Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (c. 9 June 1889) ... not have the courage to begin again outside. I went
once, still accompanied, to the village; the mere sight of
people and things had such an effect on me that I thought I was
going to faint and I felt very ill. Face to face with nature it
is the feeling for work that supports me. But anyway, this is
to show you that there must have been within me some too
powerful emotion to upset me like that, and I have no idea what
can have caused it. I get bored to death sometimes after
working, and yet I have no desire to begin again. The doctor
who has just called says that he is not going to Paris for
several weeks, so do not expect his visit yet. I hope you will
write me soon.
Lettre de Vincent van Gogh à Theo van Gogh (20 May 1890) ... du tout
songer à ce que j'ai eu.
J'ai bien senti à Paris que tout le bruit
de là-bas n'est pas ce qu'il me faut.
Que je suis content d'avoir vu Jo et le petit et ton
appartement, qui certes est mieux que l'autre.
Vous souhaitant bonne chance et santé et espérant vous revoir sous bien
peu, bonnes poignées de main,
Vincent
...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (20 May 1890) ... at all
of what went wrong with me.
In Paris I felt very strongly that all the noise there was not
for me.
I am so glad to have seen Jo and the little one and your
apartment, which is certainly better than the other one.
Wishing you good luck and health and hoping to see you
again soon, good handshakes,
Vincent
...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Wilhelmina van Gogh (c. 4 June 1890) ... going as well as possible for the moment.
And as for myself, at the moment
I am still afraid of the noise and the bustle of Paris, and I immediately went off into
the country - to an old village.
Here there are mossy thatched roofs which are superb, and which I am certainly going
to do something with.
Moreover, I think that the doctor I am
recommended to will just leave me to my own devices, as if
there were nothing wrong with me.
During the final days at St. Rémy I still worked
in a frenzy, great bouquets of flowers, violet irises , big
bouquets of roses , landscapes.
It was funny to see all my canvases again from when I
started, those which I left there.
But I should very much have liked you to see the olive
orchards that I have brought back with me now, with their
skies of yellow, pink and blue, different enough. I think that these
are canvases that have never been painted in quite this manner up until now.
Up to the present the others...
Lettre de Vincent van Gogh à Paul Gauguin (c. 17 June 1890) ... j'ai pensé à vous tous les
jours. Je ne suis resté à Paris que trois jours et le bruit, etc.,
Parisien me faisant une bien mauvaise impression, j'ai jugé prudent pour
ma tête de ficher le camp pour la campagne, sans cela j'aurais bien vite
couru chez vous.
Et cela me fait énormément plaisir que vous dites que le portrait
d'Arlésienne , fondé rigoureusement
sur votre dessin, vous a plu. J'ai cherché à
être fidèle à votre dessin respectueusement et pourtant prenant
la liberté d'interpréter par le moyen d'une couleur
dans le caractère sobre et le style du dessin en question.
C'est une synthèse d'Arlésienne si vous voulez;
comme les synthèses d'Arlésiennes sont rares, prenez
cela comme oeuvre de vous et de moi, comme résumé de nos mois
de travail ensemble. Pour le faire j'ai payé moi pour
ma part encore d'un mois de maladie, mais aussi je sais que c'est...
