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The letters of van Gogh — an artist rediscovered
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VINCENT van Gogh (1853-90) needs little introduction. The post-Impressionist Dutch painter, whose works had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art, not only left behind a cluster of masterpieces but also lived an equally dramatic life.
That life was the subject of a book “Vincent van Gogh — The Letters,” a six-volume collection containing 819 letters written by the artist, and 83 letters written to him by his friends and family members from 1872 to 1890.
It has now been translated and published in Chinese by Shanghai Fine Arts Publisher. The book looks in depth at an important part of van Gogh’s life and art, and is the most complete Chinese edition of the celebrated painter.
Most of the letters are a communication between the family members and the artistic thoughts of van Gogh.
“These letters are not average letters ... they are extremely well written. They are far from trivial and reflect van Gogh’s thoughts,” says Leo Jansen, a senior research fellow at Huygens Institute, and editor-in-chief of the book in English.
Work on the book of letters first started in 1994. It was researched by the Van Gogh Museum and the Huygens Institute, The Hague. It took Jansen and his team nearly 15 years to finalize it in English, French and Dutch in 2009.
And it took another five years for the Chinese translation to materialize.
The book has nearly 4,000 footnotes to explain the names and terms that appear in the letters.
“The reason is simple, because van Gogh wrote these letters in the 18th century, while our readers are modern people who lack some of the background information mentioned in these letters,” Jansen says.
“We tried to provide as much information as possible, to tell the readers the story behind these letters. We wanted to open the door of van Gogh’s world to the readers and invite them to come in.”
According to Wang Lixiang, publisher at Shanghai Fine Arts Publisher, the book also has about 2,000 pictures that van Gogh mentioned in his letters, varying from print, oil painting, sketch and his drafts to artists.
“Some of the pictures are being made public for the first time and has high academic and artistic value,” Wang adds.
Van Gogh’s vivid colors, emotive subject matter, and his short life have led many to label him as the quintessential misunderstood genius. Some others even believe that van Gogh’s paintings are not the works of a talented artist but rather that of a lunatic.
The book corrects this misconception.
“The most important thing these letters prove is that van Gogh was not insane when he was painting or writing,” says Willem van Gogh, great-grandson of Theo van Gogh, who was the younger brother of Vincent.
It is well-known that Theo helped Vincent to maintain his artistic lifestyle with money. He also helped Vincent pursue his life as an artist through his unwavering emotional support and love. In this book, van Gogh nearly wrote a total of 658 letters to Theo and his last letter to him, a few days before he committed suicide, was considered his last testament.
In 1973, Willem’s grandfather established the Van Gogh Museum.
According to Willem, Vincent van Gogh, like many artists, pursued his art sensibly. “He wouldn’t paint when he was desperate or down, but only when he was calm and in good condition,” he says. “Based on these letters, we know that van Gogh read a lot of books from Balzac, to Zola to Dickens. When he was writing, he was confident, expressive and very logical.”
Asked if he too pursued painting, Willem gives a resolute answer.
“Definitely not, because I could never compete with a guy named Vincent van Gogh,” he says. “In my eyes, the reason for van Gogh’s popularity is because he focused on ordinary things or ordinary people, which were often ignored.
“No one during his time would have painted a plain yellow house. He also painted his shabby private studio. It is not that he painted his life, but he reflected the life of everyone.”
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