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"I think we can wait patiently for success to come; you will surely live to see it. It is necessary to get well known without obtruding oneself, and it will come of its own accord by reason of your beautiful pictures."
Theo van Gogh |
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Of the letters that Theo van Gogh wrote to his brother, Vincent, 37 survive. All of them are presented in this section in their entirety.
Letter |
Keywords |
Excerpt / Full Text |
Link to Painting(s) Mentioned in Letter |
| 36a
The Hague / Paris | Weehuizen, Michelet's L'Amour, Michel, Rembrandt, Van Stockum, Borchers | Theo, I want to make a suggestion that may perhaps surprise you. Do not read Michelet any longer or any other book but the Bible till we meet again at Christmas . . . . | --- |
| T1
Paris | De Haan, Isäcson, Uriel Acoste, Rembrandt, Breitner, Maris, Israëls, Seurat, Tartarin of Tarascon, Nabob, Tartarin, Madame Chrysanthème | Full Text | --- |
| T2
Paris | Gauguin's "Les Bretonnes", Diot's, De Haan, Isäcson | Full Text | --- |
| T3
The Hague | De Haan, Tasset | You speak of money which you owe me, and which you want to give back to me. I won't hear of it. | --- |
| T4
Paris | Signac, Monet, Messers. Rey and Salles | Full Text | --- |
| T5
Paris | St. Rémy, Jo, Wil, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Mauve | Full Text | --- |
| T6
Paris | Foreign Legion, Puvis de Chavannes, Degas | Full Text | --- |
| T7
Paris | Raffaelli, Zorn, Uhde | Full Text | --- |
| T8
Paris (from Johanna to Vincent) | Pissarro, Isaäcson, Nibbrig, Lies, Wil | Wil as well as Theo have told me so many things about you, and here in the house there are so many things which remind one of you . . . . . Hardly ever a day passes without our speaking of you. | Blossoming Pear Tree: F 405, JH 1394; Harvest at La Crau, with Montmajour in the Background: F 412, JH 1440 |
| T9
Paris | Pissarro, Gauguin, Renoir, Guillaumin, Weissenbruch, Willem, Maris, Bosboom, Israëls, Breitner, Tersteeg | The cradle, the portrait of Roulin, the little sower with the tree, the baby, the starry night, the sunflowers and the chair with the pipe and tobacco pouch are the ones I prefer so far. | La Berceuse: F 508, JH 1671; Sower, The: F 450, JH 1627; Starry Night Over the Rhone: F 474, JH 1592; Vincent's Chair with His Pipe: F 498, JH 1635 |
| T10
Paris | Delacroix, George Sand, Schuffenecker, Lautrec, Rembrandt, Corot, Manet, Delacroix, Millet, Ricard, Daumier, Isäcson | Full Text | Vincent's Bedroom in Arles: F 482, JH 1608; Red Vineyard, The: F 495, JH 1626; L'Arlesienne: F 489, JH 1625 |
| T11
Paris (from Johanna to Vincent) | Isaäcson, Hart Nibbrig, Tersteeg, De Haan, Pissarro, Shakespeare, Zola | . . . next winter, toward February probably, we hope to have a baby, a pretty little boy--whom we are going to call Vincent, if you will consent to be his godfather. | --- |
| T12
Paris | Pissarro, Tanguy, Verenskiold, De Haan, Gauguin, Isaäcson, Salles, Rey, Vermier | Full Text | Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers: F 454, JH 1562; Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers: F 456, JH 1561; Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers: F 458, JH 1667; Starry Night over the Rhone: F 474, JH 1592; Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles, The: F 1467, JH 1688; Death's-Head Moth: F 1523, JH 1700 |
| T13
Paris | Tanguy, Peyron, Rivet | Full Text | La Crau with Peach Trees in Blossom: F 514, JH 1681; Red Chestnuts in the Public Park at Arles: F 517, JH 1689; Corner in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital, A: F 609, JH 1693 |
| T14
Paris | --- | Poor fellow, how dearly I should like to know what to do to put a stop to this nightmare. | --- |
| T15
Paris (from Johanna to Vincent) | Cor | Full Text | --- |
| T16
Paris | Bodmer, Rousseau, Pissarro, Tersteeg, J.H. Weissenbruch, Daumier, Jongkind, Gauguin, Lautrec, Seurat, Signac, Hayet, Mother, Cor | You gave me the great pleasure by writing me a letter; when one knows nothing one is inclined to think things are worse than they really are. | Starry Night over the Rhone: F 474, JH 1592; Irises: F 608, JH 1691; Enclosed Field with Ploughman: F 625, JH 1768; Enclosed Field with Ploughman: No F no., JH 1769 |
| T17
Paris | Pissarro, De Haan, Jouve, Rivet | I am always afraid when you are working that way, in a frenzy--for you necessarily exhaust yourself by it. | --- |
| T18
Paris | --- | [Pissarro] knows somebody at Auvers who is a doctor and does painting in his spare moments. | Mountainous Landscape behind Saint-Paul Hospital: F 611, JH 1723; Mountains at Saint-Remy with Dark Cottage: F 622, JH 1766 |
| T19
Paris | Peyron, Israël, Veth, Nieuve Gids, Van Rysselberghe, Tanguy, Gauguin, Guillaumin, Pissarro, Cor | I have had quite a number of people calling on me to see your work. | Tarascon Diligence: F 478a, JH 1605; Irises: F 608, JH 1691; Corner in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital, A: F 609, JH 1693; Starry Night: F 612, JH 1731; Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background: F 712, JH 1740 |
| T20
Paris | Bernard, Maus, Van Rysselberghe, Puvis de Chavannes, Bartholomé, Cézanne, Dubois, Pillot, Forain, Signac, L. Pissarro, Hayet, Renoir, Sisley, de Lautrec | Please tell me what the condition of your clothes is. Don't you want something warm? | Orchard in Blossom with View of Arles: F 516, JH 1685; Irises: F 608, JH 1691 |
| T21
Paris | Maus, Monticelli, Lauzet, Marvy, Bernard, Aurier | Though I fully agree with you when you say in your last letter that you want to work like a cobbler, surely this will not prevent you from turning out canvases which will hold their own beside those of the masters. | Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers: F 456, JH 1561; Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers: F 458, JH 1677; Corner in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital, A: F 609, JH 1693 |
| T22
Paris | Monticelli, Lauzet, V. Hugo, Cottier, Reid, La Roquette, Marvy, Gauguin, Pissarro, Wil, Cor | You say that at times you think you wold have done better to have remained a merchant, but do not say such things. | Vincent's Bedroom in Arles: F 482, JH 1608; Vincent's Bedroom in Arles: F 484, JH 1671; Enclosed Field with Rising Sun: F 737, JH 1862 |
| T23
Paris | Wil, Mother, Gauguin, De Haan | Full Text | --- |
| T24
Paris | Peyron, Tasset, Lauzet, Wil, Salles | Full Text | Evening: The Watch (after Millet): F 647, JH 1834; Road Menders, The: F 657, JH 1860; Les Peiroulets Ravine: F 662, JH 1804; Fountain in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital: F 1531, JH 1705 |
| T25
Paris | Lauzet, Montenard, Monticelli, Impressions of an Artist, Durer, d'amand-Durand, Millet, Rembrandt, Salles | I read in a paper that the canvases which arouse the curiosity of the public the most are the open-air study by Cézanne, the landscapes by Sisley, the symphonies by Van Gogh and the works of Renoir.
I think we can wait patiently for success to come; you will surely live to see it. It is necessary to get well known without obtruding oneself, and it will come of its own accord by reason of your beautiful pictures. | Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun: F 710, JH 1856 |
| T26
Paris (from Johanna to Vincent) | --- | Full Text | --- |
| T27
Paris | --- | . . . my dear brother, the bad moment for Jo is past. She has brought into the world a beautiful boy, who cries a good deal, but who looks healthy.
How happy I should be if after some time, when Jo has recovered, you could come to see her and our little fellow. As we told you at the time, we are going to name him after you, and I devoutly hope that he will be able to be as persevering and as courageous as you. | --- |
| T28
Paris | Wil, Degas, Van der Meer, "Little Philosophers" by Rembrandt, "Infanta Marguerita", Gauguin, De Haan, the Mirlitons, the Cercle Volney, the Aquarellists | Gauguin arrived in Paris yesterday, and asked a lot of questions about you. | --- |
| T29
Paris | Carnot, Gauguin, Seurat, Guillaumin, de Lautrec, Pissarro, Bernard, Aurier, Maus | I hope, my dear brother, that you will be able to give us a more satisfactory report on your health very soon. If only you could see your little namesake you would feel happier. | Red Vineyard, The: F 495, JH 1626; Les Peiroulets Ravine: F 662, JH 1804 |
| T30
Paris (from Johanna to Vincent) | --- | What [the baby] does do is look at Uncle Vincent's pictures with a good deal of interest--the tree in blossom especially, which is hanging over his bed, seems to enthrall him. | Corner in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital, A: F 609, JH 1639 |
| T31
Paris | Gachet, Pissarro, Rembrandt | Full Text | --- |
| T32
Paris | Peyron, Pissarro, Diaz, Monet, Serret, Lauzet | Monet said that your pictures were the best of all in the exhibition. | --- |
| T33
Paris | Tasset, Tanguy, Aurier, Peyron | Full Text | Cypresses with Two Female Figures: F 620, JH 1748; Portrait of Trabuc, an Attendant at Saint-Paul Hospital: F 629, JH 1774; Blossoming Almond Tree: F 671, JH 1891 |
| T34
Paris | Wil, Gachet, Peyron | Full Text | --- |
| T35
Paris | Raffaelli, Mother Siron, Gachet, St. Cloud | If you were here the little one would stir you up gently. How free a baby's smile is from all preoccupation. | --- |
| T36
Paris | Gachet, Chaponval, Guillaumin, Gausson, Aurier | Full Text | Cypresses with Two Female Figures: F 620, JH 1748 |
| T37
Paris | Tasset, Tangui, De Bock | Full Text | L'Arlesienne: F 489, JH 1625 |
| T38
Paris | Borinage, Boch, Quost, Dr. Gachet | Full Text | Mountains at Saint-Rémy with Dark Cottage: F 622, JH 1766; Portrait of Doctor Gachet (etching): F 1664, JH 2028 |
| T39
Paris | Quost, Peyron, Tersteeg, Mesdag, Arnold & Trip | We have gone through a period of the greatest anxiety; our dear little boy has been very ill . . . . | Marguerite Gachet at the Piano: F 772, JH 2048; Wheat Fields near Auvers: F 775, JH 2038 |
| T40
Paris | Pissarro, Monet, Walpole Brook, Dr. Gachet | Full Text | Marguerite Gachet at the Piano: F 772, JH 2048 |
| T41
Paris | Corot, Diaz | Full Text | --- |
| T41a
Paris | Jo, Dries, Prévost, Gachet | Full Text | --- |
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