

But on the other hand, it had been suspected that he might have been accidentally shot by some

young teenage boys who used to tease him for being eccentric. Even in his letters, Van Gogh had a

quite a different thinking than what was expected of him. He felt himself to be a nobody, a non enti-

ty (Vincent Van Gogh letter 249 1882) . He couldn’t fit into the box he was expected to. Additional-

ly, his first dealer Pere Tanguy, tried to explain to everyone how it was impossible for him to shoot

himself because he was hit in the abdomen and the wound was still there. The only way for that to

happen was if someone from a distance had shot him.

MENTAL ILLNESSES THAT PREVAILED

There is no certain evidence of any mental illness interfering Van Gogh’s early life, there has been a

lot of speculation. He dealt with a lot of failed artist work and other various jobs and he questioned

his purpose. Things started to deteriorate when he traveled to Paris to focus on his artwork and live

with his brother Theo. A lot of observations were noted down including different episodes related to

sensations, a French drink that started to affect his body language. He kept untidy and was quite

quarrelsome. It all went downhill when Van Gogh cut off his own ear after an intense brawl with his

fellow companion, the painter Gaugin. Van Gogh felt deeply and expressed the same way in his

paintings. He wanted to banish the techniques and focus more on the impression of nature and the
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objects around him. He had to submit himself into psychiatric rehabilitation and go through several

treatments with his Doctor Gachet who plays a very significant role in the movie that shows it all.

There had been a lot of studies revealed after the time of his death which gathered a lot of psycho-

analysed information to take into account concerning things that took place in Van Gogh’s life. He

had an impulsive and unpredictable behaviour. Even when he lived in Paris, he drank alcohol, expe-

rienced anxiety, hostility and easy irritability. The letter given to Armand by Theo’s widow, stated

how low he thought of himself.

Some believe to say that Van Gogh ate yellow paint to be happy although he might argue with that.

He exclaimed to his brother during his stay in Saint Remy’s that he didn’t eat yellow paint to feel

happiness but because he couldn’t help but eat filthy things. It can be said that maybe if he lived in

the 21st century, he could’ve been diagnosed. Although some studies have tried to show the possi-

bility of bipolar disorder 1 and depression. ( Understanding Van Gogh’s Night: Bipolar disorder 1

Neurological Disorders in Famous artists 121-131)

CONCLUSION

Reaching the end of this paper, Van Gogh’s written letters Ever Yours and the art-piece Loving Vin-

cent have a very interactive relationship between them and explains the depths of Van Gogh’s con-

sciousness.

Van Gogh was the knight of the pen. The analysis of his letters show the deep rooted issues and the

meaning behind all of his art and feelings. His detailed words and constant search for something

made him inquisitive and who he is today. The film is able to capture his essence and bring the aura

of his personality.

He was also an avid reader and took participation and enjoyment in reading French realist and nat-

uralist works which inspired his post impressionism in his art. He was sincere and elapsed that there
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was a purpose behind his art. The film itself goes through a spectacular journey of its own while

still connecting to his purpose from the roots.

A lot of writers are known to be suffering from melancholia and paint their masterpieces during that

period of time. Van Gogh, these days, is known for his underlying preconceptions for mental ill-

nesses and is taken as a subject for historians to discover upon. His case on the other hand, focused

a lot on recovery. He believed in healing and the beauty of natural things. The movie has shown this

matter of fact uniquely and the frames are taken in a way that a person can distort people’s reality

and feel his emotions through the screen.

His artwork has inspired hundreds of festivals all over the world. Cities like Pune, in India have or-

ganised several events where people express their art and celebrate authenticity.

Van Gogh’s legacy lives on in so many of artists all around the world. His influence of originality

and creativity is a spirit that still inspires post-modern impressionist works.

NOTES

Some quotes are directly picked up from the letters and might include grammatical errors.

WORKS CITED

Gogh, Vincent van, et al. Vincent Van Gogh: Ever Yours: the Essential Letters. Yale University
Press, 2014.

“Loving Vincent.”

Blumer, Dietrich. “The Illness of Vincent Van Gogh.” American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 159, no.

4, 2002, pp. 519–526., doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.159.4.519.

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Pennanen, Marie Fernicola. “Vincent Van Gogh: Chemicals, Crises, and Creativity.” JAMA: The

Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 270, no. 15, 1993, p. 1870., doi:10.1001/

jama.1993.03510150106046.

Carota, Antonio, et al. “Understanding Van Gogh’s Night: Bipolar Disorder1.” Frontiers of Neurol-

ogy and Neuroscience Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists, 2005, pp. 121–131.,

doi:10.1159/000085627.

Hoek, Leo H. “Van Gogh and Zola a Case of Formal Similarity.” Neophilologus, vol. 77, no. 3,

1993, pp. 343–354., doi:10.1007/bf00999678.

Laurenmichelleroberts. “Vincent Van Gogh and Emile Zola.” Lauren Michelle Roberts, 4 Dec.

2012, laurenmichelleroberts.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/vincent-van-gogh-and-emile-zola/.

“Brotherly Love: Vincent & Theo.” Brotherly Love: Vincent & Theo - Van Gogh Museum, www.-

vangoghmuseum.nl/en/stories/brotherly-love.

“History - Historic Figures: Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890).” BBC, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/history/

historic_figures/van_gogh_vincent.shtml.

“Correspondents.” Correspondents - Vincent Van Gogh Letters, vangoghletters.org/vg/correspon-

dents_4.html.

Vincent Van Gogh to Theo Van Gogh : 21 July 1882, www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/

11/218.htm?qp=health.venereal.
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Odee - odee.pl / Strony internetowe. “Blogs.” Loving Vincent - the World's First Fully Painted Fea-

ture Film!, lovingvincent.com/blogs,203,pl.html.

Peralta, Eyder. “Was Van Gogh Murdered? A New Book Says Yes.” NPR, NPR, 17 Oct. 2011,

www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/10/17/141435564/was-van-gogh-murdered-a-new-book-

says-yes.

indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/pune-artists-interpret-vin-cent-van-goghs-letters-and-artwork-

6136885/.