1. Van Gogh would have been thinking first and foremost of Richard Wagner; he was in the middle of reading a book about him. Probably Camille Benoit’s Richard Wagner, musiciens, poètes et philosophes (see letter 621, n. 7).
2. Van Gogh added ‘de romans’ (of novels) later.
3. Van Gogh had previously written of ‘symphonies of colour’, possibly deriving the notion from Charles Blanc. See letter 537, n. 7. His reading about Wagner may well also have influenced his choice of words: ‘what an artist – one like that in painting, now that would be something’ (quel artiste – un comme ca dans la peinture, voila ce qui serait chic) (letter 621).
4. See for this reference to Alphonse Daudet’s Aventures prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon: letter 609, n. 1.
5. This characterization of Japanese prints likewise applies to the Cloisonnism developed by Bernard and Anquetin. See letter 620, nn. 11 and 12.
6. See letter 536, n. 28, for the concept ‘contraste simultané’.
7. These descriptions tie in with the paintings Cottages in Saintes-Maries (F 419 / JH 1465 [2643]) and Row of cottages in Saintes-Maries (F 420 / JH 1462 [2640]).
[2643] [2640]
8. No obvious examples of the fabrics Van Gogh describes have been found. He may have been referring to the summer clothing worn on feast days – a dress of black cotton or satin worn beneath a skirt of violet lace. The underlying dark colour could be seen through the delicate open weave of the lace, creating the optical effect of a checked dress. With thanks to Dominique Séréna of the Museon Arlaten in Arles.
9. This passage prompted Bernard to write to his parents: ‘Vincent has written to me. He likes it in Arles, recently he has been in the Camargue where he saw the Mystique girls, which made him think of Cimabuë and Giotto. He is a lad with a very broad, but overly independent, artistic temperament, and a deeply scientific side to him, despite that I still hope to see him come back with some great stuff. He grasps things quickly and in short has a well-developed artistic side (which is so rare!).’ (Vincent m’écrit. Il se plaît beaucoup à Arles, il est allé ces derniers temps en Camargue où il a vu des filles Mystiques, qui l’ont fait penser à Cimabuë et Giotto. C’est un garçon d’un tempérament artistique très large, mais trop indépendant, d’un côté scientifique approfondi, malgré cela je ne désespère pas de le voir revenir avec de fort bonnes choses. Il a la compréhension facile et en somme a le côté artiste très développé (cela est si rare!).) See Harscoët-Maire 1997, p. 174.
10. These scratches of landscapes are the enclosed sketches Row of cottages in Saintes-Maries (F - / JH 1463), Fishing boats on the beach at Saintes-Maries (F - / JH 1461), Fishing boats at sea, Landscape with the edge of a road and Farmhouse in a wheatfield (all three F - / JH 1464). They are after the following paintings: Row of cottages in Saintes-Maries (F 420 / JH 1462 [2640]), Fishing boats on the beach at Saintes-Maries (F 413 / JH 1460 [2638]), Fishing boats at sea (F 417 / JH 1453 [2633]), Landscape with the edge of a road (F 567 / JH 1419 [2604]) and Farmhouse in a wheatfield (F 408 / JH 1417 [2603]). Van Gogh also sent the sketch Still life with coffee pot (F - / JH 1428) after the painting Still life with coffee pot (F 410 / JH 1426 [2609]).
[2640] [2638] [2633] [2604] [2603] [2609]
11. Fromentin had painted in Algeria; Gérôme in Turkey, Greece and Egypt.
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