1. The mistral is a cold, dry katabatic wind from the north-west or north, which blows in the Rhône valley and the coastal regions of south-east France.
a. Conflation of the expressions ‘à peu près’ and ‘tant soit peu’, which both mean ‘almost’.
2. The medieval abbey of Montmajour on the plain of La Crau, about five km to the north-east of Arles. Van Gogh often worked in the immediate vicinity of the abbey and depicted it in several works.
3. The study with the oranges is Basket of oranges (F 395 / JH 1363 [2567]). In Paris Van Gogh had exchanged his Basket of apples (F 378 / JH 1340 [2558]) for several wood engravings by Lucien Pissarro (FR b886).
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4. These eight studies are: An old woman of Arles (F 390 / JH 1357 [2561]), Landscape with snow (F 290 / JH 1360 [2564]), View of a butcher’s shop (F 389 / JH 1359 [2563]) (see letter 578); an unidentified study (see letter 580); Landscape with snow (F 391 / JH 1358 [2562]), Sprig of almond blossom in a glass (F 392 / JH 1361 [2565]), Sprig of almond blossom in a glass with a book (F 393 / JH 1362 [2566]) (see letter 582); and the Basket of oranges (F 395 / JH 1363 [2567]) referred to above.
[2561] [2564] [2563] [2562] [2565] [2566] [2567]
5. This was letter 581.
6. Van Gogh was trying to persuade Russell to buy a work from Gauguin (see also letter 582). As far as we know, Gauguin and Russell never got in touch. Merlhès suggests that Gauguin was too proud to approach Russell. Correspondance Gauguin 1984, p. 474 (n. 242).
7. Van Gogh means canvas with a ground that absorbs surplus oil, producing a matt effect. See Peres et al. 1991, pp. 26-27. He painted Avenue of plane trees (F 398 / JH 1366 [2569]) and The Gleize bridge with washerwomen (F 396 / JH 1367 [2570]) on this type of canvas.
[2569] [2570]
8. The grocer was Jules Armand, ‘épicier-droguiste’, 30 rue du Quatre-Septembre. Stokvis mentions a Madame J. Armand, the widow of a grocer who was an amateur artist, ‘where Vincent occasionally bought what he needed’. Coquiot calls her ‘the widow of a colourman, where Vincent bought supplies the first few days’. See Stokvis 1929, p. 4, and Coquiot 1923, p. 164.
Jules Armand was the first known owner of Marcelle Roulin (F 440 / JH 1639). In the Museon Arlaten in Arles there is a portrait of an Arlésienne, signed ‘J. Armand 1889’. We know from the local newspapers that he regularly exhibited his work in the window of the Bompard fils’ wallpaper shop at 14 place de la République, under the name Armand-Ronin. The official deeds give his name as Jean Auguste Armand; on the electoral roll and in address books it is Jules Armand; Ronin was the maiden name of his wife Joséphine (ACA).
At this time there were two justices of the peace in Arles: Paul Marre for the western canton, and Eugène Giraud for the eastern canton (L’indicateur marseillais 1888). The one who visited Van Gogh must have been Giraud. In May 1888 Van Gogh went to see him about a dispute with his landlord; see letter 609, n. 1.
9. Alphonse Daudet’s Tartarin sur les Alpes (1885), like Tartarin de Tarascon (1872), is a satirical novel that mocks the men of southern France, and particularly the inhabitants of Tarascon. The central character, Tartarin, a self-proclaimed lion-hunter and the president of the Tarascon mountain climbing association – whose members have never been further than the foothills of the Alpilles – goes to Switzerland to conquer the highest peaks in the Alps and strengthen his position as president before the elections. Tartarin is a know-it-all, who tries to rescue himself from embarrassing situations that he himself has caused.
10. Mauve died on 5 February. Around 30 March, in response to his death, Van Gogh painted Pink peach trees (‘Souvenir de Mauve’) (F 394 / JH 1379 [2577]) and decided to give it to Mauve’s widow, Jet Mauve-Carbentus. See letter 590.
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