Everyone
knows of Van Gogh. Many don't know his paintings, but they know his
name and that he painted. Most people know that he was a tragic
figure who cut off his ear, (although it was just the lower portion
of the lobe). Quite a few people know that he shot himself.
I have never heard anyone describe Van Gogh as a very human being,
capable of and experiencing, great happiness and joy. Yet after
reading " Dear Theo " by Irving Stone, (if the letters by Vincent to
his brother, Theo, are translated at all correctly) it would seem
that this is equally true.
Van Gogh's letters, in my opinion, are not those of an insane man.
Various doctors have conjectured that he may have had epilepsy,
which was perceived as a form of madness in earlier times. Van Gogh,
himself, was concerned about these fits, admitting himself into an
asylum at one point.
It is obvious that Van Gogh derived great pleasure from his
painting. Numerous pictures show his vibrant love of life, as well
as the agony so many want to establish as totally characteristic of
Vincent's painting.
Although he may have destroyed some paintings, as all artists do,
nowhere have I read of Vincent constantly stomping on them in blind
rage, as portrayed over and over in the movie, `Vincent and Theo'.
In fact reading his own letters, would indicate that he had the
utmost patience with his painting, in trying, studying, and working
diligently. He talks about working hard at drawing, and says as well
that he was pleased with the results of his efforts. He saw
improvement in his own work, and was encouraged because of it. From
his letters it is also evident that Van Gogh had confidence in his
own worth, as a painter.
And Vincent did make friends of some of the townspeople. In his
letters he talks about his friends, not the least being his brother
Theo, and sister-in-law, Johanna.
I believe in fact, that a one-sided, lop-sided, view of one of the
great lovers of life has been created. A deeply passionate man of
painting and of people, Vincent Van Gogh actively sought happiness,
and I am convinced, found a large portion of it.
(The following are excerpts from Vincent Van Gogh's Letter to Theo
in May, 1890, approximately two months before his death, translated
in "Dear Theo", by Irving Stone, and found in pages 470 through 479
respectively)
"Old fellow, having thought it over I do not say that my work is
good, but the thing is that I can do less bad stuff. And still,
still some canvases will one day find purchasers. Everything else -
relations with people - is very secondary, because I have not the
gift for that. I can't help that at all. Look here, if I work,
people who are here will come to my house without my going to see
them on purpose, just as if I took steps to make acquaintances. It
is by working that you meet people, and that is the best."
"Yesterday and the day before I painted Mademoiselle Gachet's
portrait... It is a figure that I painted with enjoyment- but it is
difficult."
Vincent talks about studying corn, and about the "curious relations
which exist between one fragment of nature and another, which
nevertheless explain each other and set each other off."
"... I have since painted three more big canvases. They are vast
stretches of corn under troubled skys, and I did not need to go out
of my way to try to express sadness and the extremity of loneliness.
I hope you will see them soon- since I almost think that these
canvases will tell you what I cannot say in words, the health and
strengthening that I see in the country. Just for one's health it is
very necessary to work in the garden and to see the flowers growing.
"
"I still love art and life very much, but as for ever having a wife
of my own, I have not great faith in that."
