1. John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. London 1856. Cf. letter 43, n. 2.
2. The second exhibition of the Nederlandsche Etsclub, which opened in Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam on 1 June 1888. Cf. letter 611, n. 5.
3. The Seine with the Clichy bridge (F 303 / JH 1323 [2553]), see letter 589, nn. 4 and 9.
[2553]
4. The Dutch minister Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis was very active in politics. He left the church in 1879 and devoted himself to fighting for human rights. The countless speeches in which he expounded his socialist – and later anarchist – views were widely known. See Domela Nieuwenhuis, van christen tot anarchist. Ed. A. de Jong. Bussum 1982, and Altena 1997.
5. Tulip mania refers to the speculative buying and selling of a product, not for the sake of the goods but solely for profit. See letter 409, n. 5.
a. Read: ‘chrysantemums’.
6. For the pigments used by the artists of the Hague School, see letter 595, n. 13.
7. This was probably the drawing The harvest (F 1484 / JH 1438 [2619]): this preliminary study for the painting The harvest (F 412 / JH 1440 [2621]), which measures 73 x 92 cm, once belonged to Willemien. See Account book 2002, p. 20 (n. 33).
[2619] [2621]
8. Theo had regularly exhibited and dealt in work by Monet, Pissarro, Degas and others since 1887.
9. When the family moved from Nuenen, the things that Vincent had left behind when he went to Antwerp, including wood engravings and books, were stored in Adrianus Schrauwen’s attic in Breda. See exhib. cat. Breda 2003, pp. 11-18. See also the postscript to letter 642.
10. Van Gogh had owned Gavarni’s La mascarade humaine since 1882 and repeatedly quoted from it in his letters.
11. John Marshall, Anatomy for artists (1878), which Van Gogh bought in 1884 (see letter 465, n. 6).
12. Van Gogh is probably referring to Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot.
13. For Loti’s Madame Chrysanthème see letter 628, n. 20.
14. Van Gogh’s attribution of L’abbé Constantin (1882) to Georges Ohnet is based on a misconception; the novel was by Ludovic Halévy. (The same erroneous attribution occurs in letter 687.) The negative tone of Van Gogh’s opinion would appear to be more in line with the general criticism of Ohnet than with the views about Halévy (cf. letter 557).
It is not surprising that he describes the romantic love story as ‘terribly sweet and heavenly’, because it is obvious from the outset that the two lovers, Jean and Bettina, will overcome their problems and eventually be together. The popular book did not go unnoticed among Van Gogh’s family and friends either. Theo sent Lies a copy on 13 October 1885, and Andries Bonger wrote to his parents about Halévy on 22 December 1883 (FR b903 and b1779). There was also a copy in Uncle Vincent’s estate.
Ohnet’s Le maître de forges (1882), the third volume in the series ‘Les batailles de la vie’, is a conventional love story; the concept is simple and the writing saccharine. It is the story of an aristocratic woman who marries a rich man, not a member of the aristocracy, for his money. While her contempt for him gradually turns into love, his love for her vanishes in the face of her distant attitude.
15. Self-portrait as a painter (F 522 / JH 1356 [2943]). Van Gogh later inserted the words ‘alle kleuren’ (all the colours) and ‘op het palet’ (on the palette) in l. 329, evidently because he did not consider his explanation clear enough, although even this did not help to clarify things altogether. What he meant to say was that all the whole colours could be seen on the palette (that is to say the three primary and the three secondary colours). He called the orange that he used for the beard an exception because it is the only colour present on the palette in two tints (one dark orange-red and a lighter one). See cat. Amsterdam 2011.
[2943]
16. A reference to Frederik van Eeden’s book De kleine Johannes (for the book see also letter 579, n. 4). Van Gogh compares his self-portrait with the face of Hein, who personifies death in the novel. The description of his appearance reads in part: ‘He had deep-set eyes ... and wiped the cold sweat from the pale, bony forehead. Motionless and shy, Johannes stared into the deep-set eyes, which were fastened on him. They were very serious and dark, yet not cruel, not hostile’; and ‘The pale face was lit erratically by the fitful glow, so that the eyes formed great dark pools’ (The Hague 1887, pp. 123-124, 139).
17. A ‘hannekemaaier’ is a grass-mower, an agricultural labourer of German origin.
18. Van Gogh started pinning prints like these on his wall when he was in Antwerp (letter 545).
19. Evidently Willemien had mentioned the death of Carel Vosmaer; the writer had died on 12 June 1888. Van Gogh had previously registered his disapproval of Vosmaer: see letter 452, n. 5.
20. Mrs van Gogh and Willemien moved from Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat to Nieuwe Haagdijk in Breda in April 1888. See exhib. cat. Breda 2003, pp. 16-17.
21. It emerges from letter 590 that Vincent had intended the study Sprig of almond blossom in a glass with a book (F 393 / JH 1362 [2566]) for Willemien. She also once owned the painting Orchard bordered by cypresses (F 554 / JH 1388 [2586]). See Account book 2001, p. 20 (n. 33).
[2566] [2586]
22. It appears from the family correspondence that Uncle Vincent and Aunt Cornelie sometimes sent fresh flowers from Menton in the south of France, where they were staying (FR b2235 and b2250).
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