“Things that don't sell”

The substance of what Mauve has said up to now is, “Vincent, when you draw, you are a painter.”

And therefore I have worked, and worked hard, on drawing, on proportion, on perspective, for weeks and weeks; Tersteeg doesn't fully appreciate this and only talks about “things that don't sell.” . . .

I would rather go without dinner for six months and save in that way than occasionally receive 10 guilders from Tersteeg accompanied by his reproaches.

I should like to know what painters would say to his argument, “Work less from the model because it is cheaper,” when after a long search one has found models who are not too expensive.

Working without a model is the ruin of a painter of the figure.

To Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 5-9 March 1882, Letter 179
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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