Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (9 April 1888) ... constitution. The
only thing is that my stomach has been terribly weak since I
came here, but after all that's probably only a matter of time.
I hope to make great progress this year, and indeed I need
to.
I have another orchard, as good as the pink peach trees ,
apricot trees of a very pale pink. At the moment I am working
on some plum trees, yellowish-white, with thousands of black
branches . I am using a tremendous lot of
colours and canvases, but all the same I hope it isn't a waste
of money.
Out of 4 canvases, perhaps one at the most will
make a painting, like the one for Tersteeg or Mauve; but
the studies, I hope, will come in useful for exchanges.
When can I send you anything? I have a great mind to do a
second version like Tersteeg's, because it is better than the
Asnières studies.
Yesterday I saw another bull fight, where 5 men worked
the bull with darts and cockades. One toreador crushed a
ball in jumping...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (c. 21 April 1888) ... and eat two eggs every morning.
My stomach is
very weak, but I hope to be able to get it right; it will take
time and patience. In any case I am really much better already than in Paris.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Emile Bernard (c. 21 April 1888) ... 1 in the air
here.
For the moment I am still lying low and keeping
very quiet, for first of all I must recover from a stomach disorder of
which I am the happy owner, but after that I shall have to make
a lot of noise, as I aspire to share the glory of the immortal
Tartarin de Tarascon.
I was enormously interested to hear that you intend to spend
your time [as a soldier] in Algeria. That is perfect, and quite
far from being a misfortune. Really, I congratulate you on it;
at any rate we shall see each other in Marseilles.
You will see how delighted you will be with seeing the blue
here and with feeling the sun. At present I have a terrace for
a studio.
I certainly intend to go do seascapes at Marseilles too; I
don't yearn for the grey sea of the North. If you see Gauguin,
remember me most kindly to him. I must write to him right
now.
My dear comrade Bernard, don't despair and above all don't
have spleen, old fellow, for with your talent and
...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (1 May 1888) ... I am better than I was in Paris, and if my
stomach has become terribly weak, it's
a trouble I picked up there and most likely due to the bad wine, which I drank too much of. The
wine is just as bad here, but I drink very little of it.
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Wilhelmina van Gogh (31 July 1888) ... to get into the country as much as possible. Here I am
afflicted now and then with an inability to eat, something of
the sort you suffered from at the time. But on the whole I
manage to steer clear of the rocks. When your body forsakes
you, use your brains - you and I with our constitutions should
take this to heart. For that matter work, if we are making
headway, can help a lot.
I think it exquisitely beautiful here in summer; the green
is very deep and rich; the air is thin and astonishingly clear.
But for all that the wide plain might often remind me very
strongly of the Dutch scenery - here where there are hardly any
mountains or rocks - if the colour were not so different. But
what pleases me very much is the gaily coloured clothes, the
women and girls dressed in cheap simple material, but with
green, red and pink, Havana-yellow, violet or blue stripes, or
dots of the same colours. White scarves; red, green and yellow
parasols. A vigorous sun, like sulphur, shining...
