Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (c. 20 May 1888) ... My dear Theo,
What you write about your visits to Gruby has distressed me,
but all the same I am relieved that you went. Has it occurred
to you that the dazedness - the feeling of extreme lassitude -
may have been caused by this weakness of the heart, and in this
case the iodide of potassium would have nothing to do with the
feeling of collapse?
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (26 May 1888) ... will not be as easy to get hold of.
How are you? Have you seen old Gruby again? I rather think
that he exaggerates the heart trouble, a little to the
detriment of the drastic treatment that you need for your
nerves.
But in the end he will come to see it in proportion as you
follow his treatment; with Gruby you will survive, but
unfortunately for us, it is more than the old boy will do
himself, for he is aging, and when the time comes when we shall
need him most, he won't be there.
I feel more and more that we must not judge of God from this
world, it's just a study that didn't come off. What can you do
with a study that has gone wrong? - if you are fond of the
artist, you do not find much to criticize - you hold your
tongue. But you have the right to ask for something better. We
should have to see other works by the same hand though; this
world was evidently slapped together in a hurry on one of his
bad days, when the artist didn't know what he was doing or
didn't have...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (28 May 1888) ... too - with my continual need of money.
It seems to me that what these people ask of you would be
reasonable enough if they first agreed to give you a year's
leave (on full pay) to regain your health. You would devote
that year to going around and revisiting all the impressionists
and the impressionist collectors. That would still be working
in the interests of Boussod & Co. And after that you'd set
off with a steadier health and nerves, and be able to start
fresh business there.
But taking the chestnuts out of the fire for these people in
your present condition means utterly exhausting yourself within
a year. And that's no good to anyone.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (c. 25 July 1888) ... two portraits now, the Zouave and her.
Take care of your health, above all take baths if Gruby
recommends it, for in the four years by which I am older
than you, you will see how necessary comparatively good health
is for being able to work. Now for us who work with our brains,
our one and only hope of not breaking down too soon is this
artificial eking-out by an up-to-date hygienic regimen
rigorously applied, as much as we can stand. Because I for one
do not do everything I ought. And a bit of cheerfulness is
better than all the other remedies.
I have had a letter from Russell. He says that he would have
written me before if he hadn't been busy moving to Belle Ile.
He is there now, and says that he would be pleased if sooner or
later I would go and spend some time there. He still wants to
repaint my portrait. He says too - “I should have gone to
Boussod's to see Gauguin's `Negresses Talking' if the same
thing had not prevented me from that too.”
In...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (28 September 1888) ... and the 50
francs note that it contained. It is not good that the pains in
the leg have come back - my god - it would be good it if it was
possible if you could live in the Midi too, because I always
think that we need each other, and the sun and good weather and
the blue air are the strongest remedy. The weather here remains
beautiful, and if it is always like this then it would be
better than the paradise of those painters who are in Japan
itself. I think about you and Gauguin and about Bernard all the
time and everywhere. It is so beautiful and I would so like to
see everybody here.
Included a small sketch of a 30 square
canvas - in short the starry sky painted by night, actually
under a gas jet . The sky is aquamarine, the water is royal
blue, the ground is mauve. The town is blue and purple. The gas
is yellow and the reflections are russet gold descending down
to green-bronze. On the aquamarine field of the sky the Great
Bear is a sparkling green and pink, whose discreet...
