Consoling things
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Saint-Remy, 15 December 1889
I remember the picture by Manet you speak of. The “Portrait of a Man” by Puvis de Chavannes has always remained the ideal in figure to me, an old man reading a yellow novel, and beside him a rose and some watercolor brushes in a glass of water - and the “Portrait of a Lady” that he had at the same exhibition, a woman already old, but exactly as Michelet felt, There is no such thing as an old woman. These are consoling things, to see modern life as something bright, in spite of its inevitable griefs.
Last year around this time I certainly did not think that I should ever get over it as much as this.
Letter 617
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
I remember the picture by Manet you speak of. The “Portrait of a Man” by Puvis de Chavannes has always remained the ideal in figure to me, an old man reading a yellow novel, and beside him a rose and some watercolor brushes in a glass of water - and the “Portrait of a Lady” that he had at the same exhibition, a woman already old, but exactly as Michelet felt, There is no such thing as an old woman. These are consoling things, to see modern life as something bright, in spite of its inevitable griefs.
Last year around this time I certainly did not think that I should ever get over it as much as this.
Letter 617
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
Back to The Way of Vincent: Making art no matter what
Labels: humanity
posted by Jeffrois at 5:04 AM
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