Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
London
Dear Theo,
I have received your gift, included in a letter to me, of a guilder intended for the purchase of a pair of cuff links. I thank you very cordially, old man, but you should not have, I have more money than necessary.
Thanks for the letter which I received this morning. I was very glad to hear that Mauve is engaged to Jet Carbentus. That is fine…I was pleased to hear that you are doing so well.
You have done well to read the book by Burger; you should devour books on art as much as possible, especially The Gazette de Beaux-Arts, etc. By all means try to get a good knowledge of pictures. That picture by Apol we have here now is good, but last year he painted the same subject and I thought it was better and brighter than this one.
I am glad that you go to see Uncle Cor now and then; he has pictures and prints which you can never see at the house in The Hague.
I, too, am very busy just now and am glad of it, for that is what I want. À Dieu, boy, keep in good spirits. I wish you well. Greetings to Iterson.
Vincent
Friday
Saturday
March 3, 1874
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to the Van Stockum - Haanebeek family
London
Dear Carolien and Willem,
Hearty congratulations.
I am afraid you are disappointed at not hearing from me sooner, but that's how I am, and you know that I mean well. But now you must return good for evil, and let me know at once how you are.
Now I have something new to tell you; perhaps our Anna will come here. You can well imagine how wonderful this would be for me. It is almost too good to be true. Well, we'll have to wait and see. If she comes, it will probably be in May; and perhaps it might be arranged for me to go and bring her back. I am longing to be closer to her than I am now. We have hardly seen each other once these last few years, and we only half know each other.
The best of luck to you, greetings to all in the Poten, and to anyone who asks after me.
Have you kept up your acquaintance with the Tersteeg family?
Yours truly, Vincent
London
Dear Carolien and Willem,
Hearty congratulations.
I am afraid you are disappointed at not hearing from me sooner, but that's how I am, and you know that I mean well. But now you must return good for evil, and let me know at once how you are.
Now I have something new to tell you; perhaps our Anna will come here. You can well imagine how wonderful this would be for me. It is almost too good to be true. Well, we'll have to wait and see. If she comes, it will probably be in May; and perhaps it might be arranged for me to go and bring her back. I am longing to be closer to her than I am now. We have hardly seen each other once these last few years, and we only half know each other.
The best of luck to you, greetings to all in the Poten, and to anyone who asks after me.
Have you kept up your acquaintance with the Tersteeg family?
Yours truly, Vincent
February 24, 1874
Letter from Anna Van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
Zundert
I also got a very kind letter from Eugénie; she seems to be a natural and amiable girl. Vincent wrote that she was engaged, with a good natured youth who would know to appreciate her…We two are just [like] old people who try to know all about persons who are in love. But I am very glad for Vincent that he found such a kind family to live [with], you know yourself how agreeable it is. He seems to be always in good spirits. In the last letter he writes to me: “I fear that after all the sunshine I enjoy from there could be very soon rain - but I will only enjoy as long as possible the sunshine and have my umbrella in the neighbourhood for the rain that could come.”
Zundert
I also got a very kind letter from Eugénie; she seems to be a natural and amiable girl. Vincent wrote that she was engaged, with a good natured youth who would know to appreciate her…We two are just [like] old people who try to know all about persons who are in love. But I am very glad for Vincent that he found such a kind family to live [with], you know yourself how agreeable it is. He seems to be always in good spirits. In the last letter he writes to me: “I fear that after all the sunshine I enjoy from there could be very soon rain - but I will only enjoy as long as possible the sunshine and have my umbrella in the neighbourhood for the rain that could come.”
Tuesday
February 20, 1874
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
London
Dear Theo,
Thanks for your letter. I don't want the book just now; take your time and send it back when you have finished it. I have not read the book by Van Vloten, but I should like to see it. I have read another book on art by Van Vloten, and did not quite agree with him, though it was very learned. Burger is simpler, and whatever he says is true.
I am glad you have been in Amsterdam. When you see him, will you thank Uncle Cor for the pamphlet he sent me? I am glad you feel so comfortable at Roos's. As I already let you know through Anna Carbentus, you are quite right about those priggish girls. I also agree with you about Bertha Haanebeek; but watch your heart, boy.
Have you seen Mr. Jacobson's collection yet? He will certainly ask you to come to see it, and it is well worth while. Give him my respects and tell him I am doing quite well here and that I see many beautiful things.
I am all right and am very busy. Thank Willem for his letter and greet everybody at Roos's and Iterson and anybody who may ask after me. Best regards.
Vincent
London
Dear Theo,
Thanks for your letter. I don't want the book just now; take your time and send it back when you have finished it. I have not read the book by Van Vloten, but I should like to see it. I have read another book on art by Van Vloten, and did not quite agree with him, though it was very learned. Burger is simpler, and whatever he says is true.
I am glad you have been in Amsterdam. When you see him, will you thank Uncle Cor for the pamphlet he sent me? I am glad you feel so comfortable at Roos's. As I already let you know through Anna Carbentus, you are quite right about those priggish girls. I also agree with you about Bertha Haanebeek; but watch your heart, boy.
Have you seen Mr. Jacobson's collection yet? He will certainly ask you to come to see it, and it is well worth while. Give him my respects and tell him I am doing quite well here and that I see many beautiful things.
I am all right and am very busy. Thank Willem for his letter and greet everybody at Roos's and Iterson and anybody who may ask after me. Best regards.
Vincent
Friday
February 9, 1874
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Carolien
London
My dear Carolien,
I feel the urge to write you a few words. How nice were the days “wenn wir zusammen waren”; rest assured that I never forget you, but I am not such a good hand at letter-writing as I should like to be. I live a rich life here, 'having nothing yet possessing all.' At times I am inclined to believe that I am gradually turning into a cosmopolite; that is, neither a Dutchman, nor an Englishman, nor yet a Frenchman, but simply a man. And as a homeland, the whole world, i.e. a small spot in the world where we are sent to stay. We have not got there yet, though I am straining after it, and perhaps may grasp it. And as my ideal, what Mauve called, “That is it.”
Old girl, à Dieu.
Yours truly, Vincent
A handshake for you and Willem, like old times, till your fingers hurt.
London
My dear Carolien,
I feel the urge to write you a few words. How nice were the days “wenn wir zusammen waren”; rest assured that I never forget you, but I am not such a good hand at letter-writing as I should like to be. I live a rich life here, 'having nothing yet possessing all.' At times I am inclined to believe that I am gradually turning into a cosmopolite; that is, neither a Dutchman, nor an Englishman, nor yet a Frenchman, but simply a man. And as a homeland, the whole world, i.e. a small spot in the world where we are sent to stay. We have not got there yet, though I am straining after it, and perhaps may grasp it. And as my ideal, what Mauve called, “That is it.”
Old girl, à Dieu.
Yours truly, Vincent
A handshake for you and Willem, like old times, till your fingers hurt.
Monday
January 15, 1874
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh.
London.
Many thanks for your letter. My warm good wishes for a very happy New Year. I know you are doing well at The Hague, because Mr. Tersteeg told me so. I can see from your letter that you are taking a keen interest in art, and that's a good thing, old fellow. I'm glad you like Millet, Jacque, Schreyer, Lambinet, Frans Hals, etc., for as Mauve says, “That's it.” That painting by Millet, L'angélus du soir, “that's it,” indeed - that's magnificent, that's poetry. How I wish I could have another talk with you about art; but we'll just have to keep writing to each other about it. Admire as much as you can; most people don't admire enough.
Here are the names of a few the painters I particularly like. Scheffer, Delaroche, Hébert, Hamon, Leys, Tissot, Lagye, Boughton, Millais, Thijs [Matthijs] Mans, De Groux, De Braekeleer, Jr., Millet, Jules Breton, Feyen-Perrin, Eugène Feyen, Brion, Jundt, George Saal, Israëls, Anker, Knaus, Vautier, Jourdan, Jalabert, Antigna, Compte-Calix, Rochussen, Meissonier, Zamacois, Madrazo, Ziem, Boudin, Gérôme, Fromentin, de Tournemine, Pasini, Decamps, Bonington, Diaz, Th. Rousseau, Troyon, Dupré, Paul Huet, Corot, Jacque, Otto Weber, Daubigny, Wahlberg, Bernier, Émile Breton, Chenu, César de Cock, Mile. Collart, Bodmer, Koekkoek, Schelfhout, Weissenbruch, and last [but] not least, Maris and Mauve.
But I could carry on like that for I don't know how long, and then there are still all the old masters, and I am sure I have forgotten some of the best of the modern ones.
Do go on doing a lot of walking and keep up your love of nature, for that is the right way to understand art better and better. Painters understand nature and love her and teach us to see.
And then there are painters who never do anything that is no good, who cannot do anything bad, just as there are ordinary people who can do nothing but good.
I'm getting on very well here. I've got a delightful home and I'm finding it very pleasurable taking a look at London and the English way of life and the English people themselves, and then I've got nature and art and poetry, and if that isn't enough, what is? But I haven't forgotten Holland and especially not The Hague and Brabant.
We are busy at the office doing stocktaking, but it will all be over in 5 days, we got off more lightly than you did in The Hague.
I hope that, like me, you had a happy Christmas.
And so, my boy, best wishes and write to me soon, Je t'écris un peu au hasard ce qui me vient dans ma plume, I hope you'll be able to make something of it.
Goodbye, regards to everybody at work and to anybody else who asks after me, especially everybody at Aunt Fie's and at the Haanebeeks'.
Vincent
I am enclosing a few lines for Mr. Roos.
London.
Many thanks for your letter. My warm good wishes for a very happy New Year. I know you are doing well at The Hague, because Mr. Tersteeg told me so. I can see from your letter that you are taking a keen interest in art, and that's a good thing, old fellow. I'm glad you like Millet, Jacque, Schreyer, Lambinet, Frans Hals, etc., for as Mauve says, “That's it.” That painting by Millet, L'angélus du soir, “that's it,” indeed - that's magnificent, that's poetry. How I wish I could have another talk with you about art; but we'll just have to keep writing to each other about it. Admire as much as you can; most people don't admire enough.
Here are the names of a few the painters I particularly like. Scheffer, Delaroche, Hébert, Hamon, Leys, Tissot, Lagye, Boughton, Millais, Thijs [Matthijs] Mans, De Groux, De Braekeleer, Jr., Millet, Jules Breton, Feyen-Perrin, Eugène Feyen, Brion, Jundt, George Saal, Israëls, Anker, Knaus, Vautier, Jourdan, Jalabert, Antigna, Compte-Calix, Rochussen, Meissonier, Zamacois, Madrazo, Ziem, Boudin, Gérôme, Fromentin, de Tournemine, Pasini, Decamps, Bonington, Diaz, Th. Rousseau, Troyon, Dupré, Paul Huet, Corot, Jacque, Otto Weber, Daubigny, Wahlberg, Bernier, Émile Breton, Chenu, César de Cock, Mile. Collart, Bodmer, Koekkoek, Schelfhout, Weissenbruch, and last [but] not least, Maris and Mauve.
But I could carry on like that for I don't know how long, and then there are still all the old masters, and I am sure I have forgotten some of the best of the modern ones.
Do go on doing a lot of walking and keep up your love of nature, for that is the right way to understand art better and better. Painters understand nature and love her and teach us to see.
And then there are painters who never do anything that is no good, who cannot do anything bad, just as there are ordinary people who can do nothing but good.
I'm getting on very well here. I've got a delightful home and I'm finding it very pleasurable taking a look at London and the English way of life and the English people themselves, and then I've got nature and art and poetry, and if that isn't enough, what is? But I haven't forgotten Holland and especially not The Hague and Brabant.
We are busy at the office doing stocktaking, but it will all be over in 5 days, we got off more lightly than you did in The Hague.
I hope that, like me, you had a happy Christmas.
And so, my boy, best wishes and write to me soon, Je t'écris un peu au hasard ce qui me vient dans ma plume, I hope you'll be able to make something of it.
Goodbye, regards to everybody at work and to anybody else who asks after me, especially everybody at Aunt Fie's and at the Haanebeeks'.
Vincent
I am enclosing a few lines for Mr. Roos.
Saturday
January 6, 1874
[Unpublished Letter from Anna van Gogh to Theo]
Leeuwarden,
6 January 1874
Monday morning at breakfast I found a letter from London, which contained a letter from Vincent and one from Ursula Loyer, both were very kind and amiable. She asks me to write her and Vincent wished very much we should be friends. I'll tell you what he writes about her: “Ursula Loyer is a girl with whom I have agreed that we should consider ourselves each other's brother and sister. You should consider her as a sister too and write to her, and I think you will then soon find out what kind of girl she is. I'll say nothing more than that I never heard or dreamed of anything like the love between her and her mother…Old girl, don't think there is more behind it than I wrote just now, but don't tell them at home; I must do that myself. But again: Love her for my sake.” I suppose there will be a love between those two as between Agnes and David Copperfield. Although I must say that I believe there is more than a brother's love between them, I send you here Ursula's letter and so you can judge for yourself. I hope you will send it back very soon with a long epistle of yourself.
Leeuwarden,
6 January 1874
Monday morning at breakfast I found a letter from London, which contained a letter from Vincent and one from Ursula Loyer, both were very kind and amiable. She asks me to write her and Vincent wished very much we should be friends. I'll tell you what he writes about her: “Ursula Loyer is a girl with whom I have agreed that we should consider ourselves each other's brother and sister. You should consider her as a sister too and write to her, and I think you will then soon find out what kind of girl she is. I'll say nothing more than that I never heard or dreamed of anything like the love between her and her mother…Old girl, don't think there is more behind it than I wrote just now, but don't tell them at home; I must do that myself. But again: Love her for my sake.” I suppose there will be a love between those two as between Agnes and David Copperfield. Although I must say that I believe there is more than a brother's love between them, I send you here Ursula's letter and so you can judge for yourself. I hope you will send it back very soon with a long epistle of yourself.
Monday
November 20, 1873
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
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
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.
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