The letters effectively play much the same role in shedding light on the art of the period as those between the de Goncourt brothers do for literature. After four years of ongoing effort Im now proud to present. The only period where the public is relatively uninformed is the Parisian period when they shared an apartment and had no need to correspond. The completion of the Letters section marks a major milestone for The Vincent van Gogh Gallery. The total correspondence features 903 letters: 820 by Van Gogh and 83 to him. Nevertheless, it is to these letters between the brothers that is owed much of what is known today about Vincent van Gogh. Many of Vincents letters have survived, and even some of the replies.

Arnold Pomerans, editor of a 1966 selection of the letters, wrote that Theo 'was the kind of man who saved even the smallest scrap of paper', and it is to this trait that the public owes the 663 letters from Vincent.īy contrast, Vincent infrequently kept letters sent to him and just 84 have survived, of which 39 were from Theo. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, the wife of Vincent's brother Theo, spent many years after her husband's death in 1891 compiling the letters, which were first published in 1914.

I've painted it on a fairly large canvas, and as the sketch is now, I believe there's life in it.' He was currently working on the painting, which was to become one of his first complex compositions with multiple figures, and illustrated the letter with a sketch of the work, writing 'See, this is what the composition has now become. Collection of letters written and received by Vincent van Gogh In April 1885, Vincent wrote his brother about his first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters.

The letters of vincent van gogh