Always
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, June 1885
That passage from "Germinal" I copied for you lately had struck me particularly, because at the time I had almost literally the same longing to be something like a grass mower or a navvy.
And I was sick of the boredom of civilization. It is better, one is happier if one carries it out - literally though - one feels at least that one is really alive. And it is a good thing in winter to be deep in the snow, in the autumn deep in the yellow leaves, in summer among the ripe corn, in spring amid the grass; it is a good thing to be always with the mowers and the peasant girls, in summer with a big sky overhead, in winter by the fireside, and to feel that it always has been and always will be so.
One may sleep on straw, eat black bread, well, one will only be the healthier for it.
Letter 413
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
That passage from "Germinal" I copied for you lately had struck me particularly, because at the time I had almost literally the same longing to be something like a grass mower or a navvy.
And I was sick of the boredom of civilization. It is better, one is happier if one carries it out - literally though - one feels at least that one is really alive. And it is a good thing in winter to be deep in the snow, in the autumn deep in the yellow leaves, in summer among the ripe corn, in spring amid the grass; it is a good thing to be always with the mowers and the peasant girls, in summer with a big sky overhead, in winter by the fireside, and to feel that it always has been and always will be so.
One may sleep on straw, eat black bread, well, one will only be the healthier for it.
Letter 413
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
Labels: ideal, other, spirituality
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