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賳丕賲賴鈥屬囏й� 賵丕賳鈥屭堏�
A new selection of post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gough's letters, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh put a human face on one of the most haunting figures in modern Western culture. In this Penguin Classics edition, the letters are selected and edited by Ronald de Leeuw, and translated by Arnold Pomerans in Penguin Classics.
Few artists' letters are as self-revelatory as Vincent van Gogh's, and this selection, spanning his artistic career, sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and tortured man. Engaging candidly and movingly with his religious struggles, his ill-fated search for love, his attacks of mental illness and his relation with his brother Theo, the letters contradict the popular myth of van Gogh as an anti-social madman and a martyr to art, showing instead a man of great emotional and spiritual depths. Above all, they stand as an intense personal narrative of artistic development and a unique account of the process of creation.
The letters are linked by explanatory biographical passages, revealing van Gogh's inner journey as well as the outer facts of his life. This edition also includes the drawings that originally illustrated the letters.
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890) was born in Holland. In 1885 he painted his first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, a haunting scene of domestic poverty. A year later he began studying in Paris, where he met Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Seurat, who became very important influences on his work. In 1888 he left Paris for the Provencal landscape at Arles, the subject of many of his best works, including Sunflowers.
If you enjoyed The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, you might also like 100 Artists Manifestos, available in Penguin Modern Classics.
'If there was ever any doubt that Van Gogh's letters belong beside those great classics of artistic self-revelation, Cellini's autobiography and Delacroix's journal, this excellent new edition dispels it'
The Times
Few artists' letters are as self-revelatory as Vincent van Gogh's, and this selection, spanning his artistic career, sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and tortured man. Engaging candidly and movingly with his religious struggles, his ill-fated search for love, his attacks of mental illness and his relation with his brother Theo, the letters contradict the popular myth of van Gogh as an anti-social madman and a martyr to art, showing instead a man of great emotional and spiritual depths. Above all, they stand as an intense personal narrative of artistic development and a unique account of the process of creation.
The letters are linked by explanatory biographical passages, revealing van Gogh's inner journey as well as the outer facts of his life. This edition also includes the drawings that originally illustrated the letters.
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890) was born in Holland. In 1885 he painted his first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, a haunting scene of domestic poverty. A year later he began studying in Paris, where he met Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Seurat, who became very important influences on his work. In 1888 he left Paris for the Provencal landscape at Arles, the subject of many of his best works, including Sunflowers.
If you enjoyed The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, you might also like 100 Artists Manifestos, available in Penguin Modern Classics.
'If there was ever any doubt that Van Gogh's letters belong beside those great classics of artistic self-revelation, Cellini's autobiography and Delacroix's journal, this excellent new edition dispels it'
The Times
600 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1914
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About the author
Vincent van Gogh
656听books2,259听followersVincent Willem van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage (a dreary mining district in Belgium), where he was dismissed for overzealousness. He remained in Belgium to study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints.
In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Th茅o, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. In a fit of epilepsy, van Gogh pursued his friend with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.
In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.
In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Th茅o, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. In a fit of epilepsy, van Gogh pursued his friend with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.
In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.
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April 6, 2015
STARRY LETTERS
In my youth I felt saturated with Van Gogh鈥檚 art. Its popularity made it predictable. As one of the greatest victims of the phenomenon that explores in his The work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, one could expect to see posters of Van Gogh鈥檚 Sunflowers, or his Room, or Starry Night, in a third of the rooms of students. I suspected that more than this bright colours, always welcome in dingy lodgings, it was the legend grown out of the morbid aspect of his supposed suicide that explained the ubiquity of his art.
As a museumgoer, I have seen many of his paintings in various galleries and cities. I also visited long ago his museum in Amsterdam. But it was more recently, in an exhibition with a room devoted to him, when I felt completely enraptured in wonder in front of a couple of his paintings.
But I have wanted to read his letters for years and reading these has been a delight.
Most of them are addressed to his brother Theo, but there are a few to painter friends, such as Anton van Rappard and 脡mile Bernard. It was his sister in law who collected and edited them and gave them for publishing in 1913. They span from the Summer of 1872 until a couple of days before his death on 1890.
Reading his Letters I feel that he could not have disapproved, since he himself was addicted to reading biographies of other painters, those he admired, hoping to find a guide to his own path as a painter. If not looking for the same guidance, I have approached them to help me get closer to his art.
It has been a fascinating process to be able to follow how he gradually discovered his painting vocation, which happened relatively late. At first he felt his calling was for the church. Once he became disappointed with the clerical life, he thought of becoming a social helper. During this time, though, references to paintings and art, and close descriptions of landscapes, fill his letters. It was not until he was around 26 that he finally decided to become an artist. This was in 1879 and he had to begin his training, drawing and materials, from the start.
What comes across clearly, whether he is discussing art or whatever else, is the profound intensity with which he approached anything he undertook and the passion with which he defended his ideas. One could say he was a Romantic, not in the historical sense, but in the theoretical one. He pursued with his art his religious longings. Aestheticism at its purest.
During my read I felt compelled to post many updates. Most of these are either descriptions in text of what could have been visual. If even before he drew and painted he would send accounts of his visual impressions, once he began producing paintings, at a very fast rate, he would send textual versions of his painterly renditions. And in text colour dominates. His paintings are described as a succession of things in tones. The colour of the tree, the colour of his table, the colour of the grass, the colour of the sun, the colour of someone's coat鈥� He does not discuss compositions or arrangements or drawing. His art discussions veer towards the most visual, colours. Why has he chosen which colour and what it signifies. We see then that even if he painted outdoors and very rarely from memory, he was not a naturalist. He developed his own system for colours based on correspondences with his own moods and very personal impressions. But this was not fixed. It could not be, It varied with his emotions.
And this personal meaning to his painting is what explains that even if it was after his arrival in Paris in 1886, where he fell under the spell of Impressionism, when he changed his palette from the earth tones to the bright and primary colours, he pursued something very different from the French painters. He aim was not to record of the sensory. And that is also why he did not get close to the analytical art of the Pointillistes. Van Gogh had a profoundly and intensely intimate relation with painting, with the act of painting itself. His brushstroke is rich and thick and expressive. His canvases have a loaded texture. And this texture has his mark.
With such a personal approach to his art we should not be surprised that his stated favourite genre was portraiture-- of others and of himself.
I should like to do portraits which will appear as revelations to people in a hundred years time. I am not trying to achieve this by photographic likeness but by rendering our impassioned expressions, by using our modern knowledge and appreciation of colour as a means of expressing and exalting character..
To follow this epistolary approach to his art is also suitable because Van Gogh was a very literary man. This literary outlook tinted his vision of his surroundings. A compulsive reader, he peppers his letters with references to a wide array of writers. Very knowledgeable of French literature, and even if he turned his back to the Naturalist painters, his preferences in literature were for the Naturalists, in particular those who included a lens focused on the social content. He mentions regularly Zola, Flaubert, Maupassant, Daudet etc. From English literature his favourites were clearly Charles Dickens and, very dear to him, George Eliot.
This selection of letters is a perfect antidote to the alienating effect of ubiquitous reproduced images. Reading them is highly refreshing. They succeed in enlivening the aesthetic emotion when contemplating Van Gogh鈥檚 very dazzling and unforgettable works.
---
I want to thank Jasmine who, during my reading and as a comment to one of my updates, drew my attention to this great documentary. Benedict Cumberbatch impersonating Van Gogh. The text is composed out of sections of the letters and other primary documentation. Strong recommendation:
June 26, 2022
For great things do not just happen by impulse but are a succession of small things linked together.
The main problem when encountering Van Gogh is that his life has become the quintessential artistic myth of our age. The obscure genius ahead of his time, toiling in solitude, tortured by personal demons, driven by a creativity that sometimes spilled over into madness鈥攁nd so on. You鈥檝e heard it all before. You have also seen it before. His paintings suffer from the same overexposure as does his life story. Starry Night hangs, in poster form, in dorm rooms and offices; it is used in commercials and as desktop backgrounds. The challenge, then, as with all iconic art, is to unsee it before it can be properly seen.
The best way to pop this swollen bubble of myth is, I think, to read these letters. Here an entirely different Van Gogh is revealed. Instead of the mad genius we find the cultured gentleman. Van Gogh could read and write English, French, and German fluently, in addition to his native Dutch. He peppers his letters with references to Dickens, Elliot, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Balzac, Zola. His prose is fluent, cogent, and clear鈥攕ometimes even lyrical. His knowledge of art history is equally impressive, as he, for example, compares Shakespeare鈥檚 and Rembrandt鈥檚 understanding of human nature. Not only this, but he was far from insulated from the artistic currents of his day. To the contrary, he was friends with many of the major artists in Paris鈥擲eurat, Signac, Gauguin鈥攁nd aware of the work of other prominent painters, such as Monet and C茅zanne.
But, of course, Van Gogh鈥檚 myth, like many, has some basis in truth. During his lifetime he did not receive even a fraction of the recognition his work deserved (though if he had lived a little longer it likely would have). He was often unhappy and he did suffer from a mental illness of some sort, which did indeed lead him to sever a portion of his own ear. What is less clear is the role that his unhappiness and his mental illness played in his work. In our modern world, still full of Romanticism, we are apt to see these factors as integral to his artistic vision, the source of his inspiration and style. Van Gogh himself had, however, quite a different opinion, seeing his suffering and illness as a distraction or an obstacle, something to be endured but not sought.
The letters in this volume span from 1872 to 1890, the year of his death. Most of them are addressed to his brother, Theo, who worked as an art dealer in Paris and who supported Vincent financially. There are also a few letters to his sister, Wil, and to his artist friends. From the beginning we see Van Gogh as an enthusiastic and earnest man, very liable to be swept up into passions. His first passion was the church. Following in his father鈥檚 footsteps, Van Gogh went to England to work as a preacher. His letters from this period are full to bursting with pious sentiments; in one letter he even includes a sermon, which he composed in English. He quickly grew disenchanted with conventional religion, however, and soon he is pining after his cousin, Kee, who rejects him and refuses to see him. Not long after that he takes in a woman named Sien, a former prostitute, and his letters are filled with his dreams of family life.
But in all of these letters, even before he decided to take up art鈥攚hich he did comparatively late, at the age of 27鈥擵an Gogh show a keen visual awareness and appreciation. He includes long, detailed, and sometimes rapturous descriptions of towns and landscapes. He is also, from the start, independent to the point of stubbornness. He persists in trying to woo his cousin even in the face of his whole family (including Kee herself) discouraging him. He insists on taking in Sien despite the disapproval of nearly everybody, including his brother and his mentor, Mauve. When it came to art he was absolutely uncompromising, refusing to paint anything just for money, and getting into passionate disagreements with some of his artist friends (Gauguin, most notoriously).
Van Gogh鈥檚 intractability often landed him in trouble. He had a bad relationship with his parents and often quarrelled with his brother, Theo, who was his closest confidant. But it is also, I think, the quality that is ultimately most admirable in him. His personal standards drove him to work hard. He was no savant. His letters are filled with exercises and studies. He was tough on his own work and constantly strove to improve it. And though he sometimes got discouraged, there is never any hint of quitting or compromising. This is the classic story, often told. But it is easy to lose sight of how dreary and dispiriting this life could be, day to day. In films the struggling artist is enmeshed in a moving drama, and the audience always knows it will come right in the end. But for Van Gogh this was a plodding daily reality of struggle and failure, with no audience and no guarantee of ultimate success.
That we admire Van Gogh for persisting is, in large part, because his art was truly great. But what would we think if he was mediocre? This, you might say, is the paradox of persistence: We admire those who persist in the face of struggle when they have genuine talent; but when they do not, the spectacle becomes almost pathetic. What would we think of a man financially supported by his brother, constantly quarrelling with and alienating his parents, toiling away in isolation, who produced nothing beautiful? We might be inclined to call such a person na茂ve, foolish, or even selfish. Whether we admire or scorn stubbornness, in other words, depends on whether it eventually pays off. But in the meantime nobody can know if it will, least of all the stubbornly persistent person. It is, in short, a great risk.
Yet it cannot be said that Van Gogh wagered everything on his talent, since there is not even a hint of calculation or self-interest in his continuing persistence. He is so manifestly, uncompromisingly, absolutely obsessed and absorbed by art that there is no other option for him. Even when institutionalized and hospitalized he thinks of nothing but when, how, where, and what he can paint next. And though he at times expresses regret for the sacrifices this entails鈥攈e is especially vexed by the toll it takes on his love-life鈥攈e never discusses art with even a touch of bitterness. He is willing to live in a hovel and survive on crumbs if it means he can afford paint. To see such unqualified devotion, not in a novel or on a stage, but in the real, intimate context of his daily life is (to use a hackneyed word) inspiring.
Vincent's story had a tragic ending. On a summer day in July he walked into a wheat field where he was painting and shot himself in the chest. He survived two more days, finally passing away in his brother鈥檚 arms on July 29. The circumstances surrounding this death are rather remarkable, and I don鈥檛 wonder that two biographers, Naifeh and Smith, have raised questions about it. The tone of his final letters, while troubled, are far from despairing. He even includes an order of paints in his final dispatch to Theo. And it is also extraordinary to think that a man who had shot himself in the chest could walk a mile back to the inn, or that a man locally known for his mental instability could get a gun. The recent film, Loving Vincent (which I haven鈥檛 seen), is focused on this question.
Theo did not long survive his brother: he succumbed to syphilis within just six months. Theo had married his wife, Jo, less than two years earlier, which proved an extremely fortunate circumstance鈥攆or art鈥檚 sake, at least鈥攕ince it was Jo who championed Vincent鈥檚 legacy and who published his correspondence. Theo and Jo鈥檚 only son, named after his uncle Vincent, was responsible for founding the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which I recently visited. To any who get the chance, I highly recommend this paired experience, for the letters and the paintings are mutually enriching. Few people in history seemed to have lived so entirely for the sake of posterity: churning out paintings which few people saw, writing letter after letter few people read, creating a story and an oeuvre that now have the power to tear you in two.
February 4, 2015
I want to be careful in writing this review because I want to do what I can to urge you to put this book in your list of Books I Should Read During my Lifetime. You have such a list, don't you? No? Will you think about making one? It consists of the books that a large majority of your fellow humans believe are representative of what is most significant about this gift you have received, which we call life. Lots of the books that should go on that list are not necessarily ones you would pick from a book store or library shelf. It's okay to put a book on the list out of a mysterious sense of obligation that you might feel. And once on the list, if you begin to read and it does not speak to you, that is okay too. There will be others who will. Only be patient with this book. It may take you a few pages to become interested in the author and to see in his struggles to be true to a calling lessons for your own life. This book is a compendium of letters from Vincent van Gogh. It does not contain all of Van Gogh's letters. But the letters selected (mostly to Van Gogh's brother Theo) tell a fairly complete story of Van Gogh's inner life. Now and then the editor will insert snippets of Van Gogh's life and circumstances at the time of the letter so that we have a good context for the letter we are reading. Lots and lots of letters consist of Van Gogh pleading with his brother to send him money (Van Gogh sold the grand total of one painting during his lifetime) but somehow even these letters are important to the slow vision of Vincent that you are gradually forming and befriending as you read. Not to mention the glimpse these letters give you of true friendship and devotion between Vincent and Theo. But why is this one of those books that should be placed in your Lifetime List? Someone once said that vocation is that place where your heart's joy meets the word's great need. And I think that this book shows you one man's struggle to develop and remain true to the inner joy that art brought to him and to have that joy be useful, of service to others. He says in an early letter, when he is discovering his aptitude to draw and paint: "I feel a power in me which I must develop, a fire that I may not quench, but must keep ablaze, though I do not know to what result it will lead me, and shouldn't wonder if it were a gloomy one. . . " And indeed he kept the blaze of that power throughout his short life even when gloominess was all there was. The power was kept alive sometimes by a fiery, consuming enthusiasm and sometimes by the cold steel of will and duty. But always there was that practice, practice, practice the need to align through visual description and color the emotions elicited by nature, by the poor peasants, simple objects and ordinary people he insisted in painting. At some point, the constant practice of his craft would have allowed him to paint pictures that would sell. But that would have been a departure from that place where his heart's joy met what he saw as the world's need. This a book for your Lifetime List because we are all called (and a call can come from you or from outside of you) to find that joy and find a way to make it useful.
January 14, 2023
A woman is a 鈥榪uiet different being鈥� from a man and a being we do not yet know, or at best only superficially, as you put it, yes, that I am sure. And that a woman and a man can become one, that is, one whole and not two halves, I believe that too.
May 7, 2024
VINCENT
馃帹馃尰馃尰鈽€锔� I know when I started on GR I didn鈥檛 always review my book selections because I was trying to list hundreds of volumes (and I still forgot to list many I鈥檇 read). But here is a book that had a profound effect on me. These letters are totally open and honest. They are like raw paint applied to a canvas with a palette knife. You will get far more of an in-depth and comprehensive view of Vincent than any bio can provide. And if you have an artist鈥檚 heart it will really strike at your root 馃帹馃尰馃尰
馃帹馃尰馃尰鈽€锔� I know when I started on GR I didn鈥檛 always review my book selections because I was trying to list hundreds of volumes (and I still forgot to list many I鈥檇 read). But here is a book that had a profound effect on me. These letters are totally open and honest. They are like raw paint applied to a canvas with a palette knife. You will get far more of an in-depth and comprehensive view of Vincent than any bio can provide. And if you have an artist鈥檚 heart it will really strike at your root 馃帹馃尰馃尰
March 7, 2022
I have had an interest in painting since my younger days. I never painted myself, nor could I draw or sketch, yet I was drawn into this branch of art. Perhaps it is because I had a poet's mind or perhaps it is because I'm a reader who learned to imagine and read between the lines. Whatever the reason is, I enjoyed viewing them and forming my own interpretations, even though my idea of the painting vastly contradicted the idea of its author. In my twenties, I read about the different periods of art and famous artists and later, started visiting art galleries. This is the time when Van Gogh came across me. I have no understanding of paintings; I'm only an admirer. Yet Van Gogh's paintings captured me from the onset. I think it is mainly due to the colors he used and also the expressions of his figures. There is such a real and humane touch to his paintings. Later on, I read of his life and I felt an immediate connection, a sort of an odd kinship with him. He was undervalued and misunderstood, something I could personally relate to. All these reasons made this selected collection of letters by Van Gogh a pleasurable read.
The letters, most written to his brother Theo Van Gogh, express Van Gogh's thinking on life and art. They are profound. Notwithstanding what is thought of him, he wasn't eccentric or anti-social. His isolation was a result of his devotion and dedication to his painting - his final chosen field. Through these letters, Van Gogh expresses in detail his perspective of contemporary and past renowned painters and their works. His attention is specifically fixed on the impressionists who he admired and who he wished would improve their style to suit modern times. He being a post-impressionist, he wanted the impressionists to break the barriers and expand their horizons.
Most of all, however, these letters are immensely valuable for they give a good insight into the artistic view of the painter. He was drawn by nature. The inspiration arose for him from everyday details of nature and human life. And he loved colour; bright and vivid colors. He was criticized for lack of a technique, so he worked on form and value more diligently. But it is the colourfulness of nature that inspired his art and compelled him to draw and paint. "It is impossible to attach the same importance both to values and colours. One cannot be at the Pole and at the Equator at once. One must choose one's way, and my way is the road to colour."
Apart from art, Van Gogh's views on life are profound. He also talks of the lonely life of an artist but maintains that an isolated and solitary life is needed for a devoted artist. He was well aware of how he was viewed by society. "What I'm in the eyes of most people? A nonentity, or an oddity, or a disagreeable man, someone neither has nor ever will have any place in society. I should like to show by my work that the heart of such a nonentity, such an insignificant man, conceals." . He was not resentful though. On the contrary as his own words say "what am I, but a friend of nature, of study, of work, and above all, of man." Yes, Vincent, you were a true friend. Your words and your works are living proof of that.
The letters, most written to his brother Theo Van Gogh, express Van Gogh's thinking on life and art. They are profound. Notwithstanding what is thought of him, he wasn't eccentric or anti-social. His isolation was a result of his devotion and dedication to his painting - his final chosen field. Through these letters, Van Gogh expresses in detail his perspective of contemporary and past renowned painters and their works. His attention is specifically fixed on the impressionists who he admired and who he wished would improve their style to suit modern times. He being a post-impressionist, he wanted the impressionists to break the barriers and expand their horizons.
Most of all, however, these letters are immensely valuable for they give a good insight into the artistic view of the painter. He was drawn by nature. The inspiration arose for him from everyday details of nature and human life. And he loved colour; bright and vivid colors. He was criticized for lack of a technique, so he worked on form and value more diligently. But it is the colourfulness of nature that inspired his art and compelled him to draw and paint. "It is impossible to attach the same importance both to values and colours. One cannot be at the Pole and at the Equator at once. One must choose one's way, and my way is the road to colour."
Apart from art, Van Gogh's views on life are profound. He also talks of the lonely life of an artist but maintains that an isolated and solitary life is needed for a devoted artist. He was well aware of how he was viewed by society. "What I'm in the eyes of most people? A nonentity, or an oddity, or a disagreeable man, someone neither has nor ever will have any place in society. I should like to show by my work that the heart of such a nonentity, such an insignificant man, conceals." . He was not resentful though. On the contrary as his own words say "what am I, but a friend of nature, of study, of work, and above all, of man." Yes, Vincent, you were a true friend. Your words and your works are living proof of that.
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January 20, 2025鈥渂ecause I have walked this earth for 30 years, and out of gratitude would like to leave some memento in the form of drawings and paintings鈥� not made to please this school or that, but to express a genuine human feeling.鈥�
Vincent van Gogh has always fascinated me as someone who has been raised by a village of artists. His gorgeous use of colors, stunning textures and haunting self-portraits have captured my heart for most of my life, and, after seeing endless quotes from his letters written to his brother on Tumblr, I decided to pick up this collection, and this has quickly become some of my favorite pieces of writing that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
Vincent van Gogh was an artist both as a painter but through his writing as well. He is one of the most authentic and effortlessly talented writers that I have poured over with tender musings about life, friendship, a career as an artist to his relationship with religion, mental illness, and his family.
Vincent鈥檚 vulnerability, sass given both to his brother and artists he clashed with, and relatable descriptions of what its like to live with depression captured my heart and held a mirror up to my own soul.
It鈥檚 rare for me to stumble upon a piece of text that reminds me that I am not living a solitary existence. Others in history have felt the same way and have gazed upon the same skies in awe and wonder, and that reminder alone will comfort me for a lifetime. I feel a greater appreciation for Vincent鈥檚 work and am grateful for the opportunity to get to know an artist whose work has touched countless lives long after he walked this earth.
If I could travel back in time, I would do so only to hold Vincent鈥檚 hands in my own to say, 鈥淚 see you. You won鈥檛 even be able to fathom how many lives you鈥檝e touched. Thank you.鈥�
Vincent van Gogh has always fascinated me as someone who has been raised by a village of artists. His gorgeous use of colors, stunning textures and haunting self-portraits have captured my heart for most of my life, and, after seeing endless quotes from his letters written to his brother on Tumblr, I decided to pick up this collection, and this has quickly become some of my favorite pieces of writing that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
Vincent van Gogh was an artist both as a painter but through his writing as well. He is one of the most authentic and effortlessly talented writers that I have poured over with tender musings about life, friendship, a career as an artist to his relationship with religion, mental illness, and his family.
Vincent鈥檚 vulnerability, sass given both to his brother and artists he clashed with, and relatable descriptions of what its like to live with depression captured my heart and held a mirror up to my own soul.
It鈥檚 rare for me to stumble upon a piece of text that reminds me that I am not living a solitary existence. Others in history have felt the same way and have gazed upon the same skies in awe and wonder, and that reminder alone will comfort me for a lifetime. I feel a greater appreciation for Vincent鈥檚 work and am grateful for the opportunity to get to know an artist whose work has touched countless lives long after he walked this earth.
If I could travel back in time, I would do so only to hold Vincent鈥檚 hands in my own to say, 鈥淚 see you. You won鈥檛 even be able to fathom how many lives you鈥檝e touched. Thank you.鈥�
April 3, 2020
Beautiful letters written by a beautiful soul and one of the most gifted artists of all time, in my humble opinion. 馃槉
January 26, 2022
I loved this book.
It was the only way I knew of to get to know this man/artist.
Had I known about this earlier, it would have
been extremely cool to read this while spending hours
inside the VG museum in Amsterdam. It might have added different
aspects to my interpretations with this knowledge of
transparency. Please read the other reviews posted; they are
just wonderful in telling his story. While the book's
synopsis is written accurately, the letters share
emotions that a summary cannot. Finally, the song
"Starry Starry Night" is out of my head.
It was the only way I knew of to get to know this man/artist.
Had I known about this earlier, it would have
been extremely cool to read this while spending hours
inside the VG museum in Amsterdam. It might have added different
aspects to my interpretations with this knowledge of
transparency. Please read the other reviews posted; they are
just wonderful in telling his story. While the book's
synopsis is written accurately, the letters share
emotions that a summary cannot. Finally, the song
"Starry Starry Night" is out of my head.
July 12, 2018
About This Edition
Translator's Note
Introduction
Biographical Outline
--Early Letters
--Ramsgate and Isleworth
--Dordrecht
--Amsterdam
--The Borinage
--Etten
--The Hague
--The Hague, Drenthe and Nuenen
--From Nuenen to Antwerp
--Paris
--Arles
--厂补颈苍迟-搁茅尘测
--Auvers-sur-Oise
Bibliography
Index
Translator's Note
Introduction
Biographical Outline
--Early Letters
--Ramsgate and Isleworth
--Dordrecht
--Amsterdam
--The Borinage
--Etten
--The Hague
--The Hague, Drenthe and Nuenen
--From Nuenen to Antwerp
--Paris
--Arles
--厂补颈苍迟-搁茅尘测
--Auvers-sur-Oise
Bibliography
Index
September 12, 2015
鬲卅賵蹖 毓夭蹖夭賲!丕丨爻丕爻 夭蹖亘丕蹖蹖 胤亘蹖毓鬲貙丨鬲蹖 丕丨爻丕爻 馗乇丕賮鬲 賵賳讴鬲賴 賴丕蹖 丌賳貙 亘丕 丕丨爻丕爻 毓賯蹖丿賴 賵丕蹖賲丕賳 賮乇賯 丿丕乇丿貙 丕诏乇趩賴 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲賳 亘蹖賳 丌賳 丿賵貙乇丕亘胤賴 蹖 賳夭丿蹖讴蹖 賲賵噩賵丿 丕爻鬲.(丕丨爻丕爻 賲丕 賳爻亘鬲 亘賴 賴賳乇賳蹖夭賴賲蹖賳 丕爻鬲.)丿乇賴乇丨丕賱 夭蹖丕丿 賴賲 倬丕蹖亘賳丿 丕蹖賳 賲賵囟賵毓 賳亘丕卮.賴乇讴爻 胤亘蹖毓鬲 乇丕 蹖讴 賳賵毓 丕丨爻丕爻 賲蹖 讴賳丿 賵賱蹖 讴賲鬲乇 讴爻蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘鬲賵丕賳丿 禺丿丕 乇丕 丕丨爻丕爻 讴賳丿貙禺丿丕蹖蹖 讴賴 亘丕乇賵丨 賲丕 倬蹖賵爻鬲诏蹖 丿丕乇丿.賴乇丌賳 讴爻 讴賴 丿乇亘乇丕亘乇禺丿丕 爻噩丿賴 讴賳丿貙亘丕蹖丿 亘乇丕亘乇乇賵丨 賵丨賯蹖賯鬲 賳蹖夭爻乇鬲毓馗蹖賲 賮乇賵丿丌賵乇丿.
倬丕乇蹖爻貙17爻倬鬲丕賲亘乇1875
倬丕乇蹖爻貙17爻倬鬲丕賲亘乇1875
December 24, 2016
This book is exceptional, thought-provoking, painstakingly beautiful and soulful. Not only literary letters but they encompassed whole life of a genius artist.
I absolutely love this book 鈾�
It's worth reading.
"What I find such a pleasant surprise about painting is that you can, with the same effect you put into a drawing, take something home with you that conveys the impression much better and is much more pleasing to look at. And at the same time more accurate, too. In a word, it is more rewarding than drawing. But it is absolutely essential to be able to draw the proportions correctly and to position the objects fairly confidently before you start. If you make a mistake here, it will all come to nothing."
"What I鈥檓 trying for is the shortest means to that end - on the understanding that the work is of genuine and lasting merit, which I can only expect if I put something really good into it and make an honest study of nature, not if I work exclusively with an eye to saleability - for which one is bound to suffer later."
"The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too."
" And when I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, - a few men that I discovered by accident - I do this because they look at things in a broader, milder and more affectionate way than I do, and because they know life better, so that I can learn from them."
" If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it,keep going, keep going come what may."
" The lamps are burning and the starry sky is over it all."
I absolutely love this book 鈾�
It's worth reading.
"What I find such a pleasant surprise about painting is that you can, with the same effect you put into a drawing, take something home with you that conveys the impression much better and is much more pleasing to look at. And at the same time more accurate, too. In a word, it is more rewarding than drawing. But it is absolutely essential to be able to draw the proportions correctly and to position the objects fairly confidently before you start. If you make a mistake here, it will all come to nothing."
"What I鈥檓 trying for is the shortest means to that end - on the understanding that the work is of genuine and lasting merit, which I can only expect if I put something really good into it and make an honest study of nature, not if I work exclusively with an eye to saleability - for which one is bound to suffer later."
"The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too."
" And when I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, - a few men that I discovered by accident - I do this because they look at things in a broader, milder and more affectionate way than I do, and because they know life better, so that I can learn from them."
" If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it,keep going, keep going come what may."
" The lamps are burning and the starry sky is over it all."
June 18, 2007
Robert Hughes writes in one of his essays on Van Gogh that the myth's around Van Gogh run exactly opposite to the truth. He recommends delving into Van Gogh's letters as a way to get beyond the myths and better understand both the artist and his work. Van Gogh is often given an aura of a mad genius, whose hallucinations and fits gave rise to the intense colors and patterning of his paintings and drawings. In fact, his fits (most likely due to epilepsy) were debilitating, and often kept him out of commission for weeks at a time. Hughes closes and essay saying that Van Gogh was a great painter in spite of his madness, not because of it - and having read his letters, I'm inclined to agree.
However, I somehow found the letters both more and less than I expected. The biggest disappointment was that they failed to provide as much insight into Van Gogh's working process and aesthetic ideas than I hoped. Much of his talk about his work is merely a description of recent paintings (at most a vague description of his goals) or a long list of influences. While it's interesting to see who he was looking at, I didn't come away with much more understanding of the piece by piece construction of his paintings, or of any grander aesthetic theory.
On the other hand, I now have a much greater understanding of the character and biography of Van Gogh than of any other artist I've ever studied. I can look at any piece, and place where it was in his development, where he was physically and mentally at the time, and what issues he was grappling with in his life. I may not have had much more access to his artistic thoughts, but I'm able to process his work in a much wider context than I was before. And there are many, many interesting anecdotes to be learned - like the fact that the work that he is known for, his famously intense paintings and hatched drawings, were down in less than three years - from 1887 to 1890 (a period during which he produced over 1000 combined paintings and drawings).
I also have some gripes with the editing of this edition - the letters are interspersed with brief biographical sketches which contextualize the letters, but there are also many letters left out. Without having read every single letter, it's hard for me to know whether the choice of letters reflects and editorial slant (and I have a sneaking suspicion that many letters were chosen for biographical upheaval rather than artistic insight, but have no real grounds for that claim).
It's difficult to recommend this book to everyone. Those obsessed with Van Gogh or painting in general might find a lot to learn - and those who enjoy reality TV might get a similar kick out of the bizarre twists and turns of this self-narrated life. The rest will probably find it a bit dull.
However, I somehow found the letters both more and less than I expected. The biggest disappointment was that they failed to provide as much insight into Van Gogh's working process and aesthetic ideas than I hoped. Much of his talk about his work is merely a description of recent paintings (at most a vague description of his goals) or a long list of influences. While it's interesting to see who he was looking at, I didn't come away with much more understanding of the piece by piece construction of his paintings, or of any grander aesthetic theory.
On the other hand, I now have a much greater understanding of the character and biography of Van Gogh than of any other artist I've ever studied. I can look at any piece, and place where it was in his development, where he was physically and mentally at the time, and what issues he was grappling with in his life. I may not have had much more access to his artistic thoughts, but I'm able to process his work in a much wider context than I was before. And there are many, many interesting anecdotes to be learned - like the fact that the work that he is known for, his famously intense paintings and hatched drawings, were down in less than three years - from 1887 to 1890 (a period during which he produced over 1000 combined paintings and drawings).
I also have some gripes with the editing of this edition - the letters are interspersed with brief biographical sketches which contextualize the letters, but there are also many letters left out. Without having read every single letter, it's hard for me to know whether the choice of letters reflects and editorial slant (and I have a sneaking suspicion that many letters were chosen for biographical upheaval rather than artistic insight, but have no real grounds for that claim).
It's difficult to recommend this book to everyone. Those obsessed with Van Gogh or painting in general might find a lot to learn - and those who enjoy reality TV might get a similar kick out of the bizarre twists and turns of this self-narrated life. The rest will probably find it a bit dull.
July 12, 2024
i bought this book at the metropolitan museum of art and i studied van gogh鈥檚 work in my art history class.
October 4, 2018
May m岷痭 l脿m sao khi Theo kh么ng ch峄� d脿nh c岷� 膽峄漣 膽峄� gi煤p 膽峄� ng瓢峄漣 anh b岷 h岷h, m脿 k峄� c岷� sau khi m岷, 么ng v脿 v峄� v岷玭 gi峄� g矛n nh峄痭g l谩 th瓢 m脿 anh trai 么ng g峄璱, 膽峄� c岷� th岷� gi峄沬 膽瓢峄 nh矛n th岷 m峄檛 bi k峄媍h th岷璽 膽岷筽, v峄� m峄檛 ngh峄� s末 膽i锚n nh瓢ng t峄塶h t谩o nh岷, m峄檛 ng瓢峄漣 bu峄搉 nh瓢ng l岷 quan nh岷, 膽茫 t峄玭g hi峄噉 di峄噉, t峄玭g b峄� ch峄慽 b峄�, v脿 r峄搃 膽瓢峄 y锚u th瓢啤ng nh岷.
C贸 nhi峄乽 l媒 do khi岷縩 m矛nh c峄眂 k峄� y锚u m岷縩 Vincent van Gogh:
- 脭ng ch峄峮 ch峄� 膽峄� trong tranh l脿 膽峄搉g qu锚, v脿 nhi峄乽 l岷 膽峄� c岷璸 trong nh峄痭g b峄ヽ th瓢 vi峄嘽 y锚u th铆ch cu峄檆 s峄憂g, con ng瓢峄漣 v脿 thi锚n nhi锚n 峄� v霉ng n么ng th么n. V峄沬 van Gogh, nh芒n v岷璽 trong tranh ch岷硁g c岷 l脿 ng脿i b谩 t瓢峄沜, c么 c么ng ch煤a, hay nh峄痭g 膽i峄僴 t铆ch Th谩nh kinh n脿o h岷縯, m脿 ch峄� 膽啤n gi岷 l脿 n么ng phu 膽脿o khoai, ch峄� than, l脿 ng瓢峄漣 膽瓢a th瓢, l脿 c芒y h岷h tr峄� b么ng tr岷痭g ng岷, l脿 c芒y b谩ch d瓢峄沬 b岷 tr峄漣 sao. N峄檌 dung gi岷 d峄� nh瓢 ch铆nh con ng瓢峄漣 v岷� ra n贸.
- S峄� nh岷 c岷 v么 c霉ng c峄 m峄檛 ng瓢峄漣 ngh峄� s末. M矛nh lu么n ngh末 khi l脿 m峄檛 ngh峄� s末, 膽岷穋 bi峄噒 l脿 ho岷� s末, ng瓢峄漣 ta ph岷 lu么n c贸 s峄� rung c岷, nh岷 c岷 khi nh矛n th岷 s峄� v岷璽 s峄� vi峄嘽. Vincent may m岷痭 c贸 膽瓢峄 膽i峄乽 膽岷. Nhi峄乽 trang th瓢 mi锚n man s峄� mi锚u t岷� s峄憂g 膽峄檔g nh峄痭g th峄� m脿 Vincent n岷痬 b岷痶 膽瓢峄, c谩ch d霉ng t峄� g峄 c岷 lu么n phi锚n nhau nh瓢 nh峄痭g c啤n s贸ng t峄� ng峄� uy峄僴 chuy峄僴 岷璸 v脿o t芒m tr铆 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜. R岷 nhi峄乽 t铆nh t峄� hay xu岷 hi峄噉 trong s谩ch.
- Vincent th铆ch m脿u xanh, th铆ch b岷 tr峄漣, th铆ch 膽锚m h啤n ng脿y.
- M峄慽 quan h峄� gi峄痑 Vincent v脿 Theo. N岷縰 c岷 m峄檛 v铆 d峄� 膽峄� n贸i v峄� tri k峄�, th矛 kh么ng c貌n g矛 r玫 r脿ng h啤n l脿 m峄慽 quan h峄� c峄 hai anh em nh脿 van Gogh. C岷� hai chia s岷� m峄檛 t芒m h峄搉, m峄檛 tr铆 贸c, th岷璵 ch铆 m峄檛 sinh m峄噉h. Mu峄憂 kh贸c khi ngh末 v峄� Theo.
- Vincent kh么ng bao gi峄� t峄� b峄� t矛nh y锚u c峄 么ng d脿nh cho m峄峣 ng瓢峄漣, nh瓢ng h岷 h岷縯 膽峄乽 ch峄慽 b峄� 么ng. Th岷璽 bu峄搉 khi nh峄痭g l峄漣 cu峄慽 c峄 么ng d脿nh cho Theo l脿, anh mu峄憂 膽瓢峄 ch岷縯 ngay l岷璸 t峄ヽ. T岷 sao t岷 sao, 膽谩ng ra ph岷 么m l岷 ng瓢峄漣 膽脿n 么ng nh岷 c岷 岷 v脿o l貌ng?
C贸 nhi峄乽 l媒 do khi岷縩 m矛nh c峄眂 k峄� y锚u m岷縩 Vincent van Gogh:
- 脭ng ch峄峮 ch峄� 膽峄� trong tranh l脿 膽峄搉g qu锚, v脿 nhi峄乽 l岷 膽峄� c岷璸 trong nh峄痭g b峄ヽ th瓢 vi峄嘽 y锚u th铆ch cu峄檆 s峄憂g, con ng瓢峄漣 v脿 thi锚n nhi锚n 峄� v霉ng n么ng th么n. V峄沬 van Gogh, nh芒n v岷璽 trong tranh ch岷硁g c岷 l脿 ng脿i b谩 t瓢峄沜, c么 c么ng ch煤a, hay nh峄痭g 膽i峄僴 t铆ch Th谩nh kinh n脿o h岷縯, m脿 ch峄� 膽啤n gi岷 l脿 n么ng phu 膽脿o khoai, ch峄� than, l脿 ng瓢峄漣 膽瓢a th瓢, l脿 c芒y h岷h tr峄� b么ng tr岷痭g ng岷, l脿 c芒y b谩ch d瓢峄沬 b岷 tr峄漣 sao. N峄檌 dung gi岷 d峄� nh瓢 ch铆nh con ng瓢峄漣 v岷� ra n贸.
- S峄� nh岷 c岷 v么 c霉ng c峄 m峄檛 ng瓢峄漣 ngh峄� s末. M矛nh lu么n ngh末 khi l脿 m峄檛 ngh峄� s末, 膽岷穋 bi峄噒 l脿 ho岷� s末, ng瓢峄漣 ta ph岷 lu么n c贸 s峄� rung c岷, nh岷 c岷 khi nh矛n th岷 s峄� v岷璽 s峄� vi峄嘽. Vincent may m岷痭 c贸 膽瓢峄 膽i峄乽 膽岷. Nhi峄乽 trang th瓢 mi锚n man s峄� mi锚u t岷� s峄憂g 膽峄檔g nh峄痭g th峄� m脿 Vincent n岷痬 b岷痶 膽瓢峄, c谩ch d霉ng t峄� g峄 c岷 lu么n phi锚n nhau nh瓢 nh峄痭g c啤n s贸ng t峄� ng峄� uy峄僴 chuy峄僴 岷璸 v脿o t芒m tr铆 ng瓢峄漣 膽峄峜. R岷 nhi峄乽 t铆nh t峄� hay xu岷 hi峄噉 trong s谩ch.
- Vincent th铆ch m脿u xanh, th铆ch b岷 tr峄漣, th铆ch 膽锚m h啤n ng脿y.
- M峄慽 quan h峄� gi峄痑 Vincent v脿 Theo. N岷縰 c岷 m峄檛 v铆 d峄� 膽峄� n贸i v峄� tri k峄�, th矛 kh么ng c貌n g矛 r玫 r脿ng h啤n l脿 m峄慽 quan h峄� c峄 hai anh em nh脿 van Gogh. C岷� hai chia s岷� m峄檛 t芒m h峄搉, m峄檛 tr铆 贸c, th岷璵 ch铆 m峄檛 sinh m峄噉h. Mu峄憂 kh贸c khi ngh末 v峄� Theo.
- Vincent kh么ng bao gi峄� t峄� b峄� t矛nh y锚u c峄 么ng d脿nh cho m峄峣 ng瓢峄漣, nh瓢ng h岷 h岷縯 膽峄乽 ch峄慽 b峄� 么ng. Th岷璽 bu峄搉 khi nh峄痭g l峄漣 cu峄慽 c峄 么ng d脿nh cho Theo l脿, anh mu峄憂 膽瓢峄 ch岷縯 ngay l岷璸 t峄ヽ. T岷 sao t岷 sao, 膽谩ng ra ph岷 么m l岷 ng瓢峄漣 膽脿n 么ng nh岷 c岷 岷 v脿o l貌ng?
November 18, 2020
I first began my reading of these letters as a way to learn more about the art process, the way to creation coming from the mind of such a gifted artist such as Vincent Van Gogh. I also was interested in his life, his story, and how he got to this end. Personal letters seem to be so much more profitable to me as a reader than fiction, or even a biography. Throughout the entire book I came to feel, and inhabit, his struggle, his pain, his lack of recognition for what he deemed so important in total to his life. I learned through almost countless correspondences that he was rarely given the respect he felt he deserved, and he had just terrible luck with women. It was so sad the difficulties he faced socially. But I never felt once he was suicidal in his thinking. He was a creator, and a sick man obviously, but his genius insisted that he live and make history. I am of the opinion that Van Gogh shot himself in order that his brother Theo鈥檚 family could once again thrive as they had fallen on hard times and were suffering. A gut shot is a slow death, and in it one has the opportunity to say what needs to be said to those around him even though the end of life is inevitable.
In regards to the art of Van Gogh, the letters presented a complete study in the use of color. I came to understand his selections based on these letters explaining in great detail why he chose specific colors to use in his paintings. The man was authentic, and that is all one might hope to become in such a short and often confusing life we are all faced with. Vincent Van Gogh was gifted in so many ways, and had such high hopes as dreamers often do. The letters are a testament to his great love for his brother, and the many works of genius he left for those of us who today appreciate it. And as good a literary work as anything I have ever read.
December 26, 2021
There are some lovely reviews of this on 欧宝娱乐 already, so I'm not going to attempt an extensive or informative review. I'll just say a few things straight from the heart. Van Gogh and his troubled life is one of those subjects that appeals to one's deepest feelings; to one's heart rather than one's head.
Reading these letters gives you a window into Vincent's immense pain. Vincent was a deeply spiritual person who never, during his lifetime, received the recognition that he so richly deserved. An extremely prolific painter with works mainly done in a post-impressionist/neo-impressionist style, some of the works more pointillist than others, Van Gogh's works all seem to have a unique touch of expressionism to them - his style was very distinct and uniquely his own.
He never achieved commercial success during his lifetime, most of which was lived in poverty, and he was often severely depressed, leading to self-mutilation and eventually suicide at age thirty-seven.
Despite the fact that his life was cut short far too early, he left behind the rich legacy of many deeply emotive paintings and these poignant letters.
Reading these letters gives you a window into Vincent's immense pain. Vincent was a deeply spiritual person who never, during his lifetime, received the recognition that he so richly deserved. An extremely prolific painter with works mainly done in a post-impressionist/neo-impressionist style, some of the works more pointillist than others, Van Gogh's works all seem to have a unique touch of expressionism to them - his style was very distinct and uniquely his own.
One of Vincen't most famous paintings, and a personal favorite of mine: "Starry Night".
He never achieved commercial success during his lifetime, most of which was lived in poverty, and he was often severely depressed, leading to self-mutilation and eventually suicide at age thirty-seven.
Despite the fact that his life was cut short far too early, he left behind the rich legacy of many deeply emotive paintings and these poignant letters.
June 27, 2022
Ever yours,
Vincent
They tell me that "a gazillion stars" is not a rating that exists on 欧宝娱乐. Well then, this book is a perfect reason to introduce it.
It was not easy reading. The book is very long, and my copy had an uncomfortably small print. I won't lie, it was boring at times, as everyday life is not always exciting. It was also so often sad, and toward the end downright tragic. So it took me 6 months to read. But in the end, I can say it was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.
"Admire as much as you can, most people don't admire enough"
Before reading this book, I wouldn't have called Van Gogh my favorite artist. But I always admired his paintings for being decorative, for the bright colors, distinct style, and textures. Looking around the house, I see his artworks are certainly prominently represented: I have an umbrella, shoes, T-shirt, and sweatshirt with Van Gogh's paintings.
Humanity is lucky that Theo had a hoarding tendency and loved his brother Vincent dearly. That's why so many of Van Gogh's letters were preserved and are now available to us. The public rarely gets to glimpse the real-life and struggles of a much-admired genius.
This book contains so much!
1) The mundane realities of XIX century life in a few European countries, as experienced by a rather poor commoner - which is interesting in itself.
2) The life of a painter: evolution from deciding to try it out, to learning and struggling, to finding personal style and meaning, to persevering against critics. A painter's life is also a lot about finding cheap but good quality paint, materials, and models.
鈥淲hat is drawing? How does one learn it? It is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do."
"Let us try to grasp the secrets of technique so well that people will be taken in and swear by all that is holy that we have no technique. Let our work be so savant that it seems naive and does not reek of our cleverness."
"The day will come, however, when people will see [my pictures] are worth more than the price of the paint and my living expenses, very meagre on the whole, which we put into them."
3) Van Gogh's dialogue with the contemporary culture: the successful and upcoming artists of his time, the old masters. It was interesting to read his opinions, criticism, analysis, and admiration of their works and find out about personal relationships with those he was acquainted with.
"How does one become mediocre? By going along with this today and conforming to that tomorrow, as the world wants, and by not speaking out against the world and by only following public opinion!"
4) What books Van Gogh read and what he thought of them. I really loved those passages in the letters! He loved Zola and Tolstoy; he commented on Poe and Dickens. Also, he drew parallels between painting and literature.
"...there is something of Rembrandt in Shakespeare, something of Correggio in Michelet and something of Delacroix in V. Hugo, and there is also something of Rembrandt in the Gospel or, if you prefer, something of the Gospel in Rembrandt, it comes to much the same thing if you understand it properly, do not try to distort it..."
5) Van Gogh's personal life story. He certainly didn't have an easy time of it. But it was even more admirable how he took so many setbacks with kindness, perseverance, and hope. His longing for companionship, community, and family broke my heart. When he encountered obstacles, I so wanted to scream: "HE'S VAN GOGH JUST LET HIM HAVE HIS WAY!!!!!!!!!"
"Can you tell what goes on within by looking at what happens without? There may be a great fire in your soul, but no one ever comes to warm himself by it, all that passers-by can see is a little smoke coming out of the chimney and they walk on."
He was just a great person! His love and respect for people, including shunned disgraced women and the poor working class, sounded so contemporary to me.
"Oh, I am no friend of present-day Christianity, thought its founder was sublime. That icy coldness mesmerized even me, in my youth - but I have taken my revenge since then. How? By worshipping the love they, the theologians, call sin, by respecting a whore, etc., and not too many would be respectable, pious ladies. To some, woman is heresy and diabolical. To me she is the opposite."
6) The struggle with mental health. The way he described experiencing and coming to terms with his condition also sounded surprisingly contemporary to me. Which means his thoughts were probably revolutionary for his time.
"What comforts me is that I am beginning to look upon madness as a disease like any other and accept it as such."
"So instead of giving in to despair I chose active melancholy, in so far as I was capable of activity, in other words I chose the kind of melancholy that hopes, that strives and that seeks, in preference to the melancholy that despairs numbly and in distress."
7) His approach to work, his impeccable work ethic, discipline, patience, and conviction. It's a lesson in being hard-working and driven. It was also interesting to see how the ideas for his paintings were born, learning some details of their creation. For instance, he came up with the Starry Night and pondered painting it for two years before actually doing it.
"The more active one is, the better, and I would sooner have a failure than sit idle and do nothing."
"Plumb the depths [of the sea of life] that is what we too must do if we want to make a catch, and if we sometimes have to work the whole night through without catching anything, then we do well not to give up and to cast the net once more at dawn"
8) Surprisingly, the book is also simply beautifully written. I'm not sure why it was such a shock, but I didn't expect the language to be descriptive, imaginative, piercing. Van Gogh is a painter, but he could have been a novelist or philosopher. His words shook me to the core and broke my heart some times, inspired and uplifted me at other times.
"Fishermen know that the sea is perilous and the storm fearful, but have never thought the perils reason enough for deciding to take a stroll along the beach instead. They leave that sort of prudence to those who relish it."
"Art is something which, though produced by human hands, is not wrought by hands alone, but wells up from a deeper source, from a man's soul."
Ultimately, it adds up to a story of a misunderstood hero - arguably humanity's favorite kind of tale. It's a story of a man driven by internal conviction, who gets knocked down time and time again but gets up, no matter how hard it is, until he can get up no more. But the way he does it makes you feel that his struggle wasn't in vain. He did what he believed in, and in the end, it mattered.
"It seemed to me that you were suffering, like me, from seeing our youth go up in smoke - but if it throws out new growth in one's work, then nothing is lost, for the capacity to work is another form of youth."
August 14, 2016
"How much sadness there is in life. Still, it won't do to become depressed, one should turn to other things, and the right thing is work, but there are times when one can only find peace of mind in the realization: I, too, shall not be spared by unhappiness."
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October 13, 2023Listy otwieraj膮ce si臋 powoli. Stopniowo, pro艣by i problemy finansowe przewijaj膮ce si臋 przez ca艂膮, ponad 10-letni膮 korespondencj臋 mi臋dzy bra膰mi, zaczynaj膮 ust臋powa膰 miejsca spowiedzi bezpo艣redniej, nagiej, reanimuj膮cej dozgonne (dos艂ownie) zaufanie, jakie van Gogh pok艂ada艂 w malarstwie. Ale, ale, nie by艂o to wcale zaufanie naiwne ani oczekuj膮ce. Przeciwnie: Vincent chcia艂 偶y膰, tworz膮c, a tworz膮c - 偶y膰. Nic wi臋cej. Niestety, dosta艂 od 艣wiata znacznie mniej; 偶ycie o "rozpaczliwych proporcjach potopu". I wydaje mi si臋, 偶e w艂a艣nie ten zbi贸r mo偶na potraktowa膰 jako jego ostatni, namalowany z najwi臋ksz膮 skrupulatno艣ci膮 i j臋drnym, zdecydowanym wyczuciem gestu, autoportret. Cz艂owieka chorego, oddanego, ton膮cego - pragn膮cego by膰.
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October 24, 2020charming and poignant ... presents in his own words, mostly in letters to his brother, the struggles of one of the greatest artists ever ... who eventually took his own life while still a young man ... there are also numerous references to his paintings and the problems of painting
Some years ago my wife and I travelled through France to the major locations in Van Gogh's life, including his small tombstone in the tiny village of Auvers ... it was an emotional journey for us
Some years ago my wife and I travelled through France to the major locations in Van Gogh's life, including his small tombstone in the tiny village of Auvers ... it was an emotional journey for us
July 17, 2010
if i had to choose just 2 books on a desert island it would be the bible and van gogh's letters!
March 31, 2018
The Mind of an Artist
31 March 2018 - Adelaide
Well, straight out I can say that this book isn鈥檛 the easiest of reads, namely because it is a collection of letters between Vincent and his brother Theo. It doesn鈥檛 contain all of the letters, namely because Vincent was quite a prolific, and very eloquent, letter writer, and Theo was one of those people that kept everything, which means that we literally have a copy of all of the letters that he sent Theo, as well as some that he sent to others (including his sister Wil, and some of his friends). Then again, this was back in the days when people namely communicated by letter, but then we live in an age where people mainly communicate by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Skype, and I鈥檓 sure there are people out there that keep pretty much every message sent to them.
Anyway, the letters are divided into two sections 鈥� those when Vincent was a priest and missionary, and those where he was an artist (though this is my division). The book divides them into sections based on where Vincent was living at the time, and he certainly moved about quite a bit. What the letters do is that they give us a insight into Vincent鈥檚 thoughts and feelings, as he did pour out his souls in these letters. We see him when he is joyful, and when he is frustrated, and we even learn about the loves of his life (there weren鈥檛 many mind you), as the thoughts that are going through his head as he his creating his works of art.
Many of us know Vincent the artist, but there are more facets to his life than the works that hang in many of the galleries around the world. For instance while he started off working as an art dealer, he fell out with his employer and ended up at theological college. It is interesting to read his letters from this stage of his life as he seems to be quite fundamentalist, however as it turns out that theology wasn鈥檛 down his alley either, so he decided to become a missionary to the Dutch miners.
Actually, this aspect of his life probably isn鈥檛 all that surprising considering his father was also a preacher. However, there is theology, and that can actually be pretty dull and boring at times 鈥� while I enjoy philosophy and discussing theology, I discovered going down the road of formally studying it simply didn鈥檛 create the same desire in me than simply casually reading about it and chatting with my friends (or even writing posts on the internet), so I can relate to Vincent in that regards.
One thing that stands out is that he really didn鈥檛 seem to know how to get along with people. In a way he was a but of a drifter, and he was very unlucky in love. For instance, he falls in love with a relative, and she basically tells him that there is no chance in hell, and he literally carries on about it for the next three to four letters. This is the beauty of these letters because we really get to see the struggles that he faces when attempting to relate to people, and while he constantly tries to tell us that he is over her, he not only continues to write about her, but he also continues to attempt to get in contact with her 鈥� ah, what it is to be young, in love, and socially inept.
Most of the second part of the book we follow his journey as he learns the art of becoming a painter, and he was very fortunate that his brother continues to support him throughout this endeavour. Van Gogh never really had any money, which meant that he rarely, if ever, had the opportunity to paint people (you needed money, and friends, to paint portraits). Well, near the end of his life, when he was in St Remy, and in the asylum, you do start to see more portraits (such as the doctor and the postman), but in most cases he is stuck painting landscapes and still lifes (and a number of self portraits as well).
One of the best ways to read this book is to follow his paintings as he talks about them (as I was doing with the updates). Mind you, as we come to the end of his life, his output literally goes through the roof (though for a while he was not allowed to paint, namely because he would have psychotic attacks and attempt to swallow his paints), but before his death he was literally painting one painting a day (sometimes two). There are also quite a few paintings of the asylums that he was in, some of them quite famous. Oh, and we can鈥檛 forget the sunflowers either (and he actually painted quite a few of them). Another thing that I noticed was that most of his famous paintings are actually in the major galleries around the world, including the MOMA and the d鈥橭rsay (I would love to see Starry Night, but I doubt I will ever make it to New York to do so).
Vincent and his brother must have had one of those very special relationships, because after Vincent died, he brother didn鈥檛 last all that long, and he died leaving behind his wife Jo and his son Vincent. Yet, it was his sister in law鈥檚 persistence that has turned Van Gogh from a shunned artist into one of the greatest painters of the 19th Century. However, sometimes I wonder what might has been, because by the end of his life, his skill as an artist was starting to become known among the critics. Still, it was Jo鈥檚 desire for the world to see the beauty of Vincent鈥檚 art that has resulted in his works hanging in museums right around the world.
Anyway, I鈥檒l finish off this post with some of his paintings. I have also written three blog posts on Vincent as well, one from when I visited the , one of a special exhibition there , and one of an exhibition of his works that .
This is a painting of his doctor, Dr Gauchet:
This one of the many paintings of sunflowers that he did:
And finally this is of his room in Arles:
31 March 2018 - Adelaide
Well, straight out I can say that this book isn鈥檛 the easiest of reads, namely because it is a collection of letters between Vincent and his brother Theo. It doesn鈥檛 contain all of the letters, namely because Vincent was quite a prolific, and very eloquent, letter writer, and Theo was one of those people that kept everything, which means that we literally have a copy of all of the letters that he sent Theo, as well as some that he sent to others (including his sister Wil, and some of his friends). Then again, this was back in the days when people namely communicated by letter, but then we live in an age where people mainly communicate by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Skype, and I鈥檓 sure there are people out there that keep pretty much every message sent to them.
Anyway, the letters are divided into two sections 鈥� those when Vincent was a priest and missionary, and those where he was an artist (though this is my division). The book divides them into sections based on where Vincent was living at the time, and he certainly moved about quite a bit. What the letters do is that they give us a insight into Vincent鈥檚 thoughts and feelings, as he did pour out his souls in these letters. We see him when he is joyful, and when he is frustrated, and we even learn about the loves of his life (there weren鈥檛 many mind you), as the thoughts that are going through his head as he his creating his works of art.
Many of us know Vincent the artist, but there are more facets to his life than the works that hang in many of the galleries around the world. For instance while he started off working as an art dealer, he fell out with his employer and ended up at theological college. It is interesting to read his letters from this stage of his life as he seems to be quite fundamentalist, however as it turns out that theology wasn鈥檛 down his alley either, so he decided to become a missionary to the Dutch miners.
Actually, this aspect of his life probably isn鈥檛 all that surprising considering his father was also a preacher. However, there is theology, and that can actually be pretty dull and boring at times 鈥� while I enjoy philosophy and discussing theology, I discovered going down the road of formally studying it simply didn鈥檛 create the same desire in me than simply casually reading about it and chatting with my friends (or even writing posts on the internet), so I can relate to Vincent in that regards.
One thing that stands out is that he really didn鈥檛 seem to know how to get along with people. In a way he was a but of a drifter, and he was very unlucky in love. For instance, he falls in love with a relative, and she basically tells him that there is no chance in hell, and he literally carries on about it for the next three to four letters. This is the beauty of these letters because we really get to see the struggles that he faces when attempting to relate to people, and while he constantly tries to tell us that he is over her, he not only continues to write about her, but he also continues to attempt to get in contact with her 鈥� ah, what it is to be young, in love, and socially inept.
Most of the second part of the book we follow his journey as he learns the art of becoming a painter, and he was very fortunate that his brother continues to support him throughout this endeavour. Van Gogh never really had any money, which meant that he rarely, if ever, had the opportunity to paint people (you needed money, and friends, to paint portraits). Well, near the end of his life, when he was in St Remy, and in the asylum, you do start to see more portraits (such as the doctor and the postman), but in most cases he is stuck painting landscapes and still lifes (and a number of self portraits as well).
One of the best ways to read this book is to follow his paintings as he talks about them (as I was doing with the updates). Mind you, as we come to the end of his life, his output literally goes through the roof (though for a while he was not allowed to paint, namely because he would have psychotic attacks and attempt to swallow his paints), but before his death he was literally painting one painting a day (sometimes two). There are also quite a few paintings of the asylums that he was in, some of them quite famous. Oh, and we can鈥檛 forget the sunflowers either (and he actually painted quite a few of them). Another thing that I noticed was that most of his famous paintings are actually in the major galleries around the world, including the MOMA and the d鈥橭rsay (I would love to see Starry Night, but I doubt I will ever make it to New York to do so).
Vincent and his brother must have had one of those very special relationships, because after Vincent died, he brother didn鈥檛 last all that long, and he died leaving behind his wife Jo and his son Vincent. Yet, it was his sister in law鈥檚 persistence that has turned Van Gogh from a shunned artist into one of the greatest painters of the 19th Century. However, sometimes I wonder what might has been, because by the end of his life, his skill as an artist was starting to become known among the critics. Still, it was Jo鈥檚 desire for the world to see the beauty of Vincent鈥檚 art that has resulted in his works hanging in museums right around the world.
Anyway, I鈥檒l finish off this post with some of his paintings. I have also written three blog posts on Vincent as well, one from when I visited the , one of a special exhibition there , and one of an exhibition of his works that .
This is a painting of his doctor, Dr Gauchet:
This one of the many paintings of sunflowers that he did:
And finally this is of his room in Arles:
December 31, 2010
Reading Van Gogh's letters is rewarding to any artist who's interested in the creative process. As a musician, I found these letters inspiring in parts. Be warned, most of what you'll read is about money, painting supplies, and what he happened to be working on at the moment and when he expected to finish, but he will occasionally talk about his philosophies on art and his personal thoughts and troubles. Make no mistake, he was indeed a tortured individual, but he was highly read and hyper-aware of the world of art. I was a little surprised how devoted to Japanese art he was even though I knew it was an influence. He was almost obsessed with them.
There are a handful of very sad moments here where I felt compassion for him. I truly believe he was one of the most unlucky artists ever while he was alive. Two weeks ago, I visited the New York Met and saw many of his most famous paintings including the Cypresses (incredible), and its a real shame no one appreciated him while he was alive because that's pretty much all he was living for. He talks at great length about other contemporaries and, of course, about Paul Gauguin. He and his brother Theo, who financed Vincent, made a poor decision when they asked Gauguin to join Vincent. They should have chosen another, in my opinion. Even though Vincent has nothing but kind words about Gauguin, one gets the sense he was a knave.
For whatever reason, one particular passage Van Gogh wrote about death and the stars in the sky made a lasting impression on me.
There are a handful of very sad moments here where I felt compassion for him. I truly believe he was one of the most unlucky artists ever while he was alive. Two weeks ago, I visited the New York Met and saw many of his most famous paintings including the Cypresses (incredible), and its a real shame no one appreciated him while he was alive because that's pretty much all he was living for. He talks at great length about other contemporaries and, of course, about Paul Gauguin. He and his brother Theo, who financed Vincent, made a poor decision when they asked Gauguin to join Vincent. They should have chosen another, in my opinion. Even though Vincent has nothing but kind words about Gauguin, one gets the sense he was a knave.
For whatever reason, one particular passage Van Gogh wrote about death and the stars in the sky made a lasting impression on me.
August 17, 2021
卮亘賴丕蹖 倬乇 爻鬲丕乇賴 賲蹖 讴卮蹖丿蹖 丕賲丕 丌爻賲丕賳听亘丕賱丕蹖 爻乇鬲 丿乇蹖睾 丕夭 蹖讴 爻鬲丕乇賴 讴賴 爻賵爻賵 夭賳丿. 丕賲蹖丿賵丕乇 亘賵丿蹖. 亘賴 禺賵丿鬲 亘丕賵乇 丿丕卮鬲蹖. 丕賲丕 亘丕賵乇 鬲丕 讴噩丕 賲蹖 鬲賵丕賳丿 賯丿 亘讴卮丿 賵賯鬲蹖 賯氐丿 鬲賯丿蹖乇 讴賵鬲丕賴蹖 丌賳 丕爻鬲責 趩賴 爻乇丕卮蹖亘蹖 鬲賳丿蹖 賳氐蹖亘鬲 卮丿. 趩賴 爻賳诏賱丕禺 噩丕丿賴 丕蹖 賲爻蹖乇鬲 卮丿! 丌賳 乇賳诏 賴丕 讴賴 亘乇 亘賵賲 賲蹖 夭丿蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 丕鬲 乇丕 丕夭 爻蹖丕賴蹖 賮賱丕讴鬲 賳夭丿賵丿. 趩乇丕 丕蹖賳 丿賳蹖丕 賴賳乇賲賳丿 夭賳丿賴 賳賲蹖 禺賵丕賴丿責 禺丕賳賴 丕鬲 乇丕 亘乇 丿賵卮 賲蹖 诏匕丕卮鬲蹖. 禺賵乇丕讴鬲 胤亘蹖毓鬲 亘賵丿貙 賵 禺賵丕亘 乇賳诏 賴丕 乇丕 賲蹖 丿蹖丿蹖. 亘賴 鬲賵丕賳丕蹖蹖 賴丕蹖鬲 丕蹖賲丕賳 丿丕卮鬲蹖. 丌蹖賳丿賴 乇丕 丕夭 丌賳賽 禺賵丿 賲蹖 丿丕賳爻鬲蹖. 賴蹖趩 丕毓鬲賯丕丿蹖 亘賴 倬丕蹖丕賳 丿丕丿賳 禺賵丿禺賵丕爻鬲賴 賳丿丕卮鬲蹖. 丕賲丕 賵賯鬲蹖 卮乇丕蹖胤 氐毓亘 賵 鬲賱禺 丿賵賲蹖賳賵 賵丕乇 乇丿蹖賮 卮丿賳丿 匕賴賳鬲 賮乇賵 倬丕卮蹖丿. 乇賳诏 賵 亘賵賲 賵 賯賱賲賵 乇丕 亘賴 讴賳丕乇蹖 賳賴丕丿蹖. 禺賵丿鬲 乇丕 賳卮丕賳賴 乇賮鬲蹖 鬲丕 賳賯卮鬲 乇賳诏 丌禺乇 乇丕 亘乇 氐賮丨賴 乇賵夭诏丕乇 亘夭賳丿. 亘丿賵賳 睾匕丕 夭賳丿賴 賲蹖 賲丕賳丿蹖貙 亘丿賵賳 爻賯賮 亘丕賱丕蹖 爻乇 賴賲 賴賲蹖賳胤賵乇. 亘賴 鬲賳賴丕蹖蹖 毓丕丿鬲 讴乇丿賴 亘賵丿蹖. 丨鬲蹖 丕夭 丕蹖賳讴賴 丿蹖賵丕賳賴 賯賱賲丿丕丿鬲 讴賳賳丿 丕亘丕蹖蹖 賳丿丕卮鬲蹖. 丕賲丕 丕夭 丕蹖賳讴賴 賳鬲賵丕賳蹖 賳賯丕卮蹖 讴賳蹖 賵丨卮鬲 賲蹖 讴乇丿蹖. 鬲賵 鬲乇噩蹖丨 丿丕丿蹖 亘賲蹖乇蹖 鬲丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 鬲賵丕賳丕蹖蹖 賳賯丕卮蹖 讴卮蹖丿賳 乇丕 丕夭 丿爻鬲 亘丿賴蹖.
賵賳爻丕賳! 爻丕賱賴丕 亘毓丿 丕夭 賲乇诏鬲 亘乇丕蹖 禺乇蹖丿賳 鬲丕亘賱賵賴丕蹖鬲 爻乇 賵 丿爻鬲 卮讴丕賳丿賳丿. 賳賯丕卮蹖 賴丕蹖鬲 丨讴賲 丕賵乇丕賯 亘賴丕丿丕乇 乇丕 倬蹖丿丕 讴乇丿.
鬲賵 丕賲丕 卮丕蹖丿 禺賵丕亘 丕蹖賳 乇賵夭賴丕 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫屫� .
鬲賵 丕賲丕 鈥屫簇й屫� 亘賴 賴賲蹖賳 亘蹖 賳氐蹖亘蹖 賴賲 賯丕賳毓 亘丕卮蹖
趩乇丕 讴賴 亘賴 賴賳乇 亘乇丕蹖 賴賳乇 丕毓鬲賯丕丿 丿丕卮鬲蹖
丨鬲蹖 亘丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 乇賵夭蹖蹖 鬲丕亘賱賵蹖蹖 乇丕 丿乇 丕夭丕蹖听 趩賳丿 倬賵賱 爻蹖丕賴 賮乇賵禺鬲蹖
趩乇丕 讴賴 賵賯鬲 睾匕丕 亘賵丿.
賳丕賲賴 賴丕蹖 賵賳爻丕賳 亘賴 鬲卅賵 亘乇丕丿乇卮. 亘蹖賳 爻丕賱賴丕蹖 1873 鬲丕 1890.丕夭 賴賱賳丿 賵 亘賱跇蹖讴 賵 賮乇丕賳爻賴. 丕夭 賳賯丕卮蹖 賴丕 賵 乇賳诏 賴丕 賵 亘蹖賲丕乇蹖. 丕賵 丕賴賱 卮賽讴賵賴 賵 诏賱丕蹖賴 賳亘賵丿. 亘丕 賴賲賴 趩蹖夭 賲蹖 爻丕禺鬲. 丕賵 鬲賳賴丕 亘丕 趩蹖夭蹖 讴賴 爻丿 乇丕賴 賳賯丕卮蹖 賴丕蹖卮 賲蹖 卮丿 賳爻丕禺鬲. 禺賵丿卮! 亘蹖賲丕乇蹖 丕卮 讴賴 诏乇蹖亘丕賳卮 乇丕 賵賱 賳賲蹖 讴乇丿. 亘乇锟斤拷丿乇 讴賵趩讴鬲乇卮 鬲卅賵 蹖讴 爻丕賱 亘毓丿 丕夭 丨丕丿孬賴 賵賳爻丕賳 賮賱噩 卮丿 賵 賮賵鬲 讴乇丿.
賵賳爻丕賳! 爻丕賱賴丕 亘毓丿 丕夭 賲乇诏鬲 亘乇丕蹖 禺乇蹖丿賳 鬲丕亘賱賵賴丕蹖鬲 爻乇 賵 丿爻鬲 卮讴丕賳丿賳丿. 賳賯丕卮蹖 賴丕蹖鬲 丨讴賲 丕賵乇丕賯 亘賴丕丿丕乇 乇丕 倬蹖丿丕 讴乇丿.
鬲賵 丕賲丕 卮丕蹖丿 禺賵丕亘 丕蹖賳 乇賵夭賴丕 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屫屫� .
鬲賵 丕賲丕 鈥屫簇й屫� 亘賴 賴賲蹖賳 亘蹖 賳氐蹖亘蹖 賴賲 賯丕賳毓 亘丕卮蹖
趩乇丕 讴賴 亘賴 賴賳乇 亘乇丕蹖 賴賳乇 丕毓鬲賯丕丿 丿丕卮鬲蹖
丨鬲蹖 亘丕 丕蹖賳讴賴 乇賵夭蹖蹖 鬲丕亘賱賵蹖蹖 乇丕 丿乇 丕夭丕蹖听 趩賳丿 倬賵賱 爻蹖丕賴 賮乇賵禺鬲蹖
趩乇丕 讴賴 賵賯鬲 睾匕丕 亘賵丿.
賳丕賲賴 賴丕蹖 賵賳爻丕賳 亘賴 鬲卅賵 亘乇丕丿乇卮. 亘蹖賳 爻丕賱賴丕蹖 1873 鬲丕 1890.丕夭 賴賱賳丿 賵 亘賱跇蹖讴 賵 賮乇丕賳爻賴. 丕夭 賳賯丕卮蹖 賴丕 賵 乇賳诏 賴丕 賵 亘蹖賲丕乇蹖. 丕賵 丕賴賱 卮賽讴賵賴 賵 诏賱丕蹖賴 賳亘賵丿. 亘丕 賴賲賴 趩蹖夭 賲蹖 爻丕禺鬲. 丕賵 鬲賳賴丕 亘丕 趩蹖夭蹖 讴賴 爻丿 乇丕賴 賳賯丕卮蹖 賴丕蹖卮 賲蹖 卮丿 賳爻丕禺鬲. 禺賵丿卮! 亘蹖賲丕乇蹖 丕卮 讴賴 诏乇蹖亘丕賳卮 乇丕 賵賱 賳賲蹖 讴乇丿. 亘乇锟斤拷丿乇 讴賵趩讴鬲乇卮 鬲卅賵 蹖讴 爻丕賱 亘毓丿 丕夭 丨丕丿孬賴 賵賳爻丕賳 賮賱噩 卮丿 賵 賮賵鬲 讴乇丿.
May 9, 2013
I wasn't aware that Gauguin was at Vincent's bedside when he passed and when I read the letter G wrote describing what happened I began to cry so hard. Not out of sadness but out of love for his dignity, passions and unwavering commitment, both artistic, social and in hindsight, political, to the infinite possibilities of art of which he humble only considered himself a forbearer paving the way for more important artists to come who would truly be able to paint the essence of all people, not poses, artificial scenarios etc. but the most magical event of all; reality. I have travelled to many cities in the world to be able to stand in front of his Reality and feel that he is my constant companion in life. Not just as an artist, but then, no great artist is just a "great artist," if that was all he was he would be a fraud and acute viewers, listeners, readers etc. would immediately see through him, but instead as a true friend of mine, a man who loved artists and people above art, saw the world in its beauty and splendor in shades, light and types of paint. A man who worried about his brothers health (and G's) above his own and his art. A rich and deep thinker who readily accepted his lot in life if he could just paint and draw without causing pain to others and without being a burden to them. In general I am not in favor of publicizing personal and private letters of people who have left us behind, but in this case the world of words and thoughts would be as infinitely poorer without these surviving letters as the world of images would be without his peerless paintings.
October 24, 2021
袩芯械褌懈褔薪邪褌邪 写褍褕邪 薪邪 袙懈薪褋械薪褌 胁邪薪 袚芯谐 褋褌褉褍懈 薪械 褋邪屑芯 芯褌 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯 屑褍, 薪芯 懈 芯褌 锌懈褋邪薪械褌芯 屑褍.
袩懈褋屑邪褌邪 屑褍 薪懈 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪褌 械写懈薪 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯-懈薪褌懈屑械薪, 薪芯 懈 褉邪蟹谢懈褔械薪 袙懈薪褋械薪褌, 芯褌 褕邪斜谢芯薪薪芯 褌懈褉邪卸懈褉邪薪懈褟褌 芯斜褉邪蟹.
小谢械写 褎懈谢屑邪 薪邪 袛卸褍谢懈邪薪 楔薪邪斜械谢 谐谢械写邪褏 写芯褋褌邪 锌芯-褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪芯 薪邪 谢懈褔薪芯褋褌褌邪 薪邪 褏褍写芯卸薪懈泻邪. 孝芯泄 薪械 械 褋邪屑芯 械写懈薪 褌褉械胁芯卸械薪 懈 懈蟹屑褗褔胁邪褖 褋械 褍屑, 泻芯泄褌芯 褌褉褍写薪芯 褋械 锌褉懈褋锌芯褋芯斜褟胁邪 懈 褌邪泻邪 懈 薪械 懈褋泻邪 懈蟹褑褟谢芯 写邪 斜褗写械 褔邪褋褌 芯褌 芯斜褖械褋褌胁芯褌芯. 袧械 褋邪屑芯 蟹邪褉邪写懈 褋胁芯褟褌邪 薪械褋锌芯褋芯斜薪芯褋褌 懈 斜芯谢械褋褌. 啸褍屑邪薪懈蟹屑褗褌, 褋 泻芯泄褌芯 芯褌褋褌芯褟胁邪 锌褉懈薪褑懈锌懈 胁 泻芯懈褌芯 胁褟褉胁邪, 褔褍胁褋褌胁懈褌械谢薪芯褋褌褌邪 写邪 褌褗褉褋懈 懈 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 褎芯褉屑懈, 褑胁械褌芯胁械, 写邪 芯斜褉懈褋褍胁邪 褋胁械褌邪 锌褉械蟹 褋胁芯褟褌邪 锌褉懈蟹屑邪. 袧芯 褋褗褖械褋褌胁褍胁邪 懈 谐芯褉褟褖邪褌邪 褋褗褖薪芯褋褌, 泻芯褟褌芯 锌褉邪胁懈 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯 屑褍 褌邪泻邪 屑邪谐薪械褌懈褔薪芯, 褌芯胁邪 褋邪 褋邪屑芯 褔邪褋褌 芯褌 薪褞邪薪褋懈褌械, 泻芯懈褌芯 胁懈卸写邪屑械 写芯泻邪褌芯 褔械褌械屑 "袟邪胁懈薪邪谐懈 褌胁芯泄, 袙懈薪褋械薪褌".
袦薪芯谐芯 泻褉邪褋懈胁芯 懈 写芯褋褌芯泄薪芯 懈蟹写邪薪懈械. 啸邪褉械褋邪褏邪 屑懈 薪邪泄-屑薪芯谐芯 锌邪褋邪卸懈褌械 褋 褉邪蟹褋褗卸写械薪懈褟褌邪 胁褗褉褏褍 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 褋邪屑 械 锌褉械芯褌泻褉懈胁邪谢 懈 薪邪褍褔邪胁邪谢 褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪懈 锌芯褏胁邪褌懈.
"袗谢邪 泻芯谐邪褌芯 褍褋械褌懈褕 锌芯褌褉械斜薪芯褋褌 芯褌 薪械褖芯 谐芯谢褟屑芯, 芯褌 薪械褖芯 斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯 - 芯褌 薪械褖芯, 胁 泻芯械褌芯 写邪 锌芯褔褍褋褌胁邪褕 袘芯谐, 薪械 斜懈胁邪 写邪 褌褗褉褋懈褕 薪邪写邪谢械褔. 小褌褉褍胁邪 屑懈 褋械, 褔械 懈屑邪 薪械褖芯 锌芯-写褗谢斜芯泻芯, 锌芯-斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯, 锌芯-胁械褔薪芯 懈 芯褌 褋邪屑懈褟 芯泻械邪薪 胁 芯褔懈褌械 薪邪 屑邪谢泻芯褌芯 写械褌械, 泻芯械褌芯 褋械 褋褗斜褍卸写邪 褋褍褌褉懈薪 芯褌 褋褗薪 懈 锌懈褋褍泻邪 懈谢懈 褋械 褋屑械械, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 褋谢褗薪褑械褌芯 械 芯谐褉褟谢芯 谢褞谢泻邪褌邪 屑褍."
"袙 褋械斜械 褋懈 褍褋械褖邪屑 褋懈谢懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 写芯褉邪蟹胁懈褟, 芯谐褗薪 泻芯泄褌芯 薪械 斜懈胁邪 写邪 谐邪褋褟, 邪 写邪 褉邪蟹锌邪谢胁邪屑, 屑邪泻邪褉 懈 写邪 薪械 蟹薪邪屑 泻邪泻褗胁 泻褉邪泄 褖械 屑械 懈蟹胁械写械 - 薪械 斜懈褏 褋械 褍褔褍写懈谢 邪泻芯 褌芯蟹懈 泻褉邪泄 斜褗写械 锌械褔邪谢械薪. 袣邪泻胁芯 屑芯卸械 写邪 褋懈 锌芯卸械谢邪械 褔芯胁械泻 胁褗胁 胁褉械屑械薪邪 泻邪褌芯 写薪械褕薪懈褌械? 袣芯褟 褍褔邪褋褌 械 薪邪泄-褖邪褋褌谢懈胁邪褌邪, 芯褌薪芯褋懈褌械谢薪芯 泻邪蟹邪薪芯?"
"小褌褉褍胁邪 屑懈 褋械,褔械 褏褍写芯卸薪懈泻褗褌 械 褖邪褋褌谢懈胁, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 泻芯谐邪褌芯 屑芯卸械 写邪 胁褗蟹锌褉芯懈蟹胁械写械 写芯薪褟泻褗写械褌芯胁邪, 泻芯械褌芯 胁懈卸写邪, 褌芯泄 械 胁 褏邪褉屑芯薪懈褟 褋 锌褉懈褉芯写邪褌邪."
"肖懈谐褍褉懈褌械 褋邪 锌芯褋褌芯褟薪薪芯 写胁懈卸械薪懈械, 褋褉械褖邪褕 谐懈 薪邪 薪邪泄-薪械芯褔邪泻胁邪薪懈 屑械褋褌邪, 胁 薪邪泄-褔褍写薪邪 芯斜褋褌邪薪芯胁泻邪. 袧邪 胁褋褟泻邪 泻褉邪褔泻邪 薪懈泻薪邪褌 芯褌 褋械斜械 褋懈 懈薪褌械褉械褋薪懈 泻芯薪褌褉邪褋褌懈...袝写懈薪 斜褟谢 泻芯薪 胁 泻邪谢褌邪, 胁 薪褟泻芯泄 褗谐褗谢, 泻褗写械褌芯 谢械卸邪褌 泻褍锌懈褖邪 褋褌芯泻懈, 锌芯泻褉懈褌懈 褋 锌谢邪褌薪懈褖邪, 薪邪 褎芯薪邪 薪邪 芯锌褍褕械薪懈褌械 褋褌械薪懈 薪邪 褋泻谢邪写邪. 袧懈褖芯 锌芯-锌褉芯褋褌芯 芯褌 褌芯胁邪 懈 胁褋械 锌邪泻 械褎械泻褌邪 Black&White"
孝芯胁邪, 芯褌 泻芯械褌芯 褋械 薪褍卸写邪械屑, 械 斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯褌芯 懈 锌褉械泻褉邪褋薪芯褌芯, 薪懈 锌芯胁械褔械, 薪懈 锌芯-屑邪谢泻芯,懈 写芯斜褉械 褖械 褋褌芯褉懈 褔芯械泻 写邪 薪械 褋械 蟹邪写芯胁芯谢褟胁邪 褋 薪懈褖芯 锌芯-屑邪谢泻芯, 懈 写邪 薪械 褋械 褔褍胁褋褌胁邪 褋锌芯泻芯械薪, 写芯泻邪褌芯 薪械 谐芯 械 锌芯褋褌懈谐薪邪谢."
袩懈褋屑邪褌邪 屑褍 薪懈 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪褌 械写懈薪 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯-懈薪褌懈屑械薪, 薪芯 懈 褉邪蟹谢懈褔械薪 袙懈薪褋械薪褌, 芯褌 褕邪斜谢芯薪薪芯 褌懈褉邪卸懈褉邪薪懈褟褌 芯斜褉邪蟹.
小谢械写 褎懈谢屑邪 薪邪 袛卸褍谢懈邪薪 楔薪邪斜械谢 谐谢械写邪褏 写芯褋褌邪 锌芯-褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪芯 薪邪 谢懈褔薪芯褋褌褌邪 薪邪 褏褍写芯卸薪懈泻邪. 孝芯泄 薪械 械 褋邪屑芯 械写懈薪 褌褉械胁芯卸械薪 懈 懈蟹屑褗褔胁邪褖 褋械 褍屑, 泻芯泄褌芯 褌褉褍写薪芯 褋械 锌褉懈褋锌芯褋芯斜褟胁邪 懈 褌邪泻邪 懈 薪械 懈褋泻邪 懈蟹褑褟谢芯 写邪 斜褗写械 褔邪褋褌 芯褌 芯斜褖械褋褌胁芯褌芯. 袧械 褋邪屑芯 蟹邪褉邪写懈 褋胁芯褟褌邪 薪械褋锌芯褋芯斜薪芯褋褌 懈 斜芯谢械褋褌. 啸褍屑邪薪懈蟹屑褗褌, 褋 泻芯泄褌芯 芯褌褋褌芯褟胁邪 锌褉懈薪褑懈锌懈 胁 泻芯懈褌芯 胁褟褉胁邪, 褔褍胁褋褌胁懈褌械谢薪芯褋褌褌邪 写邪 褌褗褉褋懈 懈 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 褎芯褉屑懈, 褑胁械褌芯胁械, 写邪 芯斜褉懈褋褍胁邪 褋胁械褌邪 锌褉械蟹 褋胁芯褟褌邪 锌褉懈蟹屑邪. 袧芯 褋褗褖械褋褌胁褍胁邪 懈 谐芯褉褟褖邪褌邪 褋褗褖薪芯褋褌, 泻芯褟褌芯 锌褉邪胁懈 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯 屑褍 褌邪泻邪 屑邪谐薪械褌懈褔薪芯, 褌芯胁邪 褋邪 褋邪屑芯 褔邪褋褌 芯褌 薪褞邪薪褋懈褌械, 泻芯懈褌芯 胁懈卸写邪屑械 写芯泻邪褌芯 褔械褌械屑 "袟邪胁懈薪邪谐懈 褌胁芯泄, 袙懈薪褋械薪褌".
袦薪芯谐芯 泻褉邪褋懈胁芯 懈 写芯褋褌芯泄薪芯 懈蟹写邪薪懈械. 啸邪褉械褋邪褏邪 屑懈 薪邪泄-屑薪芯谐芯 锌邪褋邪卸懈褌械 褋 褉邪蟹褋褗卸写械薪懈褟褌邪 胁褗褉褏褍 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 褋邪屑 械 锌褉械芯褌泻褉懈胁邪谢 懈 薪邪褍褔邪胁邪谢 褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪懈 锌芯褏胁邪褌懈.
"袗谢邪 泻芯谐邪褌芯 褍褋械褌懈褕 锌芯褌褉械斜薪芯褋褌 芯褌 薪械褖芯 谐芯谢褟屑芯, 芯褌 薪械褖芯 斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯 - 芯褌 薪械褖芯, 胁 泻芯械褌芯 写邪 锌芯褔褍褋褌胁邪褕 袘芯谐, 薪械 斜懈胁邪 写邪 褌褗褉褋懈褕 薪邪写邪谢械褔. 小褌褉褍胁邪 屑懈 褋械, 褔械 懈屑邪 薪械褖芯 锌芯-写褗谢斜芯泻芯, 锌芯-斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯, 锌芯-胁械褔薪芯 懈 芯褌 褋邪屑懈褟 芯泻械邪薪 胁 芯褔懈褌械 薪邪 屑邪谢泻芯褌芯 写械褌械, 泻芯械褌芯 褋械 褋褗斜褍卸写邪 褋褍褌褉懈薪 芯褌 褋褗薪 懈 锌懈褋褍泻邪 懈谢懈 褋械 褋屑械械, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 褋谢褗薪褑械褌芯 械 芯谐褉褟谢芯 谢褞谢泻邪褌邪 屑褍."
"袙 褋械斜械 褋懈 褍褋械褖邪屑 褋懈谢懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 写芯褉邪蟹胁懈褟, 芯谐褗薪 泻芯泄褌芯 薪械 斜懈胁邪 写邪 谐邪褋褟, 邪 写邪 褉邪蟹锌邪谢胁邪屑, 屑邪泻邪褉 懈 写邪 薪械 蟹薪邪屑 泻邪泻褗胁 泻褉邪泄 褖械 屑械 懈蟹胁械写械 - 薪械 斜懈褏 褋械 褍褔褍写懈谢 邪泻芯 褌芯蟹懈 泻褉邪泄 斜褗写械 锌械褔邪谢械薪. 袣邪泻胁芯 屑芯卸械 写邪 褋懈 锌芯卸械谢邪械 褔芯胁械泻 胁褗胁 胁褉械屑械薪邪 泻邪褌芯 写薪械褕薪懈褌械? 袣芯褟 褍褔邪褋褌 械 薪邪泄-褖邪褋褌谢懈胁邪褌邪, 芯褌薪芯褋懈褌械谢薪芯 泻邪蟹邪薪芯?"
"小褌褉褍胁邪 屑懈 褋械,褔械 褏褍写芯卸薪懈泻褗褌 械 褖邪褋褌谢懈胁, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 泻芯谐邪褌芯 屑芯卸械 写邪 胁褗蟹锌褉芯懈蟹胁械写械 写芯薪褟泻褗写械褌芯胁邪, 泻芯械褌芯 胁懈卸写邪, 褌芯泄 械 胁 褏邪褉屑芯薪懈褟 褋 锌褉懈褉芯写邪褌邪."
"肖懈谐褍褉懈褌械 褋邪 锌芯褋褌芯褟薪薪芯 写胁懈卸械薪懈械, 褋褉械褖邪褕 谐懈 薪邪 薪邪泄-薪械芯褔邪泻胁邪薪懈 屑械褋褌邪, 胁 薪邪泄-褔褍写薪邪 芯斜褋褌邪薪芯胁泻邪. 袧邪 胁褋褟泻邪 泻褉邪褔泻邪 薪懈泻薪邪褌 芯褌 褋械斜械 褋懈 懈薪褌械褉械褋薪懈 泻芯薪褌褉邪褋褌懈...袝写懈薪 斜褟谢 泻芯薪 胁 泻邪谢褌邪, 胁 薪褟泻芯泄 褗谐褗谢, 泻褗写械褌芯 谢械卸邪褌 泻褍锌懈褖邪 褋褌芯泻懈, 锌芯泻褉懈褌懈 褋 锌谢邪褌薪懈褖邪, 薪邪 褎芯薪邪 薪邪 芯锌褍褕械薪懈褌械 褋褌械薪懈 薪邪 褋泻谢邪写邪. 袧懈褖芯 锌芯-锌褉芯褋褌芯 芯褌 褌芯胁邪 懈 胁褋械 锌邪泻 械褎械泻褌邪 Black&White"
孝芯胁邪, 芯褌 泻芯械褌芯 褋械 薪褍卸写邪械屑, 械 斜械蟹泻褉邪泄薪芯褌芯 懈 锌褉械泻褉邪褋薪芯褌芯, 薪懈 锌芯胁械褔械, 薪懈 锌芯-屑邪谢泻芯,懈 写芯斜褉械 褖械 褋褌芯褉懈 褔芯械泻 写邪 薪械 褋械 蟹邪写芯胁芯谢褟胁邪 褋 薪懈褖芯 锌芯-屑邪谢泻芯, 懈 写邪 薪械 褋械 褔褍胁褋褌胁邪 褋锌芯泻芯械薪, 写芯泻邪褌芯 薪械 谐芯 械 锌芯褋褌懈谐薪邪谢."
April 8, 2018
唳唳� 唳ム唳撪Π 唳曕唳涏 唳唳唳� 唳椸唰囙Π 唳氞唳犩唳む- 唳椸Ξ唰囙Π 唳曕唳粪唳む 唳涏Μ唳� 唳嗋唳曕唳� 唳膏Ξ唳 唳唳む唳膏唳� 唳む唳∴唰� 唳曕Ο唳监唳� 唳涏Μ唳� 唳灌唳班唳ㄠ 唳椸唳涏, 唳囙Ζ唳距Θ唳苦 唳曕 唳曕Π唳涏, 唳涏Μ唳� 唳曕唳� 唳唳澿唰� 唳ㄠ 唳嗋Π 唳唳熰唳� 唳唳氞 唳唳氞唳涏 唳ㄠ 唳Σ唰� 唳︵唳班唳� 唳︵Χ唳�, 唳嗋Π唰� 唳曕唳涏 唳唳班唳� 唳嗋Π 唳唳唳� 唳曕唳ㄠΔ唰� 唳灌Μ唰� 唳囙Δ唰嵿Ο唳距Ζ唳� 唳曕Ε唳距Μ唳距Π唰嵿Δ唳� 唳涏唳∴唳距 唳嗋Π唰� 唳唳侧 唳曕Ε唳� 啷� 唳唳Θ 唳Σ唳� 唳曕唳侧唳班唳� 唳熰唳� 唳ㄠ唳唰� 唳曕Ε唳� 啷� 唳Ω唰嵿Δ唰佮Π 唳唳班唰冟Δ 唳班 唳曕唳� 唳嗋唳曕Μ唰� 唳ㄠ 唳む唳� 唳嗋Σ唰嬥唳ㄠ 唳唳粪唳犩唳� 唳Π 唳唳粪唳犩 啷� 唳ム唳� 唳涏唳� 唳む唳ㄠ唳距Π 唳忇唳溹Θ 唳嗋Π唰嵿 唳曕唳侧唳曕唳熰Π 唳唳侧唳� 唳膏Ξ唳澿Ζ唳距Π 啷� 唳膏唳班唳む唳� 唳唳囙Θ唰嵿唳苦 唳� 唳曕唳ム唳 唳溹唳ㄠ 唳膏唳曕唳� 唳唳多 唳膏唳ㄠ唳︵Π唰嵿Ο 唳曕Ξ 唳呧Ε唳 唳Σ 唳椸唳� 唳曕唳唳 唳曕 唳曕Π唰�, 唳︵唳椸'唳� 唳侧唳囙唳苦 唳嗋Π 唳唳椸Π 唳 唳嗋Π唰� 唳呧Θ唰囙 唳膏Ξ唳膏唳Ο唳监唳� 唳氞唳む唳班唳班Ζ唰囙Π 唳曕唳� 唳ㄠ唳唰� 唳曕Ε唳� 唳涏唳∴唳距 唳む唳︵唳� 唳膏唳灌唳む唳Κ唳距 唳呧Ν唳苦唰嵿唳む唳� 唳多唳唳距Π唳苦, 唳嗋Θ唰嵿Α唳距Π唰嵿Ω唰嵿唰嵿Ο唳距Θ唰嵿Α唳苦; 唳唳班唰冟Δ 唳唳班Ω唰嵿Δ唳距Μ唰� 唳椸唰囙Π 唳曕Ε唳距 唳膏Π唰嵿Μ唳距唰嵿唰� 啷� 唳む唳� 唳唳� 唳忇 唳唳粪唳犩唳� 唳唳多 唳侧唳栢唳� 唳曕唳涏 唳呧Ε唳 唳唳班Ο唳监唳溹Θ唰€唳唳む 唳曕唳ㄠ唳距 唳栢唳� 唳忇唳熰 唳栢唳佮唰� 唳唳� 唳ㄠ 唳むΜ唰� 唳Ο唳监Ω唳� 唳唳犩唳む 啷� 唳膏Ξ唳膏唳� 唳唳班Δ唳苦唰傕Σ唳む唳� 唳Η唰嵿Ο唰囙 唳曕Π唰嵿Ξ唳Ο唳� 唳溹唳Θ 唳� 唳唳唰嵿Δ唳� 唳溹唳Θ唰囙Π 唳唳唳� 唳椸唰囙Π 唳曕唳涏 唳班唳Π唰囙唳� 啷�
September 26, 2022
What an amazing book, I can鈥檛 believe it exists. Read this one day. It鈥檚 inspiring beyond belief and a story of staggering devotion. Anybody looking for a book on the 鈥渃raft of writing鈥� 鈥� believe it or not, this book is top dog for that. You got questions on how to make art? The answer is in here. Theo and Vincent were brothers so closely bound they died not far apart. The death of the older sent the younger to his own grave. 鈥淭heo 鈥榳as the kind of man who saved even the smallest scrap of paper鈥�, and it is to this trait that the public owes the 663 letters from Vincent.鈥�
January 4, 2023
For look: people used to think that the earth was flat. That was true, and still is today, of, say, Paris to Asni茅res.
But that does not alter the fact that science demonstrates that the earth as a whole is round, something nobody nowadays disputes.
For all that, people still persist in thinking that life is flat and runs from birth to death.
But life, too, is probably round, and much greater in scope and possibilities than the hemisphere we now know.
Van Gogh will never not be a fascinating character. He reminds me a thought of , who eloquently stated that full self-expression - the creation of art , if you will, whatever that "art" means for each person - is the meaning of all human life; and that for that end, each of us should seek to become more than a poet: we should seek to become the poem itself.
Van Gogh made himself, no doubt, a poem: through his drive and his fervor, his relentless dedication to his art, and through the cultivation of his eye, his unique gaze onto the world, that so clearly is mirrored in these letters. His whole life burnt on the fires of his passion; the beautiful passages contained in these letters speak of nothing other than that: his reflections on his art, the world around him, his life, all of it nothing other than that burning passion. Some of these quotes rightfully belong among the greatest in world literature; it does make one wonder what van Gogh would be able to accomplish had he ever the idea of writing an actual literary work. On that account, it is most certainly a worthwile read.
Unfortunately, his letters are also full of paint orders, Biblical sermons (to each his own, but I frankly could not be more bored by his period of religious fanaticism), and relatively uninteresting descriptions of landscapes. On one hand, literary genius; on the other, the very essence of boredom. Frankly, I think a better selection of these letters would have created a better book; for, regardless of the many beautiful passages I could extract from this edition, I could still point out some beautiful passages from van Gogh's letters I have read elsewhere and were not included in this edition*. And to add to that, it should be mentioned there were several typos and edition mistakes on this ebook, which I really did not expect from Penguin Books.
Overall, no matter how mainstream his paintings are, van Gogh will remain to me a source of perpetual wonder and amazement. If, like me, you too have become fascinated, I suggest you take a closer look at him through and 's .
*Looking at the stars always makes me dream, as simply as I dream over the black dots representing towns and villages on a map.
Why, I ask myself, shouldn鈥檛 the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France?
Just as we take a train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star. We cannot get to a star while we are alive any more than we can take the train when we are dead. So to me it seems possible that cholera, tuberculosis and cancer are the celestial means of locomotion. Just as steamboats, buses and railways are the terrestrial means.
To die quietly of old age would be to go there on foot.
The fact that this passage didn't make it to this selection of letters? Absolutely criminal.
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