van Gogh's letters - unabridged and annotated
 
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18721891

 14 letters relate to food-and-drink - diet...Excerpt length: shorter longer  
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(2 November 1883)
... finale of the symphony I heard yesterday. The day passed like a dream, I had been so immersed in that heart-rending music all day that I had literally forgotten to eat and drink - I had had a slice of black bread and a cup of coffee in the little inn where I had drawn the spinning wheel. The day was over and from dawn till dusk, or rather from one night till the next, I had lost myself in that symphony. I came home and as I sat by the fire it occurred to me that I felt hungry, no, I realized I was ravenous. But now you can see what it is like here. One feels just as if one were at, say, an exhibition des cent chef-d'œvres. What does one bring back from such a day? Merely a number of rough sketches. Yet there is something else one brings back - a quiet delight in one's work. Be sure to write soon. It is Friday today, but your letter has not yet arrived, I'm waiting for it eagerly. It takes time to get it [the money] changed, too, because it has to go back ...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Emile Bernard
(c. 18 June 1888)
... I don't really think is the case. It's the fault of that damned foul wine in Paris and those foul greasy steaks.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(9 August 1888)
... at any rate, and also a little in reality. I am happier to feel my old strength returning than I ever thought I could be. I owe this largely to the people at the restaurant where I have my meals at the moment, who really are extraordinary. Certainly I have to pay for it, but it is something you don't find in Paris, really getting something to eat for your money. And I should very much like to see Gauguin here for a good long time. What Gruby says about doing without women and eating well is true, for if your very brain and marrow are going into your work, it is pretty sensible not to exhaust yourself more than you must in love-making. But it is easier to put into practice in the country than in Paris. The desire for women that you catch in Paris, isn't it rather the effect of that very enervation which Gruby is the sworn enemy of than a sign of vigour? So you feel this desire disappearing at the very moment you are yourself again. The root of the evil lies in the constitution...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Emile Bernard
(c. 28 September 1888)
... of a lack of strengthening food. It is hardly possible to fortify one's body over there; far be it from me to say that when one is going into a hot climate one ought to fatten oneself up first, but what I do say is that one should attend to one's nourishment some time in advance; and I abide by this through thick and thin, as this regimen agrees with me so well here, because there is some difference between the heat of Africa and the heat of Arles. You will either come out of this trial of your service much stronger, strong enough for a whole artistic career - or a broken man. However that may be, I should be enormously delighted if you came here, and if Gauguin came too; and then the only thing to be regretted will be that it is winter and not the season of fine weather.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(8 October 1888)
... me the louis and the canvas. I have been so hard up since Thursday that from Thursday to Monday I only had two meals; apart from those I had only bread and coffee and even that I had to drink on credit, and had to pay for today. So if you can, do not delay a minute. ...

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