The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics)

Product Information

Be warned, most of what you'll read is about money, painting supplies, and what he happened to be working on at the moment and when he expected to finish, but he will occasionally talk about his philosophies on art and his personal thoughts and troubles. Pomerans believes the letters to be on the level of "world literature" based on style and the ability to express himself. there is something of Rembrandt in Shakespeare, something of Correggio in Michelet and something of Delacroix in V. Van Gogh himself had, however, quite a different opinion, seeing his suffering and illness as a distraction or an obstacle, something to be endured but not sought. I should like to show by my work that the heart of such a nonentity, such an insignificant man, conceals.

The letters can be read as an autobiography of an artist; time spent in Brabant, Paris and London, The Hague, Drenthe, Nuenen, Antwerp, Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers chronicle his corporal travels as well as his artistic growth. Nevertheless, it is to these letters between the brothers that is owed much of what is known today about Vincent van Gogh. At some point, the constant practice of his craft would have allowed him to paint pictures that would sell.A woman is a ‘quiet different being’ from a man and a being we do not yet know, or at best only superficially, as you put it, yes, that I am sure. about various works, I have taken notes on works so when I go to look at them I can also reflect on van gogh's feelings about the work.

In a fit of epilepsy, van Gogh pursued his friend with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. The colour of the tree, the colour of his table, the colour of the grass, the colour of the sun, the colour of someone's coat… He does not discuss compositions or arrangements or drawing. If you enjoyed The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, you might also like 100 Artists Manifestos, available in Penguin Modern Classics.His writing style in the letters reflects the literature he read and valued: Balzac, historians such as Michelet, and naturalists such as Zola, Voltaire and Flaubert. But the letters selected (mostly to Van Gogh's brother Theo) tell a fairly complete story of Van Gogh's inner life. He was deeply religious as a younger man and aspired to be a pastor and from 1879 worked as a missionary in a mining region in Belgium where he sketched people from the local community. With such a personal approach to his art we should not be surprised that his stated favourite genre was portraiture-- of others and of himself. For instance, he came up with the Starry Night and pondered painting it for two years before actually doing it.

Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment. On the contrary as his own words say "what am I, but a friend of nature, of study, of work, and above all, of man. The letters effectively play much the same role in shedding light on the art of the period as those between the de Goncourt brothers do for literature.Yet it cannot be said that Van Gogh wagered everything on his talent, since there is not even a hint of calculation or self-interest in his continuing persistence. What comforts me is that I am beginning to look upon madness as a disease like any other and accept it as such. A year later he began studying in Paris, where he met Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Seurat, who became very important influences on his work. His paintings grew brighter in colour, and he developed the unique and highly recognizable style that became fully realized during his stay in Arles in 1888.

Not to mention the glimpse these letters give you of true friendship and devotion between Vincent and Theo. The brothers had agreed that in exchange for providing Vincent with a monthly allowance, Theo would receive all of his artworks. I'm not sure why it was such a shock, but I didn't expect the language to be descriptive, imaginative, piercing. Not only do they throw light on Van Gogh’s own complex and intriguing character, they enlighten the whole creative process as seen through his eyes. Vincent Willem van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland.From English literature his favourites were clearly Charles Dickens and, very dear to him, George Eliot. Vincent was a deeply spiritual person who never, during his lifetime, received the recognition that he so richly deserved.