Letter from Vincent van Gogh to his cousin Lien.
Dear Carolien,
Hearty congratulations on your birthday; no doubt it will be a festive day, this first birthday in your own home. I hope this will be a very good and happy year for you. I hope you received my last letter. Please write soon how everybody is; I am longing to hear something again.
Have you seen Theo? I heard he arrived at The Hague last Wednesday. Herewith a small contribution to your scrapbook. All is well with me, but I am up to my ears in work and have only a moment to spare.
Greetings to all in the Poten; how I should like to look in on you today!
Wishing you the best of luck,
Yours truly,
Vincent
Monday
Sunday
November 19, 1873
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh.
Dear Theo,
I want to be sure you hear from me soon after your arrival at The Hague. I am eager to hear what your first impressions were of your new position and home. I heard that Mr. Schmidt gave you such a beautiful souvenir. That proves you have been very satisfactory in every respect. I am glad that we now work in the same house of Goupil. Lately we have had many pictures and drawings here; we sold a great many, but not enough yet - it must become something more established and solid. I think there is still much work to do in England, but it will not be successful at once. Of course, the first thing necessary is to have good pictures, and that will be very difficult. Well, we must take things as they are and make the best of it.
How is business in Holland? Here the ordinary engravings after Brochard do not sell at all, the good burin engravings sell pretty well. From the “Venus Anadyomene” after Ingres we have already sold twenty épreuves d'artiste. It is a pleasure to see how well the photographs sell, especially the coloured ones, and there is a big profit in them. We sell the Musée Goupil & Co. photographs only en papillottes, on an average of a hundred a day.
I think you will like the work at the house at The Hague as soon as you have got used to it. I am sure you will like your home with the Roos family. Walk as much as your time will allow. Give my best love to everybody at Roos's.
You must write me sometime whom you like best among the older painters as well as among the moderns. Don't forget, as I am curious to know. Go to the museum as often as you can; it is a good thing to know the old painters also. If you have the chance, read about art, especially art magazines, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, etc. As soon as I have the opportunity, I will send you a book by Burger about the museums at The Hague and Amsterdam. Please send it back when you have read it.
Ask Iterson to write me when he has time, and especially to send me a list of the painters who have won awards at the Paris exhibition. Is Somerwill still in the office or did he leave when you arrived?
I am all right. I have a pleasant home, and although the house here is not so interesting as the one in The Hague, it is perhaps well that I am here. Later on, especially when the sale of pictures grows more important, I shall perhaps be of use. And then, I cannot tell you how interesting it is to see London and English business and the way of life, which differs so much from ours.
You must have had pleasant days at home; how I should like to see them all again. Give my compliments to everybody who inquires after me, especially at Tersteeg's, Haanebeek, Auntie Fie, Stockum and Roos; and tell Betsy Tersteeg something about me when you see her. And now, boy, good luck to you, write to me soon.
Vincent
Do you have my room at Roos's or the one you slept in last summer?
Dear Theo,
I want to be sure you hear from me soon after your arrival at The Hague. I am eager to hear what your first impressions were of your new position and home. I heard that Mr. Schmidt gave you such a beautiful souvenir. That proves you have been very satisfactory in every respect. I am glad that we now work in the same house of Goupil. Lately we have had many pictures and drawings here; we sold a great many, but not enough yet - it must become something more established and solid. I think there is still much work to do in England, but it will not be successful at once. Of course, the first thing necessary is to have good pictures, and that will be very difficult. Well, we must take things as they are and make the best of it.
How is business in Holland? Here the ordinary engravings after Brochard do not sell at all, the good burin engravings sell pretty well. From the “Venus Anadyomene” after Ingres we have already sold twenty épreuves d'artiste. It is a pleasure to see how well the photographs sell, especially the coloured ones, and there is a big profit in them. We sell the Musée Goupil & Co. photographs only en papillottes, on an average of a hundred a day.
I think you will like the work at the house at The Hague as soon as you have got used to it. I am sure you will like your home with the Roos family. Walk as much as your time will allow. Give my best love to everybody at Roos's.
You must write me sometime whom you like best among the older painters as well as among the moderns. Don't forget, as I am curious to know. Go to the museum as often as you can; it is a good thing to know the old painters also. If you have the chance, read about art, especially art magazines, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, etc. As soon as I have the opportunity, I will send you a book by Burger about the museums at The Hague and Amsterdam. Please send it back when you have read it.
Ask Iterson to write me when he has time, and especially to send me a list of the painters who have won awards at the Paris exhibition. Is Somerwill still in the office or did he leave when you arrived?
I am all right. I have a pleasant home, and although the house here is not so interesting as the one in The Hague, it is perhaps well that I am here. Later on, especially when the sale of pictures grows more important, I shall perhaps be of use. And then, I cannot tell you how interesting it is to see London and English business and the way of life, which differs so much from ours.
You must have had pleasant days at home; how I should like to see them all again. Give my compliments to everybody who inquires after me, especially at Tersteeg's, Haanebeek, Auntie Fie, Stockum and Roos; and tell Betsy Tersteeg something about me when you see her. And now, boy, good luck to you, write to me soon.
Vincent
Do you have my room at Roos's or the one you slept in last summer?
October 1, 1873
Letter to the Van Stockum-Haanebeek family
London
Dear Carolien and Willem,
Many thanks for your letter of this morning, it was a delightful surprise. I am glad you are doing so well.
Our Anna has passed her English and her needlework examinations; you can imagine how delighted she is, as are we all. Pa and Mother have proposed that she stay at school until next April, and then try French; but she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to. I should like so much to find something for her here; you know we have occasionally spoken about it.
You have already heard that Theo is going to The Hague. I believe it will be a change for the better, though he will find it hard to leave that beautiful, pleasant Brussels.
Some time ago I received a letter from your Pa, also, to which I have replied, and so you will probably have heard that all is still going well with me here, and some particulars about my new lodgings.
What you say about winter is quite right; I completely agree. For myself, I can hardly decide which season I like best; I believe I like them all equally. It is worth noting that the old painters hardly ever painted autumn, and that the modern ones have a predilection for it.
Enclosed are a few small photographs, which I hope you will like. Here you see hardly any albums like those in Holland, but so-called scrapbooks into which you put photographs like the ones in this letter (that is why we have the photographs unmounted here). The advantage is that you can arrange your photographs on the same page any way you like. I advise you to get a sort of copybook with white paper, and begin by putting these in it.
“A Baptism” is after Anker, a Swiss who has painted a variety of subjects, all equally intimate and delicate of feeling. “Puritans Going to Church” is after Boughton, one of the best painters here. An American, he likes Longfellow very much, and rightly so; I know three pictures by him inspired by The Courtship of Miles Standish. Seeing these pictures has induced me to read Miles Standish and Evangeline again; I don't know why, but I never realized these poems were so fine as I think them now.
“Le bon frére” is after Van Muyden, a Swiss painter, “encore plus de modestie que de talent” [more modesty than talent as yet]. Mr. Post in The Hague has this picture. If you should ever come to our shop, ask them to show you his (Van Muyden's) “Refectoire.” There are no more than four or five copies of this photograph in existence, as the negative is broken. Show it to Mr. Tersteeg some time.
The “Lune de Miel” [The Honeymoon] is after Eugene Feyen, one of the few painters who pictures intimate modern life as it really is, and does not turn it into fashion plates.
I know the photograph “Der Wirthin Töchterlein” [The Landlady's Little Daughter], and I admire it very much. It is a good thing you appreciate Bourguereau. Not everybody is capable of perceiving the good and the beautiful as keenly as you do.
And now I am going to stop; I enclose another picture of autumn, this one by Michelet.
I hope you will be able to read this; I have written on without considering that one must take care a letter is intelligible. À Dieu; the best of luck to you all; many kind regards to all at the Poten, and any other friends you may meet.
Vincent
[Enclosure]
Je vois d'ici une dame, je la vois marcher pensive dans un jardin peu étendu, et défleuri de bonne heure, mais abrité, comme on en voit derrière nos falaises en France, ou les dunes de la Hollande. Les arbustes exotiques cont déjà rentrés dans la serre. Les feuilles tombées dévoilent quelques statues. Luxe d'art qui contraste un peu avec la très-simple toilette de la dame, modeste, grave, où la soie noire (ou grise) s'égaye à peine d'un simple ruban lilas…
Mais ne l'ai-je pas vue déjà aux musées d'Amsterdam ou de La Haye? Elle me rapelle une dame de Phillipe de Champagne (n.v. au Louvres) qui m'était entrée dans le coeur, si candide, si honnête, suffisamment intelligente, siimple pourtant, sans finesse pour se démêler des ruses du monde. Cette femme m'est restée trente années, me revenant obstinément, m'inquiétant, me faisant dire “Mais comment se nommait elle? Qui lui est-il arrivé? A-t-elle eu un peu de bonheur? Et comment se nommmait s'est elle tirée de la vie?”
[From here I see a lady, I see her walk pensively in a not very large garden, bereft of its flowers early in the season, but sheltered, as you see them behind our cliffs in France or the dunes of Holland. The exotic shrubs have already been put back in the conservatory. The fallen leaves reveal a number of statues. An artistic luxury which contrasts with the lady's very simple, modest, dignified dress, of which the black (or grey) silk is almost imperceptibly brightened by a lilac ribbon.
But haven't I seen her already in the museums of Amsterdam or The Hague? She reminds me of the lady by Philippe de Champagne (N.B. in the Louvre), who took my heart, so candid, so honest, sufficiently intelligent, yet simple, without the cunning to extricate herself from the ruses of the world. This woman has remained in my mind for thirty years, persistently coming back to me, making me say: “But what was she called? What has happened to her? Has she known some happiness? And how has she overcome the difficulties of the world?”]
- JULES MICHELET, “Les aspirations de l'autonne”
London
Dear Carolien and Willem,
Many thanks for your letter of this morning, it was a delightful surprise. I am glad you are doing so well.
Our Anna has passed her English and her needlework examinations; you can imagine how delighted she is, as are we all. Pa and Mother have proposed that she stay at school until next April, and then try French; but she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to. I should like so much to find something for her here; you know we have occasionally spoken about it.
You have already heard that Theo is going to The Hague. I believe it will be a change for the better, though he will find it hard to leave that beautiful, pleasant Brussels.
Some time ago I received a letter from your Pa, also, to which I have replied, and so you will probably have heard that all is still going well with me here, and some particulars about my new lodgings.
What you say about winter is quite right; I completely agree. For myself, I can hardly decide which season I like best; I believe I like them all equally. It is worth noting that the old painters hardly ever painted autumn, and that the modern ones have a predilection for it.
Enclosed are a few small photographs, which I hope you will like. Here you see hardly any albums like those in Holland, but so-called scrapbooks into which you put photographs like the ones in this letter (that is why we have the photographs unmounted here). The advantage is that you can arrange your photographs on the same page any way you like. I advise you to get a sort of copybook with white paper, and begin by putting these in it.
“A Baptism” is after Anker, a Swiss who has painted a variety of subjects, all equally intimate and delicate of feeling. “Puritans Going to Church” is after Boughton, one of the best painters here. An American, he likes Longfellow very much, and rightly so; I know three pictures by him inspired by The Courtship of Miles Standish. Seeing these pictures has induced me to read Miles Standish and Evangeline again; I don't know why, but I never realized these poems were so fine as I think them now.
“Le bon frére” is after Van Muyden, a Swiss painter, “encore plus de modestie que de talent” [more modesty than talent as yet]. Mr. Post in The Hague has this picture. If you should ever come to our shop, ask them to show you his (Van Muyden's) “Refectoire.” There are no more than four or five copies of this photograph in existence, as the negative is broken. Show it to Mr. Tersteeg some time.
The “Lune de Miel” [The Honeymoon] is after Eugene Feyen, one of the few painters who pictures intimate modern life as it really is, and does not turn it into fashion plates.
I know the photograph “Der Wirthin Töchterlein” [The Landlady's Little Daughter], and I admire it very much. It is a good thing you appreciate Bourguereau. Not everybody is capable of perceiving the good and the beautiful as keenly as you do.
And now I am going to stop; I enclose another picture of autumn, this one by Michelet.
I hope you will be able to read this; I have written on without considering that one must take care a letter is intelligible. À Dieu; the best of luck to you all; many kind regards to all at the Poten, and any other friends you may meet.
Vincent
[Enclosure]
Je vois d'ici une dame, je la vois marcher pensive dans un jardin peu étendu, et défleuri de bonne heure, mais abrité, comme on en voit derrière nos falaises en France, ou les dunes de la Hollande. Les arbustes exotiques cont déjà rentrés dans la serre. Les feuilles tombées dévoilent quelques statues. Luxe d'art qui contraste un peu avec la très-simple toilette de la dame, modeste, grave, où la soie noire (ou grise) s'égaye à peine d'un simple ruban lilas…
Mais ne l'ai-je pas vue déjà aux musées d'Amsterdam ou de La Haye? Elle me rapelle une dame de Phillipe de Champagne (n.v. au Louvres) qui m'était entrée dans le coeur, si candide, si honnête, suffisamment intelligente, siimple pourtant, sans finesse pour se démêler des ruses du monde. Cette femme m'est restée trente années, me revenant obstinément, m'inquiétant, me faisant dire “Mais comment se nommait elle? Qui lui est-il arrivé? A-t-elle eu un peu de bonheur? Et comment se nommmait s'est elle tirée de la vie?”
[From here I see a lady, I see her walk pensively in a not very large garden, bereft of its flowers early in the season, but sheltered, as you see them behind our cliffs in France or the dunes of Holland. The exotic shrubs have already been put back in the conservatory. The fallen leaves reveal a number of statues. An artistic luxury which contrasts with the lady's very simple, modest, dignified dress, of which the black (or grey) silk is almost imperceptibly brightened by a lilac ribbon.
But haven't I seen her already in the museums of Amsterdam or The Hague? She reminds me of the lady by Philippe de Champagne (N.B. in the Louvre), who took my heart, so candid, so honest, sufficiently intelligent, yet simple, without the cunning to extricate herself from the ruses of the world. This woman has remained in my mind for thirty years, persistently coming back to me, making me say: “But what was she called? What has happened to her? Has she known some happiness? And how has she overcome the difficulties of the world?”]
- JULES MICHELET, “Les aspirations de l'autonne”
Wednesday
September 13th, 1873
Letter from Vincent to Theo.
London
Dear Theo,
In my letter to Uncle Hein I enclose a little note for you. I wonder if you were in Helvoirt for Mother's birthday and how you enjoyed it.
Did you get my letter and the lithograph after Weissenbruch which I put in the box with the pictures? Oh! Old man, I so want that you come here to see my new lodgings, the one I have already spoken about to you. I now have a bedroom such as I always longed for, without a sloping ceiling and without blue wallpaper with green fringes. I lodge with some charming people now; they keep a school for little boys.
One Saturday some time ago, I went boating on the Thames, in the company of two Englishmen. It was glorious.
Yesterday I saw an exhibition of Belgian art, where I noticed many of the same pictures that were at the Brussels exhibition. There were several beautiful things by Alb. and Julien de Vriendt, Cluysenaer, Wauters, Coosemans, Gabriel, De Schampheleer, etc. Have you ever seen anything by Terlinden? If so, tell me about it. It was a real pleasure to see those Belgian pictures; the English ones are with a few exceptions very bad and uninteresting. Some time ago I saw one which represented a kind of fish or dragon, six yards long. It was awful. And then a little man, who came to kill the above-mentioned dragon. I think the whole represented “The Archangel Michael, Killing Satan.”
Adieu, boy, best wishes and write soon,
Vincent
Another English picture is “Satan Possessing the Herd of Swine at the Lake of Gadarena.” It represented about fifty black pigs and swine running helter-skelter down the mountain, and skipping over one another into the sea. But there was a very clever picture by Prinsep.
I just received your letter. Going to The Hague will be a great change for you. I imagine it will be hard to leave beautiful, pleasant Brussels, but you will enjoy The Hague, too. Thanks for what you wrote me about the pictures. That picture by Millet must have been splendid. À Dieu, I will write soon again.
London
Dear Theo,
In my letter to Uncle Hein I enclose a little note for you. I wonder if you were in Helvoirt for Mother's birthday and how you enjoyed it.
Did you get my letter and the lithograph after Weissenbruch which I put in the box with the pictures? Oh! Old man, I so want that you come here to see my new lodgings, the one I have already spoken about to you. I now have a bedroom such as I always longed for, without a sloping ceiling and without blue wallpaper with green fringes. I lodge with some charming people now; they keep a school for little boys.
One Saturday some time ago, I went boating on the Thames, in the company of two Englishmen. It was glorious.
Yesterday I saw an exhibition of Belgian art, where I noticed many of the same pictures that were at the Brussels exhibition. There were several beautiful things by Alb. and Julien de Vriendt, Cluysenaer, Wauters, Coosemans, Gabriel, De Schampheleer, etc. Have you ever seen anything by Terlinden? If so, tell me about it. It was a real pleasure to see those Belgian pictures; the English ones are with a few exceptions very bad and uninteresting. Some time ago I saw one which represented a kind of fish or dragon, six yards long. It was awful. And then a little man, who came to kill the above-mentioned dragon. I think the whole represented “The Archangel Michael, Killing Satan.”
Adieu, boy, best wishes and write soon,
Vincent
Another English picture is “Satan Possessing the Herd of Swine at the Lake of Gadarena.” It represented about fifty black pigs and swine running helter-skelter down the mountain, and skipping over one another into the sea. But there was a very clever picture by Prinsep.
I just received your letter. Going to The Hague will be a great change for you. I imagine it will be hard to leave beautiful, pleasant Brussels, but you will enjoy The Hague, too. Thanks for what you wrote me about the pictures. That picture by Millet must have been splendid. À Dieu, I will write soon again.
Friday
August 25, 1873
Reverend van Gogh to Theo
[…]
Vincent is doing well in London. We get cheerful letters. He has moved in order to live more economically, as his former boarding house became too expensive, and he had found a good one for 180 guilders a year less.
[…]
Vincent is doing well in London. We get cheerful letters. He has moved in order to live more economically, as his former boarding house became too expensive, and he had found a good one for 180 guilders a year less.
Monday
August 7, 1873
[Letter to the Van Stockum - Haanebeek family]
Dear friends,
It was a pleasant surprise to me to receive Carolien's letter. Thanks. With all my heart I hope she is quite well again; a good thing it is over now!
In your next letter I should like to hear more about that last play you wrote. I was really amazed: for ten characters - it must be the biggest you have done.
These last days I have greatly enjoyed reading the poems of John Keats; he is a poet who, I think, is not very well known in Holland. He is the favourite of all the painters here, and so I started reading him. Here is something by him. His best-known piece is “The Eve of St. Agnes,” but it is a bit too long to copy.
I have visited neither Crystal Palace nor the Tower yet, nor Tussod 1; I am not in a hurry to see everything. For the present I am quite satisfied with the museums, parks, etc.; they interest me more.
Last Monday I had a nice day. The first Monday in August is a holiday here. I went with one of the Germans to Dulwich, an hour and a half outside L., to see the museum there, and after that we took about an hour's walk to another village.
The country is so beautiful here; many people who have their businesses in London live in some village outside L. and go to town by train every day; perhaps I shall do the same shortly, if I can find a cheap room somewhere. But moving is so horrible that I shall stop here as long as possible, although everything is not so beautiful as it seemed to me in the beginning. Perhaps it is my own fault, so I shall bear with it a little longer.
Pardon me if this letter is not as I should like it to be, for I am writing in a hurry. I wanted to congratulate you on Willem's birthday and wish you many happy returns.
I was most pleased to learn that you have renewed your acquaintance with the Tersteeg family. I have been hoping you would for a long time.
When you have a chance, please let me know what photographs you have received - I am curious to know. I have had a letter from Marinus, from which I learned that he is going to Amsterdam. This will mean a great change for him; I hope he will do well. I was very glad he wrote me.
A few days ago a brother of Iterson's paid me a call, and for the first time since May I had a chance to speak Dutch. We live far apart, much to my regret.
Good luck to you. Remember me to all in the Poten. Good luck!
Yours truly, Vincent
Gladden my heart with a letter as soon as you can find time.
[Enclosed]
THE EVE OF SAINT MARK (Unfinished)
Upon a Sabbath-day it fell;
Twice holy was the Sabbath-bell,
That call'd the folk to evening prayer;
The chilly sunset faintly told
Of unmatur'd green vallies cold,
Of the green thorny bloomless hedge,
Of rivers new with spring-time sedge,
Of primroses by shelter'd rills,
Of daisies on the aguish hill.
Bertha was a maiden fair,
Dwelling in the old Minister-square;
From her fire-side she could see,
Sidelong its rich antiquity,
Far as the bishop's garden-wall;
Where sycamores and elm-trees tall,
Full-leav'd, the forest had outstript,
By no sharp north-wind ever nipt,
So shelter'd by the mighty pile.
All was silent, all was gloom,
Abroad and in the homely room;
Down she sat, poor cheated soul!
And struck a lamp from dismal coal;
Lean'd forward, with bright drooping hair,
And slant book, full against the glare.
Untir'd she read, her shadow still
Glower'd about, as it would fill
The room with wildest forms and shades,
As though some ghostly queen of spades
Had come to mock behind her back,
And dance, and ruffle her garments black;
Untir'd she read the legend page,
Of Holy Mark, from youth to age,
On land, on sea, in pagan chains,
Rejoicing for his many pains…
JOHN KEATS (1818)
The imagination may be compared to Adam's dream: “He awoke and found it truth.”
[Written on the back of the same page]
AUTUMN
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend to the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue…
Madame Tussaud's Wax Works.
Dear friends,
It was a pleasant surprise to me to receive Carolien's letter. Thanks. With all my heart I hope she is quite well again; a good thing it is over now!
In your next letter I should like to hear more about that last play you wrote. I was really amazed: for ten characters - it must be the biggest you have done.
These last days I have greatly enjoyed reading the poems of John Keats; he is a poet who, I think, is not very well known in Holland. He is the favourite of all the painters here, and so I started reading him. Here is something by him. His best-known piece is “The Eve of St. Agnes,” but it is a bit too long to copy.
I have visited neither Crystal Palace nor the Tower yet, nor Tussod 1; I am not in a hurry to see everything. For the present I am quite satisfied with the museums, parks, etc.; they interest me more.
Last Monday I had a nice day. The first Monday in August is a holiday here. I went with one of the Germans to Dulwich, an hour and a half outside L., to see the museum there, and after that we took about an hour's walk to another village.
The country is so beautiful here; many people who have their businesses in London live in some village outside L. and go to town by train every day; perhaps I shall do the same shortly, if I can find a cheap room somewhere. But moving is so horrible that I shall stop here as long as possible, although everything is not so beautiful as it seemed to me in the beginning. Perhaps it is my own fault, so I shall bear with it a little longer.
Pardon me if this letter is not as I should like it to be, for I am writing in a hurry. I wanted to congratulate you on Willem's birthday and wish you many happy returns.
I was most pleased to learn that you have renewed your acquaintance with the Tersteeg family. I have been hoping you would for a long time.
When you have a chance, please let me know what photographs you have received - I am curious to know. I have had a letter from Marinus, from which I learned that he is going to Amsterdam. This will mean a great change for him; I hope he will do well. I was very glad he wrote me.
A few days ago a brother of Iterson's paid me a call, and for the first time since May I had a chance to speak Dutch. We live far apart, much to my regret.
Good luck to you. Remember me to all in the Poten. Good luck!
Yours truly, Vincent
Gladden my heart with a letter as soon as you can find time.
[Enclosed]
THE EVE OF SAINT MARK (Unfinished)
Upon a Sabbath-day it fell;
Twice holy was the Sabbath-bell,
That call'd the folk to evening prayer;
The chilly sunset faintly told
Of unmatur'd green vallies cold,
Of the green thorny bloomless hedge,
Of rivers new with spring-time sedge,
Of primroses by shelter'd rills,
Of daisies on the aguish hill.
Bertha was a maiden fair,
Dwelling in the old Minister-square;
From her fire-side she could see,
Sidelong its rich antiquity,
Far as the bishop's garden-wall;
Where sycamores and elm-trees tall,
Full-leav'd, the forest had outstript,
By no sharp north-wind ever nipt,
So shelter'd by the mighty pile.
All was silent, all was gloom,
Abroad and in the homely room;
Down she sat, poor cheated soul!
And struck a lamp from dismal coal;
Lean'd forward, with bright drooping hair,
And slant book, full against the glare.
Untir'd she read, her shadow still
Glower'd about, as it would fill
The room with wildest forms and shades,
As though some ghostly queen of spades
Had come to mock behind her back,
And dance, and ruffle her garments black;
Untir'd she read the legend page,
Of Holy Mark, from youth to age,
On land, on sea, in pagan chains,
Rejoicing for his many pains…
JOHN KEATS (1818)
The imagination may be compared to Adam's dream: “He awoke and found it truth.”
[Written on the back of the same page]
AUTUMN
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend to the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue…
Madame Tussaud's Wax Works.
Thursday
July 20, 1873
Dear Theo,
Thanks for your letter, which was very welcome. I am glad you are doing well and that you like living with Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Obach was very pleased to have met you. I hope that in the future we shall do much business with each other. That picture of Linder's is very beautiful.
As to the photo engravings, I have never seen them being made; I know a little about how they are done, but not enough to explain.
At first English art did not appeal to me; one must get used to it. But there are clever painters here, among others, Millais, who has painted: “The Huguenot,” “Ophelia,” etc., of which I think you know the engravings; his things are beautiful. Then there is Boughton, whose “Puritans Going to Church” is in our Galerie Photographique; I have seen wonderful things by him. Among the old painters, Constable was a landscape painter who lived about thirty years ago; he is splendid - his work reminds me of Diaz and Daubigny. Then there are Reynolds and Gainsborough, whose forte was very beautiful ladies' portraits, and Turner, whose engravings you must have seen.
Some good French painters live here, including Tissot, of whose work there are several photographs in our Galerie Photographique; and Otto Weber and Heilbuth. The latter is at present painting exquisitely beautiful pictures in the manner of Linder.
Sometime you must write me if there are any photographs of Wauters's work other than “Hugo Van der Goes” and “Mary of Burgundy,” and if you know about any photographs of pictures by Lagye and De Braekeleer. I don't mean the elder Braekeleer, but, I think, a son of his who had three beautiful pictures called “Antwerp,” “The School” and “The Atlas” at the last exhibition in Brussels.
I am quite contented here; I walk a lot and the neighborhood where I live is quiet, pleasant and fresh - I was really very lucky to find it. Still, I often think with regret of the delightful Sundays at Scheveningen and other things, but what's the use of worrying?
Thanks for what you wrote me about pictures. If you happen to see anything by Lagye, De Braekeleer, Wauters, Maris, Tissot, George Saal, Jundt, Zeim, or Mauve, you must not forget to tell me; those are the painters I am very fond of, and whose work you will probably see something of.
Enclosed is a copy of the poem about the painter who “entered `The Swan,' the inn where he was lodging,” which I am sure you remember. It is typical Brabant, and I am fond of it. L. copied it for me the last evening I was home 1.
How I should like to have you here. What pleasant days we spent together at The Hague; I think so often of that walk on the Rijswijk road, when we drank milk at the mill after the rain. When we send back the pictures we have from you, I will send you a picture of that mill by Weissenbruch; perhaps you remember him, his nickname is Merry Weiss. That Rijswijk road holds memories for me which are perhaps the most beautiful I have. If we meet again, maybe we shall talk about them once more.
And now, boy, I wish you well. Think of me from time to time and write me soon, it is such a delight to get a letter.
Vincent
Thanks for your letter, which was very welcome. I am glad you are doing well and that you like living with Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Obach was very pleased to have met you. I hope that in the future we shall do much business with each other. That picture of Linder's is very beautiful.
As to the photo engravings, I have never seen them being made; I know a little about how they are done, but not enough to explain.
At first English art did not appeal to me; one must get used to it. But there are clever painters here, among others, Millais, who has painted: “The Huguenot,” “Ophelia,” etc., of which I think you know the engravings; his things are beautiful. Then there is Boughton, whose “Puritans Going to Church” is in our Galerie Photographique; I have seen wonderful things by him. Among the old painters, Constable was a landscape painter who lived about thirty years ago; he is splendid - his work reminds me of Diaz and Daubigny. Then there are Reynolds and Gainsborough, whose forte was very beautiful ladies' portraits, and Turner, whose engravings you must have seen.
Some good French painters live here, including Tissot, of whose work there are several photographs in our Galerie Photographique; and Otto Weber and Heilbuth. The latter is at present painting exquisitely beautiful pictures in the manner of Linder.
Sometime you must write me if there are any photographs of Wauters's work other than “Hugo Van der Goes” and “Mary of Burgundy,” and if you know about any photographs of pictures by Lagye and De Braekeleer. I don't mean the elder Braekeleer, but, I think, a son of his who had three beautiful pictures called “Antwerp,” “The School” and “The Atlas” at the last exhibition in Brussels.
I am quite contented here; I walk a lot and the neighborhood where I live is quiet, pleasant and fresh - I was really very lucky to find it. Still, I often think with regret of the delightful Sundays at Scheveningen and other things, but what's the use of worrying?
Thanks for what you wrote me about pictures. If you happen to see anything by Lagye, De Braekeleer, Wauters, Maris, Tissot, George Saal, Jundt, Zeim, or Mauve, you must not forget to tell me; those are the painters I am very fond of, and whose work you will probably see something of.
Enclosed is a copy of the poem about the painter who “entered `The Swan,' the inn where he was lodging,” which I am sure you remember. It is typical Brabant, and I am fond of it. L. copied it for me the last evening I was home 1.
How I should like to have you here. What pleasant days we spent together at The Hague; I think so often of that walk on the Rijswijk road, when we drank milk at the mill after the rain. When we send back the pictures we have from you, I will send you a picture of that mill by Weissenbruch; perhaps you remember him, his nickname is Merry Weiss. That Rijswijk road holds memories for me which are perhaps the most beautiful I have. If we meet again, maybe we shall talk about them once more.
And now, boy, I wish you well. Think of me from time to time and write me soon, it is such a delight to get a letter.
Vincent
Sunday
July 2, 1873
Reverend van Gogh to Theo
[…]
He [Vincent] gets ninety pounds, 1,080 guilders a year, yet he has to be economical because of the high cost of living there; his boarding house and his dinner cost him 890 guilders a year. He is very happy with the firm. He is not quite used to his work yet, but the tone of his letters is one of satisfaction.
[…]
He [Vincent] gets ninety pounds, 1,080 guilders a year, yet he has to be economical because of the high cost of living there; his boarding house and his dinner cost him 890 guilders a year. He is very happy with the firm. He is not quite used to his work yet, but the tone of his letters is one of satisfaction.
July 2, 1873
[Letter to The Van Stockum - Haanebeek family; the envelope is addressed to W. J. van Stockum, Esq., Varkensmarkt, The Hague.]
Dear friends,
I should have liked to write sooner, and now I will not postpone it any longer. How are you? I heard that your house has been smartened up, and that all is well with you. I hope very much you will drop me a line when you have a moment to spare.
All is well with me. I see much that is new and beautiful, and have been fortunate in finding a good boardinghouse, so that on the whole I feel quite at home already. Yet I do not forget The Hague, and should very, very much like to spend an evening in the Poten, and look in on you, too.
The business here is only a stockroom, and our work is quite different from what it is in The Hague; but I shall probably get used to it. At six o'clock my work is already done for the day, so that I have a nice bit of time for myself, which I spend pleasantly - taking walks, reading and letter writing.
The neighbourhood where I live is quite beautiful, and so quiet and intimate that you almost forget you are in London. In front of every house there is a small garden with flowers or a few trees, and many houses are built very tastefully in a sort of Gothic style. Still, I have a good half-hour's walk to get to the country.
We have a piano in the sitting room, and there are also three Germans living here who are very fond of music, which is very pleasant.
One of the finest sights I have seen is Rotten Row in Hyde Park, where hundreds of ladies and gentlemen ride on horseback.
In all parts of the town there are beautiful parks with a wealth of flowers such as I have never seen anywhere else.
Enclosed I am sending you a copy of a poem by Van Beers, which you possibly do not know. Our Elisabeth copied it for me on my last evening in Helvoirt because she knew I thought so much of it. It is genuine Brabant: I thought you would read it with pleasure, and therefore I copied it for you.
It was very considerate of your sister Marie to send me the announcement. I long to hear something of the wedding, and I congratulate you all.
Will you kindly let me have a list of your birthdays some time? I did have one, but lost it.
And now good-by; remember me to everybody in the Poten, and good luck to you all. Excuse the bad handwriting; it is late and time to go to bed.
Sleep well.
Vincent
DE AVONDSTOND
Langzaam galmde `t gesamp der beelok over de velden,
Die, volzalig, in `t goud van de avondzonne zich baadden…
[Literal translation]
THE EVENING HOUR
The toll of the curfew calling to prayer resounded lazily across the fields,
Which blissfully lay bathed in the gold of the evening sun.
Right in front of him lay the village, with hills to the north and to the south,
between whose ridges the sun, sinking in the west with a crimson blush,
poured forth its whole wealth of colours and the magic of its rays.
Now the little bell in the grey steeple veiled in dark green
was silent. The brown sails of the mills, on yonder height,
hung motionless; the foliage was still; and over the cottages
little puffs of peat-smoke, tinged with blue, rose so straight
from the chimneys that they too seemed to hang motionless in the tingling air.
After the sun's good night kiss it was as if this hamlet, this field, these hills,
everything around, silent and grateful, once more recalled
the richness and peace they had enjoyed,
before wrapping themselves in the cloak of evening dew to sleep.
Farther on…but just beside the narrow footpath
followed by the Painter, the sudden loud peal of cheering met his ears.
Swaying to and fro, a wagon came rumbling toward him,
piled high with the harvest of buckwheat.
Horse and freight were decked with fluttering ribbons and flowering branches;
children, each with a wreath of flowers around his little flaxen head,
sat atop it, brandishing alder twigs,
or raining down a shower of leaves and flowers,
whilst below, around the wagon, a crowd of servant lads and lasses
leaped and sang, so as to startle the whole slumbering plain.
Behind the shrubs, the silently smiling Painter watched
the noisy throng wind its way along the bumpy road.
And thus, pondering the calm and deep delight the soul
savours in the country, or with his artist's mind reconstructing
in silent rapture the whole glorious scene of a short while ago,
he came, without perceiving it himself, sauntering into the hamlet.
In the west the purple and yellow had already faded to grey;
and in the east, quite close to the little church, the full copper-coloured
disk of the moon, lightly shrouded in the haze of the gloaming, had risen
when he entered “The Swan,” the inn where he was lodging.
- Jan Van Beers, “The Pauper”
Dear friends,
I should have liked to write sooner, and now I will not postpone it any longer. How are you? I heard that your house has been smartened up, and that all is well with you. I hope very much you will drop me a line when you have a moment to spare.
All is well with me. I see much that is new and beautiful, and have been fortunate in finding a good boardinghouse, so that on the whole I feel quite at home already. Yet I do not forget The Hague, and should very, very much like to spend an evening in the Poten, and look in on you, too.
The business here is only a stockroom, and our work is quite different from what it is in The Hague; but I shall probably get used to it. At six o'clock my work is already done for the day, so that I have a nice bit of time for myself, which I spend pleasantly - taking walks, reading and letter writing.
The neighbourhood where I live is quite beautiful, and so quiet and intimate that you almost forget you are in London. In front of every house there is a small garden with flowers or a few trees, and many houses are built very tastefully in a sort of Gothic style. Still, I have a good half-hour's walk to get to the country.
We have a piano in the sitting room, and there are also three Germans living here who are very fond of music, which is very pleasant.
One of the finest sights I have seen is Rotten Row in Hyde Park, where hundreds of ladies and gentlemen ride on horseback.
In all parts of the town there are beautiful parks with a wealth of flowers such as I have never seen anywhere else.
Enclosed I am sending you a copy of a poem by Van Beers, which you possibly do not know. Our Elisabeth copied it for me on my last evening in Helvoirt because she knew I thought so much of it. It is genuine Brabant: I thought you would read it with pleasure, and therefore I copied it for you.
It was very considerate of your sister Marie to send me the announcement. I long to hear something of the wedding, and I congratulate you all.
Will you kindly let me have a list of your birthdays some time? I did have one, but lost it.
And now good-by; remember me to everybody in the Poten, and good luck to you all. Excuse the bad handwriting; it is late and time to go to bed.
Sleep well.
Vincent
DE AVONDSTOND
Langzaam galmde `t gesamp der beelok over de velden,
Die, volzalig, in `t goud van de avondzonne zich baadden…
[Literal translation]
THE EVENING HOUR
The toll of the curfew calling to prayer resounded lazily across the fields,
Which blissfully lay bathed in the gold of the evening sun.
Right in front of him lay the village, with hills to the north and to the south,
between whose ridges the sun, sinking in the west with a crimson blush,
poured forth its whole wealth of colours and the magic of its rays.
Now the little bell in the grey steeple veiled in dark green
was silent. The brown sails of the mills, on yonder height,
hung motionless; the foliage was still; and over the cottages
little puffs of peat-smoke, tinged with blue, rose so straight
from the chimneys that they too seemed to hang motionless in the tingling air.
After the sun's good night kiss it was as if this hamlet, this field, these hills,
everything around, silent and grateful, once more recalled
the richness and peace they had enjoyed,
before wrapping themselves in the cloak of evening dew to sleep.
Farther on…but just beside the narrow footpath
followed by the Painter, the sudden loud peal of cheering met his ears.
Swaying to and fro, a wagon came rumbling toward him,
piled high with the harvest of buckwheat.
Horse and freight were decked with fluttering ribbons and flowering branches;
children, each with a wreath of flowers around his little flaxen head,
sat atop it, brandishing alder twigs,
or raining down a shower of leaves and flowers,
whilst below, around the wagon, a crowd of servant lads and lasses
leaped and sang, so as to startle the whole slumbering plain.
Behind the shrubs, the silently smiling Painter watched
the noisy throng wind its way along the bumpy road.
And thus, pondering the calm and deep delight the soul
savours in the country, or with his artist's mind reconstructing
in silent rapture the whole glorious scene of a short while ago,
he came, without perceiving it himself, sauntering into the hamlet.
In the west the purple and yellow had already faded to grey;
and in the east, quite close to the little church, the full copper-coloured
disk of the moon, lightly shrouded in the haze of the gloaming, had risen
when he entered “The Swan,” the inn where he was lodging.
- Jan Van Beers, “The Pauper”
Tuesday
June 13, 1873
Dear Theo,
My address is c/o Messrs. Goupil & Co., 17 Southampton Street, Strand, London. You must be eager to hear from me, so I will not keep you waiting any longer for a letter.
I hear from home that you are living with Mr. Schmidt now and that Father has been to see you. I certainly hope this will please you better than your former boardinghouse, and I'm sure it will.
I am very anxious for a letter; write me soon, and tell me how you spend your day, etc. You must tell me especially what pictures you have seen lately, and also if any new etchings or lithographs have been published. Let me know as much as you can about these things, for I do not see much of them here as it is only a wholesale house.
Considering the circumstances, I am doing pretty well. So far the boardinghouse where I am staying pleases me. There are also three German boarders who are very fond of music, they play the piano and sing, so we spend very pleasant evenings together. I am not so busy here as I was in The Hague; I work only from nine in the morning to six in the evening, and on Saturdays we close at four o'clock. I live in one of the suburbs of London, where it is relatively quiet. It reminds me of Tilburg or some such place.
I spent some very pleasant days in Paris, and, as you can imagine, I enjoyed all the beautiful things I saw at the exhibition and in the Louvre and the Luxembourg. The house in Paris is splendid and much bigger than I had thought, especially the one in the Place de l'Opera 1.
Life is very expensive here, my accommodation alone costs me eighteen shillings by week, washing excepted, and then I still have to take my dinner in the city. Last Sunday I went to the country with Mr. Obach, my principal, to Boxhill; it is a high hill about six hours by road from London, partially chalky and overgrown with box and on one side a wood of high oak trees. The country is beautiful here, quite different from Holland or Belgium. Everywhere you see charming parks with high trees and shrubs. Everyone is allowed to walk there. At Easter, I made an interesting excursion with the Germans, but these gentlemen spend a great deal of money and I shall not go out with them in the future.
I was glad to hear from home that Uncle Hein's health is good. Give him and Aunt my best and tell them something about me. Give my compliments to Mr. Schmidt and Eduard and write to me soon. À Dieu, best wishes,
Vincent
My address is c/o Messrs. Goupil & Co., 17 Southampton Street, Strand, London. You must be eager to hear from me, so I will not keep you waiting any longer for a letter.
I hear from home that you are living with Mr. Schmidt now and that Father has been to see you. I certainly hope this will please you better than your former boardinghouse, and I'm sure it will.
I am very anxious for a letter; write me soon, and tell me how you spend your day, etc. You must tell me especially what pictures you have seen lately, and also if any new etchings or lithographs have been published. Let me know as much as you can about these things, for I do not see much of them here as it is only a wholesale house.
Considering the circumstances, I am doing pretty well. So far the boardinghouse where I am staying pleases me. There are also three German boarders who are very fond of music, they play the piano and sing, so we spend very pleasant evenings together. I am not so busy here as I was in The Hague; I work only from nine in the morning to six in the evening, and on Saturdays we close at four o'clock. I live in one of the suburbs of London, where it is relatively quiet. It reminds me of Tilburg or some such place.
I spent some very pleasant days in Paris, and, as you can imagine, I enjoyed all the beautiful things I saw at the exhibition and in the Louvre and the Luxembourg. The house in Paris is splendid and much bigger than I had thought, especially the one in the Place de l'Opera 1.
Life is very expensive here, my accommodation alone costs me eighteen shillings by week, washing excepted, and then I still have to take my dinner in the city. Last Sunday I went to the country with Mr. Obach, my principal, to Boxhill; it is a high hill about six hours by road from London, partially chalky and overgrown with box and on one side a wood of high oak trees. The country is beautiful here, quite different from Holland or Belgium. Everywhere you see charming parks with high trees and shrubs. Everyone is allowed to walk there. At Easter, I made an interesting excursion with the Germans, but these gentlemen spend a great deal of money and I shall not go out with them in the future.
I was glad to hear from home that Uncle Hein's health is good. Give him and Aunt my best and tell them something about me. Give my compliments to Mr. Schmidt and Eduard and write to me soon. À Dieu, best wishes,
Vincent
Wednesday
May 31, 1873
Reverend van Gogh to Theo
[…]
We have had a nice letter from Vincent. He is living in the outskirts of London and in the mornings, at 8:30 he goes into the city in a little steamer, which takes him an hour, he dines in town and comes home at seven. His lodgings are quite expensive, but he doesn't yet know what his salary will be. So far he likes it very well, and Uncle Cent has seen to it that he met some people.
[…]
[Mother] …Let that be your greatest joy and care, then you will become clever and reliable and make yourself indispensable, and this way you will have chosen the best way to be spared from temptations that you will certainly meet just like any other boy, and you remain our crown and our honour and our joy, just like Vincent, who had great satisfaction. Aren't you glad he does so well; he had so much pleasure in Paris, he had dinner with the Cailloux family, and he found the interior of the gallery splendid. Who knows if you may not work there too, some time in the future.
[…]
Our Vincent wrote that he had bought a top hat; you cannot be in London without one.
[…]
We have had a nice letter from Vincent. He is living in the outskirts of London and in the mornings, at 8:30 he goes into the city in a little steamer, which takes him an hour, he dines in town and comes home at seven. His lodgings are quite expensive, but he doesn't yet know what his salary will be. So far he likes it very well, and Uncle Cent has seen to it that he met some people.
[…]
[Mother] …Let that be your greatest joy and care, then you will become clever and reliable and make yourself indispensable, and this way you will have chosen the best way to be spared from temptations that you will certainly meet just like any other boy, and you remain our crown and our honour and our joy, just like Vincent, who had great satisfaction. Aren't you glad he does so well; he had so much pleasure in Paris, he had dinner with the Cailloux family, and he found the interior of the gallery splendid. Who knows if you may not work there too, some time in the future.
[…]
Our Vincent wrote that he had bought a top hat; you cannot be in London without one.
Tuesday
May 9, 1873
The Hague
Dear Theo,
Monday morning I leave Helvoirt for Paris, and shall pass Brussels at 2.07 P. M. Come to the station if you can, I should be so glad to see you.
I must not forget to tell you that I showed your photograph to Mrs. Tersteeg, and she would like very much to have one. Is there a chance of your having another and sending it to me? If not now, maybe another time.
Theo, you have no idea how kind everybody here is to me, and you can imagine how sorry I am to have to leave so many friends.
Adieu, boy. Compliments to Uncle and Aunt, hope to see you soon.
Vincent.
Inquire if you have to be at the north or the south station.
Dear Theo,
Monday morning I leave Helvoirt for Paris, and shall pass Brussels at 2.07 P. M. Come to the station if you can, I should be so glad to see you.
I must not forget to tell you that I showed your photograph to Mrs. Tersteeg, and she would like very much to have one. Is there a chance of your having another and sending it to me? If not now, maybe another time.
Theo, you have no idea how kind everybody here is to me, and you can imagine how sorry I am to have to leave so many friends.
Adieu, boy. Compliments to Uncle and Aunt, hope to see you soon.
Vincent.
Inquire if you have to be at the north or the south station.
Friday
May 5, 1873
The Hague.
Dear Theo,
You must forgive me for having forgotten your birthday. My best wishes. I hope this year will be a happy one for you, and that you will like your work more and more.
My time here is almost up. Next Saturday I go home to say goodbye, and then on to Paris on Sunday. I fear, however, that it will be Monday before I can start, and that I shall have to stay over in Helvoirt on Sunday. I hope that I shall be able to write you when I'll be passing through Brussels in time. I may not be able to, as I do not know for sure when I have to be in Paris.
How are Uncle and Aunt - have they moved already? You must write me about this soon, my address is below. I am writing in a hurry; as you can imagine, I am very busy. Adieu, best wishes. Compliments to Uncle, Aunt, Mr. Schmidt and Eduard.
Always your loving Vincent.
V. W. van Gogh
C/o Messrs. Goupil & Co.,
17 Southampton Street, Strand, London
Don't forget to write V. W. van Gogh; otherwise it might be confused with Uncle Vincent's mail, he is only called V., you know.
Dear Theo,
You must forgive me for having forgotten your birthday. My best wishes. I hope this year will be a happy one for you, and that you will like your work more and more.
My time here is almost up. Next Saturday I go home to say goodbye, and then on to Paris on Sunday. I fear, however, that it will be Monday before I can start, and that I shall have to stay over in Helvoirt on Sunday. I hope that I shall be able to write you when I'll be passing through Brussels in time. I may not be able to, as I do not know for sure when I have to be in Paris.
How are Uncle and Aunt - have they moved already? You must write me about this soon, my address is below. I am writing in a hurry; as you can imagine, I am very busy. Adieu, best wishes. Compliments to Uncle, Aunt, Mr. Schmidt and Eduard.
Always your loving Vincent.
V. W. van Gogh
C/o Messrs. Goupil & Co.,
17 Southampton Street, Strand, London
Don't forget to write V. W. van Gogh; otherwise it might be confused with Uncle Vincent's mail, he is only called V., you know.
Sunday
March 24, 1873
The Hague.
Dear Theo,
Would you please find out if there is still a painting by Schotel in Brussels?
It was sent from here on commission May 6, 1870. Perhaps Uncle has already sent it back to Paris.
But if not, please have it returned here immediately. We have a chance of selling it, but it is urgent. Last summer I saw it at your gallery, so I think it may still be there.
Give my compliments to Uncle and Aunt, Mr. Schmidt and Eduard.
I suppose you have got my letter already. Adieu and best wishes.
Vincent.
Dear Theo,
Would you please find out if there is still a painting by Schotel in Brussels?
It was sent from here on commission May 6, 1870. Perhaps Uncle has already sent it back to Paris.
But if not, please have it returned here immediately. We have a chance of selling it, but it is urgent. Last summer I saw it at your gallery, so I think it may still be there.
Give my compliments to Uncle and Aunt, Mr. Schmidt and Eduard.
I suppose you have got my letter already. Adieu and best wishes.
Vincent.
Friday
March 17, 1873
The Hague.
Dear Theo,
It is time for you to hear from me again. I am longing to hear how you and Uncle Hein are, so I hope that you will be able to find time to write me.
I suppose you have heard that I am going to London, probably very soon. I do hope that we shall see each other before then. If there is any chance, I shall go to Helvoirt at Easter, but that depends on Iterson, who is away on business. I cannot go away before he comes back.
It will be quite a different life for me in London, as I shall probably have to live alone in rooms. I'll have to take care of many things I don't have to worry about now.
I am looking forward very much to seeing London, as you can imagine, but still I am sorry to leave here. Now that it has been decided that I shall go away, I feel how strongly I am attached to The Hague. Well, it can't be helped, and I intend not to take things too hard. It will be splendid for my English - I can understand it well enough, but I cannot speak it as well as I would wish.
I heard from Anna that you had your picture taken. If you have one to spare, don't forget me.
How is Uncle Hein? Not better, I am afraid. And how is Aunt? Can Uncle keep himself busy, and does he suffer much pain? Give him my warmest regards. I think of him so often. How is business? I think you must be rushed with work; we certainly are here. You must feel at home in the business by this time.
How is your boardinghouse - does it still please you? That's an important thing. Be sure to tell me more about the pictures you see. A fortnight ago I was in Amsterdam to see an exhibition of the pictures that are going from here to Vienna. It was very interesting, and I am curious to know what impression the Dutch artists will make in Vienna. I am also curious to see the English painters; we see so little of them because almost everything remains in England.
In London Goupil has no gallery, but sells only directly to art dealers. Uncle Vincent will be here at the end of this month, and I am looking forward to hearing more particulars from him.
The Haanebeeks and Aunt Fie always ask how you are and send you their best wishes. What delightful weather we are having! I enjoy it as much as I can; last Sunday I went out boating with Willem 1. How I should have liked to stay here this summer, but we must take things as they are. And now adieu. Best wishes and write to me soon. Say goodbye for me to Uncle and Aunt, Mr. Schmidt and Eduard. I am looking forward to Easter.
Always your loving brother, Vincent.
Theo, I strongly advise you to smoke a pipe; it is a remedy for the blues, which I happen to have had now and then lately. I just received your letter, many thanks. I like the photograph very much, it is a good likeness. I will let you know as soon as I know something more about my going to Helvoirt; it would be nice if you could come on the same day. Adieu.
Dear Theo,
It is time for you to hear from me again. I am longing to hear how you and Uncle Hein are, so I hope that you will be able to find time to write me.
I suppose you have heard that I am going to London, probably very soon. I do hope that we shall see each other before then. If there is any chance, I shall go to Helvoirt at Easter, but that depends on Iterson, who is away on business. I cannot go away before he comes back.
It will be quite a different life for me in London, as I shall probably have to live alone in rooms. I'll have to take care of many things I don't have to worry about now.
I am looking forward very much to seeing London, as you can imagine, but still I am sorry to leave here. Now that it has been decided that I shall go away, I feel how strongly I am attached to The Hague. Well, it can't be helped, and I intend not to take things too hard. It will be splendid for my English - I can understand it well enough, but I cannot speak it as well as I would wish.
I heard from Anna that you had your picture taken. If you have one to spare, don't forget me.
How is Uncle Hein? Not better, I am afraid. And how is Aunt? Can Uncle keep himself busy, and does he suffer much pain? Give him my warmest regards. I think of him so often. How is business? I think you must be rushed with work; we certainly are here. You must feel at home in the business by this time.
How is your boardinghouse - does it still please you? That's an important thing. Be sure to tell me more about the pictures you see. A fortnight ago I was in Amsterdam to see an exhibition of the pictures that are going from here to Vienna. It was very interesting, and I am curious to know what impression the Dutch artists will make in Vienna. I am also curious to see the English painters; we see so little of them because almost everything remains in England.
In London Goupil has no gallery, but sells only directly to art dealers. Uncle Vincent will be here at the end of this month, and I am looking forward to hearing more particulars from him.
The Haanebeeks and Aunt Fie always ask how you are and send you their best wishes. What delightful weather we are having! I enjoy it as much as I can; last Sunday I went out boating with Willem 1. How I should have liked to stay here this summer, but we must take things as they are. And now adieu. Best wishes and write to me soon. Say goodbye for me to Uncle and Aunt, Mr. Schmidt and Eduard. I am looking forward to Easter.
Always your loving brother, Vincent.
Theo, I strongly advise you to smoke a pipe; it is a remedy for the blues, which I happen to have had now and then lately. I just received your letter, many thanks. I like the photograph very much, it is a good likeness. I will let you know as soon as I know something more about my going to Helvoirt; it would be nice if you could come on the same day. Adieu.
Saturday
January 28, 1873
The Hague.
Dear Theo,
I was glad you answered me so soon and that you like Brussels and have found a nice boarding-house. Don't lose heart if it is very difficult at times, everything will come out all right and nobody can in the beginning do as he wishes.
How I pity Uncle Hein, I heartily hope he will recover, but, Theo, I fear he will not. Last summer he was still full of enthusiasm and had so many plans and told me that business was flourishing. It's very sad. Last Sunday I was at Uncle Cor's and spent a very pleasant day there as you can imagine, and saw so many beautiful things. As you know, Uncle has just come back from Paris and brought some beautiful pictures and drawings with him. I remained in Amsterdam till Monday morning and went to see the museums again. Do you know that they are going to build a large new museum in Amsterdam, instead of the Trippenhuis? I think it is right, for the Trippenhuis is small and many pictures are hung so that they can hardly be seen.
How I should have liked to see that picture by Cluysenaer, I have only seen a few pictures of his and those I liked very much. Tell me if that other picture is by “Alfred” Stevens, or else what the first name is. I know the photograph after the Rotta and have even seen the picture at the Exhibition in Brussels. Be sure to let me know what pictures you see, I am always glad to know. The album of which you gave me the title is not the one I meant, which is only lithographs after Corot. But I thank you for the trouble you have taken. I hope to get a letter from sister Anna soon, she is rather laggard about writing of late. Do surprise her with a letter, that would be such a pleasure to her. I suppose you are very busy, but that is not bad. It is cold here and they are skating already. I walk as much as I can. I wonder if you will have any chance to skate. Enclosed you will find my photograph, but if you write home don't mention it, as you know it is for father's birthday. I have already sent you my congratulations upon that day. My best compliments to Uncle and Aunt, also to Mr. Schmidt and Eduard. Always
Your loving brother, Vincent.
Kind regards from everybody at Haanebeek's, Aunt Fie and Roos.
Dear Theo,
I was glad you answered me so soon and that you like Brussels and have found a nice boarding-house. Don't lose heart if it is very difficult at times, everything will come out all right and nobody can in the beginning do as he wishes.
How I pity Uncle Hein, I heartily hope he will recover, but, Theo, I fear he will not. Last summer he was still full of enthusiasm and had so many plans and told me that business was flourishing. It's very sad. Last Sunday I was at Uncle Cor's and spent a very pleasant day there as you can imagine, and saw so many beautiful things. As you know, Uncle has just come back from Paris and brought some beautiful pictures and drawings with him. I remained in Amsterdam till Monday morning and went to see the museums again. Do you know that they are going to build a large new museum in Amsterdam, instead of the Trippenhuis? I think it is right, for the Trippenhuis is small and many pictures are hung so that they can hardly be seen.
How I should have liked to see that picture by Cluysenaer, I have only seen a few pictures of his and those I liked very much. Tell me if that other picture is by “Alfred” Stevens, or else what the first name is. I know the photograph after the Rotta and have even seen the picture at the Exhibition in Brussels. Be sure to let me know what pictures you see, I am always glad to know. The album of which you gave me the title is not the one I meant, which is only lithographs after Corot. But I thank you for the trouble you have taken. I hope to get a letter from sister Anna soon, she is rather laggard about writing of late. Do surprise her with a letter, that would be such a pleasure to her. I suppose you are very busy, but that is not bad. It is cold here and they are skating already. I walk as much as I can. I wonder if you will have any chance to skate. Enclosed you will find my photograph, but if you write home don't mention it, as you know it is for father's birthday. I have already sent you my congratulations upon that day. My best compliments to Uncle and Aunt, also to Mr. Schmidt and Eduard. Always
Your loving brother, Vincent.
Kind regards from everybody at Haanebeek's, Aunt Fie and Roos.
Tuesday
January ?, 1873
My dear Theo,
I heard from home that you arrived safe and sound at Brussels and that your first impression was good.
I know so well how strange you must feel in the beginning, but don't lose courage, you'll get on all right.
You must soon write me how you are getting along and how you like your boardinghouse. I hope it will be satisfactory. Father wrote me that you are on good terms with Mr. Schmidt; that is right - I think he is a good fellow from whom you can learn a great deal.
What happy days we spent together at Christmas! I think of them so often. You will also remember them a long time, as they were the last days you spent at home. Don't forget to tell me what pictures you see and which you like best.
I am very busy just now at the beginning of the year.
My New Year began well; they have granted me an increase of ten guilders (I therefore earn fifty guilders per month), and they have given me a bonus of fifty guilders as a present. Isn't that splendid? I hope to be able to shift for myself now.
I am very happy that you work in the same firm. It is such a splendid house; the more one works there, the more ambition it gives you.
The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right.
Will you ask Schmidt what the price of the Album Corot, lithographs by Émile Vernier is? Somebody asked for it at the store, and I know they have it in Brussels. Next time I write, I'll send you my picture, which I had taken last Sunday. Have you already been to the Palace Ducal? Don't fail to go there when you have a chance.
Well, boy, keep your courage up. All the friends send you their compliments and good wishes. Give my regards to Schmidt and Eduard and write to me soon. Adieu.
Your loving brother, Vincent.
You know my address is,
Lange Beestenmarkt, 32
Or Goupil & Co., Plaats
I heard from home that you arrived safe and sound at Brussels and that your first impression was good.
I know so well how strange you must feel in the beginning, but don't lose courage, you'll get on all right.
You must soon write me how you are getting along and how you like your boardinghouse. I hope it will be satisfactory. Father wrote me that you are on good terms with Mr. Schmidt; that is right - I think he is a good fellow from whom you can learn a great deal.
What happy days we spent together at Christmas! I think of them so often. You will also remember them a long time, as they were the last days you spent at home. Don't forget to tell me what pictures you see and which you like best.
I am very busy just now at the beginning of the year.
My New Year began well; they have granted me an increase of ten guilders (I therefore earn fifty guilders per month), and they have given me a bonus of fifty guilders as a present. Isn't that splendid? I hope to be able to shift for myself now.
I am very happy that you work in the same firm. It is such a splendid house; the more one works there, the more ambition it gives you.
The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right.
Will you ask Schmidt what the price of the Album Corot, lithographs by Émile Vernier is? Somebody asked for it at the store, and I know they have it in Brussels. Next time I write, I'll send you my picture, which I had taken last Sunday. Have you already been to the Palace Ducal? Don't fail to go there when you have a chance.
Well, boy, keep your courage up. All the friends send you their compliments and good wishes. Give my regards to Schmidt and Eduard and write to me soon. Adieu.
Your loving brother, Vincent.
You know my address is,
Lange Beestenmarkt, 32
Or Goupil & Co., Plaats
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