Relevant paintings: "Young girl with shawl," Vincent van Gogh [Enlarge]
"Young girl with shawl," Vincent van Gogh [Enlarge]
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Dear Theo,
Since I received your letter, what you wrote has literally
filled all my thoughts. And I write once more because I am so
full of it. In cases like this one is involved with a patient
who is ill in body and in soul, so it is doubly serious;
and financial help for the necessities of life is not enough to
bring about complete recovery - the best and most efficacious
remedy is love and a home. At least I felt this way last
winter, and since then - now, for instance, I feel it even
more, just because experience taught me what sentiment had
already told me. To save a life is a great and beautiful thing,
but it is also very difficult and requires great care.
To make a home for the homeless, yes, it must be a good
thing, whatever the world may say, it cannot be wrong,
and yet it is often considered a crime.
Involuntarily I have thought it over and said to myself -
What will people say about it? Will it bring you into conflict
with the world? This is also a question in my mind which I
cannot answer, as I do not know enough about the circumstances
yet. And there is another thing which is the real motive for
this letter, which I want you to consider - though perhaps it
has already occurred to you.
A thing like this takes a long time - of course I think it
possible that you will soon see the effects of your good care,
but the complete recovery in body and soul of such a severely
tried constitution will take years. At this moment the woman
and the children are sitting with me. When I think of last
year, there is a great difference. The woman is stronger and
stouter, has lost very, very much of her agitated air; the baby
is the prettiest, healthiest, merriest little fellow you can
imagine - he crows like a cock, and is fat and chubby even
though he gets nothing but the breast.
And the poor little girl, you see from the drawing that the
old deep misery has not been erased, and I often feel anxious
about her, but still she is quite different from last year;
then it was very, very bad, now she already is looking more
childlike.
Well, though not exactly entirely normal, the situation is
much better than I dared to hope last year. And when I think it
over, would it have been better if the mother had had a
miscarriage or if the baby had withered or pined away through
lack of milk, if the little girl had become more and more dirty
and neglected, and the woman herself had sunk into an almost
indescribably miserable condition? -
Well, when I see all this, I cannot doubt any more, and I
say, Forward, full of good courage. Something simple, really
motherly, shows itself in the woman - and as this gets
stronger, she is saved. And how is this progress brought
about??? Not by physicians, nor by extraordinary measures. By
having the feeling of a home of her own, by a regular useful
life. Not by sparing herself too much, for she cannot do
that, but because the anxious heart finds more rest now, even
under hard and tiresome work. With this thoroughly familiar
case in front of my eyes, I come back to what I want to say, It
seems to me that if you want to see good results, you must pay
special attention to the surroundings of the woman whom you
write about. It would be desirable for her to be elsewhere than
in a dreary hotel room - she ought to have more home-like
surroundings. You must consider this, for I think it's
important; she must be diverted by very ordinary commonplace
things which keep her occupied. Not isolated in a room, without
intercourse with people - for her own good, and not because you
want to keep her in the background or hide her. But it is
necessary for her to avoid emotion and shocks as much as
possible, and the sooner she returns to ordinary everyday
activities and surroundings, the better.
Loneliness or idleness is fatal; she must have a chance to
talk with good people. I think that it would be delightful for
her to be in a homelike atmosphere - for instance, if she could
occupy herself with children. I think it rather a pity she has
no child. I think it makes the case even more critical. Yes, in
my opinion the most practical thing you can do is bring her
into some homelike atmosphere. I think that your main thought
at present is - This life must be saved - and that you
unselfishly think more of her than of yourself.
Last year I could think of only one home for her, namely my
own, and had I been able to act differently, I shouldn't have
taken the woman into my house at once, in order to avoid the
difficulties which could not be avoided now. But it's different
with you, and perhaps you can temporarily take her (namely, the
person whom you write about) somewhere where she is safe and
quiet, till she has completely recovered. I am afraid her
recovery will take a long time - besides, one need not trespass
against the world's prejudices if it can be
avoided. If it cannot be avoided, one
should do what one knows is right: last summer I should have
sinned against all possible prejudices - whatever their number
- rather than leave the woman without home or shelter. But in
your case I think it can and must be done more discreetly, and
if I were you, I should try to find a suitable home for her -
not leave her alone in a room without intercourse with people -
for her own good, the sooner she gets normal, ordinary
activities and surroundings, the better.
My heart is full, and I think of you all the time; just now
I made another drawing for which the woman posed.
I can tell you, boy, my experience of this year is that
though there are hard, very hard moments of care and
difficulty, it is infinitely better to live with wife and
children than without - but it is always wiser to get to know
each other first, it is more sensible and prudent. And I should
have done the same if it could have been arranged, but there
was no other home for her than mine. Well, one has to take the
circumstances into account, and sometimes giving offence cannot
be avoided. So I do not in the least want to advise you to give
it up, but I do think we agree that it is better to be cautious
with reference to the world, otherwise it may spoil things. So
be careful. For the moment the recovery is the main thing, and
the rest will follow.
Wouldn't there be some one of your friends who would be
willing to assist you and take her into his house for a
time?
Perhaps a kind of hospital would be preferable - the
ordinary or a private one, where she could have company.
Perhaps all this is already settled, and I write about it just
because I do not know anything definite. So if you should stick
to your opinion that this person is the woman whom you want to
devote your life to, I consider it a fortunate thing for you.
And then it will be precisely this constant love which will
make her bloom again.
I wish I knew when you were coming - if possible, bring the
old studies with you. As to what I wrote you about sending me a
little more money - yes, I am rather hard up and wish it were
possible, but do not deprive her for my sake, and know well
that because of what you wrote, I will try twice as hard to
make progress, so that the burden may become somewhat lighter
for you. But the difficulty is that hard work costs more money
because of the greater outlay.
Write soon, for I long to hear from you. Rappard is
recovering; I had a letter from him. I am very hard at work,
always at all kinds of heads. Adieu. A handshake in
thought,
Yours sincerely, Vincent
At this time, Vincent was 29 year oldSource: Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written c. 13 January 1883 in The Hague. Translated by Mrs. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, edited by Robert Harrison, number 260. URL: https://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/12/260.htm.
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