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| Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(c. 25-29 January 1883)
... never forgets that first expression-
I think it probable that your meeting this woman will take
your thoughts back to the period some ten or even twenty years
ago, and even further back.
Anyway, what I mean is that you will rediscover in her, a
phase of your own life you had nearly forgotten - that is to
say, the past - and I do not know whether, after having been
with her for a year, you will view the present with the same
eyes as, for instance, before you knew her.
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... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(8 February 1883)
... I had better tear up this letter as well.
I understand perfectly that you are quite absorbed by the
condition of the woman; that is one of the things which are
necessary for her rescue, and also for her recovery.
For one must throw oneself headlong into it, and the English
saying is true: “If you want it well done, you must do it
yourself, you mustn't leave it to others.” That means
that one must keep in hand the care in general and the
management of the whole.
We had a few real spring days, for instance last Monday,
which I enjoyed very much.
The cycle of the seasons is a thing which is strongly felt
by the people. For instance, in a neighbourhood like the Geest
and in those courts of almshouses or “homes of
charity,” the winter is always a difficult, anxious and
oppressive time, and spring is a deliverance. If one pays
attention, one sees that such a first spring day is a kind of
Gospel message.
And it is pathetic to see so many grey,... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(11 February 1883)
... becomes good - at least,
energetic.
Yes, I often think of what you wrote me recently. I think
there must be a great difference between the woman you met and
the one I have already lived with for a full year, but what
they have in common is their misfortune and their sex.
Don't you also think that if one meets someone in such a way
- I mean, so weak and defenseless - something makes one
surrender completely, so that one cannot imagine ever being
able to desert such a person? Generally speaking, such an
encounter is an apparition. Have you read Erckmann-Chatrian's
Madame Thérèse? It has a description of a woman
who is recovering - very touching and beautiful; it is a simple
book, but at the same time, deep.
If you don't know Madame Thérèse, do read it.
I think she will like it too, and be touched by it.
At times I regret that the woman with whom I live
understands neither books nor art. But (though she definitely
can't) doesn't my still... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(c. 15 February 1883)
... was very
welcome, it helps me a great deal. I begin by telling you that
it takes a load off my mind to know that the past of the woman
whom you write about is quite different from what I first
supposed. Namely that she has known other things beside poverty
and narrow-mindedness, so that I suppose she can fully
appreciate you with regard to culture and broad-mindedness too,
more than a woman who has been crushed by misery from childhood
on and knows no better. From what you say about her reading,
for instance, I see she has a sentiment which many other women
completely lack.
Social standing and her experience contribute to the
formation of her character, and, I think, make her entirely
suitable for you. Certainly you will be doubly, doubly happy
when she recovers. And I wish from the bottom of my heart that
she might become your wife, for a woman turns life into
something so very different.
And what is a woman like her without a man to appreciate and
understand her? Something... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(c. 20-24 February 1883)
... but this house hasn't anything like that.
I am very eager for your letter and news of your patient. I
hope that she is in good spirits and that the recovery is
normal and rapid. But sometimes things don't go so smoothly and
rapidly, there is almost always some complication or other - at
least, one must always be watchful.
Last week I again read Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, which I
had already read, more than ten years ago. Do you know what I
found in it, at least, thought I found in it, so that I don't
doubt Victor Hugo meant such a thing? I found Thijs Maris in
Quasimodo.
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, “Pour ceux qui savent que
Quasimodo a existé, maintenant `Notre Dame' est vide.
Car non seulement il en était l'habitant mais il en
était l'âme.” [“For... |
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