Even at the risk of my own life

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, September 1885

But tonight I am much too occupied with Lhermitte's drawings to go on writing about other things. When I think of Millet or of Lhermitte, I find modern art as great as Michelangelo and Rembrandt - ancient art is infinite, modern art infinite too - the ancient masters are geniuses - the modern ones are geniuses too. A person like Chenavard does not think so perhaps. But I, for my part, am convinced that in this respect one can have faith in modern art.

The fact that I have a definite belief about art makes me sure of what I want in my own work, and I shall try to reach it even at the risk of my own life.

Letter 423
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Men whose names are unknown

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 2 July 1883

Theo, when you come to the studio someday, I shall be able to show you a collection which you certainly won't find everywhere. I can show you something which might be called the "Hundred Masterpieces" in wood engraving by modern artists. The work of men whose names are unknown even to most connoisseurs.

Who knows Buckmann, who knows the two Greens, who knows Regamey's drawings? Only a very few.

Seen together, one wonders at that firmness of drawing, that personal character, that serious conception and that penetration and artistic elevation of the most ordinary figures and subjects found in the streets, in the market place, in a hospital or an almshouse.

Letter 297
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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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.
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Nothing but routine

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from Nuenen, June 1885

What I said and will say again is - that all too often the word "technique" is used in a conventional sense, that all too often it is not used in good faith. People are praising the technique of all those Italians and Spaniards, and they are men who are more conventional, who have to a greater extent nothing but routine, than anybody else - and I am afraid that with such fellows as Haverman the metier so soon changes into a routine. And then what is it worth?

What I want to ask you now is, What is the real reason you have broken with me?

The reason I am writing you again is just my love for Millet, for Breton and for all those who paint peasants and the common people, and I count you among them.

Letter R52
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Little that has proved lasting

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from Nuenen, June 1885

Repeatedly and ad nauseam in your previous letters you wrote about "technique," which was the reason for the letter to which you did not reply. What I answered to that, and what I answer again is, There is the conventional meaning, which is being given more and more to the word technique, and the real meaning - science. . . .

For instance, they say of Haverman - and so do you - that he has so much technique. . . . What I assert is simply this, that drawing a figure academically correctly - that an even, premeditated stroke of the brush - have little to do - at least less than is generally supposed - with the urgent necessities of the domain of the painting art nowadays.

. . . Perhaps you will understand what I mean if I say that, when Haverman sits before a nice ladylike girl's head, he will make it more beautiful than almost anybody else, but put him before a peasant - and - he won't even start in, his art seeming to apply (as far as I know) principally to subjects that are just about exactly antipodean to Millet's or Lhermitte's - and that are on the contrary rather analogous to Cabanel's, who for all his, what I call, métier, has produced little that has proved lasting, or contributed to progress. And - I beseech you - don't confuse this with the style of painting of a Millet or Lhermitte.

Letter R52
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Maligning the unorthodox

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, early June 1885

But Gerome's "Prisoner," his "Syrian Shepherds" are real, and I admire them just as much as anybody, and willingly and readily. But for the most part he is a second Delaroche, both are of equal value, considered in the framework of their time. Now what I assert and think most probable is that the whole situation will bore you more and more each year. Further, I assert that it is doing a bad turn to others, and especially to oneself, to let oneself be bored. In spite of many wise maxims I have never been able to believe that it may be of any practical use, or for one's own good, to be bored. A good many people have reformed themselves at the age of thirty and have changed considerably. Think this over in all calmness; I tell you that of all I have learned and heard at Goupil & co.'s about art, nothing has held true. If one reverses the commonplaces which count there as the highest wisdom in art matters, namely applauding the former and present Delaroche style and maligning the unorthodox modern painters, I repeat, if one reverses certain sayings - one breathes a purer air.

Letter 411
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Truth has a beauty of its own

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, early June 1884

Fromentin says of Ruysdael that at present they are much further advanced in technique than he was, also much more advanced than Cabat, who sometimes greatly resembles Ruysdael in his stately simplicity, for instance in the picture at the Luxembourg.

But has what Ruysdael, what Cabat, said become untrue or superfluous for that reason? No, it's the same with Israels, with De Groux too (De Groux was very simple).

But if one says what one has to say clearly, strictly speaking, isn't that enough? And it may become more pleasant to hear if it is said with more charm, something I do not disdain, yet it does not add very much to the beauty of what is true, because truth has a beauty of its own.

Letter 371
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I am little curious

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, early June 1884

Well, it is the same with figure painting as it is with landscape. I mean Israels paints a white wall quite differently from Regnault or Fortuny.

And consequently, the figure stands out quite differently against it.

When I hear you mention so many new names, it is not always easy for me to understand because I have seen absolutely nothing of them. And from what you told me about "impressionism," I have indeed concluded that it is different from what I thought, but it's not quite clear to me what it really is.

But for my part, I find Israels, for instance, so enormously great that I am little curious about or desirous for other or newer things.

Letter 371
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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One seeking something true and sound

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, c. 8 May 1883

If I object to a certain new style, this certainly does not refer to the style of Israels, Mauve, Maris - no. No! This is the best style, in my opinion, but something has resulted from it recently which - though there seems to be a resemblance - is in utter contradiction to the style of these masters, and that is what I disapprove of. Van der Weele, for instance, is more serious and keeps to the straight path. I saw his studies last Sunday.

Now I believe that the path you are following is straight too, but I'm not sure that certain things are not divergences in the direction I mentioned just now. I am quite willing to take this opinion back - but it is my impression. Well, I for my part am also trying to find the path I think best, let's say the path of Israels, Mauve, Maris - I have no idea how far I have progressed on it - and know even less how far I shall progress on it - but I have done my best and shall go on doing my best. And this being so, it is as far from my intention as the north is from the south to object to your decorations in the manner or the tone of a schoolmaster; but, on the contrary, I do so as one who is himself seeking after something true and sound - and serious - not because I have found it already, but serious because I am searching for it myself too.

Letter R34
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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What one might be

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, c. 8 May 1883

Do you share my opinion about your responsibility and about what depends on your position? - I'm not quite sure. There are two viewpoints for everyone: what one is and what one might be. In my opinion we must not shut ourselves up in the former with a "clear" conscience. The latter we must consider a formidable reality superior to our feelings; for, however imperfect and full of faults we may be, we shall never be justified in secretly concealing the ideal and all that approaches the eternal, as if all that were none of our business. For a number of reasons I consider your position very important under the present circumstances. Perhaps this makes me feel gloomier toward you. I ask myself, "What shall I do? Whose side is he on?"

Letter R34
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I shrug my shoulders

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, April 1884

If I, for my part, have some confidence in my own work, it is also because it costs me too much effort for me to believe that nothing will be gained by it or that it is done in vain.

And I repeat, I shrug my shoulders at the banalities in which most connoisseurs seem to indulge more and more.

Letter 366
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Poetry on all sides

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 21-28 March 1883

We are surrounded by poetry on all sides, but putting it on paper is, alas, not as readily done as looking at it. . . .

To my mind the cold spell we had last week was the most perfect part of this winter. It was fantastically beautiful, what with the snow and the curious skies. The thawing of the snow today was almost more beautiful still. But it was typical winter weather, if I may call it that - the kind of weather that awakens old memories and lends the most ordinary things the sort of look one cannot help associating with stories from the age of stagecoaches and post chaises.

. . . Lately everything has a certain je ne sais quoi, which makes one feel like getting it down quickly on paper. Still, the whole of nature is an indescribably beautiful Black and White exhibition during such snow effects.

Letter 276
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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More in the thorns

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, c. 5 March 1883

There is no picture of De Bock's that I don't look at with a certain pleasure - there is always something fresh and genial about it. But there is a certain kind of art - perhaps less flowery, more thorny - of which I find more in my own heart.

I know, Ruysdael himself has had his metamorphoses, and perhaps his most beautiful works are not the waterfalls and the grand forest views but L'estacade aux eaux rousses and Le Buisson in the Louvre, The Mill at Wijk bij Duurstede in the Van der Hoop Collection, the Bleacheries at Overveen in the Mauritshuis and other more commonplace things which he turned to in later years, probably under the influence of Rembrandt and Vermeer of Delft. I wish something similar would happen to De Bock, but will this be the case? I should be sorry for him if he did not land more in the thorns than in the flowerets - that's all.

Letter R30
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The painter of humanity

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, c. 5 March 1883

I cannot help having my doubts about De Bock every now and then. My impression of him last year was really not very favorable - he was continually talking about Millet - very good! - and about the greatness and breadth of Millet - I talked with him about it once, for instance, in the country, in the Scheveningse Groves. I said then, "But, De Bock, if Millet were here at this moment, then would he look at those clouds and that grass and those twenty-seven tree trunks and forget that little fellow over there in his bombazine clothes, who is sitting there on the stump of a tree eating his poor-man's lunch, his spade lying at his side? Or do you think that little part of the scene, where the little fellow is sitting, would be the exact spot on which he would concentrate his attention? I don't believe I am less fond of Millet than you are," I said; "it pleases me enormously that you have a certain admiration for Millet - but, pardon me, I don't think Millet would look at the things you point out to me all the time. Millet is primarily, and more than any other, the painter of humanity. He has unquestionably painted landscapes, and they are beautiful - nothing is surer than that - but I find it hard to understand how you can really mean it when you say that you see in Millet principally those things you now point out to me."

Letter R30
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I am not quite satisfied

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 3 March 1883

Among the studies of heads - old men, etc. - which I still have, there are some which I will not be able to improve at once, because there is unquestionably some touch of nature in them, and at the same time something with which I am, of course, not quite satisfied; so I dare not say "I shall do it better in a few days."

But I mean something else by "better drawings," that is, drawn from a different point of view, and with more chiaroscuro in them, of which there is little or none in this winter's studies.

Letter 271
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I hate this so much

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 2 March 1883

I should not want anybody to see just this one sketch of mine, because I myself think nothing is right in this sketch except the general aspect, and I will wrestle with the figures till I get in watercolor what they are beginning to get in lithography - that is, more character and effect.

It is not pleasant to make sketches like the one I sent you, and then not to be able to finish them; I hate this so much that I rarely make them, except as a trial to see if I have made any progress. But now I have new courage and interest, just because I have been making a great many studies again. . . .

The desire to make them is not wanting, but I expect new failures - which I hope, however will have something in them to encourage rather than to make one lose courage though they are failures.

Letter 270
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Yield to what is directly before one

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, c. 18-23 February 1884

The poet Francois Coppee is one of the true artists - “who put their skin in it” - which is evident from more than one poignant confession. Artist the more because he finds his inspiration in so many very diverse things, and can paint a third-class waiting room full of emigrants who are spending the night there - everything gray and gloomy and melancholy - and in another mood he can draw a little marquise dancing a minuet, as elegant as a little figure by Watteau.

That losing oneself in the present - that being quite carried away and inspired by the surroundings in which one chances to be - how can one help it? And even if one should resist it at will, of what use would it be, why shouldn't one yield to what is directly before one, this being apres tout, the surest way to create something.

Letter 357
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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As terrible as suicide

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 20-24 February 1883

Probably most people who read Notre Dame have the impression that Quasimodo was a kind of fool. But, like myself, you would not find Quasimodo ridiculous, and, like myself, you would feel the truth of what Hugo says, "For those who know that Quasimodo once existed, 'Notre Dame' is now empty. For not only did he live there, but he was the soul of it."

. . . One can apply to Thijs Maris the words, "Now there is an emptiness for those that know that it existed, for he was the soul of it, and the soul of this art was him." Well, Thijs Maris still exists, but not in his full bloom and strength, not unscathed; and disenchanted in so far as he can be disenchanted.

One of the most stupid things about the painters here is that even now they laugh at Thijs Maris. I think that as terrible as suicide. Why, as suicide? Because Thijs Maris is so much the personification of everything high and noble that in my opinion a painter cannot mock him without lowering himself. Whoever doesn't understand Maris, so much the worse for him; those who have understood him, mourn him, and regret that such a man has been broken. "A noble blade, a vile sheath" is applicable to Thijs Maris and to Quasimodo. "Within my soul I am beautiful."

Letter 268
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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A certain timidity

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 15 February 1883

Is Jules Goupil's work still good? One is inclined to ask that question when one sees men like Emile Wauters and Hoeterinks, for instance, lose their strong grip on reality, replacing it with things which are correct, yes, and have a delicate sentiment, too, but which do not reach the vigor of their earlier work and instead betray a certain timidity.

And it is sad when it's that way.

Letter 267
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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A passion, a firm hand

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 8 February 1883

I have developed a growing longing to see more of Daumier's work. There is pith and a sober depth in him, he is witty and yet full of sentimental passion; sometimes, for instance in "The Drunkards," and possibly also in "The Barricade," which I do not know, I find a passion which can be compared to the white heat of iron.

The same thing occurs in certain heads by Frans Hals, for instance, it is so sober that it seems cold; but when you look at it for a short while you are astonished to see how someone working apparently with so much emotion and so completely wrapped up in nature had at the same time the presence of mind to put it down with such a firm hand.

Letter 265
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The "nature of things"

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, c.25-30 January 1883

Don't you think there is something very dull about our times? Or am I imagining it? A certain absence of passion and warmth and cordiality - it's true that the “dealers” and such fellows say, "The desired change will come about in the nature of things" (isn't this statement highly satisfactory?), but personally I don't see that “nature of things” so very clearly.

It isn't unpleasant, after all, to study the "Graphics"; yet I can't help thinking very selfishly while doing so, "What business is it of mine? I don't intend to be bored, even if the times are dull." But one isn't always selfish, and as soon as one isn't, one may grieve bitterly over it.

Letter R24
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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So few take an interest in them

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, from The Hague, c.25-30 January 1883

But isn't it queer that in an artistic town like The Hague a man like me should be the highest bidder at a book auction? One would think that other buyers would turn up - but no! I really did not expect to get them.

Before the auction the Jew spoke to me about the "Graphics"; I told him that I should very much like to have them, but that I could not afford to buy something like that. He told me afterward that he had bought them on speculation, because there were hardly any bidders, and if I wanted to have them they were mine. . . .

However glad I am to have them, it makes me sad to think that so few take an interest in them. I think it's wonderful to find such a treasure, but I would rather see so lively an interest in them that I should not be able to get hold of them for the time being.

Oh, Rappard - in many respect it's like this - much that has great value nowadays is ignored and looked down upon as worthless rubbish, garbage, wastepaper.

Letter R24
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The good lasts

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c.25-29 January 1883

The world says, "Too good to last," but for that very reason, because it is rare, the good lasts. It is not produced every day, it will never be achieved mechanically, but what is, is; it is not lost, but lasts. And if another good thing turns up later on, the first retains its value so I think one must not regret that such and such doesn't become more common; even though they are uncommon, the good and beautiful things that exist remain.

Letter 262
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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"Behold, I make all things new"

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Dordrecht, 21 January 1877

Last Sunday, I wrote to Mr. & Mrs. Jones to tell them that I was not coming back, and unintentionally the letter became rather long - out of the fullness of my heart. I wished them to remember me and asked them to wrap my recollection in the cloak of charity.

I have hung in my bedroom the two engravings Christus Consolator that you have given me. I saw the pictures at the museum, as well as Scheffer's "Christ in Gethsemane," which is unforgettable. Then there is a sketch of "Les Douleurs de la Terre" and several drawings, a sketch of his studio, and, as you know, the portrait of his mother. There are still other fine pictures, for instance, Achenbach and Schelfhout and Koekkoek and also a fine Allebe - an old man near the stove. Shall we look at them together someday?

The first Sunday I was here, I heard a sermon on "Behold, I make all things new." This morning I heard the Reverend Mr. Beversen in a little old church. There was Communion, and his text was: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."

Letter 84
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Most people don't admire enough

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from London, January 1874

I can see from your letter that you are taking a keen interest in art, and that's a good thing, old fellow. I'm glad you like Millet, Jacque, Schreyer, Lambinet, Frans Hals, etc., for as Mauve says, "That's it." That painting by Millet, L'angelus du soir, "that's it," indeed - that's magnificent, that's poetry. How I wish I could have another talk with you about art; but we'll just have to keep writing to each other about it. Admire as much as you can; most people don't admire enough. . . .

Do go on doing a lot of walking and keep up your love of nature, for that is the right way to understand art better and better. Painters understand nature and love her and teach us to see.

And then there are painters who never do anything that is no good, who cannot do anything bad, just as there are ordinary people who can do nothing but good.

I'm getting on very well here. I've got a delightful home and I'm finding it very pleasurable taking a look at London and the English way of life and the English people themselves, and then I've got nature and art and poetry, and if that isn't enough, what is?

Letter 13
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The essentially modern painter

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from Nuenen, 24 January 1884

Please write me some more details about the Manet exhibition; tell me which of his pictures are there. I have always found Manet's work very original. Do you know that article of Zola's on Manet? I am sorry to have seen so very few of his pictures. I should especially like to see his figures of nude women. I do not think it exaggerated that some people, for instance Zola, rave about him, though I, for my part, do not think he can be reckoned among the very first of this century. But his is a talent which certainly has its raison d'etre, and that is a great thing in itself. . . . For my part, I cannot agree with Zola's conclusions, as if Manet were a man who opens a new future to modern ideas of art; I consider Millet, not Manet, to be that essentially modern painter who opened a new horizon to many.

Letter 355
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I see that it is progressing

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c.11 January 1883

When you have looked at the studies for some time, I think you will find the same thing in them as in the first two sets, for there must be something of nature in them, as I literally wrested them from nature and worked after the model from beginning to end. I am very anxious to show you the studies - not because I am satisfied with my own work, but because, though I am not satisfied with it, I see that it is progressing, and that something is developing in it which will have some character.

When I came here to this town, what struck me most was, for instance, the Geest and those neighborhoods. And slowly it is taking shape - but - what a struggle to bring such a thing to an end.

Letter 259
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Something of life itself

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 3 January 1883

As to the sentiment of the drawings, I should like to know your opinion because, as I have already said, I myself cannot judge what is or isn't in them.

Or rather, it is because I myself prefer studies like these - even though they are not quite finished and many things in them have been neglected - to drawings with a definite subject: they remind me more vividly of nature itself. You will understand what I mean: there is something of life itself in the real studies, and the person who makes them will not think of himself, but of nature, and so prefer the study to what he may perhaps make of it later - unless something quite different should finally result from the many studies, namely the type distilled from many individuals.

That's the highest thing in art, and there art sometimes rises above nature - in Millet's "Sower," for instance, there is more soul than in an ordinary sower in the field. . . .

By working hard, boy, I hope to succeed in making something good. It isn't there yet, but I aim at it and struggle for it. I want something serious - something Fresh - something with soul in it! Forward - forward.

Letter 257
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Sometime I shall succeed in this

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 28-30 December 1882

In the New Year shall I succeed better in making saleable drawings? or in getting some work from an illustrated paper? Of one thing I am sure, wrestling with nature is no idle work, and though I do not know what the result will be, there must be some result.

I wish you could come to the studio again - not because I can't go on or don't know what to do, but mainly because I am so afraid you will think I am not making progress. And though I cannot show you any definite result, you would see that it is slowly developing, and you would see that I am aiming high. . . .

Thanks for all your faithful friendship, boy, which has again upheld me for a whole year. I wish that for my part I could give you some pleasure, too. Sometime I shall succeed in this.

Letter 255
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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More soul, more love, more heart

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 11 December 1882

Do you know what I think of the copy I'm sending you? It is just like Obach's kind of talk, for instance, the manager of Goupil and Co. in London. And it has success, yes, that has success, yes, that is listened to and that is admired. . . . I respect all kinds of work, I don’t despise Obach, but there are things which I rank infinitely higher than that kind of energy.

I want something more concise, more simple, more serious; I want more soul and more love and more heart.

But you may be sure that I will not and cannot cry out against it, that I will not rebel against it. But it makes me sad, it takes away my pleasure, it upsets me, and personally I am absolutely at a loss about what to do.

Letter 252
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Things are going wrong

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 11 December 1882

The public, yes, one part of it is dissatisfied, but material grandeur also finds applause; however, do not forget that this is merely a straw-fire, and that those who applaud generally do so only because it has become the fashion. But on the day after the banquet, there will be a void - a silence and indifference after all that noise. . . .

Look here, Theo boy, it cuts me to the heart, things are going wrong. You know I would have counted it the highest honor - an ideal, in fact - to contribute to what the Graphic started. The sublime beginning of the Graphic was something like what Dickens was as an author, what the Household Edition of his work was as a publication.

And now everything is gone - once again materialism instead of moral principle.

Letter 252
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The difficult but noble days

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 11 December 1882

They do not think of renewing themselves. Suppose the Graphic, Illustration, or Vie Moderne published an issue full of dull, insignificant things - they'd still sell it by the carload, and by the boatload; the managers would rub their hands and say, "It sells just as well this way; who's the wiser - they swallow it anyhow."

Yes, but if their lordships the managers could follow their publications and see how thousands take the paper up greedily, and then, when they put it down, involuntarily have a feeling of dissatisfaction and disappointment, perhaps their frenzy for current events would abate somewhat. . . .

In the meantime, people intrude themselves, as employees, who would never have been accepted in the difficult but noble days. It is what Zola calls "the triumph of mediocrity." Snobs, nobodies, take the place of workers, thinkers, artists; and it isn't even noticed.

Letter 252
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I hate the thought of it!

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 11 December 1882

Here in The Hague there are clever, great men, I readily admit it; but in many respects what a miserable state of affairs - what intrigues, what quarrels, what jealousy. And in the personality of the successful artists who . . . set the tone, material grandeur is unmistakably substituted for moral grandeur.

I am beginning to feel that if I went, for instance, to England, if I made every effort, I should certainly have a chance of finding a job.

My ideal was to achieve this, and, after all, it still is; this was what enabled me to surmount the enormous difficulties in the beginning. But my heart gets heavy at times when I think of the way things are going, it's not so much fun any more. Of course, I love to do my best on the drawings, but to present myself at all those publishers' offices - oh, I hate the thought of it!

Letter 252
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Moral grandeur dwindles

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 11 December 1882

But how hard-hearted they are, how mistaken they are, if they think they can make everybody believe that material grandeur outweighs moral grandeur, and that any good can be accomplished without the latter.

It is the same with the Graphic as it is with many other things in the realm of art. Moral grandeur dwindles, material grandeur supersedes. But will the much-desired change come? I think that everybody must find that out for himself, but the old parable mentions a broad way which leads to destruction, and a narrow path which leads to another result.

The Graphic started on the narrow path, has now passed to the broad one. This morning I saw the last number, there wasn't a single good thing in it.

Letter 252
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Here I feel something holy

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 11 December 1882

When strong enough to stand on its own feet, the Graphic rented a house and began to print with six machines.

I have full respect for this; here I feel something holy, something noble, something sublime. Then look at that group of great artists, and think of foggy London and the bustle in that small workshop. Moreover, I see in my imagination the draftsmen in their several studios, starting their work with the best enthusiasm.

Letter 252
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Is smartness what must save art?

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 3-5 December 1882

Edwin Edwards, the etcher, for instance, why is his work so splendid, why is he justly ranked among England's best? Because what he aims at is faithfulness and truth. . . .

To a great extent the cause of the evil lies in the fact that the intentions of the great landscape painters have been misconstrued. Hardly anyone knows that the secret of beautiful work lies mainly in truth and sincere sentiment.

Many people cannot help their lack of depth, and they act in good faith as far as they have good faith. . . .

Smartness, as they call it here, the word is used so much - I myself do not know its real meaning, and have heard it applied to very insignificant things - is smartness what must save art? . . . What you say is quite true, "Earnestness is better than irony, no matter how sharp and witty it is." In other words, I should say, "Goodness is worth more than malice," that is self-evident; but many people say, "No, malice, that is it." Well, they will have to reap what they sow.

Letter 251
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Many painters are inveterate liars

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 3-5 December 1882

You will say that everybody has seen landscapes and figures from childhood on. The question is, Has everybody also been thoughtful as a child, has everybody who has seen them really loved the heath, fields, meadows, woods, and the snow and the rain and the storm? Not everybody has done this the way you and I have: a peculiar kind of surroundings and circumstances must contribute to it, and a peculiar kind of temperament and character must help it take root.

I remember letters from you, when you were still in Brussels, with descriptions of landscapes like the one in your last one. Do you know that it is so very, very necessary for honest people to remain in art? I do not mean to say that there are none, but you feel what I mean, and know as well as I how many painters are inveterate liars.

Letter 251
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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The dignity of their calling

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 3-5 December 1882

Indeed, in the field of landscape painting enormous gaps are beginning to show themselves, and I should like to apply Herkomer's words to it: the interpreters allow their cleverness to mar the dignity of their calling. And I believe the public will begin to say: deliver us from artistic compositions, give us back the simple field.

How much good it does one to see a beautiful Rousseau on which he has drudged to keep it true and honest. . . .

Do I want them back or do I want people to imitate them? No, but I want the honesty, the naivete, the truth, to remain. . . .

The real thing is not an absolute copy of nature, but to know nature so well that what one makes is fresh and true - that is what so many lack.

Letter 251
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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I try to work for the truth

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 3-5 December 1882

I have said to myself that my first duty is to try my very best on the drawings. So that I have now made a few new ones since my last letter on the subject. . . .

Now in these drawings I have tried to show my meaning even more clearly than in the old man with his head in his hands. These fellows are all in action, and this fact especially must be kept in mind in the choice of subjects, I think. You know yourself how beautiful the numerous figures in repose, which are done so very, very often, are. They are done more often than figures in action.

It is always very tempting to draw a figure at rest; it is very difficult to express action, and in many people's eyes the former effect is more "pleasant" than anything else. But this "pleasant" aspect must not detract from the truth, and the truth is that there is more drudgery than rest in life. So you see my main idea about all this is - that for my part I try to work for the truth.

It seems to me that the drawings themselves are even more urgent than their reproduction.

Letter 251
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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Prints for the people

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 1 December 1882

It has always been said that in Holland we cannot make prints for the people - I have never been able to believe it, I see now that it can be done

I see that with persistence and perseverance it might become something not at all unnecessary, but definitely good and useful.

The Society for General Welfare has bolstered up Elsevier in Rotterdam with thousands of guilders for the publication of The Swallow. Did The Swallow become a good thing? No, though it had a few beautiful sheets, it was too uninteresting, not serious, not powerful, not strong enough . . . .

So, instead of saying, . . . "It might be done, and if so, we should do it," Elsevier and thousands like him say it can't be done, or they do it sloppily and without enough energy. . . . I know their magazine well enough to take it upon myself to say, "You have not made it what it might have been, it should and might have been better."

So what is needed is courage and self-sacrifice and risking something, not for gain, but because it is useful and good; one must retain one's trust in one's fellow creatures and fellow countrymen in general.

Letter 249
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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"We don't need that any more"

Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 24 November 1882

It is easier to say, as Mesdag did of a certain picture by Heyerdahl, painted with the same sentiment as that of Murillo or Rembrandt, which he didn't want to buy from you, "Oh, that's the old style - we don't need that any more," than it is to replace that old style by something as good, let alone something superior.

And as many people these days argue the same way as Mesdag, without thinking much about it, it can do no harm if others reflect whether we are in this world to tear down instead of build up. The expression "We don't need that any more" - how readily it is used, and what a stupid and ugly phrase it is. In one of his fairy tales Andersen puts it, I think, not in a human being's mouth, but in an old pig's.

Letter 247
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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It's not that I disapprove of everything in the present

I often disliked many things in England, but that Black and White and Dickens are things which make up for it all. I speak from my own experience. It's not that I disapprove of everything in the present, far from it, but still it seems to me that something of the fine spirit of that time which ought to have been preserved is disappearing - in art especially. But also in life itself. Perhaps I express myself too vaguely, but I cannot say it differently - I don't know exactly what it is, but it is not just the Black and White which changed its course and deviated from its healthy, noble beginning. Rather, there is in general a kind of skepticism and indifference and coolness, notwithstanding all the activity. But all this is too vague, too indefinite. I do not think too much about it, because I think of my drawings and have no time to spare.

To Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 25-29 January 1883, Letter 262
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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He saw the sublime in the most ordinary, commonplace things

To you and me there appeared on the cold cruel pavement a sad pitiful woman's figure, and neither you nor I passed it by - we both stopped and followed the human impulse of our hearts.

Such an encounter has the quality of an apparition about it, at least when one recalls it; one sees a pale face, a sorrowful look like an Ecce Homo on a dark background - all the rest disappears. That is the sentiment of an Ecce Homo, and there is the same expression in reality, but in this case it is on a woman's face. Later it certainly becomes different - but one never forgets that first expression....

Underneath a figure of an English woman (by Paterson) is written the name Dolorosa; that expresses it well.

I was thinking of the two women now, and at the same time I thought of a drawing by Pinwell, “The Sisters,” in which I find that Dolorosa expression. - That drawing represents two women in black, in a dark room; one has just come home and is hanging her coat on the rack. The other is smelling a primrose on the table while picking up some white sewing.

That Pinwell reminds one a little of Feyen-Perrin - in his early work; it also reminds one of Thijs Maris, but with an even purer sentiment.

He was such a poet that he saw the sublime in the most ordinary, commonplace things. His work is rare - I saw very little of it, but that little was so beautiful that now, at least ten years later, I see it as clearly as I did the first time.

To Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, c. 25-29 January 1883, Letter 262
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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