1. The seascape painted on 22 August, ‘when there was really a storm’, is unknown (cf. Date). The other is View of the sea at Scheveningen (F 4 / JH 187

). See cat. Amsterdam 1999, pp. 36-42, cat. no. 2. Dorn assumes that this latter work was done during the storm; see exhib. cat. Vienna 1996, p. 98, cat. no. 19.

2. Which painted figure studies are referred to here is not known; for similar works, cf. Fisherman on the beach (F5 / JH 188

) and Scheveningen woman (F 6 / JH 189

). The two ‘sketches’ are not known.

3. Sable brushes, the most expensive kind, are relatively soft and naturally retain a sharp point.

4. ‘Lyon brushes’ are made of pig hair and also have a good reputation. They were fairly new and available in various widths and hardnesses. See Carlyle 1991, vol. 1, pp. 304-305, and cat. Amsterdam 1999, p. 40 (n. 10).

5. For painting paper, see letter 255, n. 3.

a. Means: ‘geheel niet’ (by no means).

b. Read: ‘kan’ (can).

6. Theo had evidently suggested the old church tower and the graveyard beside it at Nuenen as a subject. When Vincent later settled in the village, he did indeed draw and paint this location, for example in The old church tower at Nuenen with a ploughman (F 34 / JH 459

), The old tower (F 88 / JH 490

), The old tower in the snow (F 87 / JH 600) and The old church tower at Nuenen (‘The peasants’ churchyard’) (F 84 / JH 772

). See also letters 269, 271, 356, 361, 377 and 489. In letter 502 he says he has done his first watercolour of it. See also De Brouwer 2000.

c. Means: ‘onbezonnen’, ‘ondoordacht’ (rash, ill-considered).

7. This description relates to the seascape.

d. Means: ‘voordeel, nut van hebben kan’ (take advantage, make use of).

8. The leading character in Emile Zola’s novel La faute de l’abbé Mouret (1875) is Serge Mouret, a somewhat naive young priest who is inclined towards mysticism. He becomes acquainted with the innocent ‘child of nature’ Albine, who lives with her uncle Jeanbernat and spends most of her time in his beautiful garden, ‘Le Paradou’. When Mouret falls ill, he stays with Jeanbernat to recuperate. Mouret and Albine fall violently in love, and they give free rein to their passion in the garden. As time passes, however, the priest feels obliged to opt for his vocation, and he breaks off the relationship. Albine then commits suicide by stupefying herself in her sleep with an abundance of scented flowers.

9. Zola’s novel Son Excellence Eugène Rougon (1876) is about ambition and power, which govern the ups and downs in the political career of the hero of the novel during the Second Empire. Rougon held an important position but then fell from power. As the result of complicated intriguing by a former mistress whom he abandoned, he again secures high office. But she is only helping him in order to exact vengeance, and she again brings him down. Nonetheless, the novel ends with a new ministerial post for Rougon.

10. The aristocratic Rougon family, who are at the core of Zola’s cycle of novels, are marked by physical and moral decline, depravity and opportunism. As Van Gogh describes, Doctor Pascal Rougon is exceptional in his love of medicine, his austerity and his modesty. This contrast is heightened because he devotes himself to studying heredity and makes his own family one of the objects of his research.