1. Willemien and Mrs van Gogh wrote to Vincent on the occasion of his thirty-fifth birthday on 30 March.

2. Theo had sent a consignment of modern paintings to Tersteeg; see letter 589, n. 4.

3. The World Exhibition was staged in Paris from 5 May to 5 November 1889. Van Gogh, like his artist friends, wanted to take advantage of the enormous influx of visitors and show work during this period.

4. During the 1889 World Exhibition, the Groupe impressioniste et synthétiste, of which Paul Gauguin was the leading light, mounted an exhibition in Café Volpini in the Champs-de-Mars (see letter 779, n. 13). We do not know whether the exhibition was already being planned at this time; according to Welsh-Ovcharov specific preparations did not start until early May 1889, but this does not necessarily mean that such an exhibition was not already being discussed. Cf. exhib. cat. Toronto 1981, pp. 41-42. The fifth exhibition of the Indépendants was also held in 1889, as a counterpart to the traditional Salon.

5. Besides the Pink peach trees (‘Souvenir de Mauve’) (F 394/ JH 1379 ) described later in this letter, these six studies in any event included Orchard with apricot trees in blossom (F 556 / JH 1383 ) and Orchard with apricot trees in blossom (F 553 / JH 1387 ); see letter 589, n. 6. Almond tree in blossom (F 557 / JH 1397 ) may also have been among these first studies of orchards. Van Gogh must have painted Orchard bordered by cypresses (F 554 / JH 1388 ) and Peach tree in blossom (F 399 / JH 1398 ) later, as preliminary studies for F 513 / JH 1389 and F 551 / JH 1396 , and the other extant orchards are not mentioned in the correspondence until later. Among the studies he refers to here there were probably works that he subsequently destroyed (see letter 606); in letter 591 to Theo he refers to ‘4 or 5’ studies plus F 394.

6. The work that Van Gogh earmarked for Mauve’s widow was Pink peach trees (‘Souvenir de Mauve’) (F 394/ JH 1379 ); he sent it to Theo in May 1888 with his first batch of paintings. See letters 583 and 608. It emerges from letter 719 that Jet Mauve did receive the painting.

7. Van Gogh added the sentence ‘You may ... Theo’ later, after he had written the postscript. The words ‘& Theo’ cannot now be seen on the painting. Vincent probably removed them at Theo’s insistence, because it was done before the canvas was completely dry. See cat. Otterlo 2003, pp. 212-213.

8. The novel Le mariage de Loti (1880) by Pierre Loti contains idealized descriptions of nature in Tahiti and people’s way of life. The naval officer Harry Grant spends several years on the island, where he is called Loti (‘rose’). He falls in love with a young girl, Rarahu, and this makes him think that he is getting to know the true Tahiti. Otaheite is the original name for the island, however it does not occur anywhere in the book.

9. Richard Wagner composed large-scale, ambitious operas for big orchestras. Van Gogh had been to performances of Wagner in Paris. Theo wrote to Willemien about it: ‘And before Vincent left I went to a couple of Wagner concerts with him and we both enjoyed them very much’ (FR b915, 14 March 1888).

10. See for the brothers’ collection of Japanese prints: cat. Amsterdam 1991. Cf. also letter 587, n. 3.

11. Willemien turned 26 on 16 March.

12. Sprig of almond blossom in a glass with a book (F 393 / JH 1362 ). Willemien did indeed have the work in her possession. See Account book 2002, p. 20 (n. 33).

13. Piles of French novels and a rose in a glass (‘Romans parisiens’) (F 359 / JH 1332 ).

14. Van Gogh wrote this passage before he inserted ll. 44-49; this explains the duplication of the reference to Pink peach trees (‘Souvenir de Mauve’) (F 394/ JH 1379 ); cf. nn. 5 and 6.