To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882.

Friday, 24 November 1882

Metadata

Source status: Original manuscript

Location: Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, inv. no. b269 V/1962

Date: The letter was written on the Friday after 20 November 1882 (see l. 8 and l. 1*), thus on Friday, 24 November 1882.

Additional: Original [1r:1] Waarde Theo, Uw aanget. brief van 20 Nov. heb ik in orde ontvangen & dank U zeer voor het zenden er van, uit mijn brief die den Uwen moet gekruist hebben zult ge reeds hebben kunnen zien hoe welkom het was.1 Doch ge schrijft dat tegelijk met dien brief ge het papier van Buhot zondt dit nu was er niet bij en heb ik tot heden, Vrijdag, niet . Kan er op nieuw een fout van de post zijn ofwel is het misschien bij U blijven liggen. Ik wachtte tot heden met het beantwoorden van Uw schrijven om te zien of soms de post hier vergeten had het te bezorgen of zoo. Ge zult het rolletje waarin de Spitter was hoop ik ook hebben ontvangen.2 Heden en gisteren teekende ik twee figuren van een oud man die met de elbogen

1 The previous letter, 285. 2 For the sending of the lithographs Digger (F 1656 / JH 262) and Old man drinking coffee (F 1657 / JH 266), see letter 285, n. 1.

1 2 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882.

op de knieen en t hoofd in de handen zit. 3 Ik heb het indertijd van Schuitemaker gedaan & bewaarde steeds de teekening4 omdat ik t nog eens beter wilde doen. Misschien zal ik daar ook eene lith. van maken. Wat is zoon ouden werkman in zijn gelapt bombazijnen pak6 met zijn kalen kop toch mooi. Ik heb het boek van Zola, Pot bouille , uit. de krachtigste passage vind ik dat accouchement van die keukenmeid Adele (bretonne pouilleuse) op het donkere zolderkamertje. Josserand is ook weergas knap en met sentiment geteekend, de rest der figuren ook doch die twee somberen, Josserand met zijn adressen schrijven [1v:2] snachts en dat meidenkamertje, troffen me t meest. 7 Wat zit het boek goed in elkaar en het woord waarmede het eindigt: aujourdhui toutes les maisons se valent, lune ou lautre cest la mme chose, cest partout Cochon & Cie , 9 is wel bitter. Octave Mouret eigentlijk t hoofdfiguur zou die niet als type te beschouwen zijn van dergelijke personen als waarover ge onlangs eens schreeft, als ge t U herinnert. Hij is in veel opzigten veel beter dan de meesten, evenwel hij zal U evenmin als mij voldoen en ik voel iets leegs in hem. Had hij anders kunnen doen. hij misschien niet doch gij en ik kunnen iets anders en moeten anders dunkt mij. Wij toch hebben onzen wortel in een ander soort familieleven dan dat van Mouret en bovendien zal er altijd iets van de Brabantsche akkers en hei in ons blijven hoop ik, wat jaren van stadsleven te minder uit kunnen wisschen omdat de kunst het vernieuwt en vermeerdert. Hij Oct. Mouret is content als hij zijn balen

3 These are studies like Worn out (F 997 / JH 267) and (the compositionally different) At eternitys gate (F 998 / JH 269). It is clear from letter 287, however, that there must have been at least one more study, so that there is no way of knowing which two drawings Van Gogh meant here. It is less likely that he meant F 997 / JH 267, because this is the final version, after which a lithograph was made some time later. Cf. Van Heugten and Pabst 1995, p. 52, cat. no. 5. 4 This drawing, done around mid-September 1881 in Etten, is Man sitting by the fireplace (Worn out) (F 863 / JH 34) (see also letter 172). It depicts Cornelis Schuitemaker5. On him: C. de Bruyn-Heeren, Cornelis Schuitemaker (1813-1884), model for Vincent van Gogh. In: Brabantse biografien. Levensbeschrijvingen van bekende en onbekende Noordbrabanders. Vol. 4. J. van Oudheusden et al. Amsterdam and Meppel 1996, pp. 109-112; and FR b3648. 6 A workmans suit in strong cotton that is patched. 7 For Zola8s Pot-bouille , see letter 283, n. 14. The Breton maid Adle manages to keep secret her pregnancy and delivery at night in her attic room. She at once abandons the child out of shame and fear of losing her job. See Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, pp. 366-371 (chapter 18). The detailed and realistic description of the birth was highly controversial at the time. Josserand is the father of three daughters who, together with his wife, spend so much to keep up appearances in their bourgeois circle that he has to work at night as well as doing a day job as a cashier. For the address writing (chapter 2), see pp. 24-25. Cf. also Sund 1992, p. 66. 9 This verdict comes from Julie, a maidservant, when she is congratulated on finding a new post. The end reads literally: She shrugged and ended with this philosophical reply: Dear God, mademoiselle, this one or that, every hovels like every other one. In this day and age, whoever has done one of them has done the other. Theyre all a shoddy lot. (Elle haussa les paules et conclut par cette rponse philosophique: Mon Dieu! mademoiselle, celle-ci ou celle-l, toutes les baraques se ressemblent. Au jour daujourdhui, qui a fait lune a fait lautre. Cest cochon et compagnie.) Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, p. 386 (chapter 18). To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882. 3 nouveauts grif verkoopen kan (dballer des ballots de marchandises sur les trottoirs de Paris), 10 andere aspiraties schijnt hij niet te hebben, behalve dan conqutes van vrouwen. en toch had hij die niet werkelijk lief want Zola ziet met juistheid dunkt me als hij zegt o perait son mpris pour la femme.11 Enfin, ik weet niet wat ik van hem denken moet. Hij komt me voor te zijn een product van den tijd, eigentlijk meer passief dan actief ondanks zijn activiteit. [1v:3] Doch na het boek van Zola las ik Quatre vingt treize van V. Hugo12 eindelijk eens. Dat is geheel een ander terrein. Het is geschilderd, ik bedoel geschreven als Decamps of Jules Dupr, met expressies als in oude Ary Scheffers, b.v. le larmoyeur en le coupeur de nappe14 of de figuren op den achtergrond van de Christus consolator.16 Ik zou U erg aanraden het eens te lezen indien ge t niet gelezen hebt want het sentiment waarin dit boek is geschreven wordt hoe langer hoe zeldzamer en onder het nieuwe zie ik niets dat edeler is . Werkelijk. Het is makkelijker om te zeggen, zooals Mesdag van zeker schij van Heyerdahl, in t sentiment van Murillo of Rembrandt gemaakt, dat hij van U niet wilde hebben, o dats de oude manier, die hebben we niet noodig, dan die oude manier door iets equivalents, laat staan iets beters te remplaceeren. En overmits velen z redeneeren als Mesdag in dezen tijd, zonder er verder over na te denken, kan t geen kwaad anderen eens nadenken of we wel in de wereld zijn om af te breken in plaats van voort te bouwen. Het woord niet meer noodig,

10 A reference to the passage in Pot-bouille where Octave Mouret is judged by Mme Hdouin, his future wife: Elle avait fini pourtant par lui tmoigner une vritable estime, gagne ses ides larges, ses rves de grands comptoirs modernes, dballant des millions de marchandises sur les trottoirs de Paris. (Elle avait fini pourtant par lui tmoigner une vritable estime, gagne ses ides larges, ses rves de grands comptoirs modernes, dballant des millions de marchandises sur les trottoirs de Paris.) Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, p. 165 (chapter 9). 11 Octave Mourets conquests are mentioned more than once in Pot-bouille (see Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, pp. 68, 235, 408). Van Goghs quotation about Mourets contempt for women is not literal, but there are several passages in which it is expressed, such as: he gave way to his streak of brutality, the fierce scorn he felt for women (il cda son fond de brutalit, au ddain froce quil avait de la femme) (chapter 1, p. 21; a similar quotation in chapter 12, p. 245) and then he rose, full of contempt (alors, il se leva, plein de mpris) (chapter 4, p. 72). 12 Victor Hugo13s broadly conceived historical novel Quatre-vingt-treize (1874) is set in the period after the French Revolution. It is a fictional story in a historical setting: royalist peasants in the Vende rise up against the republican government in Paris. Their leader, the Marquis de Lantenac, is overpowered after he saves three children from a burning castle instead of fleeing from the republican leaders Gauvain and Cimourdain. Gauvain admires this humanitarian deed and helps Lantenac to escape. Gauvain is then arrested as a traitor and condemned to the guillotine by the blinkered Cimourdain, who is his friend but also president of the court martial. At the moment Gauvain is beheaded by the guillotine, Cimourdain shoots himself through the heart out of remorse. 14 Ary Scheffer15, Count Eberhard von Wrttemberg mourning beside the lifeless body of his son Ulrich, 1831. And Ary Scheffer, Count Eberhard von Wrttemberg dividing the tablecloth between himself and his son Ulrich, 1851. Ill. 416. and Ill. 413 (Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen). 16 For Scheffer17s Christus Consolator , see letter 85, n. 7. 4 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882.

wat is men er grif mee en wat is het een dom en leelijk woord. Andersen geeft het in zeker sprookje geloof ik niet een mensch doch een oud varken [1r:4] in den mond.18 Laat wie er mee kaatst den bal terug verwachten. Het deed me bijzonder veel pleizier deze week (bij G&C voor t raam) een schij van de Bock te zien dat me veel, veel beter voorkwam dan die waaraan hij in t voorjaar werkte. dit was eene hut in de duinen met een laan boomen er voor. de fonds somber en toonig met een mooie lichte lucht er achter. Er was iets zeer groots en opgewekts in. 20 Ik zei daareven, laat wie met dezen bal kaatst hem terugverwachten. ik vrees Theo, het zal er van komen dat velen die ter wille van het nieuwe het oude opgeofferd hebben zich zulks erg berouwen zullen. Dit vooral ook op t gebied van kunst. Er was een corps schilders, schrijvers, artisten enfin, die ondanks hun verdeeldheden eenheid hadden en eene kracht waren. Zij wandelden niet in t donker doch hadden dit licht dat ze terdeeg wisten wat ze wilden en niet twijfelden.22 Ik spreek van den tijd toen Corot, Millet, Daubigny, Jacque, Breton, 23 jong waren, in Holland Israels, Mauve, Maris26 &c. Het een steunde het ander, het was iets krachtigs en nobels. De winkels waren toen kleiner, op de ateliers was misschien meer overvloed dan nu daar het mooie gaauw weggehaald wordt. Die volgepropte ateliers, die kleinere vitrines la foi de charbonnier 28 der artisten vooral, hun warmte, hun vuur, hun enthousiasme, wat waren het sublieme dingen. Noch gij noch ik hebben t precies bijgewoond maar door onze liefde voor dien tijd weten we er van wat we er van weten laat ons het niet vergeten t kan te pas komen vooral als men voortgaat zoo grif te zeggen niet meer noodig. adieu, met een handdruk. t. t. Vincent

18 Possibly an allusion to something said by the old snail (not a pig) in the tale The happy family by Hans Christian Andersen19: There is nothing beyond it! quoth Father Snail ... No place can be better than this; we have nothing to wish for. See Andersen 1861, p. 388. 20 In view of Van Goghs description this is probably De Bock21s Road and cottage , which was sold a short time later, namely on 5 December 1882. It was bought by the dealer Thomas Richardson of London (RKD, Goupil Ledgers). The painting The oak , in a private collection in the USA in 1932 (RKD), comes close to matching the description given. 22 Cf. Isa. 59:9 and John 8:12. 23 Jules Breton24 or Emile Adlard Breton25. 26 Probably Jacob Maris27, for whom Van Gogh had a strong preference. 28 The uncomplicated perseverance of humble folk, automatic faith. In letter 397 Van Gogh says that Millet29 used this expression often, but it is not recorded in Sensier30s book on Millet. The only time it is found is in the introduction by Paul Mantz31, Sensier 1881, p. vi; it is cited in letters 358, 368, 396, 397, 403, 404 and 494. To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882. 5

Translation [1r:1] My dear Theo, I received your registered letter of 20 Nov. in good order, and thank you very much for sending it. Youll have seen how welcome it was from my letter, which must have crossed yours.32 But you write that you sent the paper from Buhot33 at the same time as the letter yet it wasnt with it, and up to today, Friday, I dont have it. Has the post made a mistake again, or do you perhaps still have it? Ive waited until today to reply to your letter to see whether the post here had forgotten to deliver it, or something like that. You also received the small roll with the Digger in it, I hope.34 Today and yesterday I drew two figures of an old man with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.35 I did it of Schuitemaker36 once and always kept the drawing,37 because I wanted to do it better another time. Perhaps Ill also do a lithograph of it. What a fine sight an old working man makes, in his patched bombazine suit with his bald head. Ive finished the book by Zola39, Pot-bouille. I thought the most powerful passage was the kitchen maid Adele (scruffy Breton) giving birth in the dark attic room. Josserand is also portrayed with devilish skill and with sentiment. The rest of the characters too, but these two sombre ones, Josserand writing his addresses at night, and that tiny maids room, made the most impression on me.40 How well constructed the book is and the words with which it ends are bitter: these [1v:2] days all houses are much of a muchness, its all the same, Swinery & Co. everywhere.42 Octave Mouret actually the main character couldnt he be regarded as typical of the kind of people you wrote about recently, if you remember? Hes far better than most people, in many respects, but you wont find him satisfactory any more than I do, and I sense an emptiness in him. Could he have done differently? Perhaps he couldnt, but you and I can and must in my view. After all, we have our roots in a family life of a different kind from Mourets, and moreover there will always be something of the Brabant fields and heath in us I hope, which is all the less erasable by years of city life because art renews and adds to it. He O. Mouret is happy as long as he can sell his bales of novelties quickly (display his bales of goods on the pavements of Paris);43 he appears to have no

32 The previous letter, 285. 33 Flix Hilaire Buhot (1847-1898) French artist 34 For the sending of the lithographs Digger (F 1656 / JH 262) and Old man drinking coffee (F 1657 / JH 266), see letter 285, n. 1.

35 These are studies like Worn out (F 997 / JH 267) and (the compositionally different) At eternitys gate (F 998 / JH 269). It is clear from letter 287, however, that there must have been at least one more study, so that there is no way of knowing which two drawings Van Gogh meant here. It is less likely that he meant F 997 / JH 267, because this is the final version, after which a lithograph was made some time later. Cf. Van Heugten and Pabst 1995, p. 52, cat. no. 5. 36 Cornelis Schuitemaker (1813-1884) farmer in Etten 37 This drawing, done around mid-September 1881 in Etten, is Man sitting by the fireplace (Worn out) (F 863 / JH 34) (see also letter 172). It depicts Cornelis Schuitemaker38. On him: C. de Bruyn-Heeren, Cornelis Schuitemaker (1813-1884), model for Vincent van Gogh. In: Brabantse biografien. Levensbeschrijvingen van bekende en onbekende Noordbrabanders. Vol. 4. J. van Oudheusden et al. Amsterdam and Meppel 1996, pp. 109-112; and FR b3648. 39 Emile Zola (1840-1902) French writer 40 For Zola41s Pot-bouille , see letter 283, n. 14. The Breton maid Adle manages to keep secret her pregnancy and delivery at night in her attic room. She at once abandons the child out of shame and fear of losing her job. See Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, pp. 366-371 (chapter 18). The detailed and realistic description of the birth was highly controversial at the time. Josserand is the father of three daughters who, together with his wife, spend so much to keep up appearances in their bourgeois circle that he has to work at night as well as doing a day job as a cashier. For the address writing (chapter 2), see pp. 24-25. Cf. also Sund 1992, p. 66. 42 This verdict comes from Julie, a maidservant, when she is congratulated on finding a new post. The end reads literally: She shrugged and ended with this philosophical reply: Dear God, mademoiselle, this one or that, every hovels like every other one. In this day and age, whoever has done one of them has done the other. Theyre all a shoddy lot. (Elle haussa les paules et conclut par cette rponse philosophique: Mon Dieu! mademoiselle, celle-ci ou celle-l, toutes les baraques se ressemblent. Au jour daujourdhui, qui a fait lune a fait lautre. Cest cochon et compagnie.) Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, p. 386 (chapter 18). 43 A reference to the passage in Pot-bouille where Octave Mouret is judged by Mme Hdouin, his future wife: Elle avait fini pourtant par lui tmoigner une vritable estime, gagne ses ides larges, ses rves de grands comptoirs modernes, dballant des millions de marchandises sur les trottoirs de Paris. (Elle avait fini pourtant par lui tmoigner une vritable 6 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882.

other aspirations, except for conquests of women, and yet he wasnt really fond of them, for Zola is right I believe when he says, where his contempt for the female was apparent.44 Anyway, I dont know what to think of him. He seems to me to be a product of the time, actually more passive than active despite his activity.[1v:3] But after Zola45s book I read Quatre vingt treize by V. Hugo46 47 at long last. Thats entirely different territory. Its painted, I mean written, like Decamps49 or Jules Dupr50, with expressions as in old Ary Scheffer51s, such as The man in tears and The cutter of the tablecloth52 or the figures in the background of Christus Consolator.54 I strongly recommend that you read it sometime if you havent read it, for the sentiment in which this book is written is becoming ever more uncommon, and amid the new I see nothing more noble. Truly. Its easier to say, as Mesdag56 did of a certain painting by Heyerdahl57 done in the sentiment of Murillo58 or Rembrandt59 that he didnt want to buy from you, Oh, thats the old manner, we dont need that, than to replace the old manner by something equivalent, let alone something better. And since many reason like Mesdag these days, without giving it any further thought, it can do no harm if others do reflect on whether we are in the world to pull down rather than to build up. The phrase not needed any more how eagerly people use it and what a stupid and ugly phrase it is. I believe that in a certain fairy tale Andersen60 puts it in the mouth not of a person but of an [1r:4] old pig.61 People who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones. This week it pleased me very much indeed to see (in the window at G&C) a painting by De

estime, gagne ses ides larges, ses rves de grands comptoirs modernes, dballant des millions de marchandises sur les trottoirs de Paris.) Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, p. 165 (chapter 9). 44 Octave Mourets conquests are mentioned more than once in Pot-bouille (see Zola 1960-1967, vol. 3, pp. 68, 235, 408). Van Goghs quotation about Mourets contempt for women is not literal, but there are several passages in which it is expressed, such as: he gave way to his streak of brutality, the fierce scorn he felt for women (il cda son fond de brutalit, au ddain froce quil avait de la femme) (chapter 1, p. 21; a similar quotation in chapter 12, p. 245) and then he rose, full of contempt (alors, il se leva, plein de mpris) (chapter 4, p. 72). 45 Emile Zola (1840-1902) French writer 46 Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885) French writer 47 Victor Hugo48s broadly conceived historical novel Quatre-vingt-treize (1874) is set in the period after the French Revolution. It is a fictional story in a historical setting: royalist peasants in the Vende rise up against the republican government in Paris. Their leader, the Marquis de Lantenac, is overpowered after he saves three children from a burning castle instead of fleeing from the republican leaders Gauvain and Cimourdain. Gauvain admires this humanitarian deed and helps Lantenac to escape. Gauvain is then arrested as a traitor and condemned to the guillotine by the blinkered Cimourdain, who is his friend but also president of the court martial. At the moment Gauvain is beheaded by the guillotine, Cimourdain shoots himself through the heart out of remorse. 49 Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860) French artist 50 Jules Dupr (1811-1889) French artist 51 Ary Scheffer (1795-1858) Dutch artist 52 Ary Scheffer53, Count Eberhard von Wrttemberg mourning beside the lifeless body of his son Ulrich, 1831. And Ary Scheffer, Count Eberhard von Wrttemberg dividing the tablecloth between himself and his son Ulrich, 1851. Ill. 416. and Ill. 413 (Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen). 54 For Scheffer55s Christus Consolator , see letter 85, n. 7.

56 Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831-1915) Dutch artist 57 Hans Olaf Heyerdahl (1857-1913) Norwegian artist 58 Bartholom Esteban Murillo (1618-1682) Spanish artist 59 Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) Dutch artist 60 Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) Danish writer 61 Possibly an allusion to something said by the old snail (not a pig) in the tale The happy family by Hans Christian Andersen62: There is nothing beyond it! quoth Father Snail ... No place can be better than this; we have nothing to wish for. See Andersen 1861, p. 388. To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 24 November 1882. 7

Bock63 that seemed to me far, far better than the one he was working on in the spring. This was a hut in the dunes with an avenue of trees in front of it. The background sombre and rich in tone, with a beautiful light sky behind. There was something very grand and lively about it.64 I just said, people who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones. I fear, Theo, that it will come about that many who have sacrificed the old for the sake of the new will deeply regret it. Especially in the realm of art. There was a body of painters, writers, artists in short, who were united despite their divi- sions, and formed one force. They did not walk in darkness but had this light, that they clearly knew what they wanted and did not doubt.66 Im speaking of the time when Corot67, Millet68, Daubigny69, Jacque70, Breton71,72 were young, in Holland Israls75, Mauve76, Maris77,78 &c. One thing reinforced the other, it was powerful and noble. The shops were smaller then, the studios perhaps had a greater abundance than now, since beautiful things soon went. Those crammed studios, those smaller shop windows, colliers faith 80 of the artists above all, their warmth, their fire, their enthusiasm what sublime things they were. Neither you nor I actually witnessed it, but through our love for that time we know of it what we know of it let us not forget it it may be useful particularly if people go on saying so eagerly, not needed any more. Adieu, with a handshake. Ever yours, Vincent

63 Thophile Emile Achille de Bock (1851-1904) Dutch artist 64 In view of Van Goghs description this is probably De Bock65s Road and cottage , which was sold a short time later, namely on 5 December 1882. It was bought by the dealer Thomas Richardson of London (RKD, Goupil Ledgers). The painting The oak , in a private collection in the USA in 1932 (RKD), comes close to matching the description given. 66 Cf. Isa. 59:9 and John 8:12. 67 Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875) French artist 68 Jean-Franois Millet (1814-1875) French artist 69 Charles-Franois Daubigny (1817-1878) French artist 70 Charles Emile Jacque(s) (1813-1894) French artist 71 Jules Adolphe Aim Louis Breton (1827-1906) French artist and poet 72 Jules Breton73 or Emile Adlard Breton74. 75 Jozef Israls (1824-1911) Dutch artist 76 Anton Mauve (1838-1888) Dutch artist 77 Jacob (Jaap) Hendrik Maris (1837-1899) Dutch artist 78 Probably Jacob Maris79, for whom Van Gogh had a strong preference. 80 The uncomplicated perseverance of humble folk, automatic faith. In letter 397 Van Gogh says that Millet81 used this expression often, but it is not recorded in Sensier82s book on Millet. The only time it is found is in the introduction by Paul Mantz83, Sensier 1881, p. vi; it is cited in letters 358, 368, 396, 397, 403, 404 and 494.