The sacrifice of the whole man

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, 18-19 September 1882

I am organizing my whole life so as to do the things of everyday life that Dickens describes and the artists I've mentioned draw. Millet says, “Dans l’art - il faut y mettre sa peau” - yes, art demands the sacrifice of the whole man. I have engaged in the struggle, I know what I want . . . . My intercourse with artists has stopped almost completely, without my being able to explain precisely how and why this has come about. All kinds of eccentric and bad things are thought and said about me, which makes me feel somewhat forlorn now and then, but on the other hand it concentrates my attention on the things that never change - that is to say, the eternal beauty of nature. Often I think of the old story of Robinson Crusoe, who did not lose courage in his isolation, but managed to create a round of activities for himself so that through his own seeking and toiling his life became very active and animated.

Letter R13
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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