Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (13 December 1872) ... Dear Theo,
What good news I've just read in Father's letter. I wish you
luck with all my heart. I'm sure you will like it there, it's
such a fine firm. It will be quite a change for you.
I am so glad that both of us are now to be in the same
profession and in the same firm. We must be sure to write to
each other regularly.
I hope that I'll see you before you leave, we still have a
lot to talk about. I believe that Brussels is a very pleasant
city, but it's bound to feel strange for you in the beginning.
Write to me soon in any case. Well, goodbye for now, this is
just a brief note dashed off in haste, but I had to tell you
how delighted I am at the news. Best wishes, and believe me,
always,
Your loving brother,
Vincent
I don't envy you having to walk to Oisterwijk every day in
this awful weather. Regards from the Roos family.
...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (January 1873) ... My dear Theo,
I heard from home that you arrived safe and sound at
Brussels and that your first impression was good.
I know so well how strange you must feel in the beginning,
but don't lose courage, you'll get on all right.
You must soon write me how you are getting along and how you
like your boardinghouse. I hope it will be satisfactory. Father
wrote me that you are on good terms with Mr. Schmidt; that is
right - I think he is a good fellow from whom you can learn a
great deal.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (28 January 1873) ... Dear Theo,
I was glad you answered me so soon and that you like
Brussels and have found a nice boarding-house. Don't lose heart
if it is very difficult at times, everything will come out all
right and nobody can in the beginning do as he wishes.
How I pity Uncle Hein, I heartily hope he will recover, but,
Theo, I fear he will not. Last summer he was still full of
enthusiasm and had so many plans and told me that business was
flourishing. It's very sad. Last Sunday I was at Uncle Cor's
and spent a very pleasant day there as you can imagine, and saw
so many beautiful things. As you know, Uncle has just come back
from Paris and brought some beautiful pictures and drawings
with him. I remained in Amsterdam till Monday morning and went
to see the museums again. Do you know that they are going to
build a large new museum in Amsterdam, instead of the
Trippenhuis? I think it is right, for the Trippenhuis is small
and many pictures are hung so that they can hardly be seen.
How I...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (13 September 1873) ... was a very clever picture by Prinsep.
I just received your letter. Going to The Hague will be a
great change for you. I imagine it will be hard to leave
beautiful, pleasant Brussels, but you will enjoy The Hague,
too. Thanks for what you wrote me about the pictures. That
picture by Millet must have been splendid. À Dieu, I
will write soon again.
...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to The van Stockum-Haanebeek family (October 1873) ... we have occasionally spoken about it.
You have already heard that Theo is going to The Hague. I
believe it will be a change for the better, though he will find
it hard to leave that beautiful, pleasant Brussels.
Some time ago I received a letter from your Pa, also, to
which I have replied, and so you will probably have heard that
all is still going well with me here, and some particulars
about my new lodgings.
What you say about winter is quite right; I completely
agree. For myself, I can hardly decide which season I like
best; I believe I like them all equally. It is worth noting
that the old painters hardly ever painted autumn, and that the
modern ones have a predilection for it.
Enclosed are a few small photographs, which I hope you will
like. Here you see hardly any albums like those in Holland, but
so-called scrapbooks into which you put photographs like the
ones in this letter (that is why we have the photographs
unmounted here). The advantage is that you can arrange...
