1. This was letter 802.

2. Regarding the nuns in the asylum, see letter 801, n. 10.

3. Willemien had been staying in Middelharnis, and Mrs van Gogh in Princenhage (FR b2902, b2931).

4. Van Gogh had painted two versions of Pietà (after Delacroix), F 630 / JH 1775 and F 757 / JH 1776 , after the lithograph by Nanteuil-Leboeuf after Delacroix’s Pietà . For the lithograph, see letter 686, n. 3. He is referring here to F 630, the canvas he had painted for himself; in his view, the small ‘sketch’ (F 757) had no artistic value (see letter 804).

5. For Loti’s article ‘Carmen Sylva’ with the passage quoted by Van Gogh, see letter 804, n. 8.

6. For the series The labours of the field , consisting of ten prints on one sheet, engraved by Adrien Lavieille, see letter 156, n. 1. Later on in the letter, Van Gogh writes that he painted Sheepshearers (after Millet) (F 634 / JH 1787 ) that day, which is the eighth print in the series. Assuming he kept to the order of the prints, the seven copies he had finished would have been: Reaper (after Millet) (F 687 / JH 1782 ), Reaper with a scythe (after Millet) (F 688 / JH 1783 ), Woman binding sheaves (after Millet) (F 700 / JH 1781 ), Woman with a rake (after Millet) (F 698 / JH 1789 ), Sheaf binder (after Millet) (F 693 / JH 1785 ), Woman bruising flax (after Millet) (F 697 / JH 1788 ) and Thresher (after Millet) (F 692 / JH 1784 ). He completed the series with Woman spinning (after Millet) (F 696 / JH 1786 ) and Woodcutter (after Millet) (F 670 / JH 1886 ), which are also dated to 1889. See exhib. cat. Paris 1998, p. 136.

7. For Millet’s The two diggers , see letter 142, n. 18; and for the photograph (isograph) after it, see letter 160, n. 10. In October 1889 Van Gogh made a painting after it: Diggers (after Millet) (F 648 / JH 1833 ).

8. For the etching by Lerat after Millet’s Sower , see letter 686, n. 6. At the beginning of November 1889, Van Gogh painted Sower (after Millet) (F 689 / JH 1836 ) after it and at the end of January 1890 Sower (after Millet) (F 690 / JH 1837 ). See letter 816, n. 5.

9. For the etching Fields in winter (The harrow) by Alfred Alexandre Delauney after Millet’s Winter: The plain of Chailly, see letter 157, n. 25. Van Gogh painted Snow-covered field with a plough and harrow (after Millet) (F 632 / JH 1882 ) after this print in January 1890.

10. For the series The four times of the day , engraved by Adrien Lavieille after Millet, see letter 37, n. 16. Between the end of October 1889 and January 1890, Van Gogh made paintings after all four prints: Morning: going out to work (after Millet) (F 684 / JH 1880 ), Noon: rest (after Millet) (F 686 / JH 1881 ), The end of the day (after Millet) (F 649 / JH 1835 ) and Evening (after Millet) (F 647 /JH 1834 ).

11. For the lithograph The Good Samaritan by Laurens after Delacroix, see letter 768, n. 22. Van Gogh made the painting The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) (F 633 / JH 1974 ) after it in May 1890.

12. The portrait of Jeanne Trabuc is known only in the version sent to Theo: Jeanne Trabuc (F 631 / JH 1777 ). It is not known whether this was the first or the second version.

13. The self-portrait Van Gogh sent is Self-portrait (F 627 / JH 1772 ).

14. Self-portrait (F 528 / JH 1780 ). See Van Tilborgh et al. 2020.

15. Sheepshearers (after Millet) (F 634 / JH 1787 ).

16. Van Gogh placed this order for canvas and paint in letter 800.

17. Wheatfield with sheaves and rising moon (F 735 / JH 1761 ). As emerges from letter 806, Van Gogh waited before sending this study, as well as Fields with poppies (F 581 / JH 1751 ) and Starry night (F 612 / JH 1731 ) (see nn. 18 and 20).

18. On the basis of letter 806, in which Van Gogh refers to a study he has decided against sending as ‘Poppies’, this study can be identified as Fields with poppies (F 581 / JH 1751 ).

19. Olive trees with the Alpilles in the background (F 712 / JH 1740 ). Later in the letter Van Gogh describes this work as ‘olive trees with white cloud and background of mountains’ and ‘the olive trees with the blue hills’.

20. Starry night (F 612 / JH 1731 ).

21. The Alpilles with a hut (F 622 / JH 1766 ).

22. Wheatfield after a storm (F 611 / JH 1723 ). Theo’s reaction to the shipment reveals that this was the wheatfield in question. He says it was drawn with great expression and sees in it the ‘unshakeable side that nature has, even in its wildest aspect’ (letter 807). This could hardly refer to the other canvas of a wheatfield, F 719 / JH 1725 , which, moreover, Van Gogh called a ‘field of yellowing wheat’ (letter 780), so it is unlikely that he would call it a ‘field of green wheat’ in this letter.

23. This was either Olive trees (F 715 / JH 1759 ) or Olive grove (F 585 / JH 1758 ). Whichever painting remained was included in the next consignment, which also contained an olive grove (see letter 806). See exhib. cat. Dallas 2021, pp. 88, 91 (n. 17).

24. Orchard (F 511 / JH 1386 ). Cf. letter 790, n. 4.

25. Entrance to a quarry (F 744 / JH 1802 ).

26. For Rod’s Le sens de la vie, see letter 783, n. 5; for the passage in question, see letter 797, n. 13.

27. This refers to the other study of olive trees (see n. 23 above).

28. Van Gogh had two versions of the Reaper: F 617 / JH 1753 and F 618 / JH 1773 . See letter 800. He sent them to Theo on 28 September, at which time he also reported that he had finished the repetition Reaper (F 619 / JH 1792 ). See letter 806.

29. The other canvases that were not yet dry were probably the paintings that Van Gogh sent, along with the two versions of the reaper (see n. 28), to Theo on 28 September.

30. This ‘study of flowers’ was perhaps Iris (F 601 / JH 1699 ).

31. Maurice Denis related that Gauguin was said to have given similar advice to the young painter Paul Sérusier in October 1888 in Pont-Aven: ‘How do you see these trees? Gauguin had said. They’re yellow. Well, then, use yellow. This bluish shadow, paint it with pure ultramarine. These red leaves? Use vermilion. That’s the way Sérusier showed us, as Gauguin’s message, the concept, still unknown to us, of a flat surface covered in colours assembled in a certain order’. (Comment voyez-vous ces arbres? avait dit Gauguin. Ils sont jaunes: eh bien, mettez du jaune; cette ombre plutôt bleue, peignez-la avec de l’outremer pur; ces feuilles rouges? mettez du vermillion. Ainsi, Sérusier nous révélait, comme étant le message de Gauguin, le concept, encore ignoré de nous, de la surface plane recouverte de couleurs en un certain ordre assemblées). See Maurice Denis, ‘Paul Sérusier. Sa vie – son oeuvre’, in Paul Sérusier, ABC de la peinture. Paris 1942, pp. 42-43.

32. Regarding Jouve’s studio, see letter 801, n. 32, and for his decorative work, see letter 802, n. 3.

33. The source of this anecdote has not been traced.

34. Theo had written to Vincent about three paintings and a statue by Meunier on display at the World Exhibition; see letter 802, n. 5.