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Letter T 2
Paris, 23 October 1888
My dear Vincent,
It is very distressing to me to learn that you are not
feeling well. 1 It is to be supposed that you have
worked too hard, and consequently have forgotten to take proper
care of your body. I am glad that your letter arrived today,
for within a very short time I should have gone off to
Brussels, in which case you would have had to wait at least two
more days. What a financier you are! What causes me so much
grief is that, notwithstanding all that, you are always so
miserably hard up, because you cannot refrain from doing all
kinds of things for others. I should greatly like to see you
more egotistic, at least until your budget balances better.
From your previous letter I get the impression that you
believe that these fellows know all the answers to all the
questions, in the manner of the Dutch, but if you have formed
such an opinion it's my fault. When I told you that they known
how to analyze a picture, taking as their starting point a
feeling for the technique and so on, I did not mean to say that
they separate the qualities; what I really meant to allude to
was their singular clarity of mind, which prevents them from
mixing things up. Isaäcson, particularly, gives me the
impression of a true scholar. They have now received pictures
and studies done in Holland - very good, only a bit dark. It is
their intention to stay in Paris during the winter, and then to
start for the country as soon as the weather permits them to
travel out of town. I intend to return from Brussels on Friday
or Saturday, and I hope to be able to write you a letter less
hurriedly soon.
I hope your indisposition is not serious, and that you will
not lose courage, even if Gauguin should not come.
Yours, Theo
1. See Vincent's letter 556.
At this time, Vincent was 35 year oldSource: Theo van Gogh. Letter to Vincent van Gogh. Written 23 October 1888 in Arles. Translated by Mrs. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, edited by Robert Harrison, number T2. URL: https://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/18/T2.htm.
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