There is nothing more solid than a handicraft
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 14-18 March 1882
You mustn’t imagine that I have overlooked the change in your financial circumstances which a change of career would entail. But what makes me mention this matter to you at all is that although I find myself in financial difficulties, I nevertheless have the feeling that there is nothing more solid than a ‘handicraft’ in the literal sense of working with one's hands. If you became a painter, one of the things that would surprise you is that painting and everything connected with it is quite hard work in physical terms. Leaving aside the mental exertion, the hard thought, it demands considerable physical effort, and that day after day.
Letter 182
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
You mustn’t imagine that I have overlooked the change in your financial circumstances which a change of career would entail. But what makes me mention this matter to you at all is that although I find myself in financial difficulties, I nevertheless have the feeling that there is nothing more solid than a ‘handicraft’ in the literal sense of working with one's hands. If you became a painter, one of the things that would surprise you is that painting and everything connected with it is quite hard work in physical terms. Leaving aside the mental exertion, the hard thought, it demands considerable physical effort, and that day after day.
Letter 182
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
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