The inner struggle of his own private life
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 11 March 1882
When by chance I mentioned De Groux's name in speaking about expression, C. M. said abruptly, “But do you not know that in private life De Groux has a bad reputation?”
As you can imagine, C. M. touched a delicate point there, and ventured on slippery ground. I could not stand to hear this said of honest father De Groux. So I replied, “It has always seemed to me that when an artist shows his work to the public, he has the right to keep the inner struggle of his own private life to himself (which is directly and inevitably connected with the peculiar difficulties involved in producing a work of art), unless he wants to confide them to a very intimate friend. I repeat, it is very improper for a critic to dig up a man's private life when his work is above reproach. . . .”
(To any other but C. M. I would have expressed myself more briefly and strongly by saying, An artist's work and his private life are like a woman in childbirth and her baby. You may look at the child, but you may not lift her chemise to see if it is bloodstained. That would be very indelicate on the occasion of a post-partum visit.)
Letter 181
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
When by chance I mentioned De Groux's name in speaking about expression, C. M. said abruptly, “But do you not know that in private life De Groux has a bad reputation?”
As you can imagine, C. M. touched a delicate point there, and ventured on slippery ground. I could not stand to hear this said of honest father De Groux. So I replied, “It has always seemed to me that when an artist shows his work to the public, he has the right to keep the inner struggle of his own private life to himself (which is directly and inevitably connected with the peculiar difficulties involved in producing a work of art), unless he wants to confide them to a very intimate friend. I repeat, it is very improper for a critic to dig up a man's private life when his work is above reproach. . . .”
(To any other but C. M. I would have expressed myself more briefly and strongly by saying, An artist's work and his private life are like a woman in childbirth and her baby. You may look at the child, but you may not lift her chemise to see if it is bloodstained. That would be very indelicate on the occasion of a post-partum visit.)
Letter 181
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
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