2. It is not known who this friend was. In any case, Koning’s plan never came to fruition: he would never return to France.

The World Exhibition was held in Paris from 5 May to 5 November 1889.

3. From September 1887 to the end of May 1888 Koning stayed in Paris, where he lived for a time with Theo (see letter 578, n. 8).

4. Hendrik Roessingh, probably a cousin of Koning, was married to Catharina (Cato) van de Stadt. During his stay in Zaandam, from June to October 1871, Monet had painted Cato’s sixteen-year-old niece Guurtje van de Stadt. See exhib. cat. Amsterdam 1986, pp. 42, 46 (n. 22), 142-143, cat. no. 25.

5. The portrait photographs of Claude Monet and his wife Camille Monet-Doncieux, taken in 1871 by Albert Greiner in Amsterdam, are still in the possession of the Van de Stadt family. Ill. 2276

and Ill. 2277

6. Van Gogh had written this in letter 740.

7. Jozef Israëls, The shepherd (The Hague, Gemeentemusem). Ill. 189

. It was shown at the exhibition Levende Meesters (Living Masters) in Rotterdam (cat. no. 94). Goupil’s Hague branch bought it on 17 July 1888 for 3,500 guilders and sent it on to Boussod, Valadon & Cie in London, where it was sold in April 1889 for £ 400 (4,800 guilders) to C. Roberts of Leeds. See RKD, Goupil Ledgers and exhib. cat. Groningen 1999, p. 216, cat. no. 42. The newspaper in which Koning could have read this article has not been traced.

8. This reproduction is probably of the well-known Timber auction (The Hague, The Mesdag Collection). See cat. The Hague 1996, p. 298, cat. no. 219.

9. Mauve made many watercolours of this subject. One of the best known is Flock of sheep on the heath at Laren (Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet). It can no longer be ascertained which drawings or reproductions of drawings are referred to here.

a. Read: ‘niets’.

10. In letter 740 Van Gogh had again mentioned this intended exchange (see letter 614, n. 3).

11. It could not be discovered which works by these artists the Koning brothers owned. It is possible that the Dutch word ‘kranen’ used by Koning should be taken literally as ‘cranes’ (the birds).