My conviction is a part of myself
Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from Nuenen, second half of August 1885
And as for other questions - I cannot always keep quiet under it; now and then it seems to me as though people were touching my body, so much do I feel taken up by the question, and so much is my conviction a part of myself.
. . . My other work proves so clearly that I render what I see that people cannot be justified, or speaking in good faith, when they judge my work otherwise than as a whole and in a broader way, taking into account my purpose and endeavor - namely to paint le paysan chez soi, peasants in their surroundings.
Now you call the aggregate of my work utterly weak, and you demonstrate at great length that its deficiencies exceed its good qualities.
Thus about my work, thus about my person.
Well, I won't accept this - never.
Letter R57
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
And as for other questions - I cannot always keep quiet under it; now and then it seems to me as though people were touching my body, so much do I feel taken up by the question, and so much is my conviction a part of myself.
. . . My other work proves so clearly that I render what I see that people cannot be justified, or speaking in good faith, when they judge my work otherwise than as a whole and in a broader way, taking into account my purpose and endeavor - namely to paint le paysan chez soi, peasants in their surroundings.
Now you call the aggregate of my work utterly weak, and you demonstrate at great length that its deficiencies exceed its good qualities.
Thus about my work, thus about my person.
Well, I won't accept this - never.
Letter R57
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
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