Public appreciation
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 2 July 1883
There is an etching by Legros, Carlyle in his study, which I often have in mind when I want to think of Millet, for instance, as he really was. Something like what Victor Hugo says about Aeschylus, "They killed the man, then they said: Let us erect a bronze statue for Aeschylus", always comes to my mind when I hear of an exhibition of somebody's works. I care very little for "la statue de bronze," not because I do not approve of public appreciation, but because of the thoughts about the man which accompany it: Aeschylus was simply banished, but here too the banishment was a death sentence, as it often is.
Letter 297
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
There is an etching by Legros, Carlyle in his study, which I often have in mind when I want to think of Millet, for instance, as he really was. Something like what Victor Hugo says about Aeschylus, "They killed the man, then they said: Let us erect a bronze statue for Aeschylus", always comes to my mind when I hear of an exhibition of somebody's works. I care very little for "la statue de bronze," not because I do not approve of public appreciation, but because of the thoughts about the man which accompany it: Aeschylus was simply banished, but here too the banishment was a death sentence, as it often is.
Letter 297
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
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