So, I found a web exhibition of all of Vincent Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo & I have immersed myself in them. There follows quotes from various letters that I appreciated:
Do go on doing a lot of walking and keep up your love of nature, for that is the right way to understand art better and better. Painters understand nature and love her and teach us to see. - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, London, January 1874
He that sincerely loves nature, finds pleasure everywhere - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, London, 30 April 1874
Don't regret that your life is too easy, mine is rather easy too; I think that life is pretty long and that the time will arrive soon enough in which “another shall gird thee and carry thee where thou wouldst not.” - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, London, 6 March 1875
He talks about the paintings that he is looking at in museums, and I find myself wondering how it would be to see art as he does. At one point in the January 1874 letter he tells Theo to simply appreciate, that people don't do this enough...something to work on for me? Possibly.
Another thought: The contrast between his letters and what family members say about him is striking
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to His Parents, Ramsgate, 14-17 April 1876 I just loved the imagery throughout this letter, especially his use of color.
Honestly, I have had some happy hours here, yet I don't have plain and complete confidence in this happiness, in this peace. The one may be the result of the other. Man rarely declares that he is satisfied; as soon as he finds that that it goes too well, the sooner he thinks that it will not go well enough. But this is in parenthesis; we must not talk about it, but continue quietly on our way. - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Ramsgate, 6-8 May 1876
Let us bear love one unto another that God may augment and strengthen our love, and gather love around us, and if there should be no human being that you can love enough, love the town in which you dwell, as you do, too - don't I love Paris and London, though I am a child of the pine woods and of the beach at Ramsgate? - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Isleworth, 1 September 1876
Last night, after I had been at the office till one o'clock, I made a detour to the Grote Kerk [Great Church]; then, I went along the canal and past by the old gate, I finally arrived at the Nieuwe Kerk [New Church], then I returned home. It had snowed, a deep silence reigned over everything; I saw here and there little bright lights in the windows and, in the snow, the black silhouette of a night watchman. It was high tide, and beside the snow the canals and ships looked very dark. It was charming around the two churches. The sky, grey and foggy, only let the moonlight filter through. - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Dordrecht, 28 February 1877
Here, the dark days before Christmas are as a long procession at the end of which shines such a light, the feast of the Nativity: the friendly lighthouse behind the rocks, when the water comes crashing against them on a dark night. This feast of Christmas has always been for us a bright spot, and may it always remain so.Here, the dark days before Christmas are as a long procession at the end of which shines such a light, the feast of the Nativity: the friendly lighthouse behind the rocks, when the water comes crashing against them on a dark night. This feast of Christmas has always been for us a bright spot, and may it always remain so. - Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Amsterdam, 19 November 1877
OK, I have made it to January of 1878. He's just 24 and still buried in studying to be a pastor. I don't know if he will manage to pass algebra. I will pause here and come back later. Just in case, here is the link to the entire exhibit: http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/
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