Before 1886 Van Gogh wrote almost all his letters in Dutch, and thereafter almost all in French. Six letters in English survive, of which one (569) is included in this selection. The original language of each letter in this selection is as follows (by letter number):
Dutch: 160, 172, 186, 193, 203, 211, 224, 237, 252, 260, 274, 288, 351, 358, 363, 371, 381, 384, 386, 394, 402, 410, 413, 439, 442, 456, 484, 490, 492, 497, 514, 531, 534, 545, 552, 559, 574, 626, 811
English: 569
French: 155, 487, 587, 592, 602, 611, 620, 622, 628, 632, 638, 651, 677, 691, 695, 706, 726, 728, 730, 739, 743, 756, 764, 776, 782, 790, 798, 801, 822, 850, 853, 863, 877, 879, 896, 898, 902
Letter 155
My dear Theo This is the first letter that Van Gogh wrote in French.
I learned at Etten In March 1880, Van Gogh had been to stay with his parents in Etten.
I accepted them This is the first time in the correspondence that mention is made of Theo’s financial contribution to Vincent’s upkeep; it was only later that Theo began to provide Vincent with regular financial assistance.
hard times Original: ‘Les temps difficiles’ may be an allusion to the French edition of Charles Dickens’s Hard Times. Van Gogh had advised his brother in an earlier letter to read this ‘masterly’ French translation (letter 153).
fashionable Original word written in English.
in different surroundings Van Gogh is referring to the years 1869–76, when he worked for the art dealership Goupil & Cie.
one’s country or native land is everywhere From the passage by Souvestre quoted later in this letter (Emile Souvestre, Un philosophe sous les toits. Journal d’un homme heureux, Paris 1867).
Michelet’s La révolution Française Jules Michelet, L’histoire de la Révolution française. 7 vols, Paris 1847–53.
Aeschylus Van Gogh derived his knowledge of Greek playwright Aeschylus from Victor Hugo’s William Shakespeare (1864), a book that had a profound influence on him.
is sometimes shocking Original word written in both French and English (‘choquant, shocking’).
I admit that it’s shocking ‘shocking’ is written in English.
the abomination of desolation Matt. 24:15 and Mark 13:14.
a system of circumlocution An allusion to the Circumlocution Office in Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit (1857).
the inside of a church Original words written in both French and English. Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, act 3, scene 3.
Dickens’s ‘Richard Cartone’ Van Gogh confuses two names: Richard Carstone appears in Dickens’s Bleak House; Sydney Carton is the protagonist of A Tale of Two Cities (published in French as Paris & Londres en 1793).
How long, O Lord Isa. 6:11.
have salt in ourselves Mark 9:50.
Souvestre’s Le philosophe Emile Souvestre, Un philosophe sous les toits. Journal d’un homme heureux, Paris 1867, p. 190.
the best way of knowing God Cf. 1 John 5:1–2.
the things he sees with his eyes Cf. Matt. 13:16.
Me, I have everything I need This is clearly meant to be sarcastic.
my address is care of C. Decrucq Van Gogh rented a room at rue du Pavillon 3 (not 8) in Cuesmes from the mine-worker Charles Louis Decrucq.
Letter 160
I went to see Mr Roelofs Willem Roelofs was a Dutch artist who occupied an influential position in the artistic life of the city.
the examples of Bargue Charles Bargue created a series of drawing examples published by Goupil & Cie: Cours de dessin. Avec le concours de J.-L. Gérôme. Paris 1868–70, and Exercices au fusain pour préparer à l’étude de l’académie d’après nature. Paris 1871.
A manual written by Zahn A. de Zahn [Albert von Zahn], Esquisses anatomiques à l’usage des artistes pour servir aux études d’après nature et d’après l’antique (1865).
To be admitted to the drawing academy From 15 December 1880, Van Gogh was enrolled as a student at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Bruxelles for the course ‘Drawing from antiquity: torso and fragments’.
Uncle Cent or Uncle Cor Vincent van Gogh (Uncle Vincent or Uncle Cent) and Cornelis (Cor) Marinus van Gogh (Uncle Cor or C.M.), brothers of Van Gogh’s father, Theodorus van Gogh.
some steady work Van Gogh’s goal was to become an illustrator of books or magazines.
Also went to see Mr Van Rappard Anthon Gerard Alexander van Rappard, a Dutch artist whom Theo must have met in Paris.
an extract from the work by Lavater and Gall presumably Alexandre Ysabeau, Lavater et Gall. Physiognomie et phrénologie rendues intelligibles pour tout le monde (Paris 1862).
a photo by Braun that I found at Schmidt’s Braun was a publisher of reproductions after paintings. Tobias Victor Schmidt (1842–1903) was a manager at Goupil & Cie in Brussels.
That Mr Schmidt The family correspondence makes no mention whatever of this money matter.
Letter 172
Mauve Anton Mauve (1838–88), a Dutch artist, married to Vincent’s cousin Jet Carbentus.
Piet Kaufmann the labourer In 1934 Kaufmann had his memoirs recorded in detail by Frans Schuerweghs. He said that he had posed dozens of times in numerous places: ‘Whenever I posed and the work was finished, Vincent asked how much he owed me. I answered: “Nothing, Vincent”. “Well, Piet, then we’re done,” he would say, satisfied...’.
Bargue’s Exercices au fusain Charles Bargue, Exercices au fusain pour préparer à l’étude de l’académie d’après nature. Paris (Goupil & Cie) 1871.
Conté in wood A generic name for artificially produced chalk enclosed in a cylinder of wood, like a pencil.
with the brush and the stump A stump is a rolled-up piece of chamois or paper, pointed at both ends, used to rub pencil or chalk drawings in order to obtain nuances, such as shadow effects.
Letter 186
a French book by Michelet In L’Amour (1858) and La Femme (1860) Jules Michelet argues that a woman can only really be happy within marriage and under the guidance of the right man.
Uncle Stricker Kee Vos’s father, Johannes Paulus Stricker Sr (J.P.S. or Uncle Stricker), married to one of Van Gogh’s maternal aunts, Aunt Mina.
‘wall of partition’ Eph. 2:14.
Letter 193
When I went to see M. Anton Mauve.
all things are made new again Cf. Rev. 21:5.
petty vexations of human life The phrase is borrowed from the popular, humorous book Petites misères de la vie humaine by Old Nick and Grandville (1843).
the Rev. Ten Kate Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate, Goethe’s Faust (1878).
strawberries in the spring This expression originated with Theo.
Jan, the very learned professor Kee’s brother, Johannes Andries Stricker, was employed as a lecturer.
the exhibition at Arti The artists’ society Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam.
little Jan Vos Kee’s 8-year-old son.
Aunt M Aunt Mina (Willemina C.G. Stricker-Carbentus), Kee’s mother and Vincent’s maternal aunt.
I recently read Michelet Jules Michelet, Du prêtre, de la femme, de la famille (1845).
‘She and no other’ This phrase was taken from Jules Michelet’s L’amour.
not the infinite of the moment This phrase was taken from Jules Michelet’s L’amour.
no such thing as an old woman Taken from Jules Michelet’s L’amour.
‘meanwhile looking for another lass’ A remark made by Uncle Stricker.
‘O God, there is no God’ A reference to the closing line of ‘Prayer of an unbeliever. From the diary of a madman’ (1861) by Multatuli (pseudonym of Eduard Douwes Dekker), a poem that was especially popular among free-thinkers; it was reprinted many times in socialist and anarchist circles.
the beams in our own eye Cf. Matt. 7:3–5 and Luke 6:41–42.
something good in all movement Taken from the poem ‘Onvermoeid’ (Tireless) by P.A. de Génestet (1829–61).
on Peter’s barque Before he became an apostle, Simon Petrus was a ‘fisher’ (Matt. 4:18).
‘the goodness of the Lord’ Cf. Ps. 27:13.
‘the Tigris and the Euphrates’ Two large rivers in Asia Minor, which converge at Qurna, Iraq, and then flow into the Persian Gulf.
how he had married A. and Lecomte The marriage ceremony of Vincent’s cousin Anna Carbentus to the painter Adolf Lecomte was performed by Uncle Stricker on 14 July 1881.
Father Bernhard Probably Cornelius Johannes van Zuijlen, who was known as Pater (Father) Bernhard, a clergyman in The Hague.
Letter 203
When I was in Brussels Van Gogh was in Brussels from October 1880 to April 1881.
she charges a daalder 1.50 guilders.
Letter 211
Tersteeg Manager of the Goupil gallery in The Hague, Vincent’s employer between 1869 and 1873 and later Theo’s.
C.M. Cornelis (Cor) Marinus van Gogh (Uncle Cor); art dealer and bookseller in Amsterdam.
Degroux Charles Degroux, Belgian artist. Emile Leclerq described the artist as a solitary man who had turned his back on the world, who identified strongly with the deprived people he portrayed and whose depictions of hardship and abuse were distasteful to some people.
a rijksdaalder 2.50 guilders.
I was at Pulchri this evening The Dutch painter, musician, improviser and speaker Anton (Tony) Lodewijk George Offermans (1854–1911) produced the farce at The Hague artists’ society Pulchri.
Here’s a list of Dutch paintings In the 1870s and 1880s, paintings by Dutch artists destined for the annual Salon in Paris were exhibited for a few days before being sent to Paris.
Israëls, an old man Jozef Israëls, An old man – Fisher (Old friends) (Philadelphia Museum of Art, William L. Elkins Collection).
Tom Carlyle English writer and philosopher Thomas Carlyle wrote The French Revolution (1837) and edited the 1845 edition of Oliver Cromwell’s letters and speeches.
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet. Taken from his poem ‘My lost youth’.
to know how to suffer The source of this quotation is not known. Van Gogh cites it again in other letters.
HGT i.e., Tersteeg – see note above.
Letter 224
I met a pregnant woman Clasina (Sien, Christien) Maria Hoornik.
I did what the hand found to do Eccl. 9:10.
another woman for whom my heart beats Kee Vos.
Letter 237
Municipal hospital Van Gogh had been admitted on 7 June. The official diagnosis, as stated in the patients’ register, was ‘Gonorrhoea’.
sent to Geel In 1880 Van Gogh’s father had considered having Vincent committed to an asylum in Geel.
a ward of court The Van Gogh family evidently intended to use Vincent’s financial incompetence as the basis for committing him.
Letter 252
Princenhage Uncle Vincent and Aunt Cornelie lived in Princenhage.
Het Heike Het Heike (St Willibrorddorp) is a town about 3 km southwest of Etten.
Letter 260
the book about Gavarni Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Gavarni, l’homme et l’oeuvre (1868).
I sit with a white board Van Gogh means painting paper pinned to a board.
such as Zola describes Van Gogh may be referring to Zola’s L’assommoir (1877).
Letter 274
La bohème Theo probably mentioned Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851).
Tassaert Nicolas Tassaert was a French artist who committed suicide.
How you might become a very good painter Vincent had suggested in an earlier letter that Theo would be a good painter.
Letter 288
a book by Murger Henri Murger’s novel Les buveurs d’eau (1854) refers to a group of (fictional) artists in Paris’s Quartier Latin.
Nanteuil, Baron, Roqueplan, Tony Johannot French artists active in the mid-nineteenth century.
Claude Lantier A character in Zola’s novel Le ventre de Paris (1873), which Van Gogh had read a few months before. He is also the protagonist of Zola’s L’oeuvre (1886), partly based on Paul Cézanne. This is the first time that Van Gogh uses the term ‘Impressionism’.
Victor Hugo by Bonnat Léon Bonnat’s portrait Victor Hugo (1879) was extremely well known.
And I, I was silent Victor Hugo’s poem ‘La légende des siècles’ (1859): ‘I watched him in the funereal mists / As one might see a blackcock keep silent in the gloom.’
a little general of ’93 Napoleon Bonaparte.
seen in a dark mirror Cf. 1 Cor. 13:12.
Uncle Tom’s cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). The novel was available in several French translations.
your Montmartre Theo had sent a description of Montmartre.
God does it for everyone Cf. Deut. 29:4.
Carlyle Thomas Carlyle, Past and present (1897).
the men of 93 Those who suppressed the royalist rising in 1793, about which Van Gogh had recently read in Victor Hugo’s Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three, 1874).
one of those on watch Cf. 1 Thess. 5:6.
Letter 351
since his visit Van Gogh’s father visited him in the middle of May.
Ma was at Princenhage Uncle Vincent and Aunt Cornelie lived in Princenhage.
you ought to be loyal to the woman Theo’s girlfriend Marie in Paris.
Letter 358
the hundred masterpieces Theo must have written about an exhibition at the dealer Georges Petit’s premises at 12 rue Godot de Mauroy on 12 June 1883. There were works by Corot (14 pieces), Daubigny (6), Decamps (9), Delacroix (7), Diaz (4), Dupré (4), Fortuny (7), Fromentin (4), Meissonier (7), Millet (6), Rousseau (13), Troyon (9) and others, among them thirty old masters.
Aeschylus Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare (1864), p. 177.
the two Greens Charles Green (1840–98) and Henry Towneley Green (1836–99), English artists.
collier’s faith The uncomplicated perseverance of humble folk. According to Van Gogh, this expression was used often by Millet.
The Pictorial News Probably The Pictorial World. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper.
Our little man Sien’s son Willem was born on 2 July 1882.
Letter 363
autographs Prints of the lithographs drawn in autographic ink.
Leurs and Stam Sellers of artists’ materials in The Hague.
Letter 381
the Drawing Society The Dutch Drawing Society (Hollandsche Teeken-Maatschappij) was founded in The Hague in 1876 by several members of Pulchri Studio.
to go to England Van Gogh planned to seek work in England as an illustrator.
Letter 384
C.M. Cornelius Marinus van Gogh (Uncle Cor).
the proposed arrangement Uncle Cor paid an advance on the drawings sent to him. If he sold enough for Vincent to be able to share in the profits, he would send the money to Theo.
Letter 394
drawing impossible windmills Van Gogh could have meant either literally ‘drawing impossible windmills’ (drawing windmills features later in the letter) or figuratively ‘getting ideas that are impossible to achieve’ (cf. ‘drawing castles in the air’).
When I was in London Van Gogh worked for Goupil & Cie in London from June 1873 to May 1875.
Boks Marinus Boks, a pupil of Mauve, was admitted to the Geneeskundig Gesticht voor Krankzinnigen (Insane Asylum) in The Hague in 1881.
where your roots are from an early age Theo joined Goupil in 1873 at the age of 15.
Wil Willemina (Wil or Willemien) Jacoba van Gogh, Van Gogh’s sister.
We are today what we were yesterday Taken from Jules Michelet, Histoire de la Révolution française.
Letter 402
It takes time to get it changed The money that Theo sent had to be cashed or changed at a post office or bank in Hoogeveen.
Letter 410
when Pa banned me from the house After a disagreement with his father, Van Gogh left his parents’ home at Christmas in 1881.
to do as the Rappards did It would appear that Van Rappard was given the financial opportunity (by his family) to devote himself to his art.
Letter 413
no feelings, though A pun on the ‘fijngevoelig’ (‘finer feelings’) mentioned a few lines earlier.
Enclosed is the letter Van Gogh started on a fresh sheet – the ‘enclosed letter’ refers to the first part up to here.
Money can be repaid This sentence derives from two lines from the poem ‘Enoch Arden’ by Alfred Tennyson: ‘He will repay you: money can be repaid; / Not kindness such as yours.’
A door has to be open or shut French proverb (‘Une porte doit être ouverte ou fermé’).
‘the male is very wild’ Michelet quotes this sentence in L’amour.
Letter 439
‘slow of speech’ Cf. Exod. 4:10.
beyond the paint A common expression among artists at the time.
Numa Roumestan Alphonse Daudet’s novel Numa Roumestan – Moeurs parisiennes (1881).
when he opened his own art school English artist Hubert von Herkomer set up his Art School in Bushey in 1883.
Lions do not ape one another Great minds do not imitate. Van Gogh probably derived this saying from Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare (1864).
Son en Breugel The villages of Son and
Breugel, about 5 km to the northwest of Nuenen.
Bretons French artist and poet Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton and his wife Elodie Breton-De Vigne.
De Génestet An allusion to P.A. de Génestet’s poem ‘Waar en hoe’ (Where and how).
Letter 456
you seemed to have understood my letter During Theo’s visit the brothers had fallen out about Vincent’s behaviour: Vincent apparently lashed out ‘furiously’ at his brother one evening. Their father wrote to Theo on 22 August 1884: ‘[Vincent] is overwrought, whether it is related to other things – I should almost think it is.’
Miss Begemann has taken poison A relationship had developed during the summer between Vincent and Margot Begemann, who lived next door to the Van Goghs. The suicide attempt must have happened a few days before Van Gogh wrote this letter.
a question of marriage Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo on 2 October 1884: ‘We have had difficult days with Vincent again. Apparently he wanted to arrange a marriage with Margot, who proved not entirely averse, but it came up against insuperable objections, on the part of her family too.’
Mme Bovary Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary. Moeurs de province (1857).
Dr van de Loo Arnold van de Loo was the Van Gogh family doctor.
on a trip for the firm Margot was a partner in her brother Louis’s linen mill.
Oh, that mysticism In another letter there is a suggestion that Margot might be suffering from religious mania.
Letter 484
to enter it for the Salon Vincent had rejected Theo’s previous proposal – in March 1884 – to submit work to the Salon.
Letter 490
Cor Cornelis (Cor) Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh’s brother.
the incident with Anna Willemien later wrote to a friend: ‘[Vincent’s] disappointments often embittered him and made him not a normal person…after my father’s death Anna thought it would be more peaceful for Ma if he were not to live at home any longer and contrived that he left us. He took that so badly that we have heard nothing from him since then and we only know about him through Theo.’
keep my hand to my plough Cf. Luke 9:62.
what I read about Delacroix Jean Gigoux, Causeries sur les artistes de mon temps (1885, p. 68). Theo had sent Vincent the book.
you’ve had to do exceptional things On the day of Mr van Gogh’s death Theo had withdrawn 1000 francs from his current account.
when settling affairs Winding up Mr van Gogh’s estate. Vincent did cede his share of the inheritance; in March 1889 it was these very ‘youngsters’ – Lies and Willemien – who made their shares available to Vincent when he was ill.
Letter 492
on gilt Bristol A thick paper used for drawing.
‘the valiant ones’ Gigoux’s description of the generation of Delacroix, in Causeries sur les artistes de mon temps (1885, p. 68).
Le Chat Noir A Parisian satirical weekly magazine published from 1882 to 1895.
Letter 497
your birthday Theo turned 28 on 1 May 1885.
‘act and create’ ‘agir-créer’ (French original), taken from Zola’s novel Au bonheur des dames.
an acquaintance of mine in Eindhoven Anton Kerssemakers (1846–1924), a tanner in Eindhoven, and pupil of Van Gogh.
that Salon issue Theo must have promised to send the special issue of L’Illustration about the Salon, which came out on 25 April 1885.
Letter 514
the lithograph I sent you The potato eaters (F 1661 / JH 737).
‘the knowledge – nobody has it’ Taken from an article in La Nouvelle Revue 6, November–December 1884. An admirer had written in an ode: ‘You have the knowledge’ (Vous avez la science), whereupon Meissonier wrote him a letter, saying: ‘No! I do not have the knowledge, one never has it!’ (Non! je n’ai pas la science, on ne l’a jamais!).
the last time you were here Van Rappard stayed in Nuenen in October 1884.
Letter 531
the two new Lhermittes Very probably in Le Monde Illustré.
Poussin, Bracquemond Bracquemond discusses Poussin in the chapter ‘Décoration, décorateur’ in his Du dessin et de la couleur (1885).
A girl I’d often painted Gordina de Groot, who modelled for Van Gogh several times.
Letter 534
the museum The Rijksmuseum, which had opened at its new location in July.
the Night watch Rembrandt, The Night Watch, 1642.
the Syndics Rembrandt, Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild, 1662.
Frans Hals, P. Codde The painting is The company of Captain Reynier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz. Blaeuw (‘The meagre company’) by Frans Hals and Pieter Codde (1637). Theo had visited Amsterdam at the beginning of August.
Orange, white, blue The colours of William I, Prince of Orange, the founder of the Dutch state; used for the Dutch flag.
the singer, that laughing chap Young Man Playing the Lute. At the time it was believed to be by Frans Hals, but is now thought to be a copy of The Lute Player (Musée du Louvre).
the man in yellow Frans Hals, The Merry Drinker, c. 1628–30. Van Gogh borrowed the term ‘citron amorti’ (dull lemon) from De Goncourt’s Chérie (1884), where an artist talks of ‘la nuance citron amorti’, a fashionable colour in the eighteenth century.
Rembrandt’s Jewish bride Rembrandt, The Jewish Bride (c. 1666). W. Bürger was the pseudonym of Etienne Joseph Théophile Thoré (1807–69), a French art critic.
Rembrandt – magician Jules Michelet, in L’amour (book 5, chapter 4), refers to ‘The powerful magician, Rembrandt’.
De Goncourt – Chérie Edmond de Goncourt, Chérie (1884).
the Fodor The Fodor collection, now housed in the Amsterdam Museum.
they think my studies are too black The reactions of people to whom Theo had showed Vincent’s work in Paris, among them the art dealer Alphonse Portier and artist Charles Serret.
that friend of mine in Eindhoven Anton Kerssemakers. See note to letter 497.
Bürger, Musées de la Hollande W. Bürger (Etienne Joseph Théophile Thoré), Musées de la Hollande. Amsterdam et La Haye (1858) and Musées de la Hollande, II. Musée Van der Hoop à Amsterdam et Musée de Rotterdam (1860). C.M. (Cornelis Marinus van Gogh, Uncle Cor) had a bookshop and art gallery in Amsterdam.
lash a broom to the mast A broom tied to the mast was the symbol of Holland’s mastery of the seas.
Letter 545
October by Lhermitte Le Monde Illustré, a leading French illustrated news magazine, published a series of ‘Les mois rustiques’. Figaro Illustré was another illustrated news supplement.
second volume of De Goncourt Jules and Edmond de Goncourt, L’art du dix-huitième siècle (1859).
Letter 552
two large paintings by Rubens Both paintings are in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp.
Gil Blas A left-leaning periodical. Zola’s L’oeuvre appeared in Gil Blas in 80 instalments, from 23 December 1885 to 27 March 1886.
Letter 559
they’re going to start packing in March At the end of March they were due to move from Nuenen to Breda.
not to start from the outline Taken from Jean Gigoux, Causeries sur les artistes de mon temps (1885).
I sent you Chérie Edmond de Goncourt, Chérie (1884).
Cent chefs d’oeuvre This was one of the annual ‘Expositions Internationales’ mounted by Georges Petit in 8 rue de Sèze since 1882.
the Delacroix exhibition At the Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris 1885.
the Meissonier exhibition At the Galerie Georges Petit, Paris 1884.
Letter 569
Mr Livens The Englishman Horace Mann Livens went to study at the Antwerp Academy in 1885 during the time that Van Gogh was living and studying there.
the Impressionists In his letters Van Gogh uses the term ‘Impressionism’ in a very general sense for all forms of modern art.
Claude Monet Theo handled Monet’s work from 1885 onwards.
frankly green, frankly blue For ‘frankly’ read ‘really’.
my lodgings and studio At the beginning of June 1886 the Van Gogh brothers had moved to a larger apartment at 54 rue Lepic in Montmartre. Vincent had his own studio there.
I may be going to the south of France Van Gogh did not go to Arles until February 1888.
Allan, Briët, Rink, Durand Henry Allan, Arthur Henri Christiaan Briët, Paulus Philippus Rink and Ernest Durand were fellow students at the academy in Antwerp.
four dealers who have exhibited studies of mine From a later letter it emerges that Van Gogh exhibited work at the paint merchant Julien Tanguy’s shop and with the art dealers Pierre Firmin Martin and Georges Thomas. We do not know who the fourth dealer was.
Letter 574
Why seek ye the living among the dead Luke 24:5–6.
the most impossible and highly unsuitable love affairs This probably refers to his ‘love affair’ with Agostina Segatori.
Margot Begemann In September 1884 Van Gogh had proposed to Margot Begemann, who lived next door to his parents in Nuenen.
A la recherche du bonheur Ljev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, A la recherche du bonheur (In Pursuit of Happiness; French translation, Paris 1886).
like vitriol and sugar This derives from Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, Histoire de la littérature anglaise (1885).
Letter 587
bouillabaisse and aïoli A regional fish soup served with garlic-flavoured mayonnaise (aïoli).
Letter 592
sans-culottes The revolutionaries in the French Revolution of the eighteenth century.
a pundle of thousand vrenc pills The comic spelling was prompted by Mourier-Petersen’s accent, which Van Gogh joked about.
an Impressionist of the Petit Boulevard Van Gogh described Degas, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Camille Pissarro as ‘Impressionists of the Grand Boulevard’ because their reputations were already established and their work was exhibited by renowned galleries in or near the chic boulevards around place de l’Opéra. By ‘Petit Boulevard’ he was referring to the neighbourhood around boulevard de Clichy and boulevard de Rochechouart in Montmartre, where the younger men had their studios and exhibited in cafés.
a bad business with Vignon It has not been possible to ascertain what Vincent is talking about here – evidently discussed by Theo in a previous letter.
Letter 602
today I rented the right-hand wing Van Gogh rented the right-hand side of this house at number 2 place Lamartine, on the northern edge of the city. He set up his studio in it, but did not start living there until September, once the house had been redecorated and furnished.
La recherche du Bonheur The story ‘Le Moujik Pakhom. Faut-il beaucoup de terre pour un homme?’ from Tolstoy’s A la recherche du bonheur is about a man who is given the chance to buy, for a small sum, the amount of land he can walk round in one day. After running flat out all day to get as much land as possible, he drops dead.
despite the 100 franc note Van Gogh had thanked Theo for sending 100 francs in an earlier letter.
the very simple things I’ve asked those people for Van Gogh meant the owners of Hotel-Restaurant Carrel, where he was staying and where he took his meals.
Perhaps Gauguin will come to the south This is the first time Vincent raises the possibility of sharing a studio with Gauguin, who at this point was in Pont-Aven in Brittany.
Breda Their mother and their sister Willemien lived in Breda.
Letter 611
your visit to Gruby Dr Gruby evidently diagnosed the ‘heart condition’, about which nothing further is explained. Potassium iodide, which Theo was taking, was a widely prescribed remedy for a cough, something from which he frequently suffered, but was also much used in cases of cerebral syphilis, the disease that may have been the cause of Theo’s death in January 1891.
Rivet A doctor in Paris.
my friend the Dane Christian Mourier-Petersen.
Mme the Countess De la Boissière In 1886 Eugène Levaillant de la Boissière, his wife Clara and their 12-year-old daughter were registered as the occupants of an apartment on the first floor of 1 boulevard de Clichy in Asnières. Nothing more is known about the family.
Perruchot A restaurant owner and wine merchant in Asnières.
Letter 620
We’ll still have to write to Gauguin Theo’s letter must have raised objections to the draft letter to Gauguin that Vincent had enclosed with an earlier letter.
these idiots in Dordrecht Van Gogh is referring to the organizers of the second exhibition of the Nederlandsche Etsclub in the galleries of the artists’ society Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam, which opened on Friday, 1 June 1888. Jan Veth had asked Theo to lend works. Acting for Boussod, Valadon & Cie, Theo loaned works by Degas and Lançon, and from his own collection works by Forain, Pissarro, Raffaëlli and Seurat.
Not even with the frame A perspective frame, an artist’s aid.
the distinguished Albert The art collector and connoisseur of Oriental art Albert Goupil, the son of Adolphe Goupil. Albert was a member of the board of Goupil & Cie between 1872 and 1884, and he and his father were sleeping partners in the new firm of Boussod, Valadon & Cie.
rue de la Paix On this chic shopping street were art dealers, fashion houses and jewellers.
Letter 622
the German musicians Van Gogh would have been thinking first and foremost of Richard Wagner; he was in the middle of reading a book about him.
Daudet’s Tartarin Alphonse Daudet, Aventures prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon (1872).
Fromentin and Gérôme Fromentin had painted in Algeria; Gérôme in Turkey, Greece and Egypt.
Letter 626
whether I had submitted something to Arti The second exhibition of the Nederlandsche Etsclub, which opened in Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam on 1 June 1888. See letter 620.
Domela Nieuwenhuis The Dutch minister Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis left the church in 1879 and devoted himself to fighting for human rights.
tulip mania An example of speculative buying and selling of a product solely for profit.
there’s always an exhibition of Impressionists nowadays Theo had regularly exhibited and dealt in work by Monet, Pissarro, Degas and others since 1887.
Anatomy for artists John Marshall, Anatomy for artists (1878).
There are Parisian ladies among the Impressionists Van Gogh is probably referring to Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot.
Madame Chrysanthème Pierre Loti, Madame Chrysanthème (1888).
Van Eeden’s book Frederik van Eeden, De kleine Johannes (1887).
Vosmaer Evidently Willemien had mentioned the death of Carel Vosmaer; the writer had died on 12 June 1888. Van Gogh had previously registered his disapproval of Vosmaer.
flowers from Menton Uncle Vincent and Aunt Cornelie sometimes sent fresh flowers from Menton in the south of France.
Letter 628
Zouaves Light infantry of the French army, linked with North Africa. Paul Eugène Milliet was due to leave for Guelma in Algeria on 1 November 1888.
Daudet’s Le Nabab Alphonse Daudet, Le Nabab (1877).
Letter 632
This great artist – Christ Whether he knew it or not, Van Gogh’s ideas tied in with the Renaissance view that Christ was an artist.
Asnières A district north of Paris where Bernard’s parents lived. Van Gogh and Bernard painted there together in 1887.
Delacroix’s beautiful painting Eugène Delacroix, Christ asleep during the tempest (c. 1853).
Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845–1902) had a studio in Montmartre.
John the Baptist by Puvis Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, The beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1869). Van Gogh had seen the painting at an exhibition at Durand-Ruel’s in late 1887 when he and Bernard were going around together in Paris.
that second lieutenant Paul Eugène Milliet, lieutenant in the Zouaves (see letter 628).
The sonnets are going well Emile Bernard wrote some poems on the back of his drawing Brothel scene.
Letter 638
my friend the second lieutenant Paul Eugène Milliet, lieutenant in the Zouaves (see letter 628).
Zola’s Paradou In Emile Zola’s La faute de l’abbé Mouret (1875) ‘Le Paradou’ is an idyllic garden.
you see them in Japanese albums In Pierre Loti’s novel Madame Chrysanthème (1888), which Van Gogh was reading at the time, there are similar illustrations of cicadas.
père Tanguy Julien François Tanguy (known as ‘père Tanguy’) (1825–94) was a seller of artists’ materials in Paris, who counted several Impressionist painters (as well as Van Gogh) among his customers. ‘Mère Tanguy’ was his wife.
Xantippe Xantippe was the wife of the Greek philosopher Socrates; her name is synonymous with a spiteful woman or shrew.
Institut Pasteur Louis Pasteur had discovered a rabies vaccine in 1885. The institute named after him opened in Paris in 1888. There was a ward for treating patients infected with rabies.
the time of the Silent One and of Marnix William the Silent (William I of Orange) and Philips van Marnix, Lord of Sint Aldegonde, William’s right-hand man. The League of Nobles refers to the petition (the ‘compromise’) that was presented to the governor-general, Margaret of Parma, in 1566.
père Martin The art dealer Pierre Firmin Martin.
Guy de Maupassant ‘La rouille’ was published in Gil Blas in 1882.
Pangloss A character in Voltaire’s Candide (1759).
the Nouvelle Athènes Café in the place Pigalle in Paris, where the group of artists and writers around Manet, Degas and Desboutin met regularly.
Letter 651
Velázquez and Goya Van Gogh was here thinking above all of the paintings by Velázquez and Goya in the Louvre, with which he and Bernard were familiar.
Hals Van Gogh had got to know works by Frans Hals from reproductions when he was working at Goupil & Cie, as well as from the originals in the museum in Haarlem, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris.
never did he paint voluptuous and bestial naked women This passage was prompted by Van Gogh’s objections to Bernard’s works of these subjects.
Paradise The third and final part of Dante’s Divine comedy (1313–21).
Letter 677
I worked at furnishing the house At Vincent’s request Theo had sent him 300 francs to furnish the Yellow House.
the postman and his wife Joseph and Augustine Roulin.
Tartarin The main character of Alphonse Daudet’s satirical novels Tartarin sur les Alpes (1885) and Tartarin de Tarascon (1872).
the Revue Indépendante Félix Fénéon and Edouard Dujardin regularly staged small exhibitions in the offices of the monthly magazine La Revue Indépendante at 11 rue de la Chaussée-d’Antin.
Letter 691
Bouvard et Pécuchet Gustave Flaubert’s unfinished novel (1881).
what you do in private Alongside his job at Boussod, Valadon & Cie, where he dealt in the work of established artists, Theo also supported modern artists by buying their work for his own collection and offering them accommodation.
Letter 695
your portrait Paul Gauguin, Self-portrait with portrait of Bernard, ‘Les misérables’, 1888.
the Petit Boulevard See note for Letter 592.
the Belgian Vingtistes The artists’ association ‘Les Vingt’.
the cult of Venus Van Gogh took the Roman statue of the Venus of Arles as an example of the classical remains in the town.
Letter 706
this reason you give Gauguin was still in poor health after he had reported an attack of dysentery.
Letter 726
to Montpellier to see the museum there The Musée Fabre in Montpellier, about 70 km west of Arles, housed the collection of Alfred Bruyas.
everywhere I touched the earth From Alfred de Musset’s poem ‘La nuit de Décembre’ (The night of December).
the Dutchmen Isaäcson and De Haan, referred to a few lines above.
Letter 728
our friend Gauguin Despite Van Gogh’s repeated pleas, Gauguin did not come to visit him in hospital. Gauguin later declared that on the evening in question he had decided to sleep in a hotel because of Van Gogh’s aggressive, threatening behaviour. The exact circumstances of the supposed incident between Gauguin and Van Gogh are not known, however. Jo van Gogh-Bonger wrote in her introduction to the letters that Gauguin travelled back to Paris with Theo.
the Bongers After a long period of silence, Theo was again in touch with Andries Bonger and his sister Jo, who had refused his proposal of marriage in 1887. The renewed acquaintance led to Theo and Jo’s engagement. On 21 December 1888 Theo told his mother of their plans and asked for her consent. It is not known when Theo wrote to Vincent about his engagement; Theo had in fact broached the subject during his visit.
to remain as I am Namely unmarried.
Letter 730
everything is always for the best A quotation from Voltaire’s Candide (1759).
Roulin has been really kind Roulin the postman arranged for Van Gogh to leave the hospital for a short while on 4 January.
Letter 739
Marcelle Roulin’s baby daughter.
Icelandic fishermen Van Gogh’s idea of hanging his painting of the Berceuse in a fishing boat was prompted by what Pierre Loti writes in Pêcheur d’Islande (1886) about the custom of fishermen
to hang the image of a saint in the saloon.
fencing masks and gloves Gauguin had asked Van Gogh to return these to him in an earlier letter.
the Dutch ghost ship One of the legends about ghost ships is that of the seventeenth-century ship The Flying Dutchman.
the Horla A fanciful story by Guy de Maupassant, which had appeared two years earlier.
Tartarin Alphonse Daudet’s Tartarin de Tarascon and Tartarin sur les Alpes.
Germinie Lacerteux Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Germinie Lacerteux (1864).
Letter 743
a light on our way and a lamp before our feet Ps. 119:105.
Bruyas of Montpellier Collector Alfred Bruyas left part of his collection to the Musée Fabre, Montpellier.
the Faure collection Jean Baptiste Faure’s collection of Impressionist paintings included work by Manet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro and Degas.
the Goupils Vincent expected that Theo, if he were to bypass the firm and deal in his brother’s art on his own, would get into trouble with his employers. For this reason he thought it better for Theo not to sell his work.
when the family abandoned us Van Gogh is referring to Uncle Cor and/or Uncle Vincent, both of whom had refused to give Theo financial support in 1886.
we have ’89… Beware of ’93 The French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 and led in 1793 to the Jacobin Reign of Terror.
père Pangloss The main character in Voltaire’s Candide.
the ‘Félibres’ A Provençal poets’ society. In Provence, pastoral plays were especially popular, having developed from the liturgy.
the Horla Maupassant’s story ‘Le Horla’. (1887).
St Vitus’s Dance A nervous disorder, causing convulsive movements of the arms and legs, and facial spasms. St Vitus was invoked to alleviate the sufferer’s distress.
Letter 756
your most friendly and beneficial visit Signac had visited Van Gogh in Arles on 23 and 24 March.
I’ve rented an apartment Van Gogh reported in a later letter that this small apartment was owned by Dr Rey, the house physician at the hospital; it is possible that he had put his apartment, or part of it, at Van Gogh’s disposal. In the end Van Gogh decided against taking this apartment.
Letter 764
Mrs de Quesne Lies had been engaged as a ladies’ companion and carer.
they aren’t the worst fruits that wasps gnaw at This Dutch proverb means: ‘it is the virtuous who are often maligned’. Van Gogh seems to interpret the proverb incorrectly.
Flaubert’s Bouvard et Pécuchet Gustave Flaubert’s novel Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881).
Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851–52).
C. Dickens’s Christmas Tales Charles Dickens’s Christmas books (1843–45) contained five Christmas stories: ‘A Christmas carol’, ‘The chimes’, ‘The cricket on the hearth’, ‘The battle of life’ and ‘The haunted man’.
those excellent books by Renan Van Gogh must be referring to Ernest Renan’s Vie de Jésus and L’Antéchrist.
‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’ Van Gogh seems to mean that someone who does not stay in the same place for long or does not practise the same trade long enough will never progress.
the Drône book It is not known which book Willemien wrote about. Van Gogh writes ‘Drône’, but he certainly misread her handwriting. The writer Gustave Droz is the most likely candidate: in July 1889 Vincent was corresponding with Willemien about his book Monsieur, madame et bébé (1866).
the remedy that the incomparable Dickens prescribes Probably from Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby, chapter 6.
if Lies is in Soesterberg Elisabeth (Lies) and Willemien were nursing the sick Mrs du Quesne in Soesterberg.
Letter 776
Weissenbruch Van Gogh was mistaken: Weissenbruch did not die until 1903.
I haven’t yet gone outside Van Gogh means that he has not yet been outside the grounds of the asylum.
the doctor Théophile Peyron, the medical director of the asylum.
Troyon, Marchal, Meryon, Jundt, M. Maris, Monticelli Constant Troyon suffered from mental illness and died in 1865. Charles Marchal suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1877. Charles Meryon suffered from depression and starved himself to death in an asylum in 1868. Gustave Adolphe Jundt threw himself to his death from his studio window in a fit of madness. Van Gogh had become acquainted with Matthijs Maris during his stay in London, when Maris was suffering from depression; he did not die until 1917. In the last years of his life Monticelli (d. 1886) suffered a series of strokes that left him partially paralysed.
Now I take a bath twice a week Hydrotherapy had been used to treat the mentally ill since the mid-nineteenth century.
Letter 782
at the Tambourin and at avenue de Clichy Van Gogh had exhibited his own work and some Japanese prints at Café Le Tambourin, Paris, in 1887. In November–December 1887 he had organized an exhibition of paintings by himself and his friends in Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet in avenue de Clichy.
81 virtuous cannibals Van Gogh is referring to the neighbourhood residents, who had signed a petition complaining about him and submitted it to the mayor of Arles. Thirty people signed the petition.
St-Ouen Saint-Ouen is a suburb to the north of Paris.
Le Chat Noir A weekly magazine.
Dicks’ Shilling Shakespeare In 1861 the London publishing house of John Dicks published an illustrated edition of Shakespeare’s Complete works, which was reprinted a number of times.
Letter 790
your relatively rather long silence Theo’s last letter dated from 16 June (letter 781).
Letter 798
our pals in Brittany Gauguin and De Haan.
Mr Peyron Théophile Peyron, the medical director of the asylum.
the Kempen A region in the north of Belgium.
the portrait of Hetzel Ernest Meissonier, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, 1879.
Les Misérables Victor Hugo’s Les misérables (1862).
Letter 801
the doctor when you see him Dr Peyron planned to visit Theo in Paris.
the Virgin of Lourdes In 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, which quickly became a popular pilgrimage site.
Braat Frans Braat had been a colleague of Vincent and Theo at Goupil & Cie in Paris.
those two misfortunes Theo had written that Pissarro had undergone eye surgery and that his mother had died.
the Berceuse In the last consignment of paintings from Arles, Theo had received four versions of Augustine Roulin (‘La berceuse’).
to compare the second crisis with the first In Arles Van Gogh had had three attacks between 23 December and the end of February. Apparently he viewed these attacks collectively as a single crisis.
Letter 811
Toon or Piet Prins Vincent’s classmates at elementary school in Zundert. They were brothers of the Van Goghs’ maidservant.
tulip mania i.e., buying and selling a product purely for profit.
Letter 822
the Egyptian house Van Gogh had requested this information in an earlier letter, concerning model historical dwellings built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World exhibition) in Paris.
Letter 850
the little one is well On 31 January Theo wrote to Vincent with news of the birth of his son, Vincent Willem.
the article on my paintings Albert Aurier, ‘Les isolés: Vincent van Gogh’, Mercure de France (January 1890), pp. 24–29.
a woman friend Madame Ginoux from Arles. Van Gogh painted her portrait in November 1888.
Letter 853
Watteau’s Departure for Cythera Jean-Antoine Watteau, Embarkation for Cythera, 1717.
Decameron Boccaccio’s Decameron (1349–53).
Meissonier’s infamies Aurier writes that it is unlikely that Van Gogh’s paintings will ever be sold ‘at the price fetched by the little infamies made by Mr Meissonier’.
Letter 863
since it’s your birthday Theo turned 33 on 1 May.
fitch brushes A thin brush used for very fine brushwork.
Letter 898
the baggage costs from Arles Van Gogh’s furniture had been sent by the Ginouxs from Arles to Auvers.
that Dutch lady The sculptor Elisabeth Sara Clasina de Swart.
Letter 902
those gentlemen Theo’s employers at Boussod, Valadon & Cie.
I prefer not to forget the little French I know During his visit to Theo and Jo, Vincent had apparently insisted on speaking French instead of Dutch, and this idea must have met with resistance from Jo and Andries.
those ladies Jo and Annie (Andries’s wife).
the attached list of colours The paint orders for Hirschig and Vincent have not been preserved.