| | 24 letters relate to attitude - family... | Excerpt length: shorter longer | |
| Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(4 September 1877)
... heart. You have a copy, haven't
you?
There is something I cannot resist telling you, Theo - you,
from whom I have no secrets - there is much, much that is good
and beautiful in Uncle Jan's, Uncle Cor's and Uncle Vincent's
lives, but still something is lacking. Don't you think that
when the first two sit together, as often happens of an
evening, in that lovely, restful room which you also know, it
is a sight which warms the heart, especially if one looks at
them with love, as I do? And yet “The Men of
Emmaus” by Rembrandt is even more beautiful, and it might
have been the same. Now it is almost so, but not quite. Father
possesses what they lack, “It is good to be a Christian,
to try to be one, to be one entirely, for that is Eternal
Life.” Now I will even go further and say, What they
lack, their homes and families also lack. Perhaps you will
think or speak of the man who saw the mote in his brother's eye
and did not see the beam in his own, and then... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(30 December 1877)
... indispensable part of your collection.
Last week it snowed, and Cor had great fun with the sled -
and I, too - for I went sledding on the road with him and a
little girl who was staying with the Stackstroos. Today Father,
Mother, Cor and I went for a lovely walk; I wish you could have
been with us. Yesterday I went to see Mother's sewing class,
which she teaches nowadays in the vestry; it is really lovely -
one would like to have a painting of it; already quite a number
of children go to it.
By chance I remembered another painting bearing on Brittany,
namely Ribot's “La Prière” - a number of
children kneeling in the corner of a church at twilight; there
is also a big etching of it done by the artist himself, which
you may know. Jacque once etched the same subject, but on a
smaller scale.
Today I made a list of everything I can remember concerning
the French Revolution, to write on the back of the little map
of France. I hope to extend the work gradually;... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(July 1880)
... keep out of the way. Well, so be
it.
Now, though it is a fairly hopeless task to regain the trust
of an entire family, one which has perhaps never been wholly
weaned from prejudice and other equally honourable and
respectable qualities, I am not entirely without hope that, bit
by bit, slowly but surely, the good relationship between one
and all may be restored. In the first place I should be glad to
see this good relationship - to put it no more strongly than
that - restored at least between Father and me, and further, I
set great store by seeing it restored between the two of us. A
good relationship is infinitely preferable to a
misunderstanding.
Now I must trouble you with certain abstract matters, hoping
that you will listen to them patiently. I am a man of passions,
capable of and given to doing more or less outrageous things
for which I sometimes feel a little sorry. Every so often I say
or do something too hastily, when it would have been better to
have shown... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(9-10 November 1881)
... instead of strengthening, unnerved me.
Father and Mother are very good at heart, but have little
understanding of our inner feelings, and as little
comprehension of your real circumstances as of mine. They love
us with all their hearts - you especially - and we both, I as
well as you, love them very much indeed; but alas, in many
cases they cannot give us practical advice, and there are times
when, with the best of intentions, they do not understand us.
It is not their fault, but the difference in age and the
difference in opinion and the difference in
circumstances… But that our home is and will remain our
resting place come what may, and that we must appreciate it and
on our side respect that home, there I quite agree with you -
though perhaps you did not expect such a candid declaration
from me.
However, there is a resting place better, more necessary,
more indispensable than our home with our parents, however
good, however necessary, however indispensable it... | Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
(2-3 June 1882)
... one starts
shouting about the law.
But this is what happens so often in our family - there is
some gossip, it is inflated, it is exaggerated to the limit;
and then they form an opinion or a resolution about someone,
sometimes wholly without the particular person's knowledge or
without having talked it over with him, only taking notice of
impressions, hearsay, communications (the devil take them,
particularly the last!). Our venerable Uncle Cent also has a
way of gathering “information” which I consider
anything but fair. As for me, when I saw such things happen at
home, I told Father often enough, You will find no blessing in
it.
Just think, Theo, how different things might have been at
home, for instance, if Father could have been less distrustful
of me, a bit less suspicious; if, instead of considering me a
person who could only do wrong, he had shown more patience and
good will in order to understand my real intentions - in which
he has always been sorely... |
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