van Gogh's letters - unabridged and annotated
 
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18721891

 6 letters relate to attitude - women...Excerpt length: shorter longer  
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(20 February 1874)
... I am glad you feel so comfortable at Roos's. As I already let you know through Anna Carbentus, you are quite right about those priggish girls. I also agree with you about Bertha Haanebeek; but watch your heart, boy. Have you seen Mr. Jacobson's collection yet? He will certainly ask you to come to see it, and it is well worth while. Give him my respects and tell him I am doing quite well here and that I see many beautiful things. I am all right and am very busy. Thank Willem for his letter and greet everybody at Roos's and Iterson and anybody who may ask after me. Best regards. Vincent ...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(31 July 1874)
... been both a revelation and a Gospel. 'Il n'y a pas de vielle femme!'[There are no old women.] (That does not mean that there are no old women, only that a woman does not grow old as long as she loves and is loved.) And then a chapter like “The Aspirations of Autumn,” how rich that is … That a woman is a 'quite different being' from a man, and a being that we do not yet know, or at best only superficially, as you put it, yes, that I am sure of. And that a man and a woman can become one, that is to say, one whole and not two halves, I believe that too. Anna is bearing up well, we go on marvellous walks together. It is so beautiful here, if one just has a good and single eye without too many beams in it. And if one does have that eye, then it is beautiful everywhere. Father is far from well, although he and Mother say that he's better.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(9 January 1878)
... and send it to me when you get it. Uncle Cor asked me today if I didn't like “Phryne” by Gérôme. I told him that I would rather see a homely woman by Israëls or Millet, or an old woman by Édouard Frère: for what's the use of a beautiful body such as Phryne's? Animals have it too, perhaps even more than men; but the soul, as it lives in the people painted by Israëls or Millet or Frère, that is what animals never have. Is not life given us to become richer in spirit, even though the outward appearance may suffer? I feel very little sympathy for the figure by Gérôme. I can find no sign of spirituality in it, and a pair of hands which show they have worked are more beautiful than those of this figure. The difference is greater still between such a beautiful girl and a man like Parker or Thomas a Kempis or those Meissonier painted; one can no more love and have sympathy for two such disparate things than one can serve...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(8 February 1883)
... at least the crisis is past! Poor woman! If women do not always show in their thoughts the energy and elasticity of men, who are disposed towards reflection and analysis, we cannot blame them, at least in my opinion, because in general they have to spend so much more strength than we in suffering pain. They suffer more and are more sensitive. And though they do not always understand our thoughts, they are sometimes truly capable of understanding when one is good to them. Not always, though, but “the spirit is willing,” and there is in women sometimes a curious kind of goodness. There must be a great load off your mind now that the operation is over. What a mystery life is, and love is a mystery within a mystery. It certainly never remains the same in a literal sense, but the changes are like the ebb and flow of the tide and leave the sea unchanged.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(c. 22 September 1883)
... for which I have an indescribable respect. I feel the same respect before the humble tombstone of Béranger's mistress, which I looked for on purpose (if I remember correctly, it is in a corner behind his own), and there I particularly remembered Corot's mistress too. Silent muses these women were, and in the emotion of those gentle masters, in the intimacy, the pathos of their poetry, I always feel a woman's influence everywhere. I am speaking rather seriously in this letter, not because I think Father's feelings and opinion wrong in everything - far from it; in many things you will do well to follow Father's advice. We spoke about Father during your visit here, as you will remember, and also at the moment of your departure - but I can now express in clear terms what I felt only vaguely at the time: If you speak with Father, then think of Corot at the same time; then you will be able to avoid certain extremes, to which Father is far too much inclined; but as I see...

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