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399 letters found

001 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 29 September 1872.
in note 1:
...rabant. He walked the 6 km to school from his parents’ house in Helvoirt. The fact that Vincent as...
001a To Hendrik Verzijl. The Hague, Saturday, 26 October 1872.
in note 4:
...rd birthday party of the Reverend Theodorus van Gogh, who was on a friendly footing wit...
002 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 13 December 1872.
in translation:
That was good news that I just read in Pa’s letter. My hearty congratulations.
003 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, mid-January 1873.
in translation:
I hope that the latter will be all right. Pa wrote that you’re good friends with Schmidt. Bravo, I ...
in note 9:
Vincent van Gogh, retired art dealer and collector, brother of Mr van Gogh.
in note 7:
... retired art dealer in Brussels, brother of Mr van Gogh. He suffered from an unidentified wasting di...
in note 3:
Vincent sent 25 guilders of this bonus to his parents. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Vincent sent us ...
004 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Tuesday, 28 January 1873.
in translation:
... it when you write home. As you know, it’s for Pa’s birthday, on which I congratulate you ahead o...
in note 11:
Mr van Gogh would turn 51 on 8 February.
005 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 17 March 1873.
in note 4:
Mrs van Gogh reported to Theo: ‘Vincent writes that he finds it strange, always hurrying during the...
in note 1:
..., to transfer Vincent to the London branch. Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘our Vincent, whom Uncle Ce...
in note 5:
...fers to. Theo had sent the portrait to Anna, via his parents, shortly before 19 February (FR b2604).
in note 2:
Vincent and Theo were both at their parents’ house in Helvoirt (North Brabant) for Easter (13 April...
008 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 9 May 1873.
in note 3:
Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo on 11 May, when Vincent was in Helvoirt: ‘It’s wonderful to hear Vince...
in note 1:
...Saturday evening, 10 May to take leave of his parents (FR b2626); he left Helvoirt on Monday, 12 May...
009 To Theo van Gogh. London, Friday, 13 June 1873.
in translation:
...t you’re now staying with Mr Schmidt, and that Pa has been to see you. I sincerely hope that this w...
I was glad to hear from Pa that Uncle H. is reasonably well. Would you give my warm regards to him an...
in note 9:
...n annual salary of 1,090 guilders), but, as Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo, ‘he still has to live fruga...
in note 2:
...��[Theo] lived in the house of a minister, which Pa found very safe ─ but it was dirty and dismal a...
010 To Willem and Caroline van Stockum-Haanebeek. London, Wednesday, 2 July 1873.
in note 3:
Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘When I last wrote to you, had we received Vincent’s letter in which ...
013 To Theo van Gogh. London, Saturday, 13 September 1873.
in translation:
...ou. I’m very curious to hear whether you went to Helvoirt on Ma’s birthday and how it was there.
in note 16:
...een transferred from Brussels to The Hague. Mr van Gogh had approved of this transfer and had told T...
in note 1:
Theo visited his mother for her 54th birthday on 10 September (FR b2659 and b2661).
in note 3:
...on 1992, p. 16; and Bailey 1990, pp. 26-37. Mr van Gogh reported to Theo: ‘Vincent is doing well i...
014 To Willem and Caroline van Stockum-Haanebeek. London, between about Thursday, 16 October and Friday, 31 October 1873.
in translation:
...can imagine how delighted she and all of us are. Pa and Ma have suggested that she stay at school unt...
...gine how delighted she and all of us are. Pa and Ma have suggested that she stay at school until next...
in note 13:
...Van Gogh was also writing to H.G. Tersteeg. Mrs van Gogh remarked to Theo: ‘Mr Tersteeg also wrote ...
015 To Theo van Gogh. London, Wednesday, 19 November 1873.
in note 16:
...eg, the daughter of H.G. Tersteeg, was ill. Mrs van Gogh wrote on 3 December 1874 to Theo: ‘fortuna...
in note 14:
...November) and his arrival in The Hague (12 November) at his parents’ house in Helvoirt (FR b2672).
017 To Theo van Gogh. London, beginning of January 1874.
in note 9:
...heo was visiting the Tersteeg family, which Mrs van Gogh took as proof that Theo’s superior was sat...
in note 8:
...letter written to Theo on 24 December 1873, Mr van Gogh quoted one of Vincent’s letters from Londo...
019 To Theo van Gogh. London, Friday, 20 February 1874.
in note 11:
...gue. The first could be the one to whom Mr and Mrs van Gogh refer in their letters as ‘Jan the ass...
in note 7:
...n the family correspondence. In the eyes of Mr van Gogh, her behaviour was certainly not beyond repr...
021 To Theo van Gogh. London, Monday, 30 March 1874.
in translation:
In a letter from Pa and Ma I got a guilder from you to buy a pair of cuff links. Many thanks, old cha...
in note 1:
...ay on 30 March. In fact it was not Theo but Mr van Gogh who had given Vincent the money. Mrs van Gog...
022 To Theo van Gogh. London, Thursday, 30 April 1874.
in note 9:
...akhuyzens, and in October and November 1874 Mr van Gogh encouraged Theo to visit them (FR b2723 and ...
in note 6:
...t with respectable families was encouraged. Mr van Gogh was pleased with Theo’s reception at the H...
024 To Betsy Tersteeg. Helvoirt, Tuesday, 7 July 1874.
in note 2:
... for London (FR b2709 and b2710). Van Gogh’s father wrote in Anna’s poetry album that on the fift...
026 To Theo van Gogh. London, Tuesday, 21 July 1874.
in note 4:
...July. Theo had been informed immediately, his parents having forwarded the letter telling of Vincent...
027 To Theo van Gogh. London, Friday, 31 July 1874.
in translation:
Pa isn’t at all better, even though he and Ma say he is. Yesterday we received a letter with all ki...
Pa isn’t at all better, even though he and Ma say he is. Yesterday we received a letter with all ki...
in note 13:
...had done a lot of drawing. On 10 July 1874, Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Vincent did a fair amount ...
in note 9:
...urg at Zundert, who was the minister there before Theodorus van Gogh, Vincent’s father (FR b2714).
in note 7:
Cf. Mr van Gogh’s letter to Theo in response to a letter from Anna and Vincent: ‘they haven’t y...
in note 6:
Mr van Gogh had been suffering for several weeks from a persistent cough (FR b2710 and b2711).
028 To Theo van Gogh. London, Monday, 10 August 1874.
in note 11:
...5). A while later, on 18 November 1874, Mr and Mrs van Gogh voiced their concerns to Theo. Mr van Go...
031 To Theo van Gogh. London, Tuesday, 6 April 1875.
in translation:
... of anything else. That Victor Hugo piece is beautiful. Adieu, give my regards to Pa if you see him.
in note 7:
Mr van Gogh planned to visit Theo soon. Lies wrote to Theo: ‘How nice it was for you that Pa came t...
033 To Theo van Gogh. London, Saturday, 8 May 1875.
in translation:
...er. How is the patient? I’d already heard from Pa that she was ill, but I didn’t know that it was...
in note 4:
...things differently. I haven’t told this to Pa and Ma, they think he’s a great support to me and ...
Mrs van Gogh thus told Theo on 15 August 1874: ‘I’m always afraid that, especially when Anna goes...
035 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Saturday, 19 June 1875.
in note 9:
On 9 June 1875, Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Yesterday evening (but this in strictest confidence) we...
...engthened by it, if it must be so’ (FR b2341). Mrs van Gogh also expressed her concern (FR b2342).
036 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Tuesday, 29 June 1875.
in translation:
...a few lithographs &c. which I’d like to see in Pa’s study with the ‘Funeral in the cornfield’...
in note 1:
... Annet Haanebeek, with whom he was in love. Mr van Gogh was worried about Theo’s sombre mood and a...
038 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 15 July 1875.
in translation:
Pa once wrote to me: ‘you know that the same lips that uttered “be harmless as doves” also imme...
in note 1:
...ed on 26 October. He spent Christmas with his parents and then travelled from Helvoirt back to Londo...
040 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 13 August 1875.
in note 23:
...lludes to Anna’s new prospects, since Mr and Mrs van Gogh had decided that she should stay in Engl...
in translation:
... wanted to write to you earlier. I’m glad that Pa has accepted the call to Etten; under the circums...
in note 7:
...ed in b1581 and b1582). On 15 October 1878, Mrs van Gogh advised Theo to attend one of Rev. Bersier�...
in note 3:
... of 24 and 25 July, Theo had gone to visit his father at Helvoirt; Anna, Lies, Willemien and Cor were...
in note 2:
...an’ (quoted from FR b2351, written by Mr and Mrs van Gogh to Theo). Anna and Willemien left for We...
in note 1:
... the west of the province of North Brabant, Mr van Gogh agreed to accept the living there (FR b2351,...
041 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, between Monday, 16 August and Wednesday, 1 September 1875.
in note 9:
...t arrived at Helvoirt on 12 September. The Reverend Van Gogh told Theo that he had asked about it at...
Mrs van Gogh’s birthday was 10 September. The birthday present had still not arrived at Helvoirt on...
042 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 2 September 1875.
in translation:
This morning I heard from Pa and from you the news of Uncle Jan’s death. Such things make us say, �...
...e same time I’m sending a couple of photos for Pa of pictures by Jules Breton and Corot; I’ll wri...
in note 2:
...n and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113. Van Gogh quoted this text a...
044 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Saturday, 4 September 1875.
in translation:
I’m sending you herewith my letter for Ma’s birthday, please enclose it with yours. I’ve bought...
in note 1:
Mrs van Gogh was to turn 56 on 10 September.
045 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. The Hague, Tuesday, 7 September 1875.
in translation:
The frames for the engravings for Ma’s birthday cost 4 guilders apiece.
046 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, on or about Thursday, 9 September 1875.
in translation:
Pa wrote to me recently ‘Melancholy does not hurt, but makes us see things with a holier eye’. Th...
047 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Sunday, 12 September 1875.
in translation:
...nning to see that we can acquire them. Doesn’t Pa have them, for instance? And you know how he got ...
...then be our ambition and hope to become men like Pa and others? Let us both hope and pray for this. M...
049 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 17 September 1875.
in translation:
...hip Him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Pa is one of the few, Ma too, and also Uncle Vincent...
...worship him in spirit and in truth. Pa is one of the few, Ma too, and also Uncle Vincent, I believe.
052 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 29 September 1875.
in translation:
...e left hand and to the right hand. Remember what Pa no doubt once told you too: understanding and fee...
in note 1:
...th the Rooses – had died on 22 September. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo on 25 September: ‘We are har...
053 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 30 September 1875.
in translation:
... and the Jules Breton sent previously, until Pa and Ma are comfortably settled in Etten, and send th...
056 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 14 October 1875.
in translation:
...��m sending it to you to read, but send it back. Pa once wrote to me ‘don’t forget the story of I...
057 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Tuesday, 9 November 1875.
in translation:
...re in Etten on the day of the induction, for Pa and Ma’s sake as well as yours. You must write and...
in note 2:
Aunt Cornelie van Gogh-Carbentus, wife of Uncle Vincent and a sister of Mrs van Gogh.
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh’s induction to the living at Etten took place on Sunday, 24 October 1875. He expressed ...
058 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Monday, 15 November 1875.
in translation:
... he has the courage and the desire to go on. Has Pa already said to you what he once said to me? Keep...
060 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 9 December 1875.
in note 1:
...n Brieven 1914, p. 46. On 11 December Theo’s father expressed his concern: ‘We are anxious to hea...
063 Willemien van Gogh to Vincent and Theo van Gogh. Welwyn, Sunday, 19 December 1875.
in note 2:
Vincent and Theo spent Christmas with their parents in Etten. Vincent arrived on Thursday, 23 or Frid...
064 Anna van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Welwyn, Thursday, 30 December 1875.
in translation:
...ut Willemien’s portrait and our letters on Pa and Ma’s places when they come home from church on...
in note 3:
Mr and Mrs van Gogh’s wedding anniversary; in 1876 they were to celebrate 25 years of marriage.
065 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Monday, 10 January 1876.
in note 2:
...ubject of discussion during his stay with his parents in December. This prompted Mr van Gogh to writ...
066 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, on or about Monday, 17 January 1876.
in translation:
There’s also a package for Pa; do your best to ensure that it arrives in Etten on Pa’s birthday. ...
in note 9:
On 29 January 1876 the Reverend Van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘We think it a splendid idea that you take ...
in note 7:
...must have been a ‘little ship’, because Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘How kindly he [=Vincent] r...
in note 5:
... lithograph by Bodmer that was hanging in his parents’ house, which suggests that the work referre...
in note 4:
Mr van Gogh was to turn 54 on 8 February.
in note 1:
...abetically arranged. London 1924, p. xxii. Van Gogh’s parents also read the book (FR b954, b2234).
068 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 2 February 1876.
in translation:
...ll enclose the packages in question. The one for Pa can no longer arrive at Etten in time, but send i...
069 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Monday, 7 February 1876.
in translation:
...hearty congratulations to you on the occasion of Pa’s birthday. It’s a beautiful text, the one fo...
in note 9:
...have discussed Vincent’s dismissal with his parents in Etten. Mrs van Gogh had already informed Th...
071 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 15 March 1876.
in note 5:
... vols. Leiden (De Breuk en Smits) 1873. The Van Gogh family was already familiar with the book. On 1...
in note 2:
...ip took him to Breda; he probably visited his parents in Etten that weekend. The trip was to start o...
073 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, Tuesday, 28 March 1876.
in note 1:
...he following morning before 11.00 at Etten; Mr van Gogh, who was extremely disappointed, had suggest...
...o); see also FR b956. Regarding Van Gogh’s visit to his parents at Christmas, see letter 63, n. 2.
074 Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, Vincent van Gogh and Theodorus van Gogh to Theo van Gogh. Etten, Tuesday, 4 April 1876.
in translation:
...of beautiful things to show us. Yesterday he and Pa went to Brussels. Pa is in the garden house even ...
Yesterday I went with Pa to Brussels, Uncle Hein was really in a very sad state.
In the train Pa and I talked a lot about paintings, including the paintings by Rembrandt in the Louvr...
Continued by Theodorus van GoghTheodorus van Gogh
Your most loving father
Ma.
in note 1:
...n Gen. 22:14, ‘The Lord will provide’, as emerges from l. 81 in the part written by Mr van Gogh.
075 To Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Ramsgate, Monday, 17 April 1876.
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo in the same letter (see Date): ‘You can imagine that we are eager for mor...
... just wait and see’ (FR b2222). Vincent’s parents did indeed receive more news in the shape of l...
076 To Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Ramsgate, Monday, 17 April 1876.
in translation:
Dear Father and Mother,
...n the wet street. And then the evening when my Father came to visit me for the first time. And that f...
in note 13:
Albertina Ludovica Brugsma, a friend of Lies, who was staying with the Van Goghs in Etten.
in note 4:
...Stokvis 1926, p. 14. Van Gogh repeats this recollection of taking leave of his parents in letter 90.
078 To Theo van Gogh. Ramsgate, Friday, 21 April 1876.
in translation:
...we did arise, and through the small window I saw Pa and little brother in the road, watching the trai...
in note 5:
Mr van Gogh regularly conducted divine service for the Protestant community in the nearby hamlet of H...
in note 4:
...ent might have enclosed it in a letter to his parents, because on 2 June 1876, Mrs van Gogh wrote to...
in note 3:
...nce mid-August 1875; on 13 May 1876 she travelled back to her parents in Etten (FR b2356 and b2749).
079 To Theo van Gogh. Ramsgate, Friday, 28 April 1876.
in note 4:
... Co. at the end of April. On 29 April 1876, Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘I think it nice for Willem...
081 To Theo van Gogh. Ramsgate, Saturday, 6 May 1876.
in note 4:
...to Willemina Catharina Gerardina Carbentus, a sister of Mrs van Gogh. The couple lived in Amsterdam.
in note 3:
...na; on or about 11 May 1876, she wrote to her parents: ‘The situation I applied for has come to no...
082 To Theo van Gogh. Ramsgate, Friday, 12 May 1876.
in translation:
I think your plan to give Pa and Ma ‘After the departure’ by Sadée is very good; that’s agreed...
There was something wistful in Ma’s last letter, in which she wrote a word or two about the necessi...
in note 6:
...her as a souvenir of it, and hope you will approve’ (FR b988, Mr van Gogh to Theo, 5 August 1878).
083 To Theo van Gogh. Ramsgate, Wednesday, 31 May 1876.
in translation:
...n 21 May, happily there were 4 of the 6 at home. Pa wrote to me in detail about everything that happe...
in note 4:
..., cat. no. 8. Van Gogh also sent ‘a nice little drawing of his house’ to his parents (FR b2752).
084 To Theo van Gogh. Welwyn, Saturday, 17 June 1876.
in translation:
My father is a clergyman in a village in Holland. When I was 11 years old I started going to school a...
...d also, when I think of my past life and of my father’s house in that Dutch village, a feeling of �...
in note 7:
...is new situation was a matter of concern to Mr van Gogh, who wrote the following to Theo on 1 July 1...
085 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Monday, 3 or Tuesday, 4 July 1876.
in translation:
... be getting the small engravings (like those Pa and Ma have) of Christus Consolator and Remunerator ...
in note 6:
Vincent’s parents were concerned about his future. On 1 July, Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘if onl...
in note 5:
Cf. letter 84, n. 3. This letter prompted Mr van Gogh to remark in a letter to Theo: ‘In London he ...
086 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Saturday, 8 July 1876.
in note 8:
...oth Stokes and Slade-Jones; on 6 July 1876, Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Yesterday evening we recei...
087 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Wednesday, 2 August 1876.
in translation:
...made everyone in the church tremble. And I heard Pa say it (when I was home in April, in his sermon),...
Between Pa and those above there is still a part of life, between us and Pa there is also still life....
in note 1:
...d a son, ranging in age from 1 to 11 years. Mr van Gogh wrote the following about this period to The...
088 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Friday, 18 August 1876.
in note 1:
...ly had already been to visit Vincent, since Mrs van Gogh told Theo (before 18 August 1876): ‘Vincen...
089 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Saturday, 26 August 1876.
in note 26:
...y estate lying due south-west of Helvoirt. The Van Goghs – who were friends of the owners, the De ...
in translation:
...n came from Breda in Uncle Vincent’s carriage. Pa, Cor and I walked up the road to meet them, and w...
in note 1:
...e emerges from the following remark made by Mrs van Gogh to Theo: ‘When Vincent was home last year,...
in note 9:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
090 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, between about Saturday, 2 and Friday, 8 September 1876.
in translation:
... front steps of Mr Provily’s school, watching the carriage drive away that Pa and Ma rode home in.
He who hate not his own life, he cannot be Christ’s disciple. Pa once sent me this:
...s more our heart than our work that God desires. Pa and Ma say ‘go forth’ and they love us, didn�...
... front steps of Mr Provily’s school, watching the carriage drive away that Pa and Ma rode home in.
...our heart than our work that God desires. Pa and Ma say ‘go forth’ and they love us, didn’t Pa ...
If you can, send a Carte de visite to Ma on her birthday, No. 669, The prodigal son by Scheffer.
in note 11:
John 17:15. Mrs van Gogh said this prayer when Vincent left the parental home; see letter 98, ll. ...
092 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Tuesday, 3 October 1876.
in translation:
... my very warm regards to Uncle Jan, I heard from Pa that Willem and Johan are doing very well indeed....
in note 15:
...o regularly during his illness and kept Mr and Mrs van Gogh abreast of their son’s condition (FR b...
in note 14:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
in note 5:
...elf. Poor, good soul. We feel so sorry for her’ (FR b2770, Mr van Gogh to Theo, 8 September 1876).
093 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Saturday, 7 and Sunday, 8 October 1876.
in translation:
...ion of Paris in it, a kind description; I copied it out for Pa and Ma, perhaps you’ll like it too:
... in the evening, happily there was a letter from Pa with news of you! How I’d like to be with you, ...
...rrived where I had to be between 5 and 6 o’clock and posted the letter to Pa and Ma along the way.
...’re still weak. And you’ll be longing to see Ma too, and now that I hear you’re going home with...
...get well soon and read this letter sometime when Ma is sitting with you, because I’d very much like...
...u sometimes. A hearty handshake to you, and give Ma your hand for me when she’s sitting with you. A...
Tell Ma that it was such a delight, after that journey to London, to put on a pair of socks that she...
in note 6:
...Theo some support during his illness, first Mr van Gogh and later Mrs van Gogh went to visit him (FR...
...ng his illness, first Mr van Gogh and later Mrs van Gogh went to visit him (FR b2782 and b2786, dated...
094 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus and Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Friday, 13 October 1876.
in note 29:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
in translation:
...o go to Etten once more to see and speak to my Father again. It would be but a short visit, I could s...
I just received Pa’s letter. Thank God. May God make us brothers.
Dearest Mother and Theo,
... I should also like so very much to talk to my Mother, and if possible to go to Etten once more to se...
...you can, write and tell me by return of post if I may come. I was glad to have Ma’s last letter.
...ive his consent and said at last, write to your Mother, if she thinks it’s all right then so do I.
095 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, between Monday, 23 and on or about Wednesday, 25 October 1876.
in translation:
... other, old boy, and how little we see of our parents, and yet the feeling of our origins and of one...
...s so grateful for your short letter and for what Ma wrote, so we’ll wait until Christmas, and then ...
in note 1:
These letters must have been sent when Mrs van Gogh was still in The Hague nursing Theo back to healt...
097 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Friday, 10 November 1876.
in translation:
You must read the letter for Pa and Ma sometime, I’ve taken such lovely walks recently, which were ...
Do write a few words again the next time Pa and Ma write. I hope to go to Richmond again on Monday ev...
in note 9:
...I’ll succeed; it would be such a relief to Pa and Ma if something were decided for me’ (FR 2783)...
in note a:
Vincent meant the letter to their parents, which was enclosed with his letter to Theo.
098 To Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Isleworth, Friday, 17 and Saturday, 18 November 1876.
in note 23:
...l at home in Etten, which might explain why Mr van Gogh sent the letter on to Theo. Cf. Additional d...
in note 22:
...s were well known and oft-repeated in the Van Gogh family, and were therefore frequently quoted in V...
in note 20:
...s was an expression familiar in the family. Mr van Gogh wrote on 7 March 1877 to Theo: ‘you know t...
in translation:
Dear Father and Mother,
...m, already walking in the snow to Het Heike with Pa, how I’d have liked to walk along with you both...
...n I feel ‘Stay, Lord, and hear the prayer my Mother said for me when I left my parent’s house: Fa...
in note 17:
...cherel after Jules Dupré. Since Van Gogh’s parents evidently required no more than this brief des...
099 To Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Saturday, 25 November 1876.
in translation:
In his letter Pa wrote, among other things: ‘in the afternoon I had to go to Hoeven, Ma had ordered...
...ings: ‘in the afternoon I had to go to Hoeven, Ma had ordered the cab but it couldn’t come, becau...
100 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Sunday, 31 December 1876.
in translation:
...ye is hurting a lot again, she has a bandage on; Pa delivered such a beautiful sermon again this morn...
...it. So I went there early yesterday morning; Pa and Ma and I, too, thought it was something we shoul...
...t and foremost my being back in Holland near Pa and Ma, and also you and the others. Moreover, the s...
...ncerned, for these reasons I won’t give it up. Pa’s spirit is so great and many-sided, and at all...
...a and the girls and Cor went to Princenhage, and Pa wanted me to go with them. Aunt came back with th...
Ma’s eye is hurting a lot again, she has a bandage on; Pa delivered such a beautiful sermon again t...
in note 5:
...ncent wrote this letter – 31 December – Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘An opportunity seems to be...
in note 4:
...re when he was home at the end of the year. Mr van Gogh wrote on 6 December 1876 to Theo: ‘I long ...
...d told his parents of a vacancy, upon which Mr van Gogh wrote to him: ‘I responded immediately to ...
... lead to a proper livelihood’ (FR b2800). Mrs van Gogh also wrote to Theo of the need for a change:...
...nd Theo were acquainted with his son Frans, Mrs van Gogh maintained that the position had materialize...
in note 2:
... Etten, to attend a service conducted by their father, who regularly substituted for the minister the...
101 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Sunday, 21 January 1877.
in translation:
.... As you know, that’s when they’ll celebrate Pa’s birthday, would you be able to come as well? ...
...forgettable, a long time ago that painting moved Pa just as much – then there’s a sketch of The s...
in note 4:
...e Eliot, Adam Bede (1859). For his birthday Mr van Gogh received Eliot’s Silas Marner in addition ...
in note 2:
Mr van Gogh was to turn 55 on 8 February 1877, and Vincent had announced that he was coming home for ...
102 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Wednesday, 7 and Thursday, 8 February 1877.
in note 57:
A wooden reading-desk preserved in the Van Gogh family could be the one mentioned here. It is now to ...
in note 53:
... is woe-spirited, it has woe and spirit’. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘I do imagine that he alway...
in translation:
...e back to me, including how often we walked with Pa to Rijsbergen and so on in the last days of Febru...
...herefore already 8 February. May God spare our Father for us for a long time yet ‘and may He join u...
Pa wrote that he had already seen starlings, do you remember how they used to sit on the church at Zu...
in note 46:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
in note 40:
..., Zundert, and its churchgoers were part of Mr van Gogh’s congregation. The Aertsen family, who ar...
in note 8:
...�s possessions had to be sent from England. Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘It was with great pleasure...
in note 2:
The present was well chosen: Mr van Gogh found Adam Bede a ‘wonderful thing to have’ (FR b2507, 1...
103 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Monday, 26 February 1877.
in note 18:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
in note 9:
..., a proper relationship was impossible: Mr and Mrs van Gogh learned of the affair and, on 7 March, h...
in note 1:
Acting on Mr van Gogh’s advice, Theo had gone to visit Vincent on Sunday, 25 February, as we learn ...
104 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Wednesday, 28 February 1877.
in translation:
Pa sent me this once when I was in Paris:
...nt that we may meet her on our path, grant that one day Mrs van Gogh sits before us in the carriage.
in note 10:
... The last four lines – evidently added to Mr van Gogh’s version – are a compilation of the 1st...
in note 94:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
in note 8:
...e in various editions, a.o. De dichtwerken. Mrs van Gogh gave Theo the same advice: ‘Study De Géne...
106 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Thursday, 8 March 1877.
in translation:
...oday I received a long letter from home in which Pa asked me if it would suit us both to go to Amster...
We ought to do it, Pa seems very keen on the idea, then we’ll be together again next Sunday. It is ...
in note 5:
...ently family members frequented this hotel: Mr van Gogh, for example, stayed there occasionally on v...
in note 4:
...sit was to take place a week later, because Mr van Gogh wrote on 17 March 1877 to Theo: ‘How wonde...
...t him, and had written of his idea to Theo. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo on 27 February: ‘Friendly, t...
107 To Cornelis Marinus van Gogh. Dordrecht, Thursday, 8 March 1877.
in translation:
When Pa was here recently he told me that you had asked whether Theo and I could come and see you som...
It was a wonderful day when Pa was here recently; we took a walk together and also went to the museum...
... would have written to you about this earlier if Pa hadn’t asked me only yesterday to go next Sunda...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh had visited Vincent in Dordrecht on Friday, 16 February. On 19 February he wrote to Theo:...
108 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Friday, 16 March 1877.
in translation:
...thday, what a nice girl she’s become. From Pa and Ma she’s getting ‘de wijde wijde wereld’, ...
...��. HATE sin, be discerning, do you remember how Pa used to pray every morning ‘Preserve us from al...
...t is hanging in my room, how beautiful it is. Do you remember it hanging in Pa’s study at Zundert?
in note 9:
...aatschappij van Welstand (Welfare Society), Mr van Gogh did his best to promote the welfare of the f...
109 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Friday, 23 March 1877.
in translation:
... fields with the young green wheat at Zundert, where we heard the lark at this time of year with Pa.
...g here I found a letter from home at Rijken’s. Pa was unable to preach last Sunday and the Rev. Kam...
...rayer and deepest desire that the spirit of my Father and Grandfather may rest upon me, and that it m...
May Pa get better soon, try to be in Etten at Easter, things will be all fine once more when we’re ...
in note 15:
...The Groningen theologians (to whose numbers Mr van Gogh belonged) were active in the Nederlands Zend...
in note 10:
Evidently Mr van Gogh had expected his eldest son to carry on the tradition of having a clergyman in ...
in note 7:
Mr van Gogh was ill, and the doctor had advised him not to preach (FR b2514). The Rev. Jan Gerrit Kam...
in note 6:
Cf. Mr van Gogh’s remark in a letter to Theo: ‘Vincent told us that you had a good day in Amsterd...
110 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Sunday, 8 April 1877.
in translation:
Yesterday morning I got a letter from Pa in which Pa wrote that Aertsen was dying and how Pa had been...
...and went there and found strength in it. And Pa and Ma love her so much, and we all do too, yes, do ...
... that illustration by Bodmer that’s hanging in Pa’s study. The sky was grey but the evening star ...
And they were all so full of praise for Pa and what Pa had always been to them, and how fond those tw...
in note 10:
...odmer print that Van Gogh may have sent to his father in January 1876 (see letter 66). Its descriptio...
in note 2:
On Monday, 2 April Mr van Gogh had been to see Jan Aertsen on his deathbed (FR b2519).
111 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Sunday, 15 April 1877.
in translation:
Mr Görlitz is in Etten today to talk to Pa about the vacancy for a teaching post at Leur. I sincerel...
in note 12:
...ns to study in Amsterdam. On 18 April 1877, Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Uncle wrote that he had wr...
in note 8:
This remark suggests that it was Mr van Gogh in particular who disapproved of Theo’s infatuation.
in note 6:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
112 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Sunday, 22 and Monday, 23 April 1877.
in translation:
...Aunt Koos’s little reading-desk containing Pa and Ma’s letters was found at the Rooses’ when t...
... (after Ruipérez), I wrote what we used to hear Pa say: ‘Lord, I should so much like to be earnest...
...e back filled with everything he had seen there. Pa had given a sermon on Jacob who slept in the fiel...
113 To Theo van Gogh. Dordrecht, Monday, 30 April 1877.
in translation:
... store for both of us, let us learn to say after Pa ‘I never despair’ and after Uncle Jan ‘the ...
...similarity there is between the work and life of Pa and that of such men; that of Pa I rate even high...
in note 15:
This expression of Mr van Gogh, which Vincent repeats frequently, could have been derived from hymn 5...
114 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Saturday, 19 May 1877.
in translation:
...k, thought and care.’ For the work of men like Pa and the Rev. Keller van Hoorn, Uncle Stricker and...
... mighty, into that of Aertsen as well as that of Pa or Uncle Jan or Uncle Cor — Rembrandt, Millet, ...
... a good prayer, then let us say it, like the one Pa once said on New Year’s Eve when it was very co...
in note 42:
...Mauve, among other people (see letter 137). Mr van Gogh had asked Theo to do the following: ‘Would...
in note 2:
Although Theo had promised his parents that he would visit them on the Whit weekend of 20-21 May, he ...
in note 34:
... confinement was not without complications; Mrs van Gogh also asked Theo about her health (FR b2528, ...
in note 35:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
116 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 28 May 1877.
in translation:
...ng to Etten, that will be nice for them at home. Pa wrote that the church had been whitewashed and th...
...t Uncle is back in the country, and in his own house, and that Pa and Ma visit him almost every day.
117 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Wednesday, 30 May 1877.
in note 1:
...with. Several remarks made by his parents reveal the consternation this caused and show ...
118 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Thursday, 31 May 1877.
in translation:
...sition so that my work is equal to that of our Father, then I shall thank God. I have good hope that ...
119 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 4 and Tuesday, 5 June 1877.
in note 14:
...uis Suson Pedro Meyboom belonged – as did Mr van Gogh – to the Groningen persuasion. J.P. Strick...
120 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Tuesday, 12 June 1877.
in note 23:
...unt W.C.G. Stricker-Carbentus and Margreet. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about it: ‘Aunt and Margr. j...
in translation:
...en and had a good Sunday there, it’s nice that Pa and little brother brought you as far as Dordrech...
...ll shake each other’s hand again as I remember Pa and Uncle Jan doing at that little church in Zund...
...terday to the Rev. Meijjes and his wife, because Pa had told me to do this, and I had tea with them. ...
...evertheless sees it much more beautifully in Pa and Ma, but as I said, it was like that here, too. ...
in note 2:
Mr van Gogh was sympathetic to Theo’s request to be transferred away from The Hague, and immediatel...
121 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 9 July 1877.
in translation:
...ive her good things in life. On this occasion I congratulate you, too, as I have Anna and Pa and Ma.
in note 1:
...lmly cordial, reliable boy’, according to Mr van Gogh, was a manufacturer of shell lime and a memb...
...urtship surprised not only Vincent but also Mrs van Gogh: ‘They’ve known each other since Whitsun...
122 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Sunday, 15 July 1877.
in translation:
Pa had to lead the early service today in Etten, and afterwards Pa had to go to Zundert.
Ma wrote in her last letter something about ‘Anna’s house’, which is a new expression that does...
in note 10:
... there in July 1877. See Engel 1967, p. 55. Mr van Gogh also urged Theo to visit Mauve: ‘I hope th...
123 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Friday, 27 July 1877.
in translation:
...aw, am looking forward to seeing them very much, Pa wrote so cheerfully about last Sunday when they w...
in note 5:
...was in fact less promising. Two weeks later Mr van Gogh intimated in a letter to Theo that he was pe...
...brother optimistically: ‘How wonderful for Pa and Ma that Vincent’s master has assured him that ...
124 To Hermanus Gijsbertus Tersteeg. Amsterdam, Friday, 3 August 1877.
in translation:
...ard Rev. Keller van Hoorn, an old friend of my Father, deliver a sermon on this text in Dordrecht one...
My Father has also felt what you will have been feeling these past days. I recently stood early one m...
...em that love God, this has been his (namely my Father’s) experience at least, and in everything tha...
in note 11:
... exactly one year before Van Gogh was born, Mrs van Gogh gave birth to a still-born child, whom they ...
in note 13:
Although Van Gogh says that his father had found consolation in the work of the French writer Laurenc...
in note 1:
...7 (GAH and FR b2547-b2548, 1 and 2 August). Mr van Gogh also wrote a letter of condolence (FR b2549,...
125 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Friday, 3 August 1877.
in translation:
...reat love for his work and his position. Got a very cheerful letter last Monday from Pa in Helvoirt.
... and spirited in him, I don’t know what it is, Pa has much more of it still, and Uncle Jan has it i...
in note 15:
Mr and Mrs van Gogh worried about the high amount of the bill, the more so because they themselves co...
in note 14:
...o’s illness in October and November 1876. Mr van Gogh had asked about it on 19 January 1877: ‘Ha...
in note 13:
The letter came from Helvoirt because Mr van Gogh had preached the previous Sunday at his former pari...
126 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Sunday, 5 August 1877.
in translation:
...money from Uncle Stricker, who has some money of Pa’s to be put at my disposal if necessary, and I ...
...care and think for. There was a time when our parents, too, were uncomforted and tossed with tempest...
...ce sometimes uttered sounds and expressions like Pa’s, and he spoke very well and from an overfull ...
in note 7:
Mrs van Gogh did not approve of Vincent’s decision: ‘I was very sorry that Vincent did not accept...
in note 5:
...m, as emerges from the explanation given by Mr van Gogh: ‘It’s a pity that Vincent cannot decide...
127 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Saturday, 18 August 1877.
in translation:
...oice and many curious expressions reminded me of Pa. The church was full to overflowing, and the squa...
in note 35:
On 22 August, Mrs van Gogh told Theo of the Strickers’ dismay. For Willemien, too, ‘who simply ad...
128 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 27 August 1877.
in translation:
...d Sunday, often thinking of what you were doing. Pa wrote that Anna had written a good letter home, s...
...so much to have the wisdom we see in our Father and Mother, in them to a greater extent than anywher...
...u know that old Father Lips died. At the funeral Pa spoke about The burial in the cornfield by Van de...
It’s nearing Ma’s birthday, so I’m sending you herewith a money order for 1.23 1/2 guilders, ...
... people staying, but seemed to be very happy, and Ma is already busy putting together her trousseau.
...shake in thought, I’d gladly send you more for Ma’s birthday but can’t, I wish you the very bes...
129 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Tuesday, 4 September 1877.
in translation:
...se it comes from the heart. You have it, surely. Pa wrote to me about an unfortunate incident that oc...
...t and now it’s almost that but not altogether. Pa has what they lack – it is good to be a Christi...
... letter just arrived as I write this. Thank you. Pa already wrote that he had visited you, but what r...
... Lies, do write something on it and send it when Ma’s birthday is approaching. (I must tell you tha...
...ife has something indescribable – something of Ma – or of the wife of the Rev. Jones, for example...
...ndshake in thought and hearty congratulations on Ma’s birthday, but perhaps I’ll write again on t...
130 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Friday, 7 September 1877.
in note 23:
... Richard died on 4 September 1877 at 2 a.m. Mr van Gogh had kept watch at her deathbed. On the day s...
131 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Tuesday, 18 September 1877.
in translation:
How much someone like Pa – who oft-times travels at night, carrying a lantern, to a sick or dying p...
...of that kind, paintings either, for example, without thinking of you and of Pa and everyone at home.
Pa wrote that you’d been to Antwerp, am eager to hear what you saw there, long ago I also saw the o...
...derful it must be to have a life behind one like Pa has, God grant that we be and that we may become ...
132 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Sunday, 21 October 1877.
in translation:
...Middelburg, and will in all likelihood also go briefly to Princenhage, where Pa may well meet Uncle.
...ndedness and devotion and love like that between Pa and Uncle, that is good fruit of life, and even i...
in note 36:
This frequently quoted expression of Mr van Gogh could be derived from hymn 56:1 and hymn 56:9.
133 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Tuesday, 30 October 1877.
in note 24:
Two days later Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about Vincent: ‘He appears to derive satisfaction from his...
in translation:
...te and deliver many sermons, the more like our Father’s the better, and to complete a Work in my li...
in note 45:
This expression of Mr van Gogh, which Vincent quotes frequently, could have been derived from hymn 56...
134 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 19 November 1877.
in note 22:
...y poor health to return to the Netherlands. Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘It appears to be neurosis;...
in note 21:
...rs, had worsened. Alerted to the situation, Mr van Gogh travelled on Sunday, 18 November to Laken, w...
in translation:
I should like so much for Pa to know that etching of A young citizen of the year V. Do you approve of...
... have been sad tidings today from Brussels, that Pa has already gone there. Uncle Jan, who received a...
...ho received a telegram containing this news from Ma, telegraphed Pa and received the answer ‘Condit...
135 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Saturday, 24 and Sunday, 25 November 1877.
in translation:
..., full of such things, also those of our Father and Mother. Dickens had it too, I once saw a portrai...
Pa wrote from Brussels and later telegraphed to both Uncles to come. When the letter arrived, Uncle J...
...dly melancholy journey for both of them, and for Pa too. There’s often a change in such a condition...
...sometime, and then the two of us will give it to Pa. Was reading it this evening at the station, wait...
Tomorrow Pa will marry Marijn Aertsen, he’s a stalwart man, and Brion would probably have painted h...
..., it seems to me those men must have looked like Pa or like Uncle Jan or Uncle Cor. God, the only One...
in note 66:
This expression of Mr van Gogh, which is frequently quoted, could derive from hymn 56:1 and hymn 56:9...
in note 38:
Mr van Gogh performed the marriage ceremony of the farmer Marijnus (Marijn) Aertsen and the maidserva...
136 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 3 and Tuesday, 4 December 1877.
in translation:
... ever-youthful and fiery passion that is also in Pa. I so believe that he, more than any other minist...
... right words in the decisive hours of that life. Pa has had lumbago again, as you’ll already have h...
...jes — but none of the ministers is really like Pa. His work is brilliant, and besides, a better man...
...theless found something for everyone, even though it’s not much, Pa and Ma have a map that I drew.
in note 49:
... Gogh had been urged to read this book by his parents, who knew it and had written about it enthusia...
in note 38:
...to the lithograph for Cor and the map for his parents, Van Gogh sent a present to Etten for Willemie...
137 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Sunday, 9 December 1877.
in note 26:
This expression of Mr van Gogh, which Vincent quotes frequently, could have been derived from hymn 56...
in translation:
I can’t tell you how much I long for Christmas. And may Pa be satisfied with what I’ve done.
...d glorify your Father which is in heaven’, and Pa is such a man too; and however much we can do, yo...
... something. And to believe that it’s true what Pa said, that if someone asks ‘Lord, I should so m...
138 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Sunday, 30 December 1877.
in translation:
...o, but I’ll stay at least a day longer because Pa’s so busy these days, and it would be good to d...
Pa also has to preach at Princenhage on New Year’s Eve, because the Rev. Kuylman fell and hurt hims...
...rl who was staying at the Hackstrohs’. Today Pa, Ma, Cor and I took a lovely walk, you should have ...
Yesterday I saw the sewing school that Ma now holds in the consistory, it is indeed pleasant, one wou...
in note 2:
From a letter written by Mr van Gogh to Theo, it emerges that Vincent’s further study was a matter ...
139 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Wednesday, 9 and Thursday, 10 January 1878.
in translation:
... not in any immediate danger. Had also seen both Pa and Ma and they are well, so fortunately all that...
...as I can find the time, what with my other work. Pa advised me to do it, because once one is well gro...
...our housemates. Just received a good letter from Pa, everything is all right at home, adieu, accept i...
... any immediate danger. Had also seen both Pa and Ma and they are well, so fortunately all that preach...
in note 4:
...e necessity of standing in for a colleague, Mr van Gogh had had to preach nearly every day for the p...
in note 2:
...ue, where he met Theo, who later informed his parents that the visit had gone well (FR b961 and b966...
in note 1:
... a year before he had been dangerously ill. Mr van Gogh wrote: ‘To our great sorrow I heard yester...
140 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Sunday, 10 February 1878.
in translation:
As you know, Pa was here and I’m very glad of it, we went together to Mendes, Uncle Stricker, Uncle...
...eard that Mendes made a favourable impression on Pa as well. In the evening, at Uncle Cor’s, we saw...
I still have to congratulate you on Pa’s birthday, even though it’s already been and gone, it wil...
It’s foggy here today, fortunately Pa had good weather so that we could walk quite a lot.
Did Pa remember to give you the photograph of the Maris? The woodcut after Van Goyen, Dordrecht, is h...
... a letter that Pa received here. Perhaps Pa read Ma’s letter aloud to you, which she wrote while Pa...
in note 11:
As the wife of a minister, Mrs van Gogh visited the sick in her husband’s parish. The novel Adam Be...
in note 14:
Two months later Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Pa will write to you about Vincent, how much it will ...
Two months later Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Pa will write to you about Vincent, how much it will ...
in note 10:
... doctor’s supervision. All the same, she travelled to Etten for her father’s birthday (FR b966).
in note 9:
Mr van Gogh turned 56 on 8 February.
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh travelled on Monday, 4 February 1878, to Amsterdam ‘to put my mind at ease a little abo...
...e about him’ (FR b967, 20 February 1878). Mrs van Gogh wrote about Vincent’s progress to Theo: �...
141 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 18 and Tuesday, 19 February 1878.
in note 24:
Mr van Gogh’s trip to Amsterdam and The Hague, from 4-7 February; see letter 140.
in note 23:
...is development and were rather pessimistic. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo a short while later: ‘The wo...
in translation:
...of that map of the Holy Land that I’d made for Pa’s birthday (with red chalk on heavy brown paper...
Pa also advised me to try and make the acquaintance of a person or two. I did find it pleasant to spe...
...n French even better than on the ones I made for Pa and for my study, with the idea of giving it to h...
...tunately it appears that the journey agreed with Pa. I’m longing to hear how Anna’s birthday was,...
in note 16:
Mr van Gogh had been to see Vincent in early February to discuss his progress and the continuation of...
in note 1:
... he wrote to his parents about it. In fact, Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Vincent appears to be long...
142 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Sunday, 3 March 1878.
in translation:
...y), Scenes of clerical life. You know we gave the 3 underlined ones to Pa on his birthday last year.
143 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Wednesday, 3 April 1878.
in note 55:
...rel Adler’s Sunday school in Barndesteeg. Mr van Gogh was not very enthusiastic about Vincent’s ...
in note 29:
Mr van Gogh’s expression ‘I never despair’ is frequently quoted; it could have been derived fro...
in note 1:
...Vincent was planning to become a catechist. Mr van Gogh had advised Vincent against this on 16 March...
in note 39:
This conviction was inspired in part by Mr van Gogh, who urged Vincent to seek human society in order...
144 To Theo van Gogh. Amsterdam, Monday, 13 May 1878.
in translation:
It’s time you received a few words from me, Pa already wrote that you’ve arrived safely and have ...
...nd yesterday was perhaps a less cheerful Sunday. Pa nevertheless wrote again, and in his mouth that i...
...l, and that because she longed so much for home, Ma went to fetch her, poor girl, it will be no small...
145 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Monday, 22 July 1878.
in translation:
I’m enclosing a note in the letter from Pa and Ma; was glad to hear things are still going well for...
As Pa has certainly already written to you, Pa and I went to Brussels last week in the company of the...
...pends entirely on what else they’ll say over there. Both Pa and I have just written to them again.
Pa wants me to write, to the best of my ability, a theme or two to have on hand (I’m now busy, for ...
Yesterday Pa had to preach at Zundert, and I went along. The Aunts sent you their regards, we also we...
..., when we rode back from Zundert over the heath, Pa and I walked a way, the sun set red behind the pi...
in note 15:
... b988 and Stokvis 1926, p. 21. According to Mrs van Gogh, Vincent was ‘very happily installed with ...
in note 2:
During Mr van Gogh’s visit to Brussels on 16 and 17 July, the possibility of finding a place for Vi...
in note 1:
...one back to Etten to live with his parents. Mr van Gogh also wrote to Theo on 22 July (FR b985); Mrs...
...gh also wrote to Theo on 22 July (FR b985); Mrs van Gogh’s letter had already been written on Thurs...
146 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Monday, 5 August 1878.
in translation:
I’m enclosing a few words with Pa and Ma’s letter. I, too, am again longing very much for a lette...
Yesterday Pa went to Zundert and Ma went along — as Cor and I did for a way, as far as Sprundel Hea...
As you can imagine, Pa and I quite often take walks together around the parish or to Hoeven or Leur, ...
I’m enclosing a few words with Pa and Ma’s letter. I, too, am again longing very much for a lette...
Yesterday Pa went to Zundert and Ma went along — as Cor and I did for a way, as far as Sprundel Hea...
in note 9:
Mr van Gogh was not convinced of Vincent’s capabilities. A week later he wrote rather sombrely to T...
in note 7:
...s planning to make decorations of greenery. Mr van Gogh reported to Theo: ‘Willem the gardener wil...
...classroom, in which he is now installed.’ Mrs van Gogh wrote more specifically: ‘Vincent thought ...
147 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Thursday, 15 August 1878.
in translation:
I’m enclosing a few words with Pa and Ma’s letter to bid you good morning. It’s raining outside...
I’m enclosing a few words with Pa and Ma’s letter to bid you good morning. It’s raining outside...
in note 3:
... the 24th, according to a letter written by Mr van Gogh to Theo: ‘Vincent will leave next Saturday...
... have the good fortune to succeed there.’ Mrs van Gogh wrote the following about him in the same le...
in note 2:
...ver and is very annoyed at the preparations. For Pa and Ma’s sake I hope so much that this thing in...
... is very annoyed at the preparations. For Pa and Ma’s sake I hope so much that this thing in Belgiu...
in note 1:
The enclosed letters from Mr and Mrs van Gogh have both survived (FR b990 and b996). Nine days later ...
148 To Theo van Gogh. Laken, on or about Wednesday, 13 and Friday, 15 or Saturday, 16 November 1878.
in note 27:
...e months in Brussels. On 12 September 1878, Mr van Gogh informed Theo: ‘Also a good letter from Vi...
in translation:
...At least this is the case with me, and doesn’t Pa also say: There is no place I would rather speak ...
149 To Theo van Gogh. Wasmes, Thursday, 26 December 1878.
in note 25:
...rue de la place St Pierre 12 in Pâturages; Mr van Gogh, who corresponded with Vanderhaegen, gave Th...
in note 24:
Mr van Gogh was also responsible for the Protestant community in the nearby hamlet of Hoeven.
in note 23:
...ported that he ‘introduces the subject of Mr van Gogh, who would like to be employed in the Borina...
in note 2:
On the last day of the year Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo, making sure he had Vincent’s exact address a...
in note 1:
...-Wasmes, a village in the south of Belgium. Mr van Gogh had meanwhile written to Theo about this on ...
150 To Theo van Gogh. Wasmes, between Tuesday, 4 and Monday, 31 March 1879.
in translation:
I heard from Pa and Ma that they were recently surprised by a visit from you, just when Pa had return...
...now serves only as a workplace or study, because Pa thinks it better that I board with Denis, and I d...
...nning to sprout, especially the alders, but when Pa was here everything was covered with snow, so tha...
I heard from Pa and Ma that they were recently surprised by a visit from you, just when Pa had return...
in note 2:
Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo on 19 January 1879, telling him that Vincent had informed them of his appo...
in note 7:
...t Van Gogh wanted to live on his own, but his parents were against the idea and managed to dissuade ...
in note 1:
For Theo’s visit, see Date. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘How commendable of you and comforting to ...
151 To Theo van Gogh. Petit-Wasmes, between Tuesday, 1 and Wednesday, 16 April 1879.
in note 7:
...ed man, as evidenced by a letter written by Mr van Gogh to Theo: ‘He devotes himself completely to...
in note 6:
... the confidence of the people. In any case, Mr van Gogh could report in his letter of 18 April to Th...
in note 3:
.... See Eeckaut 1990, ‘Annexes’, pp. 3-9. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about it on 23 April: ‘We re...
...2471). Vincent had sent along reports from the newspaper (FR b2472, Mrs van Gogh to Theo, 30 April).
152 To Theo van Gogh. Wasmes, on or about Thursday, 19 June 1879.
in translation:
I’ll give this letter to Ma when she comes, because in all likelihood I’ll be meeting her when sh...
in note 16:
...e going to Paris until later’ (FR b2484). Mr van Gogh’s letter, written the same day, also speak...
... go to Paris until October. On 2 July 1879, Mrs van Gogh gave Theo a frank account of her visit, told...
in note 6:
...reigners residing in the city before 1900). Mrs van Gogh wrote on 18 April to Theo: ‘How heart-rend...
in note 4:
Mrs van Gogh went to Paris to visit Uncle Vincent, who was ill. She left Etten on 26 May and was back...
in note 2:
...r Goupil in Paris for six weeks. On 28 May, Mr van Gogh had reacted with surprise to the news. A day...
153 To Theo van Gogh. Cuesmes, Tuesday, 5 August 1879.
in note 4:
A letter written by Mr van Gogh to Theo on 5 August makes it possible to reconstruct events: ‘We’...
...n on Sunday, 7 August (FR b2491, 10 August, Mrs van Gogh to Theo). Pieterszen had no solution. Vincen...
154 To Theo van Gogh. Cuesmes, between about Monday, 11 and Thursday, 14 August 1879.
in note 2:
...fter this, Van Gogh did in fact go to see his parents. Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo to tell him how Vi...
155 To Theo van Gogh. Cuesmes, between about Tuesday, 22 and Thursday, 24 June 1880.
in translation:
...y perhaps know, I’m back in the Borinage; my father spoke to me of staying in the vicinity of Etten...
in note 11:
...rrit: See letter 306, n. 2. In August 1879, Mrs van Gogh had remarked that Vincent spent whole days r...
in note 9:
... attempt to make them understand his ideas. Mrs van Gogh, however, found the work of the Frenchman et...
in note 3:
...eived financial support now and then from his parents; at the end of June they sent him 60 francs (F...
in note 2:
... parents in Etten, as emerges from a letter Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo on 11 March: ‘Vincent is sti...
...have left quite a while before 25 June, for Mrs van Gogh said on 5 July: ‘We’ve heard nothing for...
in note 1:
...arks made by Vincent later on that in 1880 his father had planned to have him committed to a lunatic ...
...r has been cut out (probably a postscript). Mrs van Gogh wrote the same day: ‘Have you sent him an ...
157 To Theo van Gogh. Cuesmes, Tuesday, 7 September 1880.
in note 22:
The congratulations are connected with the birthday of Mrs van Gogh, who turned 61 on 10 September.
158 To Theo van Gogh. Cuesmes, Friday, 24 September 1880.
in note 11:
On 2 September 1874, Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about Jovinda: ‘Then I went to Baarn and stayed a da...
159 To Theo van Gogh. Brussels, Friday, 15 October 1880.
in translation:
My father wrote to me that for the time being I could expect to receive 60 francs a month through him...
160 To Theo van Gogh. Brussels, Monday, 1 November 1880.
in translation:
...le Cent or Uncle Cor will do something, if not as a concession to me at least as a concession to Pa.
...e evening angelus. I sent both those drawings to Pa so that he could see that I’m doing something.
in note 6:
...1879) in the studio of Jean Léon Gérôme. Mrs van Gogh wrote on 5 July 1880: ‘Nice that until Oct...
163 To Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Brussels, on or about Wednesday, 16 February 1881.
in translation:
Dear Pa and Ma,
in note 4:
Mr van Gogh had heard from Theo that he wanted to help out financially, and thanked him for it: ‘It...
in note 2:
...ter in the correspondence with his parents. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about Vincent’s lessons: ‘...
in note 1:
It is not known what was wrong with Mr van Gogh. He felt better on 8 February, his 59th birthday (FR ...
164 To Theo van Gogh. Brussels, Saturday, 2 April 1881.
in translation:
...ur two good letters and prompted by a visit from Pa, which I’d been looking forward to for some tim...
And this, first of all. I heard from Pa that you’ve already been sending me money without my knowin...
...e illustrated magazine or other. I also spoke to Pa in this vein, I don’t know whether it will be o...
...e. If you think this desirable, you can write to Pa about it, I’m willing to conform to what they w...
...course, if only you and Mr Tersteeg and C.M. and Pa and others I’m concerned with know better and, ...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh’s visit had probably taken place a short while before.
165 To Theo van Gogh. Brussels, Tuesday, 12 April 1881.
in translation:
Having heard from Pa that there’s a chance you’ll be coming to Etten this Sunday, and Pa having w...
167 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, second half of May 1881.
in note 1:
...r must have been sent with a letter, which has not survived, written by Mr and Mrs van Gogh to Theo.
170 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Friday, 5 August 1881.
in note 4:
Mr van Gogh also wrote to Theo about Vincent’s brief illness: ‘Vincent recovered quickly. He seld...
in note 1:
...uly, since several days later he wrote to his parents and Vincent from Paris (see Date). The letter ...
171 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Friday, 26 August 1881
in note 27:
...lds. It was perhaps this De Bock about whom Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo on 5 July 1880: ‘It’s nice...
in translation:
...Hague, I’m at home alone this evening, because Pa and Ma are still in Princenhage. So now is a good...
...I’m at home alone this evening, because Pa and Ma are still in Princenhage. So now is a good opport...
in note 2:
Mr and Mrs van Gogh spent a week at Uncle Vincent van Gogh’s (see Mrs van Gogh’s letter on the sa...
173 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, beginning of October 1881.
in note 1:
The enclosed letter from Mr and Mrs van Gogh is no longer extant.
174 To Anthon van Rappard. Etten, Wednesday, 12 October 1881.
in translation:
Accept my parents’ warm regards and a handshake in thought from me, and believe me
176 To Anthon van Rappard. Etten, Saturday, 15 October 1881.
in translation:
... of Roosendaal. First of all, on behalf of my parents, I ask you to try and come one day soon, for a...
177 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, on or about Monday, 17 October 1881.
in translation:
Since Pa and Ma are writing, I’ll enclose a few words, but hope to write to you soon in more detail...
Since Pa and Ma are writing, I’ll enclose a few words, but hope to write to you soon in more detail...
179 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Thursday, 3 November 1881.
in translation:
...ve spoken about it — in addition to her — to Pa and Ma, to Uncle and Aunt Stricker and to Uncle a...
...en about it — in addition to her — to Pa and Ma, to Uncle and Aunt Stricker and to Uncle and Aunt...
181 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Tuesday, 8 or Wednesday, 9 November 1881.
in translation:
... yet apparent to me from your letter of today to Pa and Ma. Precisely because you neither enclosed a ...
...ues — don’t let it anger you! Your letter to Pa and Ma was so gloomy in a way, and to tell you th...
...first of all because it was you saying them, and second because you said them to Pa and Ma.Pa and Ma
...ering me up, tended rather to weaken my resolve. Pa and Ma are really good, but they have little idea...
... Theo, that no matter how great the love you and Pa and Ma feel for one another, they nevertheless im...
...y that we should hide our hearts’ secrets from Pa and Ma and not give them our trust. God forbid. I...
...necessary, more indispensable than our home with Pa and Ma, no matter how good, how necessary, how in...
...or example, you were to find a way of persuading Pa and Ma, who are extremely pessimistic about this ...
Well, I’ve grumbled a bit about Pa and Ma, but except that they really don’t have the remotest id...
...n energetic ‘love on’! from you, directed at Pa and Ma, would be doing me a true kindness. For I�...
...m Het Heike &c. all around me. Mauve is ill, but Pa and Ma have asked him to come here and get well a...
...parent to me from your letter of today to Pa and Ma. Precisely because you neither enclosed a letter ...
... don’t let it anger you! Your letter to Pa and Ma was so gloomy in a way, and to tell you the hones...
...e up, tended rather to weaken my resolve. Pa and Ma are really good, but they have little idea of one...
...that no matter how great the love you and Pa and Ma feel for one another, they nevertheless imagine y...
...we should hide our hearts’ secrets from Pa and Ma and not give them our trust. God forbid. It’s a...
...ry, more indispensable than our home with Pa and Ma, no matter how good, how necessary, how indispens...
...ple, you were to find a way of persuading Pa and Ma, who are extremely pessimistic about this and cal...
Well, I’ve grumbled a bit about Pa and Ma, but except that they really don’t have the remotest id...
...e. This summer, for instance, a single word from Ma would have given me the opportunity to say many t...
...etic ‘love on’! from you, directed at Pa and Ma, would be doing me a true kindness. For I’m rig...
...eike &c. all around me. Mauve is ill, but Pa and Ma have asked him to come here and get well as soon ...
183 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Saturday, 12 November 1881.
in translation:
...ieve that you would wish me to view either my parents or her parents as people ‘who have nothing t...
...cided, hesitant, vacillating, I could accept Pa and Ma’s attitude. Now, though, things are complet...
If Pa and Ma were unenergetic by nature, I’d resign myself to it, but if they wanted to, we could d...
... most of the existing situation anyway. Will Pa and Ma never make up their minds! Will they remain n...
...fact you aren’t almost of the same mind as Pa and Ma, whose feelings I tried to define in the abov...
Do you know why it is, Theo, that Pa and Ma are neither for nor against, neither hot nor cold, neithe...
... you see, that’s what it’s like now with Pa and Ma and Uncle and Aunt Stricker, exactly the same...
As far as Pa and Ma are concerned, I think they’d much rather that I didn’t talk to them about it...
...d talking with each other. Are those eyes of Pa and Ma all-seeing in their present frame of mind? I ...
...e only a bit of travelling money, I’ll go. Pa and Ma have promised not to oppose it, provided it h...
...ly 20 francs, perhaps I’ll get another 10 from Pa (‘leaving him out of it, as it were; turning a ...
185 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Friday, 18 November 1881.
in translation:
...f only I speak openly about it. As you know, Pa and Ma on the one hand and I on the other don’t ag...
...d and took not the slightest notice of either Pa or Ma. Reluctantly, but still, I wanted to make them...
The result, though, was that Pa became very angry, sent me out of the room and – and – cursed me,...
When Pa gets angry he’s used to having people, me included, admit that he’s right. Now, though, I...
Also IN ANGER, Pa said something about my having to move somewhere else, but because it was said IN A...
...with all his might. I also said something to Pa and Ma, namely that in the matter of this love of mi...
In any event, Pa, in his anger, muttered neither more nor less than a curse.
... availed myself of too harsh a means to make Pa and Ma feel something they didn’t want to hear, bu...
in note 3:
... (e.g. 186, 227, 228, 234 and 235), in 1880 Mr van Gogh was thinking about having Vincent committed ...
186 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Friday, 18 November 1881.
in translation:
.... And now that I’ve got into my stride, should Pa say, because you’re writing letters to Kee Vos,...
...t happen. Anyway, the difficulties between Pa and Ma and myself aren’t so terrible, aren’t at ...
If, for example, Pa sees me with a French book by Michelet or V. Hugo in my hand, he thinks of arsoni...
Pa and Ma are extremely good to me inasmuch as they do what they can to feed me well &c. I appreciate...
...I can’t do without is my love for Kee Vos. Pa and Ma reason, She says no, nay, never, so you must ...
... to melt the no, nay, never. I can’t share Pa and Ma’s view that I shouldn’t write or speak ei...
Be assured, Pa and Ma are actually against it, because otherwise I can’t explain why they went so f...
But Pa and Ma are harder than stone on the point of ‘a means of subsistence’, as they call it.
...e someone’s life difficult for this reason. If Pa wants to curse me for it, that’s his business �...
...ose Brabant folk types, now that I’m making progress, just because Pa and Ma are vexed by my love?
... sacrifice his energy to the prejudice of an old man. And truly, Pa and Ma are prejudiced in this.
I don’t think that Pa and Ma love her deep down, at any rate in the mood they’re in now they can�...
...�breaking ties’ &c. No, Theo, if she’d heard Pa cursing me, she wouldn’t have approved of his c...
...ties and curses, light rises up on her side. Pa and Ma have always passed for such gentle, quiet peo...
And if one asks Pa, ‘Explain to me the basis of your conviction’, he answers, ‘I don’t owe yo...
That matter of Geel last year, when Pa wanted to have me put in an asylum against my will!!! taught ...
...g me, she wouldn’t have approved of his curse. Ma once called her ‘such a poor wee thing’ in th...
...of reasoning that I don’t understand either is Ma’s: You know that we’ve been against it from t...
187 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Saturday, 19 November 1881.
in translation:
Regarding Pa and Ma. A man has two kinds of enemies, firstly his entrenched enemies, secondly his fri...
Pa and Ma get annoyed again and again at words and expressions of mine or their tone, and are often c...
...our generation. We don’t belong to the one Pa and Ma and J.P.S. belong to, we must be more faithfu...
...daughter make a good match, though J.P.S. and T. v. G. at Etten are, in spite of their position as cl...
J.P.S. is more liberal in his views than Pa, but both remain standing in front of a wall that Beecher...
...��duty”?’ I then laid that scrap of paper on Pa’s reading-desk and later in the day a change se...
...in what I’ve already said many times, that Pa and Ma simply must understand that I’m not their e...
189 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, Wednesday, 23 November 1881.
in note 24:
...��amour and La femme Michelet – in contrast to Mr van Gogh – argues in favour of uniting lovers.
in translation:
I’m very glad that you wrote to Pa and Ma about this and that. It seems to me that it can’t help ...
...to do what the ministers there wanted, even then Pa said something similar. So there really is a long...
If Pa were the man he used to be, I believe we’d get along better, but something has changed in Pa ...
... times I’ve even spoken roughly and harshly to Pa, something has awakened in him. This summer he wa...
But this doesn’t make me Pa’s enemy, God forbid. Nor do I view Pa as my enemy but as a friend who...
...Stricker’s big celebration is approaching. Pa and Ma intend to go to it. I’m very glad that you�...
But it’s strange, Pa and Ma are sometimes stone-blind to ‘manners’, even though they’re alway...
Pa warned me, saying: Be careful with J.P.S., because he’s a man who attaches great importance to �...
Pa said recently, ‘Out of moral conviction I’ve never wanted to influence two people to marry eac...
in note 18:
...thers had been encouraged to do this by their parents and Uncle Vincent (FR b982; b984; b990 and b53...
192 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Sunday, 18 December 1881.
in translation:
... me 90 guilders altogether. And now I think that Pa is rather short of money and I don’t know what ...
...ne is in touch with painters &c. When I wrote to Pa this week for money, he thought the 90 guilders I...
...expensive. But I damned well hate having to give Pa an account of every penny, the more so because ev...
What’s more, Pa has now spent money on an overcoat for me that hung to the ground when I got it, an...
...f your answer doesn’t come within 3 or 4 days, I’ll ask Pa for the money to go back immediately.
in note 3:
Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo about the prevailing mood of optimism: ‘Received cheerful letters from V...
193 To Theo van Gogh. Etten, on or about Friday, 23 December 1881.
in translation:
Admittedly, Pa said that I needn’t be afraid of the inevitable expense, and Pa ...
But Pa isn’t the kind of man for whom I can feel what I feel for you, for examp...
... for example, or for Mauve. I really do love Pa and Ma, but it’s a very differ...
Whenever I tell Pa anything, it’s all just idle talk to him, and certainly no l...
... himself that way. But you know that I love both Pa and J.P.S. in my own way, des...
...l come and have a look himself if necessary. But Pa has to stay out of it. Pa isn...
... him that I had once said in a conversation with Pa that I believed that one coul...
... and certainly no less so to Ma, and I also find Pa and Ma’s sermons and ideas ...
...ev. Ten Kate translated Goethe’s Faust, Pa and Ma have read that book, because now that a ...
194 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 29 December 1881.
in translation:
...t Christmas I had a rather violent argument with Pa, and feelings ran so high that Pa said it would b...
...ever remember being in my whole life, and I told Pa plainly that I found the whole system of that rel...
Pa told me that if I needed money he would lend it to me if necessary, but now that’s impossible, I...
As far as the relations between Pa and Ma and me are concerned, they can’t be put to rights so very...
.... So I don’t take back what I said, and anyway Pa has now heard it plainly. If I’d been calmer, I...
...e. It’s true that I ate and slept at home, but Pa himself said at the time that he could spare it.
195 To Anthon van Rappard. The Hague, Friday, 30 December 1881.
in translation:
... because I was having too much trouble with my father about all sorts of things that actually aren’...
197 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 5 January 1882.
in translation:
... like is the way you’ve contrived to leave Pa and Ma.(1) It’s possible that you couldn’t bear ...
199 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 8 or Monday, 9 January 1882.
in translation:
...t ‘contrive’ to do it, on the contrary, when Pa was here, Mauve, Pa and I talked about my renting...
...to say a few heartfelt words to impress upon Pa and Ma how important my work in Etten was to me &c. ...
...ld Pa and Ma that I considered it a Jesuitism and didn’t take the slightest notice of it.Pa and Ma
Pa regularly comes up with some such saying if someone says something to him that he doesn’t know h...
Or else Pa gets incredibly angry and is used to people being afraid, and it surprises Pa if people do...
Pa is very easily hurt and irritable and full of obstinacies in domestic life and is used to getting ...
...with an old man isn’t difficult &c.’ Because Pa is an old man I’ve spared him a hundred times, ...
...ke I straightened things out by writing again to Pa to say that I’d rented a studio, that I also wi...
...�m not asking for an apology, and as long as Pa and Ma take this attitude I won’t take any of it b...
5) That Pa and Ma can’t stand it if there’s bad blood &c. That’s true inasmuch as they create a...
...f because things were going so badly between Pa and Ma and me. But now that it’s come to this, wel...
...So it’s entirely true that I sometimes said to Pa ‘do consider this or that fully’, or ‘this ...
10) Does Pa’s life count for nothing? I already said that if I hear someone say ‘you’ll be the ...
...with me if I pretend for the time being that Pa and Ma don’t exist, it would have been much better...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh must have visited Vincent, who was taking lessons from Mauve in painting in both oils and...
204 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 13 February 1882.
in translation:
... be a long time before you come to Holland? I believe Pa half expected you to come for his birthday.
in note 4:
Mr van Gogh had celebrated his 60th birthday on 8 February 1882.
206 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 25 February 1882.
in translation:
You write about Pa’s birthday, I must say that I feel so good to have done with everything, it’s ...
...ything and pretend that nothing happened – Pa and Ma might be able to do that, but I can’t – I...
214 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Sunday, 2 April 1882.
in translation:
As regards Cor’s education and Ma’s bread – those two things won’t be lacking, not even if yo...
217 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Friday, 14 April 1882.
in translation:
...very clear to me that the disharmony between Pa and Ma and me has become a chronic condition, becaus...
I mean, Pa and Ma could have done more for me, I could have done more for Pa and Ma, if we’d tried ...
...d children must remain united. Well, neither Pa and Ma nor I made those mistakes intentionally, and ...
Well, Pa and Ma find much comfort in their work and I in mine. Because, old chap, I work with a great...
And well – yes, I know that Ma is ill – and I also know many more sombre things, both in our own ...
220 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Sunday, 23 April 1882.
in translation:
You’ve no doubt heard of Pa’s calling and that Ma’s better again, but Uncle Cent is ill. I’m ...
...u’ve no doubt heard of Pa’s calling and that Ma’s better again, but Uncle Cent is ill. I’m wo...
in note 5:
On 2 April 1882 Mr van Gogh was called to the ministry at Nuenen, a village in North Brabant, where h...
222 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 1 May 1882.
in translation:
...which I wrote to you has been undertaken and Pa and Ma come to visit me, it would result in a change...
225 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Wednesday, 10 May 1882.
in translation:
...ainst sentimental considerations of the kind Pa and Ma wouldn’t fail to suggest, if I were to ask ...
...se me if I don’t breathe a word of this to Pa and Ma, and have no desire for them to interfere. If...
227 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 14 or Monday, 15 May 1882.
in translation:
...ow who she was, but I do know that you consulted Pa about it, and also discussed it with me. And that...
...nor, I have the liberty, being of age, to say to Pa: this is a matter in which you cannot and may not...
...cussed must be quite different from that used by Pa, for example, on the occasion of Geel. That would...
in note 10:
...class difference was a crucial obstacle in his father’s eyes, and he called his son to order. See l...
228 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Tuesday, 16 May 1882.
in translation:
Would the Rev. J.P.S. and the Rev. T. v. G., looking so respectable in their robes and with their gre...
...nd weary. Think it over and you will understand. Pa, Uncle Stricker, H.G.T. and I don’t know who el...
...e off to a madhouse. She and I are of age, so if Pa is opposed he’ll have to register his refusal f...
230 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Tuesday, 23 May 1882.
in translation:
Yesterday I had a friendly letter from Pa and Ma that would give me great pleasure if I could believe...
... you, and shan’t say more than absolutely necessary, for instance to Pa, until she’s in Leiden.
234 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 1 and Friday, 2 June 1882.
in translation:
...r financial affairs, and that’s enough to give Pa the right to deprive you of your civil rights and...
...e of Geel they already wanted to. Sadly, yes — Pa is capable of it — but I tell you, if he dares ...
...ut my obligations and relationship to my family. Pa is always harping on the ‘respect and obedience...
...remain loyal to her. But I know for certain that Pa really does think it important, and although he w...
I must tell you, Theo, that I’ve noticed that Pa, for example, sometimes does not take the trouble ...
...part, when I saw that kind of thing at home, I said often enough to Pa, This will bring you no good.
...hat it’s even worse: as if I had no home, no father, no mother, no family, and I’ve often thought...
... you something again in confidence. Do you think Pa might perhaps be concerned that I was going to as...
I sometimes feel as deep a compassion for Pa and Ma as you, but you know that I can’t do what you d...
Whether Pa and Ma remain calm will depend for 3/4 on what you say to them. If you voice an objection,...
...even worse: as if I had no home, no father, no mother, no family, and I’ve often thought that – d...
235 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 3 June 1882.
in translation:
... being with her. I mean of the same sort as when Pa wanted to pack me off to Geel. The speculating ab...
238 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 9 June 1882.
in translation:
I wanted to let you know about Pa and Ma right away because I thought it would please you too.
in note 5:
The parents received this letter on Saturday, 10 June, and Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about it on 14 J...
in note 1:
...as shown by letter 245 in combination with his father’s account of his visit (cited in letter 239, ...
239 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 22 June 1882.
in translation:
...ed by such a payment. Now I must inform you that Pa visited me the first days that I was here, althou...
...��ve seen no one apart from Sien, her mother and Pa, which is in fact all for the best, though the da...
in note 7:
On 14 June 1882 Mr van Gogh had written at length to Theo about this visit: ‘You will want to know ...
241 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 1 July 1882.
in note 8:
Mr van Gogh had told Tersteeg that Vincent was in hospital (FR b2240).
244 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 6 July 1882.
in translation:
I most certainly do appreciate what Pa and Ma did during my illness – you remember I wrote to you a...
...ion to go in the same manner as last year to Pa and Ma to ask their advice or opinion, because it be...
...s out of bitterness, contempt or disdain for Pa and Ma — or to glorify myself — but only to help...
... in my work. And that she and I dearly hope that Pa will approve of my having taken her as my wife. I...
I would like Pa to have a fresh and clear impression of a new future for me, to see me here in surrou...
...n of last year as an illusion. That’s what Pa and Ma do, but I say, ‘Even if it will never be, i...
...Vos was like that then and how it was that my parents and hers were so adamantly ominous and opposed...
...rstand what I mean. In the past you had what Pa and Ma also call an ‘illusion’ for a woman of th...
...er you approve of my little plan for telling Pa and Ma and establishing better relations. I don’t ...
in note 6:
At that time Van Gogh had been discussing his plans to marry Kee Vos with his parents.
245 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 6 and Friday, 7 July 1882.
in translation:
...in your own state of mind. I’m thinking now of Pa — do you believe Pa would remain cool and still...
...t then I thought — and another for Theo or for Pa when they come to have a look. So your spot by th...
...e and discreet of you not to say anything to Pa and Ma up to now. The birth is now behind us, the fl...
I received a letter from Pa and Ma today and wrote to them as soon as I heard that I needn’t go bac...
...her you approve of my plan as to how to tell Pa and Ma. But first the woman must get stronger, becau...
She saw Pa when he came because it was the visiting hour and she was sitting downstairs in the corrid...
in note 15:
The suspicion on the part of Mr van Gogh that his unease during the visit was caused by the arrival o...
246 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 15 and Sunday, 16 July 1882.
in translation:
I’ve had a friendly letter from Pa and Ma. Just imagine, again with two money orders enclosed, even...
... really would rather not have the money from Pa and Ma. As I wrote to you, as soon as I can save the...
247 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Tuesday, 18 July 1882.
in translation:
...ng from one subject to another, dragging in my Father and, just imagine, my uncle in Princenhage!!! W...
Now, because of Tersteeg, I want to write to Pa and Ma a little sooner, although I believe later woul...
...he will please or be of service to Uncle Cent or Pa. He doesn’t spare or take the slightest account...
..., whom I have nothing to do with. And about my father — immediately taking it for granted a priori ...
... things become serious insults. The same as with Pa when he wanted to send me to Geel, but more so. I...
in note 2:
Rev. Van Gogh was called to the Reformed Congregation at Nuenen and accepted the call on 7 June 1882,...
...ing of August, and on 7 August Rev. Van Gogh, his wife, Cor and two servants were registered at the C...
248 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Wednesday, 19 July 1882.
in translation:
...with you in person and before I said anything to Pa. I get on better with you, you sense things more ...
252 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 31 July 1882.
in note 1:
This phrasing shows that Theo visited his parents before going on to The Hague. So Vincent would have...
253 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 5 August 1882.
in translation:
... in thought; I’m going to start work. Give Pa and Ma my warmest regards, thank them for what they ...
256 To Anthon van Rappard. The Hague, Sunday, 13 August 1882.
in note 5:
Van Rappard had stayed with the Van Gogh family in Etten in the summer of 1881: see letter 168.
259 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 26 August 1882.
in translation:
...er. Above all, that I absolutely concur that Pa and Ma, with all their pros and cons, are people who...
...e not cherish any illusions and do fear that Pa and Ma will never take any real pleasure in it. This...
... how attracted I am by a country district like the one you describe that’s Pa and Ma’s new home.
261 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 9 September 1882.
in note 1:
On 10 September Van Gogh’s mother would be 63.
269 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 25 September 1882.
in translation:
...d a very unexpected and very pleasing visit from Pa, who came to my house and to the studio, which I ...
It really gave me great pleasure to see Pa and talk to him. I’ve again heard a lot about Nuenen —...
...a sense of unpleasant dullness than severe pain. Pa and I went for a walk on Rijswijkseweg, it’s lo...
271 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 8 October 1882.
in note 5:
The parents most probably wrote about the Nuenen churchyard; Theo had suggested it before as a possib...
in note 4:
This package would have been inspired by his father’s successful visit to Vincent’s studio: see l...
283 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 16 or Friday, 17 November 1882.
in translation:
Pa was here briefly this week when he was in town for a meeting.
296 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Wednesday, 27 December 1882.
in note 1:
In this week, on 25 December 1882, Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘It is a better Christmas for us this...
306 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 3 February 1883.
in translation:
... and for everything. Also, my congratulations on Pa’s birthday. I sent Pa a drawing that I did afte...
in note 12:
...ittle old man’. Which drawing he sent to his father as a follow-up to the lithograph cannot be dete...
in note 11:
Mr van Gogh would be 61 on 8 February.
307 To Anthon van Rappard. The Hague, on or about Sunday, 4 February 1883.
in translation:
What I must also tell you is that when my father first heard about this, you will understand that he ...
310 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 8 February 1883.
in translation:
My sincere congratulations to you too on Pa’s birthday, and thank you for your letter, which I rece...
in note 1:
Van Gogh’s father’s 61st birthday was on 8 February 1883.
327 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 11 March 1883.
in translation:
... a surprise I’ve had. I received a letter from Pa, very cordial and cheerful it seemed to me, with ...
...tively springs to mind. Can it be, perhaps, that Pa has heard from someone or other that I’m living...
You will understand my intention better than Pa if I were to try to explain such a thing to him. In m...
Pa’s letter was in reply to a letter of mine which I remember very well was cheerful, because I tol...
338 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 30 April 1883.
in note 1:
Theo was 26 on 1 May 1883. His father also wished him many happy returns, ‘You have been a spring f...
339 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Wednesday, 2 or Thursday, 3 May 1883.
in translation:
...th H.G.T. You know what H.G.T. wrote about me to Pa that time, for example — well, so far he hasn�...
...aats and shall continue so to refrain as long as he holds the opinion of me that he expressed to Pa.
...that H.G.T. takes back what he wrote about me to Pa (that I had made it impossible for him to have an...
in note 3:
... July 1882 (he also wrote about Vincent to his father) led to relations being broken off (see letters...
343 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Sunday, 20 May 1883.
in translation:
...tion, I was surprised by a very brief visit from Pa. Neither he nor I mentioned your news about the w...
I think Pa was rather taken by the figures of workmen I’m working on.
...things going well for you, and for your patient? Pa did say that you’d written to them about coming...
348 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 3 June 1883.
in translation:
...n my own case — with my limited income — Pa and Ma objected to marriage because of the lack of m...
But with Pa and Ma, who are supposed to be humble and content with simplicity, I think it very nasty ...
So it grieves and offends me, it again disappoints me terribly, that Pa and Ma said that.
...t this undone somehow. I’d like to be proud of Pa because he was a truly poor village pastor in the...
I think Pa might rightly be expected to cooperate where it’s a matter of saving a poor woman on her...
Not to do this is a great fault in Pa, and it’s inhuman of whoever does this, and doubly inhuman if...
...that almost every minister would say the same as Pa — and that’s why I for one count that entire ...
...your woman is a decent woman from a respectable family, and really Pa is greatly at fault, I think.
...ose there were difficulties, it seems to me that Pa, especially as a pastor, ought to urge you to hel...
It’s atrocious that Pa adopts this attitude.
Then Pa AVOIDED that and talked around the subject.
I’ve hardly talked this over with Pa at all, as a matter of fact, precisely because I fail to see t...
...this. You’ve fulfilled your duty to inform Pa and Ma, but now that they talk like this they give y...
Tell me, Pa and Ma’s answer won’t affect whether you come this summer, will it?
in note 2:
...ve on bread and coffee and nothing else for three years, Theo, if Pa had not been so pretentious’.
349 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 3 June 1883.
in translation:
...rom what might be called a lower class. And what Pa, for instance, says on that subject — you know ...
...s when one takes into account that, for example, Pa once said to me, ‘There’s something immoral i...
351 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Thursday, 7 June 1883.
in translation:
...e and I wanted to talk to you about it, although Pa doesn’t mention you in the letter, because in t...
The letter in question is Pa’s first since his visit and is very amiable and cordial and was accomp...
...hing abnormal; rather, I got the impression that Pa’s mood was more passive or resigned, tending to...
...my last letter I disapproved so strongly of what Pa had said — and still disapprove of it now, bein...
And I have in mind to talk to you about how Pa is an old man and so deeply fond of you, and you’ll ...
It seems to me that Pa’s a little melancholy, though, and is perhaps fretting a little about you an...
For perhaps, perhaps Pa himself is conscious of having gone a little too far, or worried about how yo...
...stand and am only guessing, but I do think this, Pa is an old man and deserves to have people cheer h...
...n I did, but do what’s right and don’t blame Pa if he’s mistaken. That’s what I wanted to say...
... believe you’ll have your own, similar view of Pa’s words, and so I’m not telling you anything ...
This winter Pa was pretty much against my being with the woman just as much as now, yet he sent a war...
And wanted to point out to you that in any case Pa objects to my being with the woman, MUCH MORE SO i...
And otherwise that Ma was at Princenhage and domestic details.
in note 12:
The parents had sent this lady’s coat at the beginning of October 1882; see letter 271.
in note 5:
...e: ‘You’ve fulfilled your duty to inform Pa and Ma, but now that they talk like this they give y...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh visited him in the middle of May; see letter 343.
356 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 22 June 1883.
in note 16:
...ke Vincent, Theo knew the village where their parents lived, and had pointed out the attractiveness ...
360 To Theo van Gogh, The Hague, on or about Saturday, 7 July 1883.
in note 1:
...th Théophile de Bock. On 5 July 1880 Theo’s mother wrote to him: ‘Nice that until October you ha...
361 To Theo van Gogh, The Hague, on or about Wednesday, 11 July 1883.
in translation:
...n conditions of patient posing, is the figure of Pa on a path on the heath, the figure severely drawn...
Then, for instance, Pa and Ma arm in arm — in an autumn setting — or with a beech hedge with dry ...
I’d also like to have the figure of Pa when I do a country funeral, which I’m definitely planning...
... it shouldn’t, for example, be the portrait of Pa but rather the type of a poor village pastor goin...
...alty have remained, rather than portraits of Pa and Ma, although I hope they’ll pose for it. But t...
366 To Theo van Gogh, The Hague, on or about Tuesday, 24 July 1883.
in translation:
...dvanced me some money, I had a little extra from Pa. But what happens? — like the May bug tied to a...
in note 4:
The sentence ‘I had a little extra from Pa’ was added by Van Gogh later.
in note 1:
Theo supported his father, his mother, his sister Willemien, Marie and Vincent (see letter 394).
Theo supported his father, his mother, his sister Willemien, Marie and Vincent (see letter 394).
370 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Friday, 3 August 1883.
in note 3:
Van Gogh evidently did not want to add to his parents’ concern about his future or cause friction. ...
in note 2:
For Theo’s previous visit to his parents and to Vincent in the summer of 1882, see letters 252 ff.
373 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Tuesday, 14 August 1883.
in translation:
...e just received a letter from home (please thank Pa for it, I hadn’t had the letter when I wrote), ...
375 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 18 August 1883.
in translation:
...r to decide. As for my relative coolness towards Pa, here’s something I want to tell you, because y...
About a year ago now, Pa came to The Hague for the first time since I’d left home in search of peac...
...it better if I didn’t visit you?’ If to that Pa had said something like ‘No, that’s going too...
...: ‘I’m beginning to think more and more like Pa’. Well, so be it, you speak the truth, and I fo...
I’ve had repeated disagreements with Pa, but the bond has never been completely broken.
...o Herkomer or someone. Also, what you said about Pa — there was now a reason for writing more to Pa...
in note 4:
An allusion to a prayer by Mr van Gogh: see letter 42, n. 2.
in note 2:
In September 1882 Mr van Gogh had paid him an unexpected visit, which Vincent described at the time a...
376 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Sunday, 19 August 1883.
in translation:
As I write this I’m also writing a letter to Pa in which there are one or two things I shan’t rep...
I’m eager to know whether Pa and you can more or less follow my feelings as regards staying with th...
Now you must read Pa’s letter. I can’t say anything different. If I left the woman, she might go ...
in note 1:
This letter to Mr van Gogh is not known. It was probably agreed that Vincent would write to his fathe...
377 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Monday, 20 August 1883.
in translation:
...ithout asking for more. I’ve worn clothes from Pa and from you that sometimes fit my body different...
...when I went round in a long minister’s coat of Pa’s &c.?; and it seems to me that quietly registe...
...ink it has gone rather too far when both you and Pa feel ashamed to walk a little with me. For my par...
379 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, between about Thursday, 23 and about Wednesday, 29 August 1883.
in translation:
I held this letter back for a few days. Pa wrote me a letter in the meantime. My main intention in wr...
in note 8:
The letter to Pa that was sent together with letter 376.
381 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, on or about Wednesday, 5 September 1883.
in translation:
...o what she should do. I also sent a few words to Pa to say that I was separated from her, but that my...
in note 9:
...ed that in his reply to the earlier letter his father had hardly touched on what was most essential; ...
in note 8:
The letter to Mr van Gogh about wanting to marry Sien is the one Theo had also read; it was sent with...
388 To Theo van Gogh. Hoogeveen, on or about Friday, 21 September 1883.
in note 24:
... details of these difficulties are known. His parents were aware of this; from a few passages in the...
in translation:
...riously in this letter, not because I think that Pa’s feelings and views, for instance, are wrong i...
In my view Pa has more the black ray and Corot has more the white ray, but both of them have a ray fr...
...’t readily find words for then, ‘I know that Pa is Pa, but there’s something else besides that,...
389 To Theo van Gogh. Hoogeveen, Monday, 24 September 1883.
in translation:
Received a letter from home that Pa had been unwell as a result of a fall — I hope it isn’t more ...
in note 2:
...y that he had had to hear from Vincent that Mr van Gogh had had a fall. She described the accident a...
Mrs van Gogh told Theo on 1 October 1883 that she was sorry that he had had to hear from Vincent that...
390 To Theo van Gogh. Hoogeveen, on or about Wednesday, 26 September 1883.
in translation:
If either Pa or you had been able to feel it thus, perhaps — I don’t say that I would have been h...
Pa wrote to me saying that he wanted to help me, but I didn’t let him know anything about my worrie...
392 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Wednesday, 3 October 1883.
in translation:
I received a postal order for 10 guilders from Pa, which with what I got from you means that I can no...
in note 17:
On Monday, 1 October 1883 Mr van Gogh told Theo: ‘I have written to Vincent and sent him 10 guilder...
in note 15:
...odgings in Hoogeveen as his postal address. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo on 15 October 1883: ‘he seem...
394 To Theo van Gogh. Hoogeveen, Friday, 12 October 1883.
in translation:
Make no mistake, Theo, at this moment Pa, Ma, Wil, Marie, and I above all, are supported by you; it s...
...emergency the rent that I’m obliged to pay could be saved, because Pa has a house there rent-free.
...for me to live at home for a while, I think that Pa and I would both have to reconcile ourselves to t...
Well, I’ll write to Pa today, without more ado, simply this: if Theo were to think it advisable tha...
...ile so that you have your hands free. And again, Pa, Ma, Wil, Marie, I, in a word all of us, think mu...
Make no mistake, Theo, at this moment Pa, Ma, Wil, Marie, and I above all, are supported by you; it s...
...hat I had my reasons for it. If I were to say to Ma or to Wil or Lies, pose for me, it would have to ...
...so that you have your hands free. And again, Pa, Ma, Wil, Marie, I, in a word all of us, think much m...
396 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Monday, 15 October 1883.
in translation:
...n to it. Why shouldn’t we be able to live with Pa if circumstances meant that we had to? I don’t ...
397 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Tuesday, 16 October 1883.
in translation:
...rwise I would have to work out a compromise with Pa so that I could stay there and work in Brabant fo...
399 To Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Friday, 26 October 1883.
in translation:
Dear Parents,
...resent and must get back there. Regards, dear parents — my overcoat is perfectly all right, the un...
in note 6:
Evidently Vincent’s parents had sent him a parcel of useful items.
in note 3:
...ere must have been raised in the letter from Pa and Ma, possibly to warn Vincent against the people ...
400 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, Sunday, 28 October 1883.
in note 7:
...on in letter 348, where Vincent writes that Mr van Gogh disapproved of Vincent’s ‘being with the...
401 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Wednesday, 31 October 1883.
in translation:
He speaks of it very differently from Pa, for instance — for he leaves it more vague, yet I see mor...
403 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Monday, 5 November 1883.
in translation:
... roughly. I’m glad that I can’t write to you coherently like Tersteeg and Pa — at this moment.
When I think of Pa himself, then it seems to me that it’s to his contact with nature that Pa owes h...
... I’ve often argued with Pa in the past because Pa said ‘it is thus’, and I said, Pa, you’re c...
To me, Pa and Tersteeg are something along the lines of Delaroche, Muller, Dubufe &c. — I may think...
Anyway, old chap, neither Pa nor Tersteeg has given me anything but false peace for my conscience, an...
...d you said to me — I’m increasingly drawn to Pa — then I said, old chap, it’s a tricky matter...
I come to the following conclusion. What Pa and Tersteeg held up to me as Duty was a Spectre of duty....
... — but at the same time leave them behind me), Pa and Tersteeg, and come to that C.M. and who knows...
...e than once I’ve been short-tempered both with Pa and with Tersteeg &c. &c., don’t consider me as...
404 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Thursday, 8 November 1883.
in translation:
...g of what we have in hand, but everyone at home, Pa, Ma, Wil, Marie and we ourselves, too, have to un...
... what we have in hand, but everyone at home, Pa, Ma, Wil, Marie and we ourselves, too, have to unders...
405 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, Sunday, 11 November 1883.
in translation:
Pa sometimes mulled over the story of Jacob and Esau with regard to you and me — not entirely mista...
407 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, Monday, 26 November 1883.
in note 2:
As appears from a letter from Mr van Gogh to Theo, the previous allowance on 10 November had been lar...
408 To Theo van Gogh. Nieuw-Amsterdam, Saturday, 1 December 1883.
in translation:
...e stay where I am because I have to take care of Pa, Ma, Wil and Marie’, and (although you didn’t...
...istrust of the people in the lodgings, I dropped Pa a line that, not having heard from you, I didn’...
...ay where I am because I have to take care of Pa, Ma, Wil and Marie’, and (although you didn’t men...
in note 7:
...ound the beginning of June 1885, Theo told his mother: ‘I showed his [i.e. Vincent’s] work to an ...
in note 8:
Only part of the letter that Mr van Gogh wrote Theo about the letter Vincent mentions was preserved. ...
... is a response to something in a letter from his Ma, that she delighted to see the sun shine and that...
409 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Thursday, 6 December 1883.
in translation:
...epends on whether one can endure the loneliness. Pa would consider that question settled, I believe, ...
in note 2:
...h had not been home since Christmas 1881; his parents moved to Nuenen in August 1882, so this was th...
410 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 7 December 1883.
in translation:
...g in the very best of ways until the moment when Pa banned me from the house — not just in a passio...
...n steely hardness and icy coldness, something in Pa that grates like dry sand, glass or tin — despi...
..., also with good results, if I had now seen that Pa had also realized that he should not have barred ...
...here now any trace, any hint of a shadow of a doubt in Pa as to whether he did the right thing then.
Pa doesn’t know remorse as you and I and everyone who is human does. Pa believes in his own righteo...
I pity people like Pa, I can’t find it in my heart to be angry with them because I believe that the...
...to regard it as an unalterable fact of fate that Pa and I are irreconcilable down to the deepest dept...
...this would have there’s a je ne sais quoi with Pa that I’m afraid I’m beginning to think is inc...
...f me what you will, Theo, but I tell you it’s not my imagination, I tell you, Pa is not willing.Pa
...what I saw then, I spoke out four-square AGAINST Pa then, I speak now in any event, whatever may come...
in note 1:
After a disagreement with his father, Van Gogh left his parents’ home at Christmas 1881: see letter...
411 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 8 December 1883.
in translation:
I haven’t said a word to Pa and Ma about the real question of two years ago. I have, though, spoken...
For their part, Pa and Ma don’t even mention her name. Very well — they don’t have to speak to ...
...at I find the spirit in our family, particularly Pa’s and also, for instance, C.M.’s, more and mo...
...ark contrast, for example, to what you said this summer: ‘I’m becoming more and more like Pa’.
...d more a ‘Van Gogh’, became a character like Pa or C.M. and by always being involved in business ...
At present I’m observing Pa — I see, I hear, I feel what Pa is — and I don’t like it — deci...
Now I return to what I said to Pa, that it was a mistake that we quarrelled so seriously two years ag...
And that Pa was all too much in the habit of failing to do this and going on hot-headedly — in my v...
...on barrier of irreconcilability indeed, although Pa tried to mask it, tried to lead me around it and ...
So brother, in my view Pa eternally descends into petty-mindedness instead of being more open, more l...
... personality — played a part in the world like Pa or C.M. or Uncle V. even, very well, I wouldn’t...
in note 2:
A prayer written and often recited in the family circle by Mr van Gogh; see letter 113.
in note 1:
...e letters 179 ff.). The following December his father asked him to leave the house. The cause was Vin...
413 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 15 December 1883.
in translation:
I feel what Pa and Ma instinctively think about me (I don’t say reasonably).
This home is also too good for me, and Pa and Ma and the family are so unduly fine (no feelings, thou...
The dog may actually have been Pa’s son at one time, and Pa himself really left him out in the stre...
...myself and also paid myself for the clothes that Pa bought because mine weren’t good enough, yet at...
...ou, believing that I’m making it difficult for Pa, to take his part and give me a brisk telling-off...
...re taking up arms against someone who is neither Pa’s enemy nor yours, but who definitely does, how...
...��s a desire for peace and for reconciliation in Pa and in you and in me. And yet we don’t seem to ...
I’m now prepared to make it as easy as possible, as tranquil as possible, for both Pa and you.
...so think that it’s I who make it difficult for Pa and that I’m cowardly. So — well then, I’ll...
... then I won’t have to ask Pa for anything when I leave, which I ought to do as soon as possible.Pa
...ave the whole of the 23.80 guilders of 1 Dec. to Pa (having borrowed 14 guilders, and shoes and trous...
...s too much in my frankly expressed opinion about Pa that I cannot take back in the circumstances. I a...
...ed by appreciation of very much that’s good in Pa — of course that modification is considerable.
As to Pa, I’ll also take the liberty of putting what he thinks out of my mind as soon as we part co...
... perhaps much more even than you know or feel, your friend and even Pa’s friend. With a handshake.
In any event I’m not an enemy of Pa’s or yours, nor shall ever be that.
...e the enclosed letter, and I’ve also spoken to Pa again. I had as good as definitely made up my min...
...than when I wrote to you about what I thought of Pa. I’ve softened my opinion, partly because I bel...
... that I believe that it’s precisely because of Pa’s influence that you’ve concentrated more on ...
...here’s always a will to cooperate between you, Pa and myself, albeit in fits and starts. Since the ...
in note 7:
On Thursday, 20 December 1883, Mr van Gogh informed Theo that the room where the mangle was had alrea...
414 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 16 December 1883.
in translation:
...about strangers rather than about you and me and Pa. I see two brothers walking in The Hague (view th...
... them says, ‘I’m becoming more and more like Pa — I have a certain position to keep up — a ce...
... — I see it in you when, for example, you take Pa’s part when you think I’ve made it difficult ...
I don’t differ with Pa when I consider Pa in himself, but I do differ with Pa when I compare Pa wit...
...nside me, and I stick up for it because you confuse Pa’s character with Corot’s, for instance.Pa
How do I see Pa? As a person of similar character to Corot’s father, but Pa has nothing of Corot hi...
...e his father, but he didn’t follow him. I love Pa, too, so long as my path isn’t made too difficu...
...brought me here were in no way intended to cause Pa or you expense, but on the contrary to make bette...
...hat you think it cowardly of me to rebel against Pa — in the first place this rebellion is in words...
... more earnestly and resolutely precisely because Pa’s grey hair tells me that the time that we have...
I’m prepared to admit that Pa means well, but I would so infinitely prefer it if it weren’t to st...
You say — Pa does have other things on his mind — really — well then, I myself feel how unimpor...
415 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Tuesday, 18 December 1883.
in translation:
... deep down in all those conversations I had with Pa, a je ne sais quoi of coolly refusing to commit h...
...suspect me of unwillingness. For my part, I know Pa very intimately and from close quarters in many r...
...st import — and embarking on a new future with Pa is again a very important thing, which no one can...
... too, particularly after receipt of your letter, Pa and I are getting on as well as is possible, and ...
But Pa’s character is exceedingly changeable and at the same time exceedingly stubborn — (I’m v...
...a great deal about this question, I’ve watched Pa closely, I know Pa from many sides, I’ve very o...
I cannot say that I think Pa is straightforward, or simple and clear enough.
... ask: did it turn out all right? In my view, Pa and Ma and several others weren’t very sensitive t...
... not attach importance to any conversations with Pa at the outset, which I chiefly undertook just to ...
Keeping the peace with Pa will be a hard job. I now understand my own attitude of opposition in forme...
Is it the same with Pa? No — it’s something different. If you say, but Pa is also a thinker and a...
...e after all, and I see a certain separation from Pa — irrevocably and with éclat — as the only t...
...n understand and appreciate. And after I talk to Pa again, there’s a provisional arrangement and ca...
...that time). Can one, MAY one keep the peace with Pa? Perhaps you don’t understand this — that I e...
But Pa sees sacrilege in observations that aren’t even reproaches, unavoidable observations when on...
Pa didn’t do it on purpose. I say, Pa isn’t very sensitive, and Pa still has no idea at all, even...
Should you tell me that Pa doesn’t mean it so harshly, that may be so, but what someone means is on...
There’s an eternal opposition in Pa between what he says and what he does, but it took me a long ti...
I tell you frankly how I see it, brother. Pa doesn’t always know what he’s doing; even though he ...
...ment that is really kept to. I’ve suggested to Pa that the room that can best be spared should beco...
... against me if, in the event of any discord with Pa, I don’t have to take it as seriously as I took...
I can tell you now that I’ve managed to get Pa to agree that I can fix up a room here. If you appro...
You can see how Pa is from what he followed up with, for instance, after saying that he can’t take ...
In short, that is Pa — that is ‘a minister’. Pa
...nexpressibly desperate for me to talk to him. If Pa weren’t my father I wouldn’t worry about it, ...
...ome out with ‘unforgivable’. And people like Pa and C.M. stick to that, carry it through, year in...
416 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Friday, 21 December 1883.
in translation:
...ou that, as a result of the arrangement with Pa and Ma to let me use the room that has until now ser...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh told Theo about this on the evening of Thursday, 20 December 1883: ‘You will be curious...
417 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Wednesday, 26 December 1883.
in translation:
..., studies, &c. there and sent them here and, Pa and Ma having cleared out the little room, I’m alr...
418 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 28 December 1883.
in translation:
... what I think about that — that in common with Pa, who often acts thus, you are cruel in your world...
I’ve spoken my mind about Pa, I’ve spoken my mind about you as far as this summer is concerned. W...
...not saying that I don’t want to associate with Pa or you at all any more — I’m not such a zealo...
419 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 4 January 1884.
in translation:
...thing else I have to tell you about my talk with Pa. I told Pa that in my present state of mind and p...
I mentioned it to Pa in order to return to the question of the ‘paternal right’ to prevent someth...
This is how I talked to Pa about the question of marriage, taking the woman with whom I lived as an e...
...what you have to know about this, but I spoke to Pa about it to make it plain that if I should ever w...
420 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, between about Sunday, 6 and about Sunday, 13 January 1884.
in translation:
... free on both sides. But if you could still give Pa some contribution for a while, because I don’t ...
422 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Tuesday, 15 January 1884.
in translation:
I also hope that you and Pa won’t oppose me if I don’t take any studio other than the little mang...
I’ll take another and no longer be in Pa’s house as soon as my work produces enough for me to pay...
in note 2:
...efore the accident happened, my arrangement with Pa was that I would live here free of charge for a w...
423 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Thursday, 17 January 1884.
in translation:
Pa says the doctor said it was definitely a fracture.
Something has happened to Ma. Ma hurt her leg getting out of the train.
... assures us that there’s no particular danger, but that given Ma’s age it will take a long time.
...was painting at a peasant’s, and was sent for. Ma is resting quietly now. Adieu, old chap, with a h...
in note 2:
Mrs van Gogh had turned 64 in September.
424 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Thursday, 17 January 1884.
in translation:
...rd every day. When I asked what the doctor said, Pa said it’s definitely a fracture. So you know ab...
Ma hurt her leg getting out of the train — at Helmond — high up near the pelvis — in what’s c...
I give you my word that things are no worse with Ma than I’m telling you, and that we’ll telegrap...
425 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Friday, 18 and Saturday, 19 January 1884.
in translation:
...there will be all sorts of extra expenditure for Pa — Pa must go ahead and use it, and the other th...
...can use for Ma what you would otherwise give me. Pa will certainly have told you that the doctor said...
...epends on rest, the doctor was very pleased that Ma had been able to keep her leg completely still so...
...ff yet). It will certainly be a long time before Ma’s better. Pa will undoubtedly give you more det...
... here that last night was peaceful too, and that Ma slept quite a bit. She sends you her regards agai...
...goings involved in the work, and you can use for Ma what you would otherwise give me. Pa will certain...
426 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 20 January 1884.
in translation:
...ere’s no doctor in this village (at least my father won’t have him), and so one has to come from ...
My mother and my father send their regards too.
...cupying all of us here these last few days. My mother had an accident getting out of the train, and a...
...here’s still a lot to deal with regarding my mother — the doctor assures us that it can mend — ...
My mother and my father send their regards too.
My mother had just gone from Nuenen to Helmond by train one morning to do some shopping.
in note 3:
..., J. Raupp, until 17 July 1897). The doctor Mr van Gogh summoned was A.L.K.H. van de Loo. It is abou...
in note 1:
...0 onwards Elisabeth, who was staying with her parents to regain her strength, looked after Catharina...
427 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, between about Monday, 21 and Thursday, 24 January 1884.
in translation:
Pa has certainly written to tell you all the particulars, and will write to you again soon.
... far things are still going relatively well with Ma, in so far as the leg is staying in position as i...
...ys. And I’m afraid that in the long run lying will become very much more difficult for Ma herself.
...of coming. It would certainly be a great joy for Ma to see you, but all the same, looked at from the ...
...ou had to leave again. And then it could be that Ma might think, if you came, that it was a sign that...
..., I would think it advisable that you did not come and surprise her, but wrote to Ma about it first.
... little time for it, because when I’m not with Ma I’m at a weaver’s nearby, where I’m working...
...tedly in my view, because it might be a shock to Ma, or the emotion of the later parting be too stron...
428 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 3 February 1884.
in translation:
...d. The effect on her, and perhaps as a result on Pa too, will in my view be to push them instantly a ...
...ve a considerable difference of opinion with Pa and Ma) entirely into the background — it’s all ...
...efore the accident happened, my arrangement with Pa was that I would live here free of charge for a w...
...nuary was ready for that. Because I gave that to Pa when the accident happened, this time it’s thos...
The more so since Pa has just had a windfall of 100 guilders from Uncle Stricker, which I think very ...
...to bring in its train will be more noticeable to Pa than now, I think. So in the meantime, let’s al...
...d sad, and their normal development thwarted. We don’t want to anticipate things, though.Pa and Ma
...hank you very much for both. It seems to me that Ma’s recovery is proceeding very well so far, gene...
...ll, that it’s precisely at a later stage, when Ma will have to be moved more &c., that I’ll be ab...
...n a year or so the financial difficulties that Ma’s accident can’t fail to bring in its train w...
How lying still all the time will affect Ma’s constitution is difficult to tell in advance.
... sort of stretcher in order to be able to change Ma’s bedclothes when needed — although the less ...
Fortunately Ma’s mood is very equable and content, considering her difficult situation. And she amu...
Regards from all — do write to Ma a bit more often, the letters are such a diversion.Ma
in note 5:
... Reformed Church in Nuenen (F 25 / JH 521). Mrs van Gogh had this work in her possession until she di...
in note 4:
... modified bed was created for Mrs van Gogh; Mr van Gogh explained it as follows: ‘the Doctor got u...
A modified bed was created for Mrs van Gogh; Mr van Gogh explained it as follows: ‘the Doctor got u...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh told Theo with satisfaction: ‘Vincent also remains tireless and he moreover spends the ...
429 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Wednesday, 13 February 1884.
in translation:
...��s anything in it you like, so much the better. Ma is going on much the same. Am still working on va...
in note 2:
...n Bruchem-Van Willis; see letter 426, n. 1. Mr van Gogh had already told Theo in a letter dated Sund...
430 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, between Monday, 18 and Saturday, 23 February 1884.
in translation:
Pa already wrote to you about Ma a few days ago. All remained normal since, and the doctor said today...
Pa already wrote to you about Ma a few days ago. All remained normal since, and the doctor said today...
431 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, Tuesday, 26 February 1884.
in translation:
Something else is that my mother is doing much better than could have been expected at first. And the...
432 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 2 March 1884.
in translation:
If I’m as cool as can be to Pa — to C.M. — why should I behave any differently towards you were...
...d and as insufferable, just as if, for instance, Pa said it. I can’t live on that — it’s too lo...
... or won’t give, after all — neither you, nor Pa, nor C.M. or the rest, who are always first off t...
My only regret about arguing with Pa when I did is that I didn’t do it 10 years earlier. If you car...
Thanks for your letter — Ma’s doing well — at the outset the doctor said it would be six months...
...verything has fallen on her shoulders from the outset, and she’s spared Ma a great deal of misery.
...just one thing, it’s definitely her fault that Ma has so few bedsores (which started very badly at ...
in note 1:
...ll, but the leg was still not fully healed. Mr van Gogh told Theo: ‘Did we already write and tell ...
... how thankful we are that we did not lose dear Mother and that she can walk again, although she still...
433 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 2 March 1884.
in translation:
My mother continues to do well — the fracture has set and the plaster is off. All the same, she’l...
436 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Monday, 10 March 1884.
in translation:
Pa would do the same — I know for myself how I’ve felt for the last year and what thoughts I have...
Regards. I’ve just read Ma’s note. I’m pleased that you can tell from it that I speak less and ...
438 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, between about Saturday, 15 and about Wednesday, 19 March 1884.
in translation:
Ma is making gradual progress. Regards.
441 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, between about Friday, 21 and about Friday, 28 March 1884.
in translation:
My parents join me in asking you whether you would care — to come here one of these days. As soon a...
Regards — from my parents too.
My mother is now so much better that she sits in an easy chair in the living room — goes out in a b...
443 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 28 March 1884.
in translation:
...n that way, as I learned from your letter to Pa and Ma. Fortunate that Braat is getting better again...
...Secondary School for another 2 years — I heard Pa suggest, in all seriousness, the bright idea of h...
Ma’s condition is now such that there’s actually nothing more wrong with her than that she has to...
in note 3:
... Helmond, at a cost of 810 guilders a year. Mr van Gogh informed Theo of this sum because he was goi...
445 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Wednesday, 30 April 1884.
in note 2:
...From the ‘Compte de Monsieur Van Gogh’ (Mr van Gogh’s account) it emerges that he was paid the...
446 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, between about Monday, 12 and about Thursday, 15 May 1884.
in translation:
... ask whether you won’t write to them sometime. Pa has been to Breda; Aunt Bertha was doing well and...
Ma is doing very well, in my view — yesterday she came to my new studio in her bath chair. Walking ...
451 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Wednesday, 2 July 1884.
in translation:
Ma is still not making much progress with her walking. Wil’s gone to Noordwijk, and that’s a good...
in note 10:
...ster Elisabeth had aspirations as a writer. Mrs van Gogh wrote this month about Vincent’s surly att...
in note 8:
...go to London on 4 August (see letter 452). His mother wished him bon voyage on 17 July (FR b2254). We...
in note 6:
...cm. In the same week – on 5 July 1884 – Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Vincent is still working o...
452 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 20 July 1884.
in translation:
I was delighted to learn from your letter to Pa and Ma that you plan to go to London on 4 Aug. and th...
in note 1:
Theo’s parents received his letter in Nuenen on 19 July 1884 (FR b2255 and b2254).
455 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 23 August 1884.
in note 3:
Mr van Gogh tried to reassure Theo somewhat, and wrote on 22 August: ‘You will probably also receiv...
456 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Tuesday, 16 September 1884.
in note 4:
...ived next door to the Van Goghs. Ill. 2124. Mrs van Gogh ran a sewing class at home. When she was rec...
in note 6:
Mr van Gogh did not tell Theo what he knew about the incident until 2 October 1884: ‘We have had di...
in note 3:
...pril 1881 Vincent wrote to Theo: ‘I heard from Pa that you’ve already been sending me money witho...
in note 2:
...er things going on too, emerges in a letter Mr van Gogh wrote Theo on 22 August 1884. He had a feeli...
457 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Tuesday, 16 September 1884.
in translation:
...t an attempted suicide, just stay cool. But anyway, no one will, except possibly Pa or Ma sometime.
Regards, I’m still very upset by this. You’d better not mention it to Pa and Ma.
459 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, Sunday, 21 September 1884.
in note 6:
In letter 441 Van Gogh, on behalf of his parents, had invited Van Rappard to visit Nuenen; this visit...
461 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, between about Monday, 22 and about Sunday, 28 September 1884.
in translation:
...el between you and me than one for which we ourselves are solely to blame. And the same with Pa too.
...ly — they were people, as I see it, like, say, Pa and Grandfather, old Goupil (people in short who ...
462 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, between about Wednesday, 24 and about Monday, 29 September 1884.
in translation:
A very brief line in haste. My parents asked me yesterday whether I knew anything more about your vis...
... say here that it isn’t just me but also my parents in particular who are counting on you, and it ...
The fact that my parents mentioned it was more a hint to me that certain people who would, I imagine,...
... in November, precisely with a view to not getting in anyone’s way, my parents are counting on it.
in note 1:
...got’s return home – on 11 November 1884 Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘Margot’s homecoming appr...
463 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Tuesday, 30 September 1884.
in translation:
I believe that Pa also feels something of the fact that it’s more fate than deliberate design when ...
...believed all sorts of fine and good things about Pa and Haanebeek, about Grandfather, about ‘the Gu...
464 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Thursday, 2 October 1884.
in translation:
...ed to forestall it than before. No fear that Pa and Ma will leave, for instance. Although a call cam...
in note 1:
On 2 October 1884 Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo at length about what had been going on. His account conta...
...t it was more appearances than fact. But it gave Ma and me a reason to talk to him about it. You know...
465 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Thursday, 9 October 1884.
in translation:
...or heaven’s sake, that if I haven’t paid Pa and Ma for being here at home it isn’t because I d...
Pa will not accept the call, that’s certain.
...er it very likely that now they’d want to have Pa back there again, and at least the family in Helv...
in note 16:
... 7 October 1884 in Helvoirt, the town where Mr van Gogh was the minister between 1871 and 1875. Door...
in note 15:
See for this call: letter 464. Mr van Gogh had been to talk about it the day before, 8 October (FR b2...
466 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Wednesday, 22 October 1884.
in note 2:
Van Gogh’s parents were very pleased to have Van Rappard staying with them to distract Vincent and ...
468 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Sunday, 2 November 1884.
in translation:
or if you absolutely can’t, Pa will have to try to advance it. I’ll hammer away at it until M. a...
.... If the financial aspect was a problem both for you and for Pa, then I could get it from Rappard.
in note 2:
On 5 November 1884 Mrs van Gogh wrote to Theo about Vincent’s isolated position: ‘Rappard left Sa...
469 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 14 November 1884.
in translation:
... how things stand with the call to Helvoirt that Pa received. Pa told the people in Helvoirt that he ...
And she and I actually became attached during Ma’s illness.
in note 7:
Mrs van Gogh told Theo on 11 November: ‘Margot’s homecoming is approaching’ (FR b2262), but it ...
in note 4:
...erator Willem van de Wakker. On 11 November Mr van Gogh told Theo: ‘Vincent is very hard at work a...
Mrs van Gogh had already written to him on 27 October 1884: ‘Vincent ... also goes to Eindhoven oft...
470 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Monday, 17 November 1884.
in translation:
I read your last letter to Pa and Ma yesterday evening; I thought the tone of it good and serious. Ju...
in note 5:
...ons emerges from a confidential letter from Mr van Gogh to Theo: ‘Vincent goes to Eindhoven a lot....
471 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Monday, 24 November 1884.
in translation:
I suppose you already know that Pa has turned down Helvoirt.
The people here gave Pa a present of about 200 guilders, that’s most kind and I’m pleased for the...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh had received a call to serve in Helvoirt (see letter 469). He wrote to Theo: ‘We did wr...
473 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 6 December 1884.
in translation:
...en no difference of any significance between Pa and Ma and myself, and that as regards the Begemann ...
...come to our house, which concerns not me but Pa and Ma and themselves. I have been courteous to ever...
Listen — Pa — has been very often and very seriously — mistrustful — of me. You know your sid...
...t I don’t in the least undertake to agree with Pa or you. Be aware of that — quite possibly there...
...rancs I asked for, intended as a contribution to Pa towards the cost of my keep, I must most decidedl...
... suitable moment to make a sort of contract with Pa is that under the circumstances it cannot be part...
However, if you do want to agree something with Pa to the effect you indicate in your letter, let it ...
...ing you, as agreed when we were good friends, it was accepted by us both to give 50 francs to Pa.’
...e to have anything to do with what you might want to agree with Pa about possible payment for board.
...is regard, about this 50 francs for board, I let Pa read your letter of today and this letter. I don�...
in note 8:
..., be a reference to his mental state, which Mr van Gogh described as ‘not normal’ not once but t...
474 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Wednesday, 10 December 1884.
in translation:
...r is very brief — I mean no harm to you nor to Pa nor to anyone else, but I very seriously think th...
Later on we’d clash as Pa and I have clashed with each other, and then I COULD not give in. That’...
... One is enough — the phrase is forthright and the centre of my ideas; draw your own conclusions.pa
in note 2:
Mr van Gogh also suspected that Vincent would probably do better if there were other painters around....
477 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Tuesday, 30 December 1884.
in translation:
Ma wanted to write something here, so I’ll keep it brief, because I’m sending you those pen drawi...
in note 3:
... from Mrs van Gogh, but there is one from her husband, who wrote to Theo on Tuesday, 30 December 188...
There is no known letter from Mrs van Gogh, but there is one from her husband, who wrote to Theo on T...
479 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 23 January 1885.
in note 2:
...e offered him a job at 1000 francs a month. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo about this on 24 January 1885 ...
...Do as you wish about that’ (FR b2266). Theo’s parents had obviously not stuck to this intention.
480 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Monday, 26 January 1885.
in note 6:
Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo on 24 January 1885: ‘It’s a pity that Vincent doesn’t have some fun s...
482 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Monday, 2 February 1885.
in translation:
...ing, that suspicion. I’ve a history like that behind me with Pa — I’m not starting on a Pa II.
If I’d kept on top of things with Pa from the start and not simply stayed silent, a great deal woul...
in note 4:
Later in the month Mr van Gogh expressed himself frankly to Theo about the difficult relationship wit...
486 To Theo van Gogh, c/o Messrs Goupil, 19 boulevard Montmartre, Paris. Telegram, sent from Eindhoven, Friday, 27 March 1885.
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh died of a stroke in the evening of Thursday, 26 March. The only known eyewitness account ...
487 To Theo van Gogh, c/o 19 boulevard Montmartre, Paris. Telegram, sent from Eindhoven, Friday, 27 March 1885.
in translation:
Our father fatal stroke, come, but it is over.
488 To Theo van Gogh, c/o Messrs Goupil, rue Chaptal, Paris. Telegram, sent from Eindhoven, Friday, 27 March 1885.
in translation:
our father fatal stroke. van goghfather
489 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 4 April 1885.
in note 2:
Elisabeth van Gogh later recalled: ‘When Father died and Mrs Poots wanted to see Father once again,...
in note 1:
Mr van Gogh was buried on Monday, 30 March; Theo went back to Paris on the afternoon of Wednesday, 1 ...
490 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Monday, 6 April 1885.
in translation:
...the foreground are a tobacco pouch and a pipe of Pa’s. If you think you’d like it, of course you�...
...ptional things for the people at home because of Pa’s death, I’ve come up with the following idea...
...e you faith’ is also the case between Her Hon. and me — just as it was and remained with Pa too.
Ma looks well, and writing many letters provides some distraction for the time being. But, of course,...
...vantage for me to leave, particularly in view of Ma’s intention to take in a lodger this summer, if...
It’s likely that Ma, Wil and Cor will go to Leiden next year. Then I’ll be the only one of us who...
...� but only, it’s a shame that they think to do Ma a service with something like that — that’s a...
in note 10:
This plan did not go ahead: Mrs van Gogh did not go to live in Leiden until 1889; she left Nuenen on ...
in note 14:
...ettling affairs’ Vincent means winding up Mr van Gogh’s estate. A minister’s widow was entitle...
in note 13:
On the day of Mr van Gogh’s death Theo had withdrawn 1000 francs from his current account (FR b2123...
in note 8:
...Stricker of his intention not to live with his mother any longer, but to settle by himself in the vil...
in note 9:
...ays follow him and often misunderstood him. My father was a stickler for the proper form, and he [Vin...
...death Anna thought it would be more peaceful for Ma if he were not to live at home any longer and con...
493 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Monday, 13 April 1885.
in translation:
...� although, of course, things are all right with Ma and the sisters — nevertheless I see and feel i...
in note 5:
This relates to the settlement of Mr van Gogh’s estate (see letter 490).
494 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 18 April 1885.
in translation:
...t the letter doesn’t become too bulky, because Ma’s also going to write. More later, and thanks f...
in note 9:
This letter from Mrs van Gogh is not known.
503 Anthon van Rappard to Vincent van Gogh. Utrecht, Sunday 24 May 1885.
in translation:
The news of the death of your father came so unexpectedly that I very much wanted some further messag...
...ou think that I had so little interest in your father or in the events in your family that a common p...
in note 1:
...sing of her ‘dearly beloved Husband’ Theodorus van Gogh on 26 March. See Het Nieuws van den Dag, ...
On Tuesday, 31 March 1885, Mrs van Gogh put a death notice in the paper, announcing the passing of he...
505 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Thursday, 28 May 1885.
in note 5:
...t it. On 19 May 1885 he did, however, tell his mother: ‘So Vincent has moved, it will be strange fo...
506 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Tuesday, 2 June 1885.
in note 23:
See for Willemien’s exemplary care of her mother: letter 432.
in translation:
...’t stand with good reasons, I believe, I think Pa’s death and the settlement of the estate is a p...
...e stuck to what I said straightaway at the time. Ma appeared to want it in her name, but I can’t do...
in note 32:
...arbentus had been to see Theo. He wrote to his mother: ‘As always, Aunt was very kind to me, she in...
508 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, Monday, 15 June 1885.
in note 7:
...n undated letter (of about 1 June 1885) to his mother: ‘I do so hope that Vincent will settle down ...
514 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, on or about Monday, 13 July 1885.
in translation:
...ly cannot claim that on an occasion such as my father’s death we were obliged to send something oth...
...home for years. In the first few days after my father died, I had to correspond with the immediate fa...
...ession of sympathy in a letter addressed to my mother — but such a one that when it arrived there w...
516 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, on or about Wednesday, 15 July 1885.
in translation:
My parents, teachers, Messrs Goupil & Co., besides all sorts of friends and acquaintances, have said ...
517 To Anthon van Rappard. Nuenen, on or about Thursday, 16 July 1885.
in translation:
... didn’t want to hear a word about it — my parents and the whole family, Tersteeg and with him ma...
523 To Hendrik Jan Furnée. Nuenen, Wednesday, 5 August 1885.
in translation:
I wrote to you how, after my father’s death, I came to live alone here, and asked you to wait, that...
...ether, and I can only count on my own work. My father’s death and my desire to stand entirely on my...
Firstly my father was not rich, and secondly none of the children has claimed his share.
525 To Cornelis Marinus van Gogh. Nuenen, Thursday, 6 or Friday, 7 August 1885.
in note 2:
... met at the end of March, in the days after Mr van Gogh’s death, at which time Uncle Cor had visit...
531 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Wednesday, 2 September 1885.
in note 3:
...ember 1885 Theo wrote about this matter to his mother: ‘What bad luck for Vincent, he wrote to me a...
540 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Wednesday, 11 November 1885.
in translation:
...� that death could also come to her unexpectedly and gently, much as with Pa and for similar reason.
...ell. But were it to be the same sort of death as Pa’s, that’s to say, sudden, it’s something th...
...before that time — something were to happen to Ma? This thought sometimes occurs to me when I go th...
...e to her about it that she’d also noticed that Ma had changed rather a lot and that she too was anx...
Otherwise, one would say, Ma looks very well. But there’s a certain something that makes me think o...
...an extent that I’m telling you about it. Since Ma still goes to see Van de Loo from time to time, h...
...s return of serenity from time to time, and that Ma looks well, considering. Rather too well, even, s...
in note 2:
Mrs van Gogh wanted to go via Leiden (where her daughter Anna lived), to Amsterdam, where she and her...
in note 1:
...o go on living in the parsonage for a year. Mr van Gogh died in March 1885 so plans were made to mov...
541 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Saturday, 14 November 1885.
in translation:
... for my part I believe that Van de Loo has given Ma all, absolutely all the advice there was to give,...
... Wil. I’ll suggest she goes to Van de Loo with Ma before the trip; that would go without saying for...
in note 8:
... have been a letter in which Theo had asked about Mrs van Gogh’s health in response to letter 540.
542 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Tuesday, 17 November 1885.
in translation:
I’ll tell you in a few words what Van de Loo said about Ma. He says
...elieve what he says, and with the good care that Ma gets thanks to Wil there’s little chance of ‘...
...to me. Write soon if you have time. I wanted to tell you Van de Loo’s opinion of Ma straightaway.
543 To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Friday, 20 November 1885.
in note 6:
... p. 408. Van Gogh read this periodical in his parents’ house (FR b2268). The poem was collected in...
548 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, on or about Thursday, 17 December 1885.
in translation:
... memories like, for instance, that until the end Pa also spoke and acted towards me, yes, like the pr...
...charming to me. As I’ve received a letter from Ma, who asks me to write and said she’d asked you ...
Tell Ma this if you like, for I don’t wish to be harsh to her, but I don’t intend to start writin...
in note 8:
Mrs van Gogh and her daughter Willemien were evidently staying in Leiderdorp with Anna and Joan van H...
in note 9:
... the frictions surrounding Van Gogh’s departure from his parents’ house letter 490, nn. 8 and 9.
551 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, on or about Saturday, 2 January 1886.
in translation:
...f character as he appeared and as I thought he was in my young days, and even later still. Anyway.Pa
in note 7:
On 12 January 1886 Theo wrote to his mother: ‘I’ve had a couple of letters from Vincent. He’s w...
552 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, between Tuesday, 12 and Saturday, 16 January 1886.
in translation:
...hat this isn’t a misunderstanding like the one Pa himself laboured under? At any rate I won’t put...
556 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, on or about Friday, 29 January 1886.
in note 3:
...original idea was that Van Gogh would help his mother with her preparations for the move from Nuenen ...
557 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, on or about Tuesday, 2 February 1886.
in note 8:
Mrs van Gogh was getting ready for her move from Nuenen to Breda; she was registered at Nieuwe Ginnek...
558 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, on or about Thursday, 4 February 1886.
in translation:
...al. For good reasons, I don’t want you to tell Ma that I’m not well — because she might possibl...
in note 7:
Adriaan Rijken, about whom Mr van Gogh had written to Theo on 30 December 1884: ‘Rijken is still ou...
559 To Theo van Gogh. Antwerp, on or about Saturday, 6 February 1886.
in translation:
I’ve had a note from Ma, who writes that they’re going to start packing in March.
569 To Horace Mann Livens, Paris, September or October 1886.
in note 10:
...1887 is confirmed by a letter from Theo to his mother written on 28 February 1887: ‘Things are goin...
in note 4:
...See also letter 568, n. 9. Theo wrote to their mother about these flower still lifes in June-July 188...
571 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, between about Sunday, 17 and Tuesday, 19 July 1887.
in translation:
... you’ll enjoy your visit over there, give my mother, Cor and Wil my warm regards. And if you can se...
572 To Theo van Gogh. Paris, between about Saturday, 23 and about Monday, 25 July 1887.
in translation:
...hings would work out well. It would please our mother greatly if your marriage came off, and for your...
573 To Johannes van Hombergh, Mayor of Nuenen. Paris, Thursday, 1 September 1887.
in translation:
Would you be so kind as to send this paper to my mother’s address:
in note 4:
Mrs van Gogh lived at no. 649bis Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat in Breda (district B).
574 To Willemien van Gogh. Paris, late October 1887.
in translation:
...n I make a painting, and without that I’d be unhappier than I am. Give Ma my very warmest regards.
in note 14:
...o Margot Begemann, who lived next door to his parents in Nuenen – with dramatic consequences; see ...
579 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, on or about Friday, 24 February 1888.
in translation:
Give Ma my warmest regards; for the time being there will certainly not be any chance of my coming ba...
590 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, on or about Friday, 30 March 1888.
in translation:
... I’m writing immediately upon receipt of your letter and Ma’s and the good wishes from you both.
...��ll be able to write any more to add to it. Best wishes to you and Ma, and thanks for your letters.
in note 1:
Willemien and Mrs van Gogh wrote to Vincent on the occasion of his thirty-fifth birthday on 30 March....
592 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, on or about Tuesday, 3 April 1888.
in translation:
...ing of Mauve, J.H. Weissenbruch, Tersteeg, our mother and Wil, in the past few days, I’ve felt more...
600 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, on or about Friday, 20 April 1888.
in note 12:
...ill or had some other problem. On 18 March his mother had told Theo that she had received good report...
in note 4:
...heo combined his business trip to Brussels with a visit to his mother and sister Willemien in Breda.
602 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 1 May 1888.
in note 23:
Their mother and their sister Willemien lived in Breda.
in translation:
I’m very pleased that you found our mother and sister well.
625 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, on or about Friday, 15 and Saturday, 16 June 1888.
in note 24:
Willemien and Mrs van Gogh had written: see letter 626.
626 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, between Saturday, 16 and Wednesday, 20 June 1888.
in note 20:
Mrs van Gogh and Willemien moved from Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat to Nieuwe Haagdijk in Breda in April 1888...
in translation:
...e eternal. It’s a very good thing that you and Ma have acquired a garden, with cats, tomcats, sparr...
...ing in this letter and can’t understand how I managed to make it so long. Thank Ma for her letter.
Embracing you and Ma in thought.
644 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, between Tuesday, 17 and Friday, 20 July 1888.
in translation:
...ife, and doesn’t add to the joy of living. Our mother in Breda, she must be getting on a bit, too.
652 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 31 July 1888.
in translation:
If you go to Holland, my warm regards to our mother and sister. Handshake.
653 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 31 July 1888.
in translation:
...must end now. Uncle’s death is a big event for Ma and you, and above all for Aunt. The impression o...
How’s Ma doing at present?
656 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Monday, 6 August 1888.
in translation:
It’s rather odd that our uncle, like our father, believed in the future life. Not to mention our fa...
...id well to go to our uncle’s funeral, as our mother seemed to expect you. The best way of dying oth...
...ll the good, narrow-minded old ladies like our mother as well. Ah — that’s serious, that is. We c...
657 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Wednesday, 8 August 1888.
in translation:
...peasant who had an enormous resemblance to our father in his features. Only he was more common, and v...
674 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 4 September 1888.
in translation:
...e to say to Boch that if she wants to study in Breda, she can stay with our mother and our sister.
677 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Sunday, 9 September 1888.
in translation:
...I write, the little peasant who looks like a caricature of our father is just coming into the café.
678 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, Sunday, 9 and about Friday, 14 September 1888.
in translation:
...ll be very happy to have the photograph of our mother that you mention, so don’t forget to send it ...
I kiss you affectionately, and Mother too.
in note 16:
Mrs van Gogh – who was now 69 – had given Willemien the photograph to take to Paris (FR b2421). I...
685 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Friday, 21 September 1888.
in note 8:
See letter 678, n. 16, for this photograph of Mrs van Gogh.
699 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Monday, 8 October 1888.
in translation:
That’s to say, I’m doing a portrait of our mother for myself. I can’t look at the colourless ph...
700 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 9 or Wednesday, 10 October 1888.
in translation:
I’m writing home to have our father’s portrait too. Myself, I don’t want black photographs, and...
...rom anyone. I’m working on a portrait of our mother because the black photograph was making me too ...
713 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Saturday, 27 October 1888.
in translation:
...away. You’ll find enclosed a letter from our mother, which she asks me to pass on to you. Tasset wi...
in note 5:
Mrs van Gogh had sent Theo this letter for Vincent, which has not survived, on 25 October (FR b2423)....
720 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, on or about Monday, 12 November 1888.
in translation:
...ve already replied to you that I didn’t like Mother’s portrait enormously. I’ve now just painte...
...e that these two women walking are you and our mother. Let’s even suppose then that there may be no...
Give Mother my warm regards, and write without fail and by return with Mrs Mauve’s address. I kiss ...
in note 4:
Regarding this photograph of Mrs van Gogh, see letter 678, n. 16. There is no surviving letter to Wil...
728 Vincent van Gogh and Félix Rey to Theo van Gogh. Arles, Wednesday, 2 January 1889.
in note 1:
... the thought of it breaks my heart ... My dear Mother knows no more than that he is ill and that his ...
729 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Friday, 4 January 1889.
in translation:
Also write a line to Mother on my behalf, so that no one will be worried.
in note 5:
Theo must have informed their mother straightaway of Vincent’s condition, because she already answe...
732 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Monday, 7 January 1889.
in translation:
...s unwittingly, caused a delay. I’ll write to Mother and Wil one of these days, I must also write to...
I’ve written a line to Mother and to Wil, which I addressed to our sister with the sole aim of reas...
in note 11:
...n in detail about Vincent’s condition to his mother and Willemien; their letters to Theo of 29 and ...
733 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus and Willemien van Gogh. Arles, Monday, 7 January 1889.
in translation:
Dearest mother and sister,
735 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Wednesday, 9 January 1889.
in translation:
...d you pass through Breda, I’m naturally inclined to think so. Above all, reassure Mother about me.
in note 16:
Mrs van Gogh and Willemien lived in Breda.
738 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Saturday, 19 January 1889.
in translation:
... position and to the one you have in the family to marry, and it has been Mother’s wish for years.
740 To Arnold Koning. Arles, on or about Tuesday, 22 January 1889.
in note 2:
In 1880 Mr van Gogh was planning to have his son committed to the Belgian lunatic asylum of Geel. See...
741 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 22 January 1889.
in translation:
Whatever I think on a few other points, our father and our mother have been exemplary as married peop...
...�ll never forget Mother on the occasion of our father’s death, when she said only one small word, w...
... isn’t delayed. By marrying you’re putting Mother’s mind at rest and making her happy, and anyw...
...ever I think on a few other points, our father and our mother have been exemplary as married people.
And I’ll never forget Mother on the occasion of our father’s death, when she said only one small ...
... days; to remember all this there’s now only Mother and me. I shan’t go on since it’s better th...
745 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Sunday, 3 February 1889.
in note 6:
... wrote about it to Theo on 28 December, and Mrs van Gogh was informed as well, as is apparent from he...
747 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Monday, 18 February 1889.
in translation:
Mother and our sister also wrote to me, the latter was very upset about the sick woman she was caring...
in note 9:
Jo stayed from 21 February to 7 March with Mrs van Gogh and Willemien in Breda. See Brief happiness 1...
749 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Saturday, 16 March 1889.
in note 1:
...him than that which you have probably heard from Ma’ (FR b920). Cf. also letter 490, n. 14 and lett...
750 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Tuesday, 19 March 1889.
in translation:
How are Mother and our sister? Having nothing else to distract me – I’m even forbidden to smoke �...
...st. I shake your hand most cordially in thought, regards to your fiancée, to Mother and our sister.
751 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Friday, 22 March 1889.
in translation:
... hand heartily in thought, tell your fiancée, Mother and our sister not to worry about me, and to be...
752 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Sunday, 24 March 1889.
in translation:
...e, after asking you to give my warm regards to Mother, Sister and your fiancée, your brother who lov...
753 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Friday, 29 March 1889.
in translation:
... this letter to leave today I must end it. Handshake, bon voyage, kind regards to Mother and Sister.
759 Hendrik Christiaan Bonger, Hermine Louise Bonger-Weissman and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus to Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam/Breda/Paris, Thursday, 18 April 1889. Printed announcement of marriage.
in translation:
Mrs T. van Gogh-Carbentus has the honour to announce the marriage of her son, Mr Theodore van Gogh, t...
760 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Sunday, 21 April 1889.
in translation:
...py to have a little news of what you say about Mother and Sister and whether they’re well, tell the...
in note 5:
...of May 1889, Theo wrote the following to their mother: ‘Various letters from Vincent report that he...
761 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, on or about Wednesday, 24 April 1889.
in translation:
How are things at home? I imagine Mother must have been pleased.
762 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 24 April 1889.
in translation:
...t we feel happier than I can tell you. We left Mother and the sisters in perfect health. Ma seems t...
in note 4:
On 31 March Mrs van Gogh and Willemien had travelled with Theo from Breda to Amsterdam (FR b2432), wh...
763 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Sunday, 28 April 1889.
in translation:
...at gave me great pleasure is that you say that Mother looks as if she’s getting younger. In a littl...
764 To Willemien van Gogh. Arles, between about Sunday, 28 April and Thursday, 2 May 1889.
in translation:
Mother must be pleased with Theo’s marriage, and he writes to me that she looks as if she’s getti...
768 To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Friday, 3 May 1889.
in translation:
...id it with zeal and devotion, because then our father rather had his back to the wall with the big fa...
771 Jo van Gogh-Bonger to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 8 May 1889.
in note 10:
Mrs van Gogh and Willemien lived in Breda; Jo’s parents lived in Amsterdam.
780 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Sunday, 16 June 1889.
in translation:
I hope that you’re well, and Mother too, I think of you two very often, I was scarcely able to fore...
...k a little more, so as I finish I wish you and Mother all good fortune and health. I kiss you affecti...
in note 6:
...une 1889, Jo van Gogh-Bonger had written to Mrs van Gogh: ‘Theo has gone, because I so desired it, ...
784 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 2 July 1889.
in translation:
Enclosed I’m sending you a letter from Mother, naturally you know all the news it contains. I think...
...way, once again I haven’t seen a letter from Mother indicating so much inner serenity and calm cont...
What also has life is the fact that Mother is happy that you’re married, and I think that this cann...
in note 1:
Vincent’s reply to his mother’s letter is letter 788. Mrs van Gogh had addressed her letter ‘to...
786 Jo van Gogh-Bonger to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 5 July 1889.
in note 2:
Jo’s parents lived in Amsterdam; Mrs van Gogh and Willemien lived in Breda.
787 To Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 6 July 1889.
in translation:
...r heart a little on him being called after our father, I for one would find that more logical in the ...
...refer to wait until I’m no longer here. Then Mother would certainly set her heart a little on him b...
788 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, between about Monday, 8 July and about Friday, 12 July 1889.
in translation:
Dear Mother,
Now, my dear mother, as regards the sorrow that we have and retain about parting and loss, it seems t...
... to the Paris business, and in your capacity of Mother approaching 70 you may assert that sometimes.
in note 1:
On Tuesday, 16 July 1889, Mrs van Gogh wrote the following to Theo and Jo about the present letter: �...
792 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Tuesday, 16 July 1889.
in note 21:
...d this about the letter he received from their mother, who was nearly 70; Vincent had forwarded this ...
in translation:
...her and mother are going to come here next week. Ma is also very pleased. It’s very true what you ...
795 Jo van Gogh-Bonger to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 16 August 1889.
in translation:
...how often you are thought about and spoken of. Ma wrote, too, that she was longing for another lett...
797 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Thursday, 22 August 1889.
in translation:
Mother and Wil have also written me a very nice letter.
798 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Monday, 2 September 1889.
in translation:
I must write to Mother and to Wil in the next few days. Wil asked to be sent a painting, and I’d ve...
What do you say about Mother going to live in Leiden? I think she’s right in this sense, that I can...
in note 11:
Mrs van Gogh and Willemien moved on 2 November 1889 from Breda to Herengracht 100 in Leiden. Van Gogh...
in note 10:
Van Gogh intended seven canvases for his mother and Willemien; see letter 803, n. 4. Lies van Gogh ha...
799 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Thursday, 5 September 1889.
in translation:
.... One of her sisters is with us at the moment. Mother has had a letter from Cor, he’s already far a...
800 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Thursday, 5 and Friday, 6 September 1889.
in note 29:
Mrs van Gogh celebrated her 70th birthday on 10 September. At the end of September, Van Gogh painted ...
in translation:
...ally want to redo the reaper one more time for Mother, if not I’ll make her another painting for he...
For I’m sure that Mother would understand it – for it’s indeed as simple as one of those coarse...
...o go and make a few paintings for Holland, for Mother and the two sisters that will make three, i.e. ...
in note 31:
Regarding the paintings Van Gogh made for his mother and Willemien, see letter 803, n. 4. Lies must ...
801 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 10 September 1889.
in note 29:
Mrs van Gogh celebrated her 70th birthday on 10 September.
in translation:
...ll have to congratulate you on the occasion of Mother’s birthday, I wrote to them yesterday but the...
803 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Thursday, 19 September 1889.
in translation:
Dear Mother,
in note 4:
...r, Van Gogh had finished five canvases for his mother and Willemien: Wheatfield and cypresses (F 743 ...
in note 3:
Willemien had been staying in Middelharnis, and Mrs van Gogh in Princenhage (FR b2902, b2931).
in note 2:
Van Gogh had started a letter to his mother on 9 September; see letter 801.
in note 1:
Mrs van Gogh celebrated her 70th birthday on 10 September.
804 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Thursday, 19 September 1889.
in note 21:
The consignment of paintings intended for his mother and Willemien, which Vincent sent to Theo in Dec...
in translation:
...ince my last letter – to write to you and to Mother. So I thank you for having again written me suc...
As I write to Mother I’ll send her a painting in let’s say around a month, and there’ll be one ...
...know yet which canvases I’ll send to you and Mother, probably a wheatfield and an olive grove with ...
in note 4:
The letter to Mrs van Gogh is letter 803.
in note 3:
Willemien had been staying in Middelharnis, and Mrs van Gogh in Princenhage (FR b2902, b2931).
805 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Friday, 20 September 1889.
in translation:
Mother and Wil, each for their part after Cor’s departure, have changed surroundings – they were ...
in note 3:
Willemien had been staying in Middelharnis, and Mrs van Gogh in Princenhage (FR b2902, b2931).
806 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 28 September 1889.
in translation:
...es with the 4 or 5 studies I wanted to give to Mother and our sister. These studies are drying at the...
in note 16:
...it in The bedroom (F 483 / JH 1793), the painting intended for his mother and Willemien (see n. 15).
807 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 4 October 1889.
in translation:
We have good news of Mother and of Wil. Jo is well too, and sends warm regards. Good handshake.
810 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Tuesday, 8 October 1889.
in translation:
...ays in danger makes haste in what he does. Our mother and sister will be making their preparations to...
811 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Monday, 21 October 1889.
in translation:
Dear Mother,
in note 8:
Aunt Mina (Willemina), a sister of Mrs van Gogh and the widow of the Rev. J.P. Stricker, lived in Ams...
812 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Monday, 21 October 1889.
in translation:
...yself to continuing to send studies to you and Mother, I’d also have a desire that’s almost a nee...
813 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Tuesday, 22 October 1889.
in translation:
...at doesn’t cause her too much inconvenience. Mother sent us a letter from Cor. He has arrived in Jo...
815 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Friday, 25 October 1889.
in translation:
Mother wrote to me too with news of Cor.
in note 3:
... mentioned the article in a letter sent to his mother and sister in Breda, and Willemien attempted to...
816 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Sunday, 3 November 1889.
in note 10:
Van Gogh had promised his mother and Willemien seven paintings; see letter 811.
823 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 26 November 1889.
in translation:
Mother must have been in Leiden for a good fortnight by now.
in note 9:
Vincent had seven canvases which he intended his mother and Willemien to have; see letter 811.
824 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 7 December 1889.
in translation:
...you’ll find the following, which are for our mother and sister. Olive trees – Bedroom – Reaper ...
in note 8:
...the canvas ever came into the possession of Mrs van Gogh and Willemien; Jo sold it to Cassirer in 191...
in note 6:
...43 / JH 1790). It is not known if the canvas came into the possession of Mrs van Gogh and Willemien.
in note 4:
...n if the canvas came into the possession of Mrs van Gogh and Willemien; Jo sold it to Cassirer in 190...
826 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Monday, 9 or Tuesday, 10 December 1889.
in translation:
Dear Mother,
in note 3:
Mrs van Gogh knew of the exhibition because Theo had written to Willemien about it. See letter 827, n...
in note 2:
Mrs van Gogh described her new apartment to Theo and Jo as follows: ‘Wil actually has a nice little...
827 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Monday, 9 or Tuesday, 10 December 1889.
in translation:
...aris, we may meet. The description of your and Mother’s new dwelling interests me a great deal, and...
in note 13:
...r the first version. He made the third for his mother and Willemien (see letter 829). The chronologic...
in note 11:
...mber Vincent had sent Theo seven paintings intended for Mrs van Gogh and Willemien (see letter 824).
in note 2:
Herengracht in Leiden, where Mrs van Gogh and Willemien lived at number 100. On the same (west) side ...
829 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Thursday, 19 December 1889.
in translation:
...yself by redoing the olive trees again for our mother and sister. And if I could one day prove that I...
in note 12:
The version intended for Mrs van Gogh and Willemien was Women picking olives (F 655 / JH 1869). See l...
in note 4:
...ition – Women picking olives (F 655 / JH 1869) – for his mother and Willemien (see n. 12 below).
831 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Monday, 23 December 1889.
in translation:
...an think so much of you and of the past. You and Pa have been so much, so very much to me, possibly m...
Dear Mother,
in note 5:
...ember Vincent had sent Theo seven paintings intended for Mrs van Gogh and Willemien. See letter 824.
832 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Monday, 23 December 1889.
in translation:
...you’ll quite like the canvas I’m doing for Mother and you at the moment. It’s a repetition of a...
...ur old Dutch paintings we find it sometimes. When I think of Mother she too appears like that to me.
833 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 31 December 1889 or Wednesday, 1 January 1890.
in translation:
I’ve just received a letter from Mother, and from Wil too.
834 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Friday, 3 January 1890.
in translation:
...lives – I’d intended this painting for our mother and sister so that they might have something a ...
in note 7:
The painting for Mrs van Gogh and Willemien was Women picking olives (F 655 / JH 1869). See letter 82...
835 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 3 January 1890.
in translation:
...d brings good news from home, your letter gave Mother great pleasure. I have no news of Gauguin. He�...
837 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 4 January 1890.
in translation:
... women picking olives I designated for you and Mother. You’ll see, I think, that in a white frame i...
841 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Monday, 20 January 1890.
in translation:
...e of these days I also hope to write a line to Mother, we all owe a great deal to you, to you who car...
843 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 22 January 1890.
in note 4:
Jo wrote to her mother about Lauzet’s visits: ‘Vincent is also better and has sent such beautiful...
in note 8:
In 1880 Mr van Gogh had wanted to have Vincent committed to a lunatic asylum in Geel. See letter 185,...
846 To Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Friday, 31 January 1890.
in translation:
And Ma in Leiden will rejoice in it more than anyone else, because she’s longed for so long, I beli...
850 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 1 February 1890.
in note 23:
Mrs van Gogh had gone to Amsterdam to visit Aunt Mina, her sister-in-law, who was ill (see letter 855...
in translation:
...hen don’t you call him Theo in memory of our father, that would certainly give me so much pleasure....
...ld express in words. Bravo – and how pleased Mother is going to be. I also received a quite long an...
...I remain with you all as I finish my letter. May Jo long remain for us all that she is. Now as for th...
... back until a few days from now, tell her that Mother has written me another long letter from Amsterd...
in note 2:
Theo had also sent his mother a copy of Aurier’s article on Vincent, mentioned later on in the lett...
855 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Wednesday, 19 February 1890.
in translation:
...��d much rather that he’d called his boy after Pa, whom I’ve thought about so often these days, t...
Dear Mother,
in note 3:
...��Les isolés: Vincent van Gogh’, and for Mrs van Gogh’s reaction to the article, see letter 845,...
in note 2:
...�s health complaints, see letter 811, n. 8. Mrs van Gogh had visited her in Amsterdam (cf. letter 850...
856 To Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Wednesday, 19 February 1890.
in translation:
...he child’s here – and as I wrote to his grandmother, I’ve started painting for him these last ...
I hope to write to you again soon – look after yourself, and Mother too.
in note 13:
Vincent had already sent Theo seven studies intended for their mother and Willemien. See letter 824.
in note 10:
... of the paintings exhibited, which he wrote about in the enclosed letter to his mother (letter 855).
862 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Wednesday, 23 April 1890.
in note 2:
...15 April Theo had written the following to his mother and his sister Willemien: ‘It is now more tha...
863 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 29 April 1890.
in note 5:
...h of them. The third version, intended for his mother and Willemien, had already been sent to Theo (s...
864 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus and Willemien van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 29 April 1890.
in translation:
Dear mother and sister,
in note 6:
In 1889 Mrs van Gogh and Willemien had moved from Breda to Leiden, but the boxes with Vincent’s thi...
in note 1:
Mrs van Gogh and Willemien had sent Vincent a package for his birthday. On 23 March Mrs van Gogh wrot...
865 To Theo van Gogh. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on or about Thursday, 1 May 1890.
in translation:
Fortunately the letters from our sister and mother were very calm. Our sister writes very well, and d...
867 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Saturday, 3 May 1890.
in note 1:
Theo also wrote on 3 May to his mother, saying how happy he was to receive Vincent’s letters: ‘It...
RM20 To Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, Saturday, 24 May 1890.
in translation:
... it has never done any good. Well yes, it does Mother good, if you like, as she’ll love to see the ...
875 To Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, Sunday, 25 May 1890.
in translation:
...journey to Holland. Yes, I’m well aware that Mother will absolutely want to see the little one, and...
876 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Monday, 2 June 1890.
in translation:
...yside would do me good. But we must also see Mother and Jo’s parents. If I can have around 3 week...
878 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Auvers-sur-Oise, Thursday, 5 June 1890.
in translation:
Dear Mother,
in note 2:
Willemien, who lived with her mother at Herengracht 100 in Leiden, was registered from 4 May to 16 Ju...
in note 1:
Mrs van Gogh had lived in Nuenen from June 1882 to March 1886.
885 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. Auvers, Friday, 13 June 1890.
in translation:
Dear Mother,
886 To Willemien van Gogh. Auvers, Friday, 13 June 1890.
in translation:
I’m adding a few words for you to Mother’s letter. Last Sunday I had a visit from Theo and his fa...
887 To Theo van Gogh. Auvers-sur-Oise, Saturday, 14 June 1890.
in translation:
...I have nothing else to say, a letter came from Mother who had been at Nuenen and was very much longin...
894 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Monday, 30 June and Tuesday, 1 July 1890.
in translation:
...ar off but which were passed on by our beloved father and mother, they will perhaps grow so that I ...
...his conclusion, that it’s my duty, and that if Ma or Jo or you or I tighten our belts a little, it ...
...ich were passed on by our beloved father and mother, they will perhaps grow so that I may become at...
898 To Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, on or about Thursday, 10 July 1890.
in translation:
...ood heart and relative prosperity, please tell Mother and Sister sometime that I think of them very o...
899 To Anna van Gogh-Carbentus and Willemien van Gogh. Auvers-sur-Oise, between about Thursday, 10 and Monday, 14 July 1890.
in translation:
Dear mother and sister,
901 Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Tuesday, 22 July 1890.
in translation:
...ild to Leiden and stayed there until Thursday. Mother has indeed aged a little, but she was so please...
in note 5:
..., Valadon & Cie. On 22 July, Theo informed his mother and Willemien about his interview with his empl...
RM25 To Theo van Gogh. Auvers-sur-Oise, Wednesday, 23 July 1890.
in note 1:
...heo had written about his talk with them to Mrs van Gogh and Willemien, but not to Vincent; see lette...

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13 essay items found

Correspondents / Family members
in correspondents_2:
Van Gogh became estranged from his parents and Theo when he was living in the Borinage (December 1878...
...etters that Van Gogh must have written to his parents have survived: six from 1876-1883 (five to his...
For the parents’ letters see ‘Letters within the Van Gogh family’ in Biographical and historica...
...s early letters are full of veneration for his father, the Reverend Van Gogh, in whose footsteps he w...
...ver and is very annoyed at the preparations. For Pa and Ma’s sake I hope so much that this thing in...
..., although in 1885, after a quarrel over their father’s will, he wanted nothing to do with her eith...
...s in 1881, but when this uncle, like the Reverend Van Gogh, Tersteeg and Mauve, condemned his cohabi...
... 1876-1883 (five to his parents and one to his mother and Theo) and eleven from 1889-1890 (eight to h...
...death Anna thought it would be more peaceful for Ma if he were not to live at home any longer and con...
...ence with Willemien, who was living with their mother, when he was in Paris, and towards the end of h...
...nt regularly asked after him in letters to his mother and Theo, and he sent him ‘an extremely warm-...
... is very annoyed at the preparations. For Pa and Ma’s sake I hope so much that this thing in Belgiu...
...th how much warmth I wrote to you about Wil when Ma was ill. Well now, it’s been such a short burst...
Correspondents / Preservation of the letters
in correspondents_4:
...he family and Vincent. In 1880, after all, his father wanted to have him committed to the mental asyl...
...For example, the letters he received from his parents before 1877 suddenly came to light when they w...
...f the events in letter 456 to Theo). The Reverend Van Gogh informed Theo shortly afterwards: ‘It�...
Letter from the Reverend Van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 2 October 1884 (FR b2257).
...re preserved while those from Willemien and Mrs Van Gogh are missing, but one possible explanation is...
Biographical & historical context / The financial backgrounds
in context_3:
...own living, with sporadic assistance from his parents, from 1869, when he went to work at Goupil’s...
1880: 220 francs (170 from his father and 50 from Theo)
... to help pay for Willemien’s education. His parents were very pleased with this gesture: ‘That y...
... that I’m writing to you.’Letter 155. His parents also contributed to his upkeep on more than on...
... parcel of clothes and 60 francs.FR b2494. His father paid him 60 Belgian francs a month when he went...
... branch on the boulevard Montmartre. The Reverend Van Gogh was delighted, partly because Theo could ...
Biographical & historical context / The immediate family circle
in context_4:
... – not only to Theo and Jo, but also to his parents and to Willemien, the sister to whom he was cl...
Theodorus van Gogh, Vincent’s father (1822–1885) went to the Latin School in Breda. Despite poor ...
The parsonages occupied by the Reverend Van Gogh, who attached great importance to ethical behaviour ...
... Cornelie’ (1829-1913), a sister of Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, moved to a mansion in Princenhage, ne...
...Reformed Church. On 21 May 1851 he married Anna Carbentus (1819–1907), daughter of the Hague bookbi...
...ten (1875–1882) and Nuenen (1882–1885). Mrs van Gogh visited the sick of the parish, and ran a se...
...Aunt Mina’ (1816–1904), sister of Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, married Johannes Paulus Stricker, ‘...
Publication history / The first standard editions
in publications_3:
... few family letters, such as letter 98 to his parents and letter 788 to his mother. At last she had ...
...letter 98 to his parents and letter 788 to his mother. At last she had rid herself of the huge burden...
...ght be better not to go ahead with it while Mrs van Gogh was still alive: She wrote to Jo van Gogh-Bo...
Publication history / The first collected edition of 1952-1954 and thereafter
in publications_5:
...nt in the correspondence between Theo and his parents.We refer here only to Hulsker 1972, Hulsker 19...
...e precise to Willemien, or to Willemien and Mrs van Gogh together, to Mrs van Gogh alone, to Eugène ...
About this edition / The reading texts
in about_3:
The Van Gogh family, including the parents, were rather cavalier in their use of apostrophes. Both Th...
About this edition / The transcriptions
in about_2:
...he content of a telegram Van Gogh sent to his parents (letter 75) because his father copied it out i...
...gh sent to his parents (letter 75) because his father copied it out in a letter he wrote (the text is...
Van Gogh as a letter-writer / The letters: from conventional to personal
in letter_writer_2:
...part of the bourgeois ideal imparted by their parents that was meant to gain them access to higher c...
...rs, what living conditions were like with his parents in Etten and Nuenen, what he did with his pers...
Van Gogh as a letter-writer / Strategies and rhetoric
in letter_writer_4:
...literary is found in his first letter from Ramsgate, which was addressed to his parents (letter 76).
...). One famous anecdote of his relates to his parents taking him back into their home but treating h...
One of the few surviving letters to his mother also demonstrates this trick of adopting another frame...
Van Gogh as a letter-writer / Manuscripts
in letter_writer_5:
...ed folded sheets as well, as did Van Gogh’s parents and Gauguin. Notepaper for letters could be bo...
...ter 806 he wrote ‘Voir ce qu’il destine à Maman’ (‘See what he intends to give Mother’).T...
This is a reference to works that Van Gogh wanted to give his mother.
...espect for his recipient, is his letter to his mother of July 1889 (788). He opted for a neat and alm...
Biographical & historical context / The family and children of the Reverend and Mrs Van Gogh
in context_1:
...entury letter-writing culture, and about the financial positions of Theo, Vincent and their parents.
...ok up his living in 1822, his seventh child, Theodorus, was nine months old, and four more children ...
Theodorus and his brother Vincent (Uncle Cent) were particularly close, and this bond was strengthene...
... a member of the wealthy middle class, while Theodorus belonged to the lower middle class.Uncle Cent...
...rdener as well as a kitchen-maid (FR b2924); Theodorus and Anna had a maidservant and someone who ca...
...ent was is revealed in a letter from the Reverend Van Gogh to Theo of 1874: ‘I also believe that w...
...e Cent’s influence continued unabated, and Theodorus consulted his brother in Princenhage his whol...
... love of one’s fellow-man. Mietje, the Reverend Van Gogh’s youngest sister, observed, undoubtedl...
The family of Theodorus van Gogh (1822-1885) and Anna Carbentus (1819-1907) was an ordinary nineteent...
Theodorus went to the Latin School in Breda. Despite poor health, he succeeded in studying theology i...
The modest livings occupied by the Reverend Van Gogh, who attached great importance to ethical behavi...
...ven years after leaving the village, the Reverend Van Gogh said after visiting it again: ‘What a d...
FR b2222, Mr Van Gogh to Theo, 18 April 1876.
...68, Mrs Van Gogh to Theo, 25 March 1885). The parents clearly believed that they had to give all six...
...he village cheaper, but also because the Reverend Van Gogh considered it a duty to accept the living...
FR b2351, the Reverend Van Gogh to Theo, 30 July 1875. There is a good summation of the nineteenth-ce...
In Etten, the Reverend Van Gogh was paid 960 guilders a year, with an additional 75 guilders for prea...
Although the parents wanted the very best for all their children, and were constantly warning them ab...
On 30 May 1879, the Reverend Van Gogh sent Theo a clipping from a magazine about the dangers of prost...
When the children left their parents’ house they were given the following prayer to guide them on t...
...get along in real life’ (FR b2733, the Reverend Van Gogh to Theo, 18 November 1874). For the young...
...nd for Anna’s poetry album FR b4415. The Reverend Van Gogh quoted De Génestet’s poems, adding h...
FR b2788, the Reverend Van Gogh to Theo, 28 October 1876.
...80-1881 tensions arose between Vincent and his father, and lasted until the latter’s death in 1885....
Cf. ‘Pa’s spirit is so great and many-sided, and at all events I hope that something of it will d...
Hulsker 1993-2, p. 72. The Reverend Van Gogh urged devoutness with the following words: ‘Truly Theo...
Theo, who was named after his father, was the apple of his parents’ eye. Significantly, even at the...
... named after his father, was the apple of his parents’ eye. Significantly, even at the age of 16 h...
...had ‘that wonderful pleasure’ and did his parents credit, and he soon realized it. The first sig...
The Reverend Van Gogh wrote to Theo on 19 February 1885: ‘Pity that Vincent doesn’t join in any m...
...children had to succeed in society, and their parents encouraged that in every way they could. The o...
...nly be all kinds of odd fish among them’ (FR b2512, the Reverend Van Gogh to Theo, 14 March 1877).
...�clever’ and ‘respectable’. As the Reverend Van Gogh wrote to Theo: ‘May God bless you for y...
...cult task for the children not to cause their parents any sorrow. In 1877, for instance, there was a...
... the working class, much to the horror of his parents and Theo. The latter was the role model in the...
...dealer and had a respectable income. After his father’s death, the key members of the family were T...
...ell as a kitchen-maid (FR b2924); Theodorus and Anna had a maidservant and someone who came by to ten...
FR b980, Mrs Van Gogh to Theo, 7 June 1878.
...mily of Theodorus van Gogh (1822-1885) and Anna Carbentus (1819-1907) was an ordinary nineteenth-cent...
...Reformed Church. On 21 May 1851 he married Anna Carbentus, daughter of the Hague bookbinder Willem Ca...
... peaceful life in the parsonage in Zundert. Mrs Van Gogh, a kindly and simple woman, shared the care ...
...and have something different and new every week.’ (FR b2268, Mrs Van Gogh to Theo, 25 March 1885).
.... cat. ’s-Hertogenbosch 1987, pp. 82, 84. Mrs Van Gogh visited the sick of the parish, and ran a se...
... his poems regularly appear in the letters. Mrs Van Gogh attached great importance to the value of th...
FR b2630, 31 May 1873, Mrs Van Gogh to Theo, who was crowned remarkably often: ‘Always remain our j...
... (FR b2452, 31 December 1878). A remark of Mrs Van Gogh’s shows that this crown metaphor embraced ...
FR b2463, Mrs Van Gogh to Theo, 27 February 1879.
...s 1990. Uncle Cent disapproved of the plan. Mrs Van Gogh wrote to Theo on 18 April 1877: ‘We haven�...
...goes on within one is certainly not necessary,’ Mrs Van Gogh told Theo.FR b2803, 18 December 1876.
...amily were Theo, as the paterfamilias, and his mother. That also applied indirectly to Willemien, who...
Biographical & historical context / The letter-writing culture and Van Gogh’s position within it
in context_2:
...d in those written by the members of the Reverend Van Gogh’s family.Detailed accounts of the conve...
... behaviour and choices. For example, the Reverend Van Gogh issued a stern warning to Theo, who was w...
...in desperate straits in Drenthe, and the Reverend Van Gogh wrote to Theo that he had received ‘thr...
...se?’ (FR b2247, 30 November 1883). The Reverend Van Gogh wrote to Theo about Vincent at the beginn...
... there was regular correspondence between the parents and their children, and between the brothers a...
..., 2 March 1878, emphasis added. When the Reverend Van Gogh died in 1885, the family lost one of the ...
... on to someone else. On 9 June 1875, the Reverend Van Gogh wrote frankly to Theo: ‘I long to write...
...erday’. By now Theo knew full well that his parents liked to receive invigorating letters.FR b2345...
...ction of letters to raise the spirits from his father’s thanks for his letters, ‘because we can�...
...of the first letter that Vincent wrote to his parents from Ramsgate.Letter 76. This letter has survi...
...02 and 112. On reading letters aloud: ‘Perhaps Pa read Ma’s letter aloud to you, which she wrote ...
...te? But use thin paper,’ the practical Reverend Van Gogh wrote to Theo on 11 February 1875.FR b232...
... is a response to something in a letter from his Ma, that she delighted to see the sun shine and that...
...h one another. In August 1877, for example, Mrs Van Gogh urged Theo: ‘Do continue to write to him f...
...ards. Contrary to what the above sighs from Mrs Van Gogh might suggest, Vincent usually reacted swift...
...12. On reading letters aloud: ‘Perhaps Pa read Ma’s letter aloud to you, which she wrote while Pa...
In order to save on paper and postage, Mrs Van Gogh and Willemien wrote letters crosswise on more tha...

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3 other items found

Documentation
in documentation:
... Theodorus van Gogh to Theo van Gogh. Etten, 8 April 1877. Theodorus van Gogh
T.v.G.’
...ition and very poorly paid. Pa has also written him a firm letter saying that he...
...orus van Gogh to Theo van Gogh. Etten, 7 June 1878 (FR b981).Theodorus van Gogh
...orus van Gogh to Theo van Gogh. Etten, 8 July 1878 (FR b984).Theodorus van Gogh
... Pierre Péron. Breda, 5 December 1878. Theodorus van Gogh
T. van Gogh
...rying state of Mr De Jonge. Pa asked if he should come and the answer was “Ple...
Pa has gone to De Hoeve, I’m going out part of the way to meet him, the weathe...
Pa asks to convey his warm regards. Came back so tired from De Hoeve due to a bo...
.... He was living with his parents in Etten at the time; he had a room there adjo...
Note written by Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus, 20 March 1852. She is awaiting ...
...urchyard – thank you for it. Warm regards from Ma and from everyone. Lies has ...
...heo van Gogh. Etten, 7 June 1878 (FR b980).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
...eo van Gogh. Etten, 23 June 1878 (FR b982).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
Finally, Mrs van Gogh writes in the same letter: ‘How will things go with Vinc...
...n Gogh. Etten, 20 December 1878 (FR b2450).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
...h. Etten, 28 August 1881. Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
...en lovely for him. This is just a good-day word and a kiss from your loving Ma.
... they eat together in their neighbourhood. His mother and sisters are leaving Nu...
...Carbentus. Paris, June-July 1886 (FR b942).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
...ssible. As I said, you must say nothing to Mrs [Van Gogh], should you see her, s...
...-Carbentus. Paris, 22 March 1887 (FR b909).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
...arbentus. Paris, 31 October 1887 (FR b913).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
... Theo van Gogh. Leiden, 29 December 1888 (FR b2425).Anna van Gogh-Carbentus
...ly he wasn’t so far away. Ma is also so upset about it. But what a difficult l...
We talked at length today about you and about your mother.
...to Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus. Paris, 1 August 1890 (FR b934).Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus
‘Dear beloved Mother,
... for a couple of days. Oh Mother, I so much long to be with you. I suppose you h...
Overview of all the letters
in overview:
to Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, parents
to Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, mother (8 to her, 1 to her and Theo, 3 to her and Willemien)
to Theodorus van Gogh and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, parents
from Hendrik Bonger and Hermine Bonger-Weismann (Jo’s parents) and Anna van Gogh-Carbentus
Chronology
in 1889:
2 November Mrs Van Gogh and Willemien move to Leiden, Herengracht 100.
... December @Sends Theo 7 paintings for his mother and Willemien, as well several other paintings ...
in 1888:
End of April Mrs Van Gogh and Willemien move to Nieuwe Haagdijk in Breda. The works that Vincent...
in 1887:
...llection of magazine illustrations are moved from Nuenen to his mother’s house in Breda (FR b909).
in 1886:
30 March Mrs Van Gogh and Willemien move to Breda, Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat 649bis.
in 1884:
...hbour, Margot Begemann, who has taken over his mother’s sewing class while she is recovering from a...
in 1885:
26 March The Reverend Van Gogh dies (486, 487, 488, FR b4536).
in 1883:
3 February @Has sent his father a drawing (306).
5 December Goes to live with his parents once again. They are now living in Nuenen, where they had m...
in 1882:
Early August His parents move from Etten to Nuenen, to which the Reverend Van Gogh has been called. ...
... move from Etten to Nuenen, to which the Reverend Van Gogh has been called. They live at De Berg F52...
in 1881:
... who is staying in the parsonage with the Van Gogh family. He makes a marriage proposal to her, but ...
... to The Hague following a furious row with his father (194). From now on receives his allowance direc...
in 1880:
End of October @Sends two drawings to his father (160).
in 1878:
16-17 July Travels to Brussels with his father and the Reverend Slade-Jones to discuss the possibili...
in 1877:
...ry *Visits the Dordrechts Museum with his father (FR b2507). He goes again on 25 February with T...
in 1875:
18 October The Van Gogh family moves to Etten, where the Reverend Van Gogh has been called. They liv...
...an Gogh family moves to Etten, where the Reverend Van Gogh has been called. They live at Roosendaals...
in 1873:
...ebruary Drafted for military service; the Reverend Van Gogh finds a replacement for him (FR b2604).
in 1871:
...oves from Zundert to Helvoirt, where the Reverend Van Gogh has been called. They live at Torenstraat...
in 1853:
...ndert, Markt 26, eldest son of the Reverend Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus.
...ndert, Markt 26, eldest son of the Reverend Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia van Gogh-Carbentus.

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399 letters, 13 essay items and 3 other items found

399 letters found

13 essay items found

3 other items found

Vincent van Gogh, The Letters