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The Letters of Vincent Van Gough
Second year fine art history essay
By Geoffrey Darcy
In this essay I hope to discuss the question; “What do the letters of Vincent Van Gough tell us about the artist and his work? ... Through all that fate and people subject him to, his love for his life (being his art and his brother) never once succumb. ... So without ignoring or contradicting this idea of a broader tone we can now identify in the letters some of his characteristics and extract in part the essence of the man and his work. ...
x His relationship with Theo was based upon a mutual interest and love of the same things which developed greatly through their correspondence over their lives into a duty to each other, and in their letters we witness with clarity a profoundly compassionate insight into the human condition of suffering. They understood each other so well that it was Theo whom made it possible for Vincent to pursue both their ideals (that being the perfect painting clearly and un-arbitrarily conveying the suffering of humanity in touch with nature) and Vincents eagerness to justify not only his financial, but also his spiritual dependence on his younger brother perhaps tormented and pushed him to his mental and physical limits. ... His intellectually disciplined, well informed analysis and critical approach to his and other artists work brought forth an independent and radical new approach to art theory and practice. ... Also in his correspondence we see him identify a strong connection between the working man and the beasts in the fields of nature in quotes such as these:
“The poor horse, the old and faithful servant, is standing there patiently and meekly, yet bravely and unflinchingly ” 3 and “I know an old white horse, just the poorest nag imaginable (at the gas works) but the man, who lets the poor beast do the hardest possible jobs, and draws from it what he can get,” 4
Here we see Vincent’s sentiments not just applicable to the peasant life but also to himself. ... He actively sought to dismiss the comfort of modern times, and in keeping with his nostalgic self disciplined view towards the old world he lived in forced poverty, often dedicating his income to art materials first and then to his domestic needs, leaving him with very little if any food at all. ... , regarding his unconventional lifestyle and disagreeable characteristics, he says “Whoever lives sincerely and encounters much trouble and disappointment, but is not bowed down by them, is worth more than one who has always sailed before the wind and has only known relative prosperity” 5 Vincent believed that a lifetime of hardship could bring more understanding and appreciation for life than one who so easily became indifferent to their experience thus developing ignorance toward others, through their leisurely distractions and when he turned his hand enthusiastically to art, “That’s a great thing, one knows what one has to do, there are subjects in abundance, and Carlyle rightly says, ‘Blessed is he who has found his work” 6 his idea of élitist leisure and the institutionalised idleness of man in his modern upper-class preoccupation turned him more and more rebellious to social and religious conformities.
Approximate Word count = 2430
Approximate Pages = 9.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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