Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (c. 18-22 November 1885) ... crushed than will
prove possible now.
As for Rubens, I am looking forward to him very much, but do
you object to my thinking Rubens's conception and sentiment of
his religious subjects theatrical, often even badly theatrical
in the worst sense of the word? Look here - take Rembrandt,
Michelangelo - take the “Penseroso” by
Michelangelo. It represents a thinker, doesn't it?
But his feet are small and swift, his hand has something of
the lightning quickness of a lion's claw and - that thinker is
at the same time a man of action, one sees that his thinking is
a concentration, but - in order to jump up and act in some way
or other. Rembrandt does it differently.
Especially his Christ in the “Men of Emmaus” is
more a soul in a body, which is surely different from a torso
by Michelangelo, but still - there is something powerful in the
gesture of persuasion.
Now put a Rubens beside it, one of the many figures of
meditative persons - and they...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (8-15 December 1885) ... black hair. Lilac tones
in the dress.
Rubens is certainly making a strong impression on me; I
think his drawing tremendously good - I mean the drawing of
heads and hands in themselves. I am quite carried away by his
way of drawing the lines in a face with streaks of pure red, or
of modeling the fingers of the hands by the same kind of
streaks. I go to the museum fairly often, and then I look at
little else but a few heads and hands of his and of Jordaens'.
I know he is not as intimate as Hals and Rembrandt, but in
themselves those heads are so alive.
Probably I don't look at those which are generally admired
most. I look for fragments like, for instance, those blonde
heads in “Ste. Thérèse au
Purgatoire.” I am now looking for a blonde model just
because of Rubens. But you must not be angry if I tell you that
I cannot make both ends meet this month.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (28 December 1885) ... seed corn for the future. We shall see.
Yesterday I saw a large photograph of a Rembrandt I didn't
know - I was tremendously impressed by it - it was the head of
a woman, the light falling on breast, throat, chin, the tip of
the nose and the lower jaw. Forehead and eyes in the shadow of
a large hat, with feathers that are probably red. Probably more
red or yellow in the low-necked jacket. Dark background. The
expression a mysterious smile like that of Rembrandt himself in
his self-portrait with Saskia on his knee and a glass of wine
in his hand.
My thoughts are full of Rembrandt and Hals these days, not
because I see many of their paintings but because I see so many
types among the people here that remind me of that period. I
still keep going to those bals populaires [dance halls] to look
at the heads of the woman and of the sailors and soldiers. One
pays an entrance fee of 20 or 30 centimes and drinks a glass of
beer - for there isn't much hard drinking and one can have a
...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (c. 28 January 1886) ... did the same as Géricault.]
That method - Millet too draws in the same way, more than
anybody else - is perhaps the root of all figure painting, it
depends enormously on that drawing the modelling directly with
the brush, quite a different conception from that of Bouguereau
and others who lack interior modelling, who are flat
compared with Géricault and Delacroix, and do not emerge
from the paint.
With the latter - Géricault, etc., - the figures have
backs even when one sees them from the front, there is airiness
around the figures - they emerge from the paint.
It is to find this - about which I would not care to speak
with Verlat, nor with Vinck - that I am working; no fear
they would teach me this, for the fault of both of them
is in the colour, which, as you know, isn't right in either's
work.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Emile Bernard (18 March 1888) ... the sun and colour that
exist in the Midi. If the Japanese are not working in their
country it is certain that their art continues in France. At
the top of this letter I am sending you a small sketch of a
study that I am trying to make something of - sailors with
their sweethearts going up to the town, which is profiled by
the strange silhouette of its drawbridge on a huge yellow sun .
I have another study of the same drawbridge
with a group of washerwomen . I will be happy
with a word from you to know what you are doing and where you
are going. A good cordial handshake to you and to our
friends,
The best to you,
Vincent
[See illustration of page one and page
two of the letter.]
...
