The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

''The Letters of Vincent van Gogh'' refers to a collection of 903 surviving letters written (820) or received (83) by Vincent van Gogh."Overview of all the letters"
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam. Retrieved November 4, 2015. More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo."Van Gogh as letter-writer"
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam. Retrieved October 19, 2015. The collection also includes letters van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil and other relatives, as well as between artists such as Paul Gauguin, Anthon van Rappard, and Émile Bernard.Pomerans (1997), xiii

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, the wife of Vincent's brother Theo, spent many years after her husband's death in 1891 compiling the letters, which were first published in 1914. Arnold Pomerans, editor of a 1966 selection of the letters, wrote that Theo "was the kind of man who saved even the smallest scrap of paper", and it is to this trait that the public owes the 663 letters from Vincent.

By contrast, Vincent infrequently kept letters sent to him and just 84 have survived, of which 39 were from Theo. Nevertheless, it is to these letters between the brothers that is owed much of what is known today about Vincent van Gogh. The only period where the public is relatively uninformed is the Parisian period when they shared an apartment and had no need to correspond. 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.Pomerans (1997), xv–xvii

Background and publication history

Theo van Gogh's wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, devoted many years to compiling the letters about which she wrote: "When as Theo's young wife I entered in 1889, our flat in the Cité Pigalle in Paris, I found at the bottom of a small desk a drawer full of letters from Vincent". Within two years both brothers were dead: Vincent as the result of a gunshot wound, and Theo from illness. Johanna began the task of completing the collection, which was published in full in January 1914. That first edition consisted of three volumes, and was followed in 1952–1954 by a four-volume edition that included additional letters. Jan Hulsker suggested, in 1987, that the letters be organized in date order, and undertaking that began in 1994 when the Van Gogh Letter Project was initiated by the Van Gogh Museum. The project consists of a complete annotated collection of letters written by and to Vincent.

Exhibition and early publication

In the last days of December 1901, running through January 1902, Bruno Cassirer and his cousin Paul Cassirer organized the first van Gogh exhibition in Berlin, Germany. Paul Cassirer first established a market for van Gogh, and then, with the assistance of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, controlled market prices. In 1906 Bruno Cassirer published a small volume of selected letters of Vincent's to Theo van Gogh, translated into German.

The letters

Of the 844 surviving letters that van Gogh wrote, 663 were written to Theo, 9 to Theo and Jo. Of the letters Vincent received from Theo, only 39 survive. The first letter was written when Vincent was 19 and begins, "My dear Theo". At that time Vincent was not yet developed as a letter writer – he was factual, but not introspective. When he moved to London, and later to Paris, he began to add more personal information.

Beginning in 1888 and ending a year later, van Gogh wrote 22 letters to Émile Bernard in which the tone is different from those to Theo. In these letters, van Gogh wrote more about his techniques, his use of color, and his theories.

The letters as literature

Van Gogh was an avid reader, and his letters reflect his literary pursuits as well as a uniquely authentic literary style. 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. Additionally he read novels written by George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë, and Charles Dickens, as well as John Keats's poetry, reading mostly at night when the light was too poor for painting. Gauguin told him "that he read too much".

Van Gogh scholar Jan Hulsker wrote of van Gogh's letters, "Vincent was able to express himself splendidly, and it is this remarkable writing talent that has secured the letters their lasting place in world literature". Poet W. H. Auden wrote about the letters, "there is scarcely one letter by van Gogh which I ... do not find fascinating". Pomerans believes the letters to be on the level of "world literature" based on style and the ability to express himself. In the letters Vincent reflects different facets of his personality and he adopts a tone specific to his circumstances. At the time he went through a stage of religious fanaticism, his letters fully reflect his thoughts; at the time he was involved with Sien Hoornik his letters reflect his feelings.

The letters as chronicle of an artist's life

Van Gogh's letters paint a chronicle of an artist's life, with the notable omission of the period when he lived in Paris and therefore had no need to correspond with his brother. 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. Sometimes Vincent wrote Theo every day—beyond the need to acknowledge financial support, describing England and the Netherlands. He included in the letters sketches of common people, such as miners and farmers, for he believed the poor would inherit the earth. Van Gogh's spiritual and theological thought and convictions are revealed in his letters throughout his life.

Sketches from the letters

File:Vincent van Gogh - The Schenkweg (JH93).jpg, Sketch of the view from his studio window in letter 200 (F-, JH930)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Rooftops (JH157).jpg, Sketch of ''Roofs Seen from the Artist's Attic Window'' in letter 251 (F-, JH157)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Pollard Willow (JH165).jpg, Sketch of ''Pollard Willow'' in letter 252 (F-, JH165)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Girl in White in the Woods JH183.jpg, Sketch in letter 261.
File:Van-Gogh-Perspective-frame.jpg, A sketch of the final perspective frame with adjustable legs he had had made in The Hague, 1882.
File:VG-using-perspective-frame.jpg, A sketch illustrating how he planned to use his new perspective frame with adjustable legs in the dunes at Scheveningen, 1882.
File:The Public-Soup-Kitchen F271 Vincent van Gogh.jpg, ''The Public Soup Kitchen'', letter sketch, 1883, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F271)
File:The Public-Soup-Kitchen F272 Vincent van Gogh.jpg, ''The Public Soup Kitchen'', letter sketch, 1883, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F272)
File:Vincent van Gogh - The Public Soup Kitchen JH332.jpg, Sketch in letter 324 (F-, JH332)
File:Vincent van Gogh - The Public Soup Kitchen F1020.jpg, Sketch in letter 323 (F1020, JH333)
File:Vincent Willem van Gogh letter sketch.jpg, ''Langlois Bridge near Arles'', (Sketch from letter to Émile Bernard), March 1888, J. P. Morgan Library, New York City (JH 1370)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Vincent's Bedroom - Lettersketch 17 October 1888.jpg, ''Vincent's Bedroom in Arles,'' Letter Sketch October 1888, Pierpont Morgan Library
File:Vincent van Gogh - Vincent's Bedroom in Arles - Letter Sketch October 1888.jpg, ''Vincent's Bedroom in Arles,'' Letter Sketch October 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (JH 1609) letter 554
File:GUGG Letter to John Peter Russell.jpg, Letter to John Peter Russell, 1888, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
File:Van Gogh - Marguerite Gachet am Klavier1.jpeg, ''Marguerite Gachet on the Piano,'' letter sketch, Auvers, June 1890, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (JH 2049)
File:Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers Berceuse triptych - letter.jpg, Sketch of the Sunflower triptych in a letter to Theo
File:Vincent van Gogh - Letter VGM 491 - The Yellow House F1453 JH 1590.jpg, ''The Yellow House at Arles'' in letter VGM 491
File:Doctor Gachet letter sketch.png, ''Doctor Gachet'' (F - / JH 2008), letter 877.
File:Marie Ginoux (‘The Arlésienne’) and after Pierre Puvis de Chavannes letter sketches.png, (left) ''Marie Ginoux (‘The Arlésienne’)'' (F - / JH 1896). Colour notations: ‘blanc’ (white) (upper left and right); ‘blanc’ (white) and ‘vert’ (green) (on the shawl); ‘rose’ (pink) (on the dress); ‘vert’ (green) (on the table), letter 879.
File:Wheatfields letter sketch.png, ''Wheatfields'' (F / - JH 2100), letter 902.

John Peter Russell

Australian Impressionist painter; worked with Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet at Belle-Ile.

The Yellow House

'' The Bedroom'' celebrates Van Gogh’s long-waited occupation of his ‘Yellow House.'" Van Gogh occupied one of the rooms on the first floor next to his guest room, where Paul Gauguin sojourned for nine weeks. ''The'' ''Chair'' takes the daily object from his bedroom; van Gogh also painted
Gauguin’s Chair
' as the title suggests. He rendered different personalities of Gauguin and himself through artistic styles.

''The Sower''

Van Gogh looked at Francois Millet but re-adapted the interpretation of a peasant. He destabilized the lyrical quality of peasantry figures of Millet and sought to display the nature of peasantry as tough labor. The peasantry spirit in van Gogh’s paintings is further displayed in
Patience Escalier
'.

Marie Ginoux

Wife of Joseph Ginoux, a friend of van Gogh; owner of van Gogh’s preferred coffee shop, the Café de la Gare

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