My dear Theo,

Enclosed I am sending Gauguin's letter; fortunately he has recovered his health.

How is yours?

I wish Russell would do something. However, he has a wife and children, a studio, and a house being built, and I can quite see how a man, even a rich one, cannot always spend 100 francs - no more than that - on pictures. I think it would make a tremendous difference to me if Gauguin were here, for now the days go by without my speaking a word to anyone. Oh well. In any case his letter gave me tremendous pleasure.

If you are alone in the country too long, you get stupid, and though not yet - still this winter - I may become sterile because of this. Now if he came, there would be no danger of this, because there would be no lack of ideas.

If the work goes well and our courage does not fail, we may hope to see more very interesting years yet.

Is Mourier still with you?

Would it be possible for me to have your letter on Sunday, I'm not counting on it though, knowing that it is the end of the month.

It's just that I shall probably have a model this week.

I need some studies of figures very much. Just now I have a sort of exhibition at home, that is to say I have taken all the studies from the stretchers, and have nailed them up on the wall to get thoroughly dry. You will see that when there are a lot of them and one can choose among them, it comes to the same thing as if I had studied them more and worked on them longer. Because to paint and repaint a subject on the same or several canvases comes to the same thing in the end. I am in rather a hurry, so a handshake.

Ever yours, Vincent