Chapter 16: ‘Come Quickly’
1 Introduction to Brief Happiness: The Correspondence of Theo van Gogh and Jo Bonger.
2 Ibid.
3 Letter 8, Jo Bonger to Theo van Gogh, 29 December 1888, in Brief Happiness.
4 Letter B2389V/1982, Anna van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 22 December 1888; and Letter B2387V/1982, Willemien van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 23 December 1888 (VGM).
5 Letter 3, Theo van Gogh to Jo Bonger, 24 December 1888, in Brief Happiness.
6 The post office in 1888 was at 10, place de la République (A38 Ile 1). A new post office in Arles was built on the opposite side of the square and opened in 1898. Cote: O17 bis Numérotation des rues (ACA) and Indicateur Arlésien, 1887 (MA).
7 Letter 4, Theo van Gogh to Jo Bonger, 24 December 1888, in Brief Happiness.
8 Two trains left Paris in the afternoon or evening. I have chosen as the most probable the express train, number 11, which left Paris at 9.20 p.m. This train enabled Theo to arrive in Arles at the earliest possible time on 25 December. Winter timetable 1888–9 (SNCF archives, Le Mans).
9 Christmas Eve and Christmas day were both rain-free days. The weather records show that it rained for 3 days in Arles from 21 to 23 December with 30 inches of rain recorded. From 24 to 29 December there was a let-up in the weather, followed by another period of torrential rain with 85 inches falling in the four days days until 1 January 1889. Annales Arles 1888–1889 (Météo France-Agence Sud-Est).
10 Gauguin, Avant et Après, p. 22.
11 The only other train that left for Paris on 25 December departed at 3.47 p.m. and wouldn’t have given Theo enough time in Arles. There was no other train to Paris that day until after midnight; this was a much slower train, which would have got to Paris at 11.16 p.m. on the 26th. Thus I have chosen the ‘express train’, number 12, which was only for first-class passengers, as being the most likely (SNCF archives, Le Mans).
12 Letter 6, Theo van Gogh to Jo Bonger, 28 December 1888, in Brief Happiness.
13 Theo received letters from Dr Félix Rey, Joseph Roulin and Reverend Salles in the days after his visit to Arles. It is evident from the wording in these letters that they had promised to keep Theo abreast of Vincent’s progress. See Letter B1055, Félix Rey to Theo van Gogh, 29 December 1888 and Letter B1056, Félix Rey to Theo van Gogh, 30 December 1888 (both VGM). For the letters from Roulin and Reverend Salles, see Jan Hulsker, ‘Critical Days in the Hospital at Arles: unpublished letters from the postman Roulin and the Reverend Mr Salles to Theo van Gogh’ in Vincent, Bulletin of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, 1–1, 1970, pp. 20–31.
14 The train arrived at Paris at 5.40 p.m. (SNCF archives, Le Mans).
15 Letter B1065, Joseph Roulin to Theo van Gogh, 26 December 1888 (VGM). In 1888, the concierge at the Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Esprit in Arles was (Alexis François) Joseph Bonnet (1826–1901).
16 Letter 732, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 7 January 1889 (VGM).
17 In this painting Augustine appears to be sitting in the same chair as that seen in the painting of Gauguin’s chair from the same month, so the Berceuse series is assumed to have been painted at 2, place Lamartine. However, these chairs were very common in the nineteenth century and can still be found all over Provence. It is known from Letter 669 (Vincent to Theo van Gogh, 26 August 1888, VGM) that Vincent spoke to the Roulins about purchasing furniture and may have had the same, or a similar, chair. I believe this painting was done at the Roulins’ home (10, rue Montagne des Cordes) rather than at the Yellow House. This perhaps explains the decorative wallpaper. To get to the Yellow House, Augustine would have had to walk 350 metres, crossing a main thoroughfare, and pass under two railway bridges, all the while carrying her baby and the cradle. It would be difficult and cumbersome, not to say fairly impractical. It seems more logical that Vincent would go to her house to paint her, under the circumstances. I would suggest that, apart from the Berceuse series, another portrait of Augustine was also made at her home (F503, JH 1646). This shows pots with bulbs outside a window, and a pathway in the far distance. With the meandering pathway, it has been suggested that this painting was also done in the Yellow House, but in Van Gogh’s illustrations of 2, place Lamartine there is no indication of any ledge, nor could pots of this size sit on a windowsill. The Roulins had a garden at the back of the house, as can be seen on the land registers (Q372) and thanks to aerial photographs taken in 1919. Service Cadastres, Arles and Cote: 1919 CAF_C14_26, Photothèque, l’Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière (IGN).
18 Letter 739, Vincent van Gogh to Paul Gauguin, 21 January 1889 (VGM).
19 Letter B1066V/1962, Joseph Roulin to Theo van Gogh, 28 December 1888 (VGM).
20 Letter 747, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 18 February 1889 (VGM).
21 Dr Marie Jules Joseph Urpar (1857–1915), chief physician at Arles hospital in December 1888. Extract taken from the hospital register of letters, Cote: Q92, ‘Hospices Civils de la Ville d’Arles, Registre de correspondance’ (ACA).
22 Letter FR B1055/V/1962, Félix Rey to Theo van Gogh, 29 December 1888 (VGM).
23 Letter 9, Theo van Gogh to Jo Bonger, 29 December 1888, in Brief Happiness.
24 Letter FR B1056, Félix Rey to Theo van Gogh, 30 December 1888 (VGM).
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Formal committal procedure called Loi des aliénés. Loi du 30 juin 1838. This process remained unchanged until 3 January 1968.
28 Letter FR B1056, Félix Rey to Theo van Gogh, 30 December 1888 (VGM).
29 Cote: 1S 46, ‘Procès Verbal de l’Hôpital Dieu Saint-Esprit’, 31 December 1889 (ACA).
30 Letter B1045/V/1962, Reverend Salles to Theo van Gogh, 31 December 1888 (VGM).
31 Émile Schuffenecker lived at 29, rue Boulard in Montparnasse, across the city from Montmartre, where Theo van Gogh lived.
32 Letter FR B2425, Anna van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 29 December 1888 (VGM).