One unconsciously makes it hard for oneself
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 8 February 1883
Since I wrote to you last, I have given my eyes some rest and it has done me good, though they still ache now and then.
Do you know what has come into my mind, that in the first period of a painter's life one unconsciously makes it very hard for oneself - a feeling of not being able to master the work - by an uncertainty as to whether one will ever master it - by a great ambition to make progress, by a lack of self-confidence - one cannot banish a certain feeling of agitation, and one hurries oneself though one doesn't like to be hurried.
This cannot be helped, and it is a time which one must go through, and which in my opinion cannot and should not be otherwise.
Letter 265
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
Since I wrote to you last, I have given my eyes some rest and it has done me good, though they still ache now and then.
Do you know what has come into my mind, that in the first period of a painter's life one unconsciously makes it very hard for oneself - a feeling of not being able to master the work - by an uncertainty as to whether one will ever master it - by a great ambition to make progress, by a lack of self-confidence - one cannot banish a certain feeling of agitation, and one hurries oneself though one doesn't like to be hurried.
This cannot be helped, and it is a time which one must go through, and which in my opinion cannot and should not be otherwise.
Letter 265
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
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