Something of the eternal
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Arles, 3 September 1888
Oh, my dear boy, sometimes I know so well what I want. I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, ill as I am, do without something which is greater than I, which is my life - the power to create.
And if, defrauded of the power to create physically, a man tries to create thoughts in place of children, he is still very much part of humanity.
And in a picture I want to say something comforting as music is comforting. I want to paint men and women with that something of the eternal which the halo used to symbolize, and which we seek to confer by the actual radiance and vibration of our colorings.
Ah! portraiture, portraiture with the thought, the soul of the model in it, that is what I think must come.
Letter 531
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
Oh, my dear boy, sometimes I know so well what I want. I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, ill as I am, do without something which is greater than I, which is my life - the power to create.
And if, defrauded of the power to create physically, a man tries to create thoughts in place of children, he is still very much part of humanity.
And in a picture I want to say something comforting as music is comforting. I want to paint men and women with that something of the eternal which the halo used to symbolize, and which we seek to confer by the actual radiance and vibration of our colorings.
Ah! portraiture, portraiture with the thought, the soul of the model in it, that is what I think must come.
Letter 531
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
Labels: calling, humanity, spirituality
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home