Van Gogh's Concept of His Oeuvre

Author(s): Evert van Uitert

Source: Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art , 1981 - 1982, Vol. 12,
No. 4 (1981 - 1982), pp. 223-244
Published by: Stichting Nederlandse Kunsthistorische Publicaties

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3780499

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3780499?seq=1&cid=pdf-
reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Stichting Nederlandse Kunsthistorische Publicaties is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 223

Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre*

Evert van Uitert

Albert Boime, who in his The academy and French paint- Vincent van Gogh moreover underwent the technical
ing so masterfully discussed technique and the changing development outlined by Boime at a greater than normal
valuation of the study, the sketch and the finished paint-rate of speed. While working on the Potato eaters he still
ing, expressed surprise at the rather conservative view-made studies in the classical sense; that is, studies of
point of Vincent van Gogh.1 In contrast to the Impres-such details as hands and various objects followed by
sionists Vincent considered studies, that is, canvases a sketch of the entire composition. Only then was the
painted directly from nature, to be experiments, the rawpainting executed in final form.3 After his experiences in
material of finished works of art. Van Gogh often usedParis Vincent was never again to work in this manner. It
the term etude (study) to describe certain of his efforts,was then that he adopted the methods of Impressionism.
while in other cases he spoke of a tableau (painting). This The new artistic generation of which Vincent con-
last term was always used to refer to those works whichsidered himself a member had rejected realism, causing
he himself had provided with titles. an entirely new appreciation for impressionistic studies
The difference is not always readily discernible toafter nature as the actual works of art. Van Gogh's own
our eyes, however. One cannot determine in every caseposition was somewhere in the middle. In contradistinc-
where various versions of the same subject exist which istion to Gauguin and Bernard he insisted on retaining the
the study and which is to be accorded the status of a full-guise of reality while at the same time attempting to add
fledged work of art. In addition, one must take into ac- something of his own. In a letter to Bernard in which he
count that van Gogh sometimes came back to a painting described his intentions with regard to a study of fruit
at a later date and made extensive alterations. The land- trees (F 513), he concluded with the words "no trompe-
scape with cypresses which he offered as a gift to thel'oeil in any case."4 This art-theoretical background ac-
critic Albert Aurier (F 620) is one example of a workcounts for van Gogh's sometimes equivocal use of terms
which was corrected at a later stage.2 such as etude and tableau.5 A similar phenomenon plays

* As will become evident to the reader, the term oeuvre as employed inreferences for all quotations from van Gogh's letters are given in the
this article is meant to encompass those works which Vincent van English edition, which has also served as the basis for the translations
Gogh conceived of as his intended oeuvre. This article is translatedof the passages cited in this article. Occasional revisions in the English
from the Dutch by Andrea Gasten. version have been made in accordance with the original text. For the
I Albert Boime, The academy and French painting in the nineteenth original Dutch or French texts of the letters, see Verzamelde brieven
century, London I97I, p. 216 note 36. See especially chapter 7, "Thevan Vincent van Gogh in any of the various editions published by J. van
academic etude: generative procedure," pp. 149-65. Gogh-Bonger in the Wereld-Bibliotheek.
2 See J.B. de la Faille, The works of Vincent van Gogh: his paintings For the dating of the letters, see Jan Hulsker, Van Gogh door Van
and drawings, Amsterdam I970. Works specified by their de la FailleGogh. De brieven als commentaar op zijn werk, Amsterdam 1973.
catalogue number (F) will henceforth refer to this edition. For Vin- 5 The orchard which he discussed in detail and sketched in his letter
cent's biographical data, his letters and his work, see further Jan Huls-to Bernard is described as a toile (canvas) painted directly from nature,
ker, Van Gogh en zijn weg. Al zijn tekeningen en schilderijen in hun but with intentional simplifications of line and color: thus more than
samenhang en ontwikkeling, Amsterdam I977. just a study. In letter 492 van Gogh characterizes the canvas as a study
3 De la Faille, op. cit. (note 2), no. 82. (etude), in this case indicating an unsuccessful painting (tableau). Com-
4 The complete letters of Vincent van Gogh, New York 1958 (here- plete letters, vol. 3, nr. 492, p. 573.
after cited as Complete letters), vol. 3, nr. B3, p. 478. Volume and page

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
224 EVERT VAN UITERT

I Vincent van Gogh, Book still-life (F 335), Paris, I887. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gog

a role in his copies, in actuality free translations

particular workof
to works
the artist. Moreover, we can ascertain
of Millet, Delacroix and others.6 The that problem
van Goghisattached
to dis- literary associations, made evi-
tinguish those works which Vincent himself
dent valued
in the letters, to virtually all the paintings which
most. The very interesting question which meet the above-sketched criteria. It is thus possible to
consequently
arises is whether a connection of some sort can be dis- form a fairly accurate picture of what van Gogh himself
cerned among these works; in other words, whether vanmust have conceived of as his oeuvre.
Gogh was working systematically on an oeuvre.
The answer to the first question can be given with LITERARY
a MODELS The notion of a cohesive oeuvre
reasonable degree of certainty because Vincent dis- was of course not a new one; it pervaded the art histori-
cussed his works in detail in his numerous letters. The cal literature read by van Gogh.7 The concepts "oeuvre"
and "chef-d'oeuvre" moreover comprised the subject
giving of titles, the employment of the term tableau, the
size, whether or not a work is framed, the making of matter of numerous Igth century novels dealing with
replicas and of course the signing and exhibiting of artists, of which the most famous is Emile Zola's
works all play a role in assessing the importance of L'Oeuvre.
a Vincent had read the work when it appeared

6 This applies to the copies which he made in St. Remy, not to his 7 For example Alfred Sensier & Paul Mantz, La vie et l'oeuvre de
ealiest drawings after Millet. See also Carl Nordenfalk, "On Van
Jean-Franfois Millet, Paris i88i. The interesting phenomenon of a
Gogh's copies," in Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov (ed.), Van Gogh in per-
total oeuvre as consciously preconceived by the artist has to date hardly
spective, Englewood Cliffs 1974, pp. 156-58. been studied. A stimulating beginning has been made by Walter Cahn,
Masterpieces. Chapters on the history of an idea, Princeton I979.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 225

in serial form in the newspaper.8 In Zola's story the patible, according to the bachelor writer brothers.
painter Claude Lantier stakes everything on the design "Preferable to marriage would be, for the artist's tem-
of a masterpiece which was to be a magisterial view of perament, one of these violent, tormenting passions
Paris, the city which in those days had to be conquered [nervousness, creative fever] which mercilessly flagellate
by any artist who hoped to make a contribution in the talent and sometimes draw masterpieces from it as blood
struggle for artistic innovation.9 This would-be master- from the veins."10 The artist is forced to make a choice
piece and its maker came to as unfortunate an end as did between what in a still-popular maxim is called business
those of Balzac's Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu. Vincent van and pleasure; between his work and his woman. Van
Gogh was familiar with this last work, as he also was Gogh was familiar with this mode of thought, but did
with the Goncourt brothers' novel Manette Salomon. not share the conclusions drawn by the author brothers.
The protagonist of this story, the painter Coriolis, also
In a rather melancholy letter written from Paris to his
makes a half-successful attempt to create a true master-
brother Theo, who was spending the summer of 1887 in
piece. His wife was responsible for its eventual failure,
Holland, Vincent associated love for art, in which he had
just as the wife of the artist in Zola's novel exertedasa yet achieved little success, and love for one's wife and
children. He quoted in this connection the then popular
detrimental influence on the creative powers of her hus-
poet Jean Richepin, who had written "The love of art
band. In the Igth century literary tradition of the quest
makes one lose real love." Vincent varied this statement
for the absolute masterpiece, love for art is repeatedly
played off against love for a woman, which often de-
to read "real love makes you disgusted with art."11 Van
stroys the creativity of the man. The plot of Manette
Gogh had given up the idea of marriage and a family; at
Salomon is structured in its entirety around this rivalry.
35 he felt old and broken, yet still enough in love with
women "not to be a real enthusiast for painting." One
Marriage and the temperament of the artist were incom-

et lui font quelquefois saigner des chefs-d'oeuvre." Edmond & Jules

8 Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 452, p. 494. The most important study
of Zola's L'Oeuvre has been written by Robert J. Niess, Zola, Cezannede Goncourt, Manette Salomon, Paris 1979 (ed. princ. 1867), p. 146.
and Manet. A study of L'Oeuvre, Ann Arbor 1968. See also theThe in-whole of chapter 36 is devoted to the problem of women and art.
troduction and bibliography of Antoinette Ehrard in the Garnier- The true artist, according to the author brothers, must be free, and
Flammarion edition of Zola's L'Oeuvre (Paris I974). See further "celibacy is the only state which leaves the artist with his freedom, his
vigor, his intellect, his conscience." ("le celibat etait le seul etat qui
Theodore Robert Bowie, The painter in French fiction. A critical essay,
laissat a l'artiste sa liberte, ses forces, son cerveau, sa conscience.")
Chapel Hill 1950 and Malcolm Easton, Artists and writers in Paris. The
Bohemian idea, i803-I867, New York I964. Both Balzac and Zola
Ibid., p. I45.
placed their novels within a larger context. Balzac did so after the factIn a letter to his brother from Antwerp Vincent touched upon the
with his Comedie humaine, while Zola worked according to plan on his relationship between women and art, whereby he referred to an article
Rougon-Macquart series. Such a systematic approach to one's overallby Paul Mantz and to Zola's L'Oeuvre. Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 452,
oeuvre also occurs among painters, though less often. Examples are to Among pictorial artists Delacroix is particularly praised for his
p. 494.
be found in the work of Courbet, Manet and Degas as well as in thatunmarried
of state; see for example G. Dargenty (pseudonym of Arthur
Gauguin and van Gogh. Auguste Mallebay du Cluseau d'Echerac), Eugene Delacroix par lui-
9 During the Napoleonic era Paris was the artistic capital of meme,
the Osnabriick 1978 (reprint of ed. Paris 1885), pp. 63-64. Dela-
Western world, a fact which was later reaffirmed by the international croix's "bonne," Jenny Le Guillou, functioned as his muse. In a letter
exposition of 1855. Of the Dutch painters in Paris, Ary Scheffer from was St. Remy van Gogh wrote, "When you think of Millet and De-
the most successful. Jongkind and the painters of the Hague school lacroix, what a contrast. Delacroix without a wife, without children,
regularly tried their luck at the Paris Salon, where the competition Millet surrounded by a larger family than anybody. And yet what
similarities
among artists was fierce. In an article on the international exposition of there are in their work." ("Lorsqu'on pense a Millet et a
1855 which appeared in the Wiener Zeitung, Rudolf Eitelberger von Delacroix quelle opposition, Delacroix sans femme, sans enfants, Mil-
Edelberg discussed the French system of competition, of which, with let dans la famille en plein plus que qui que ce soit. Et comme pourtant
some reservations, he approved. For the artist, however, the system il y a des egalites dans leur oeuvre.") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 607, p.
was fraught with danger: "This excessively intensified competition 217.
has forced art into false paths and has produced the influence of For a the earlier development of this theme, see Rudolf & Margot
powerful plutocracy. It has dealt France's modern art severe wounds." Wittkower, Born under Saturn. The character and conduct of artists: a
Cited from Elizabeth Gilmore Holt (ed.), The art of all nations: 18so-documented history from antiquity to the French Revolution, London
1873. The emerging role of exhibitions and critics, New York 1981, I963,
p. chapt. 7 ("Celibacy, love, and licentiousness").
125. i "'L'amour de l'art fait perdre l'amour vrai"' [...] "l'amour vrai
io "Au mariage, il eit presque prefere, pour un temperament d'ar- degofite de l'art." Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 462, p. 169. For Richepin
see below, note 21.
tiste, une de ces passions violentes, tourmentees, qui fouettent le talent

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
226 EVERT VAN UITERT

needed ambition to succeed in art and at that moment more general way, in the course of which he cited Proud-
that seemed absurd to Vincent.12 At the end of his life hon's pronouncement "la femme est la desolation du
Vincent expressed his admiration for his friend Gau- juste" ("woman is the desolation of the just") and also
guin, "because he has found the means of producing made reference to Zola's fatal Nana.17 In contrast to the
children and pictures at the same time."'3 If Vincent van destructive force of that ambitious femme fatale of fic-
Gogh considered his work to be a form of sublimation, tion, van Gogh places the women he discusses in their
to use the modern psychoanalytical term, then he did so traditional inspirational role. One of his examples was
with aversion.14 In his letter he referred to his personal taken from the Goncourt brother's monograph on the
as well as his business relationship with la Segnatori, the draftsman Gavarni. Vincent tells further of a visit he had
owner of the Tambourin cafe/restaurant where he had paid to Pere Lachaise, where he stopped to look at the
organized an exhibition.15 In spite of an argument overhumble tombstone of Beranger's mistress. There he also
the return of the exhibited works, Vincent still felt at- thought of the mistress of the painter Corot, an artist
tracted to her and thought that she also did to him. An whom he especially admired. "Such women were silent
affair was however no longer possible. muses," van Gogh concluded.l8
This letter of 1887 is reminiscent of an equally discon-
solate letter which Vincent had posted from Drenthe in Romans Parisiens Van Gogh's ideas are perhaps re-
the autumn of 1883, after having had to leave his com-flected in an oval-shaped still-life of three books with
mon-law wife Sien behind in the Hague.16 In that letter legibly rendered titles (F 335; fig. I). The most promi-
as well, Vincent put forward his views on women in a nently displayed volume is Braves gens of I886 by Jean

12 "pour ne pas etre enthousiast pour la peinture." Ibid. justify Proudhon's saying:..." ("Vrouwen zooals zij, ze kunnen fataal
13 The sentence as a whole reads, "J'aime tant l'ami Gauguin par-slecht zijn, (ik spreek hier niet eens van de Nana's, volbloedig en
cequ'il a trouve moyen de faire a la fois et des enfants et des tableaux, a wellustig, doch van de meer zenuwachtige, denkende temperamenten
present il se trouve horriblement en peine et a cette inquietude qu'unonder hen) vrouwen zooals zij, ten volle rechtvaardigen ze 't woord van
des enfants a eu un malheur et lui pas la et pas en etat de venir au Proudhon:...") Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 326, p. I48.
secours." Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. W 19, p. 466. See also Lettres de There is no evidence that Vincent ever read Proudhon. This saying,
Gauguin a sa femme et a ses amis, ed. Maurice Malingue, Paris 1946, which he quoted again in letters 348 and 386a, was in all probability
letter 82, pp. I58-6I. gleaned from his reading of Michelet. The works of this last author
14 The notion of the work of art as a child of the artist is a very old were like a gospel to Vincent, and the source of all his ideas about the
one. Vasari and Condivi relate an alleged witticism of Michelangelo's,role of women. Michelet cited Proudhon's dictum both in L'Amour
according to which the great master remarked to the handsome son of (Paris i858, p. 220) and in Lafemme (Paris I860, p. 124). According to
the painter Francesco Francia that his father made more beautiful Michelet it is the woman who "creates the creator. And he is nothing
living figures than painted ones. The source of this story, which recurs greater." ("Elle cree ainsi le createur. Et il n'est rien de plus grand.")
later in various forms, is antique. In L'Oeuvre, a novel for which he La femme, p. 258. For Vincent's views on love and art, see further
had considered, among others, titles such as "Faire un enfant" ("To Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. W I, pp. 427-28.
make a child"), "Creation, cr6er, procreer" ("Creation, creating, pro- I8 Edmond & Jules de Goncourt, Gavarni, I'homme et l'oeuvre,
creating") and "Enfanter" ("To give birth"), Zola not only lets theParis I873. Chapter 70 is devoted to the subject of women and art.
planned masterpiece fail, but also has the son of the artist die. See also Whenever Gavarni had to make do without a woman for any length of
in this regard Ernst Kris & Otto Kurz, Legend, myth, and magic in the time, which according to the authors wasn't often, he had the feeling
image of the artist. A historical experiment, New Haven & London 1979, that something inside him had died. This is an expression that Vincent
pp. 115-I6 (transl. of Die Legende vom Kunstler. Ein geschichtlicheralso used. On his visit to Pere Lachaise: "I have seen there graves of
Versuch, Vienna 1934) and Ernst Kris, Psychoanalytic explorations inmarble, for which I have an indescribable respect. I felt the same
art, New York 1952, chapt. 2, sect. 5. respect before the humble tombstone of Beranger's mistress, which I
I5 Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 462, pp. 521-23. See also Bogomila purposely looked for [...], and there I particularly remembered Corot's
Welsh-Ovcharov, Vincent van Gogh: his Paris period, I886-i880, Al- mistress too. Such women were silent muses, and in the emotion of
phen aan den Rijn (diss. Utrecht) 1976 [trade edition Utrecht & The those gentle masters, in the intimacy, the pathos of their poetry, I
Hague 1976], pp. 36-37 and id., exhib. cat. Vincent van Gogh and the always feel a woman's influence everywhere." (...ik heb er graven ge-
birth of Cloisonism, Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario) & Amsterdam zien van marmer voor wie ik onbeschrijfelijk respect heb, hetzelfde
(Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh) 1981, pp. ioo-oI. respect voelde ik bij 't nederige grafzerkje van de maitresse van Beran-
i6 Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 326, pp. 144-50. ger, dat ik expres opzocht, [...] en ik dacht daar nog aan de maitresse
I7 On Sien: "Women like her can be thoroughly bad (I do not even van Corot ook vooral. Stille muzen waren zulke vrouwen, en de emotie
speak here of the Nanas, hot blooded and voluptuous, but of the more van die zachtmoedige meesters, het intieme, het penetrante van hun
nervous, reflective temperaments among them), women like her quite poezie, ik voel er steeds altijd-overal den invloed van een vrouwelijk
element in." Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 326, p. 149.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 227

2 Vincent van Gogh, Romans

Parisiens (F 359), Paris,
Autumn, 1887. Baden,
Switzerland, Private collection

Richepin, a Naturalist author almost forgotten today earned five-franc piece away to a poor prostitute: "van
who was cited by Vincent in his letters. The work is Gogh was a great reader, he was thinking of Goncourt's
complemented by tmile Zola's Au bonheur des damesElisa..."20 Richepin's "braves gens" are artists. A neu-
and Edmond de Goncourt's Fille Elisa. The connection
rotic mime actor and a calm, controlled pianist/com-
between these novels for van Gogh was probably the
poser are close friends. The pianist has a girl who writes
theme of women and love. Zola had characterized his the lyrics for his simple popular songs and who clearly
novella on the then new large department stores functions
as, as his muse. In sharp contrast to the succesful
among other things, "la poeme de l'activite moderne"musical couple, the mime player and his girl friend are
("the poem of modern activities") and stressed the embarked
all- upon a course of destruction. His art is mis-
powerful role of the women in such an enterprise. understood
The and his woman dies; he himself takes to
protagonist, exploiting woman, is finally conquereddrinking
by and eventually dies in a charity hospital in a fit
her ("exploitant la femme, puis vaincu par la femme").19
of delirium tremens. Once again, the plot is structured
Goncourt tells the story of the prostitute Elisa. around
Ac- themes of love and art.21
cording to an anecdote of Gauguin's the novel made aThe subtitle of Braves gens is Roman Parisien. This
great impression on van Gogh. In his Avant et apres title obviously appealed to van Gogh, as he used it for a
Gauguin relates that in Paris Vincent had given a hard-
series of book still-lifes when he wrote from Aries to give

19 Zola mentions these characteristics in L'Pbauche, the prepara-

francs devint la propri&et de la malheureuse. Rapidement, comme
tory sketch for Au bonheur des dames. The novel appeared in 1883.honteux
See de sa charite, il s'enfuit l'estomac creux." Paul Gauguin,
lmile Zola, Les Rougon-Macquart, vol. 3, Paris 1964 (Bibliotheque de et apres, Paris 1923, p. 44.
Avant
la Pleiade), pp. 1679-81. Vincent later expressed his approval when 2i he For Richepin, see Howard Sutton, The life and work of Jean
heard that his sister Willemien was reading Au bonheur des dames. Richepin, Geneva & Paris I96I. Richepin's novella is thematically re-
Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. W 9, p. 446. lated to Edmond de Goncourt's Les freres Zemganno (1879), a novel
20 "Van Gogh etait un liseur, il pensa a la fille Elisa et sa piece equally
de 5 highly regarded by Vincent.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
228 EVERT VAN UITERT

permission to exhibit a study of books various

(F 359; times
fig. 2)in
athis letters, always associating t
the Independants.22 Later on he also discussed the can- In this way an overall pictu
his recent work.
vas of Romans Parisiens and compared Gogh's
it withoeuvre can be constructed.
another
masterpiece, the Bedroom (F 482). Although the points
of comparison in his letter are limited SIGNATURES The simplest means of demons
to the color and
manner of execution, the context is stillhis authorship
significant be- that an artist has at his comm
cause both the matter of selling works course
of art,signing
the eco-his works. Van Gogh signed wo
nomic motive behind his oeuvre, and thehis very
reading of
beginning of his career and virtually
Richepin supplemented by Guy de Maupassant are only his Christian name. He
exception using
the
brought to bear.23 A chain of associations is practice of signing in the upright hand
being made
rather than a predetermined program. which had become a fashion during the I870's a
Almost all of the criteria which for underlined
van Gogh his name
werein the somewhat affected manner
determinative of whether or not a particular work
which was also was to of many succesful Salon paint-
the habit
be considered as part of his oeuvre can be demonstrated
ers.24 The fact that van Gogh signed with only his first
with the help of the Romans Parisiens. The
name subject
however in
distinguished him from these contempo-
such cases is nearly always invested with literary
raries asso- be explained as a protest against
and can perhaps
ciations which are often expressed in the title
the kind and ex-
of official art which was marketed for example
plained in the letters; he usually made a by
sketch ofof
the firm such a
his uncle, C.M. van Gogh.25 He himself
work in his letters and many times heexplained
executed one or
the matter of his chosen form of signature by
more replicas of or variants on the representation.
remarking that the The use of his surname would not be
works which to his mind belonged to the oeuvre
practical, were
as neither the French nor the English could
moreover intended for exhibition, andpronounce
he very often A signature is of course not usu-
it properly.
gave explicit instructions as to the way
allyin which
read out loudthey
and it isn't likely that the international
were to be framed. Studies on the other hand were was
art market rolled
a consideration while Vincent was sign-
up for dispatching and storage. Vincent
ingfurthermore
his earliest drawings.26 From the beginning then,
Vincent
tended to mention the works constituting his signed
oeuvremany
at of his works, including all those

22 "I quite approve of your also exhibiting theGogh''Livres'

too? I with the thought of you as 'Theo.' In character I am
have always
Independants; the title of this study ought to berather
'Romans Parisiens.'"
different from the various members of the family, and essen-
("Je trouve tres bien que tu mettes les Livres aussitially
aux I am not a 'Van Gogh."' ("ik vraag U ronduit hoe staan we
Independants,
faudra donner comme titre de cette etude: 'Romans parisiens."')
tegenover elkaar-zijt gij ook een 'Van Gogh ?' Ik beschouwde U altijd
Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 468, p. 53I. The English painter
als 'Theo.' In karakter A.S.
wijk ik nog al af van de verschillende leden der
Hartrick saw the canvas still on the easel during a visit
familietoen Vincent.
ik ben eigentlijk
Thegeen 'Van Gogh.'") Complete letters, vol. 2,
passage from Hartrick's book relevant to van Gogh nr.is 345a, p. 231. in the
reprinted
Verzamelde brieven van Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam 26 According to Kerssemakers, Vincent responded to questions as
(Wereldbiblio-
theek), vol. 3, nr. 462d (not included in the English
to whyedition).
he didn't See also
sign his full name by explaining, "Van Gogh is such
Welsh-Ovcharov, exhib. cat. Vincent van Gogh and an the
impossible
birth name
of for many foreigners to pronounce; if it should
Cloi-
sonism, op. cit. (note 15), pp. 33 & II6-I7. happen that my pictures found their way to France or England or
23 Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 555, pp. 89-90. anywhere else, then the name would certainly be murdered, whereas
24 See J. Knoef, "Signaturen in de I9e eeuwsche Nederlandsche
the whole world can pronounce the name Vincent." ("Van Gogh is
kunst," Maandblad voor Beeldende Kunst 24 (1948), zoo'n pp. 88-92. naam om uit te spreken voor vele vreemdelingen,
onmogenlijke
25 During a visit to Amsterdam with his Brabant friend
als mijn stukkenAnton
later in Frankrijk of in Engeland of waar ook terecht
Kerssemakers Vincent declined to enter the gallery,komen, dan explaining
wordt die naam "Izeker toch maar geradbraakt, terwijl heel
musn't show myself on the premises of such a worthy,
de wereld rich family."
den naam Vincent goed kan uitspreken.") Complete letters,
("bij zoo'n brave rijke familie moet ik mij niet laten
vol. 2,zien.")
nr. 435c,Complete
pp. 447-48. In Paris van Gogh signed himself pur-
letters, vol. 2, nr. 435c, pp. 446-47. Kerssemakersposefully
published his mem-
as Vincent, possibly in part to avoid any confusion with
ories of van Gogh in a newspaper article in 1912Theo (reprinted in the
van Gogh. "...Van Gogh, or 'Vincent' as he was generally known
Complete letters, nr. 435c). and signed himself in Paris, because the French could not pronounce
In addition to artistic considerations, Vincent's personal
Van wish Hartrick.
Gogh," remarked to Verzamelde brieven, op. cit. (note 22),
dissociate himself from his family may have played vol.
a 3, nr. in
role 462d,
hisp.choice
173 (not included in the English edition). See
of a signature. See for example letter 345a, in which Vincent
further writes
"List of to signature and date," in de la Faille, op. cit.
works with
his brother, "I ask you point-blank how we stand-are you a 'Van
(note 2), p. 675.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 229

3 Vincent van Gogh, The potato eaters

(F 82), Nuenen, April/May, I885.
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van
Gogh

which we now would include among his oeuvre. He sign canvases, but I soon stopped because it seemed too
changed this practice only after his crisis in Aries, and in foolish" with a discussion of painters and the "Parisian
St. Remy and Auvers the signing of works became the victory" for which they were striving. Gauguin too took
exception rather than the rule.7 By this time, as the part in the "Parisian struggle;" according to Vincent he
letters make evident, he had given up all hope of quick still believed in "a lasting success." Van Gogh on the
commercial success, so that one of the motives for pro- other hand was convinced by that time that "the siege of
viding works with signatures was no longer in force. failure" was part and parcel of the artist's profession.28
Moreover, van Gogh had by then developed a style so In spite of what he suggested, Vincent did sign works
personal as to rule out any possible doubt concerning his both before and after August, I888. He sometimes "jus-
authorship. tified" a signature on artistic grounds, such as an accent
Although van Gogh's practice is relatively clear, con- of color which was needed to balance the composition.29
fusion sometimes arises on account of the occasional In the case of the sunflower series the signature was
doubts expressed in the letters. A long letter written
placed on the vase where it followed the relief and thus
enhanced the illusion of three-dimensional spatiality,
from Aries in August of 1888 is a representative example
because van Gogh precedes the remark "I had begunclearly
to giving it a double function.

27 About one fourth of the drawings and graphic works and about
tion between Bongrand and Sandoz at the conclusion of the novel, in
which after his funeral, the two discuss the lot of their unfortunate
fifteen percent of the paintings are signed. An important canvas paint-
ed in St. Remy, the Starry night (F 612), is not signed and in Auvers friend Claude Lantier. Resignation to one's fate and continuation with
van Gogh signed only two works: the portrait of Adeline Ravoux one's work as a monk or a hermit is the message imparted. Zola makes
(F 768), because he gave her the work, and his "copy" after Delacroix use of the topos of the work of art as a child of the artist one last time
(F 757) which he made for Dr. Gachet. when he has Bongrand proclaim that painters apply themselves to the
28 "J'avais commence i signer les toiles, mais je me suis vite arrete,
making of defective children who are not even alive.
cela me semblait trop bete." Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 524, p. 17. Van
29 In the same letter he gives the example of the painting of fishers'
Gogh reflects on those painters who work differently than the Salon boats on the beach (F 413) dating from June, I888: "there is an ex-
painter Bouguereau and thus are forced to endure poverty and cessivelyiso- red signature, because I wanted a red note in the green." ("il
lation. He also refers to the painter Bongrand from Zola's L'Oeuvre. y a une tres exorbitante signature rouge, parce que je voulais une note
Undoubtedly at the back of his mind was the disconsolate conversa- rouge dans le vert.") Ibid.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 EVERT VAN UITERT
230

a;: ;??.. .....: -??????

??.. ??...r-i m:=??,
?it*r?.'.?6 r?7i.
?5. llr? ?~YY"
?:::-l?**Fi;'il?:?1

*:"' ?.? ??iii::bse

..I'itPPi5?:a
7i;
-u?l
*I" ??l?:r

RV SiT'??ri

5 Vincent
4 Vincent van Gogh, La chaumiere (F 83), Nuenen, May,van Gogh, Cimetiere de paysans (F 84), Nuenen, May,
I885.
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh 1885. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh

I NCEPTION OF THE oeuvre The moment at which Vin- to try to market his works "rather reluctantly," because
cent began work on his actual oeuvre and the directof the doubts he still had, he nevertheless firmly sup-
motives for his doing so can be determined withporteda his proposal.32 His art dealer brother Theo how-
ever was rather less than enthusiastic upon receiving it.
considerable degree of accuracy. In the winter of 1884
he made a series of water colors depicting weavers Theo apparently raised a number of objections which
were extremely painful to Vincent. The artist's business
(F I o17 ff) and a number of detailed pen drawings which
proposal had the necessary effect of forcing explicit
he provided with titles.30 These works so boosted his
judgements from Theo as to the quality of his brother's
confidence, thanks in part to the positive reaction of his
friend, the painter Anton van Rappard, that on or about work, and these rapidly led to friction between the two
the first of February, I884, he wrote to Theo, "Now brothers.
I In an exceptionally long letter (nr. 358) in
which Vincent discussed the "unsalability" of his work,
want to make you a proposal for the future. Let me send
he accused Theo of catering too much to the public in
you my work, and you keep what you like, but I insist on
considering the money I receive from you after March ashis business. An art dealer ought not to be neutral to-
wards artists, was Vincent's opinion, and he told his
money I have earned."31 Vincent had thought the mat-
brother emphatically, "if you do not do anything with
ter through carefully, and although he made the decision

30 Most of the weavers are signed; the Winter garden (F 128) is as 32 "Ik voor mij doe 't betrekkelijk i contre coeur; doch ik moet het
doen." Ibid. In a letter to van Rappard Vincent discussed the matter of
well. Van Gogh listed these and other drawings in a letter to his col-
league Anton van Rappard, who had reacted favorably to the draw- showing and selling works in more depth. "But, speaking for myself,
ings of weavers. He wrote that he was now sending "pen-and-ink this showing of my work to others once in a while is something that
drawings, 'Pollard Birches'-'Poplar Avenue'-Behind the Hedges'-stimulates me, now that I have started to do so (perhaps this seems
the 'Kingfisher'-'Winter Garden."' ("penteekening Knotberken-rather odd on my part)." ("Voor me zelf is het echter iets wat mij
Populierenlaan-Achter de Heggen-de IJsvogel-Wintertuin." [re- animeert nu ik er eenmaal een begin mee heb gemaakt [misschien is dit
spectively F I240, 1239, 1129, 1135 & 1130]) Complete letters, vol. heel
3, gek van me] om mijn werk eens aan enkelen te laten zien.")
nr. R 44, p. 403; Hulsker, op. cit. (note 4), p. 89. Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. R 41, p. 396. From letters written later we
know that during his Brabant period van Gogh showed work of his to
31 "Nu heb ik U een voorstel te doen voor 't vervolg. Laat ik U van
art dealers like Wallis, Wisselingh, Tersteeg and Leurs (letters 413,
mijn werk sturen, en neem gij ervan wat gij hebben wilt, doch het geld
421, 422 & 434). In Antwerp (letter 428), and of course in Paris as well,
dat na Maart ik zou ontvangen van U, sta ik op ik moge beschouwen als
door mij verdiend geld." Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 360, p. 274. he continued this practice.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 23I

my work, I do not cherish your protection."33 The situa- Rappard was enthusiastic about the work. His no-small
tion deteriorated further when Theo expressed his dis- ambition to make a history piece, a painting of actual
approval of Vincent's behavior and let a number of let- peasants, which was intended to simultaneously evoke
ters from his brother go unanswered. Vincent found that memories of I7th century Dutch art, was recognized for
Theo had no right to meddle in his private affairs and what it was but not approved.37 The Parisian art dealers
reproached his brother for "too much coldly respectable Portier and Serret criticized both the figures and the
diplomacy. "3 colors, or rather the lack of color. Van Gogh was at that
With great irritation Vincent reacted to a remark of time not yet familiar with the Impressionists, but he was
Theo's to the effect that his studies from Drenthe were aware that he himself was not at the artistic vanguard.
very suggestive of the work of Michel. "I do not put He promised to work in a lighter palette even though
myself at all on the same line with Master Michel, but he was primarily concerned with "the somber aspect;"
imitate Michel is what I decidedly do not do."35 Vincent "the peasant painted with the land that he sowed," as
had every reason to emphasize his artistic independence. Vincent quoted.38 As an example van Gogh mentioned
The only admission he would make was that the ceme- the "somber huts" which he then was encountering
tery and the grass huts were motifs which would have daily in the Brabant countryside.
appealed to Michel.36 Yet Theo was more right than To his brother Theo Vincent sent a hut painted in
Vincent cared to acknowledge and the rather bitter May of I885 together with a canvas of the churchyard
quarrel continued throughout the Spring of 1884. After and tower at Nuenen. Both works were given French
that other subjects dominated the correspondence. titles: la Chaumiere (F 83; fig. 4) and Cimetiere de pay-
Vincent's first and carefully planned attempt in the sans (F 84; fig. 5). He explains his intentions regarding
Spring of 1885 to make a masterpiece (the Potato eaters; these works in some depth.39 The subjects in question
fig. 3) met with little success; neither his brother nor van are interestingly enough variants on the Drenthe studies

33 "als ge niets doet met mijn werk, begeer ik uw protectie niet." Com- ing. Eliot wrote part ofherAdam Bede in Dresden, where she carefully
plete letters, vol. 2, nr. 358, p. 269. Vincent exclaimed dramatically, "A studied the famous painting collection. Michel's art was influenced by
wife you cannot give me, a child you cannot give me, work you cannot his work as restorer of i7th century Dutch pictures at the Louvre.
give me. Money, yes." ("Een vrouw kunt ge me niet geven, een kind In the Fall of 1883, during his stay in Drenthe, Vincent tried to
kunt ge me niet geven, werk kunt ge me niet geven. Geld, Ja.") Ibid., entice his brother into coming to Drenthe to be an artist too. He wrote:
p. 271. Apropos of a Salon critique by Paul Mantz, Vincent philoso- "A six-hour walk full of landscapes by Michel lies between you and the
phized about enthusiasts and merchants. In this letter to his brotherordinary world." ("6 uren gaans landschappen van Michel liggen tus-
he asserted "that enthusiasm sometimes calculates even better than schen U en de gewone wereld.") Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 339,
those cool heads which reckon themselves 'above such things.' [...] It isp. 203. Michel was the object of mutual admiration by the van Gogh
brothers and Vincent must therefore have found Theo's reproach
better to die of passion than to die of boredom." ("...dat enthousiasme
soms beter rekent dan zelfs de rekenaars die er zich 'boven verheven' quite painful. He brought the matter up again later; see Complete
achten. [...] mieux vaut crever de passion que de crever d'ennui.") letters, vol. 2, nr. 41 I, p. 388.
Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 408, p. 380. The opposition "enthusiast"36 "A subject which, I think, would have stopped Michel if he had
and "merchant" also played a role in Vincent's esteem for the art passed, and would have struck him." ("Motiefinderdaad en geval, dat
dealer Portier, who had criticized his Potato eaters. Complete letters, geloof ik, als Michel er langs was gekomen, hem zou hebben staande
vol. 2, nr. 410, pp. 385-86. gehouden en getroffen.") Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 358, p. 266.
34 Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 363, p. 280. 37 For a recent analysis of this much-discussed painting see Grisel-
35 "Ik voor mij stel me volstrekt niet met meester Michel gelijk- da Pollock, exhib. cat. Vincent van Gogh in z#jn Hollandsejaren. Kijk op
maar Michel imiteeren, dat doe ik daarom gedecideerd ook niet." Com-stad en land door Van Gogh en zijn tijdgenoten, Amsterdam (Rijks-
museum Vincent van Gogh) I980, pp. 121-28.
plete letters, vol. 2, nr. 358, p. 266. Vincent's admiration for Michel was
expressed in his earliest letters of I875. We know for certain that van 38 "Maar ik wou dat ik ook aan den somberen kant slaagde... 'le
Gogh read Alfred Sensier's Etude sur Georges Michel, published inpaysan peint avec la terre qu'il ensemence."' Complete letters, vol. 2,
Paris in 1873, which contained an etched reproduction of a painting ofnr. 410, p. 384. See also Evert van Uitert, "De toon van Vincent van
a hut (p. 26 and cat. nr. 57). The painting was then in the possession ofGogh. Opvattingen over kleur in zijn Hollandse periode," Simiolus i
Durand Ruel, where both Vincent and Theo could have seen it. The(1966-67), pp. 106-15.
landscape described by George Eliot in her novel Adam Bede is likened 39 He associated the cemetery with a saying of Victor Hugo's:
by Vincent to a painting by Michel. Complete letters, vol. I, nr. 23, "Religions pass away; God remains" ("Les religions passent, Dieu
p. 23 & nr. 36, p. 34. Both Michel and George Eliot, as well as the van demeure.") Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 41 , p. 386. For further litera-
Gogh brothers, were devotees of 17th century Dutch landscape paint- ture see de la Faille, op. cit. (note 2).

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
232 EVERT VAN UITERT

jects ashad
of the cottage and the cemetery which Theo the pointed
equivalents of religious themes in art, van
to as being so reminiscent of Michel. These two
Gogh also paint-
played them off against the genre of history
ings-Vincent no longer spoke of studies with
painting. Hisregard
arguments are the familiar ones voiced by
to these works-can be conceived of aspainters an attempt at
such as Courbet, Daumier and Millet. For van
revenge. Gogh the theme of peasant life was "the very core of
modern art."44 This point of view was by no means a
In the creation of his oeuvre van Gogh kept to a num-
new one and lack of success was predictable.
ber of specific motifs which recur in a variety of forms.
The huts of his Dutch period found their successors in The hut is not the only motif which occurs repeatedly
the fishermen's cottages of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in van Gogh's work; in Brabant he had especially con-
(F 419 & 420) and with even more conscious intent in centrated on figure drawing in preparation for a painting
the huts which Vincent painted in Auvers.40 When dur-
of the harvest. "I know for sure that my work will show
ing his hospitalization at St. Remy van Gogh once again
better the more I complete it," he wrote concerning his
turned back to the work of his Brabant period, he signifi-purposeful attempt at painting landscapes as well as fig-
cantly enough planned to execute new versions of the ural pieces portraying peasant life.45 In short, van Gogh
Cimetiere de paysans and la Chaumiere.41 This last wanted to present his oeuvre as a unified whole. He
theme, which before van Gogh was represented by the therefore also rejoiced at the fact "that more and more
Barbizon painters and Jules Dupre, has a tradition in art
they are beginning to arrange exhibitions of one person,
going back to 7th century Holland. A likely exemplar isor of a very few who belong together."46 In Paris Vin-
The hut by Adriaen van de Velde in the Rijksmuseum in cent van Gogh himself was to bring this method into
Amsterdam, a work which enjoyed great renown during practice.
the Igth century and had been described in glowing One of the paintings which he added to his oeuvre
terms by the famous critic Theophile Thore in his M/u- during his last months in Nuenen was an Autumn land-
sees de la Hollande.42 scape (F 44; fig. 6) which he associated with the now
familiar hut (F 83; fig. 4) and the cemetery at Nuenen
Vincent van Gogh had originally wanted to be a paint-
(F 84; fig. 5). Van Gogh took the canvas-he spoke in
er of peasants and had tried to develop his oeuvre within
this case of a study-to his friend Anton Kerssemakers
that framework. He was of the opinion that there could
in Eindhoven, who wanted to buy it. However, van
never be too many painters of rural life and he defended
that realistic genre passionately. His designs for the dec-
Gogh tells us, "I felt such a glow of courage when I saw
that it was good, that, as it hung there, it created an
oration of the dining room of an Eindhoven friend, for
which "instead of mystical Last Suppers" he proposedatmosphere by the soft melancholy harmony of that
"scenes from the rural life of the district" can be seen in combination of colors that I could not sell it."47 Instead,
this light.43 In addition to presenting his peasant sub- Vincent gave the picture as a present to his friend Kers-

40 See Evert van Uitert, "Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin also associated his huts with the little house in which Millet lived and
in competition: Vincent's original contribution," Simiolus I (i980),
with the birds' nests that he painted. He spoke in that last case of "little
pp. 105-06. human nests." Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 418, p. 397.
41 "Then, if you like, I will do the old tower of Nuenen again and 43 "...in plaats van mystieke laatste avondmalen scenes uit het boe-
the cottage. I think that if you still have them, I can make something
renleven uit den omtrek..." Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. R 47, p. 406.
better of them now from memory." ("Puis, si tu veux, je referai la44 In a letter of more than six printed pages he discusses the genre
vieille tour de Nuenen et la chaumiere. Je crois que si tu les as encore,of peasant life and all of the problems relating to it in great detail.
j'en ferais a present de souvenir quelque chose de mieux.") Complete Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 418, pp. 397-403.
letters, vol. 3, nr. 629, p. 262. 45 "Ik weet zeker dat mijn werk beter zal doen, naarmate ik 't een en
42 W. Burger [Thore], Musees de la Hollande, vol. i ("Amsterdam 't ander completeer." Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 418, p. 398.
et La Haye. Etudes sur l'ecole Hollandaise"), Paris I858, pp. 137-38.46 "...dat men meer en meer begint tentoonstellingen te maken van
Vincent van Gogh must have read the book early on. During a mutual i persoon of heel enkelen, die bij elkaar hooren." Ibid.
visit to Amsterdam in I885 he advised his friend Kerssemakers to buy 47 "ik had zulk een tinteling van goeden moed toen ik zag dat het
it. Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 435c, p. 446. voldeed, dat het een stemming opwekte zooals 't daar hing, door de
For the iconogiaphy of the hut see Joachim Gaus, "Die Urhutte.zachte, melankolieke vrede van die kleurcombinatie, dat ik niet kon
Uber ein Modell in der Baukunst und ein Motiv in der bildenden zerkoopen." Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 431, p. 432.
Kunst," Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch 33 (1971), pp. 7-70. Van Gogh

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 233

r??
*.*;1 ,? c
t

1 s
..?

-" --- *

tt--- --?, ??t:? i 7' ?

,, 1,, ?. I???-I

-?

6 Vincent van Gogh, Autumn landscape (F 44), Nuenen, November, 1885. Otterlo,
Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller

semakers, who was very pleased with the work and later SERIES The clearest indication of the underlying in-
published an account of the incident.48 His story ends tentions which led to the formation of the oeuvre is given
with a remark about the work's lack of a signature. Kers- by Vincent's habit of collecting his works together into
semakers wrote, "When I remarked that he had not yet groups. The composition of such groups varied con-
signed it, he said he might still do so at some time or siderably. Often they consisted of paintings which he
other, '[...], but actually it isn't necessary; they will sure- wanted to show to friends or other interested parties,
ly recognize my work later on, and write about me when either in Theo's home or in expositions. Salability of
I'm dead and gone. I shall see to it, if a little time is left to course played a role in the exhibiting of works.
me.'"49 Even if one allows for a certain measure of irony The so-called decorations form a separate category.
on van Gogh's part and some exaggeration on Kersse- These consist of series of canvases grouped together to
makers's, the incident indicates that shortly before he compose a decoration for the yellow house in Aries. Vin-
left Holland, Vincent had acquired enough self-confi- cent regularly made up lists of the works which he in-
dence to believe in his incipient oeuvre, even if he had yet tended for the house and indicated their relationship
to achieve any kind of commercial success. to one another with respect to both subject matter and

48 Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 435c, pp. 443-49. Vincent was proba- 49 "Toen ik hem de bemerking maakte, dat het nog niet door hem
bly unaware that he was following the prideful example of Zeuxis. onderteekend was, zei hij, dat zal ik misschien nog wel eens komen
Pliny relates that Zeuxis gave his works away because their value could doen, [...], doch eigenlijk is dit toch niet noodig, ze zullen mijn werk
not be expressed in terms of money. Naturalis historia, 35, 62. The later toch wel kennen, en ze zullen over mij nog wel eens wat schrijven,
story is cited often in later literature and long remained one of the als ik dood ben, daar zal ik, als ik tijd van leven heb, wel voor zorgen."
determinants of the image of the artist. Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 435c, p. 449.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
234 EVERT VAN UITERT

color scheme. One example of such a decoration is the

series of sunflowers, later combined with the Woman
rocking a cradle (la Berceuse). Others are the series en-
titled the Poet's garden and a decorative scheme consist-
ing of paintings of orchards in bloom, which he had
designed earlier.50
One of the most interesting paintings within the oeu-
vre is the Night cafe (F 463). Van Gogh discussed in
detail his intentions concerning this work, which is in
itself enough reason to include it among those belonging
to his oeuvre.51 He moreover compared the work with his
first "masterpiece," the Potato eaters, as well as with the
painting of the Sower (F 422), of which he later also
executed a number of other versions.52
7 Vincent van Gogh, Sketches after his portrait of Dr. Gachet's
What these three paintings had in common in van daughter and a landscape in letter 645, Auvers, June, 1980

Gogh's estimation is surprisingly enough their ugliness.

The Sower and the Night cafe, which he characterized as
"des essais de tableaux composes" (attempts at com-
posed pictures) seemed to him "usually atrociously ugly tableaux; for an artist so chronically short of funds as he
and bad..." He explained why he nevertheless included an obvious necessary practice. Large paintings, which in
them in his oeuvre by referring to his own emotionality, van Gogh's case means larger than a meter, were made
which made these paintings "the only ones which ap- only sporadically. In 1887 in Paris he painted two views
pear to have any deeper meaning..."53 In this case he of Montmartre in an oblong format (F 316 & 350), a
made literary associations between this meaning and the large canvas with a view of the Argenson park at As-
writings of Dostoevsky.54 nieres (F 3 4) and a representation of dried sunflowers
(F 452). He was very well aware of the fact that it was
FORMATS OF DECORATION Vincent van Gogh usual- more difficult to sell large works, but maintained "later
ly used smaller sized canvases for his studies than for his on people will see that there is open air in them and good

50 For the concept of decoration and its significance within Vin- Cafe de nuit continue le Semeur...") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 533,
cent's oeuvre, see Evert van Uitert, "Vincent van Gogh in anticipation pp. 28-29.
of Paul Gauguin," Simiolus 10 (1978-79), pp. 182-87. 53 "Les etudes outrees comme le Semeur, comme maintenant
51 The painting is signed and was given the title Le cafe de nuit. le Cafe de nuit, me semblent a moi atrocement laides et mauvaises
Vincent associated the theme with the lithographs of Lemud; in his d'habitude, mais lorsque je suis emotionne par quelque chose, comme
estimation a talent as great as Hoffmann or Edgar Allen Poe. Complete ici ce petit article, sur Dostoievsky, alors ce sont les seules qui me
letters, vol. 3, nr. 518, pp. 1-2. After the work had been completed van paraissent avoir une signification plus grave." Complete letters, vol. 3,
Gogh wrote, "In my picture of the 'Night Cafe' I have tried to express nr. 535, P. 33.
the idea that the cafe is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad or 54 He also wrote to his sister that he had read an article on Dos-
commit a crime. [...] And all with an appearance of Japanese gaiety, toevsky, "who wrote a book Souvenirs de la maison des morts, and this
and the good nature of Tartarin." [Tartarin de Tarascon is the pro- induced me to resume a large study I had begun in the fever ward at
tagonist of Daudet's novel of the same name.] ("Dans mon tableau de Aries." ("qui avait ecrit un livre Souvenirs de la maison des morts et
cafe de nuit, j'ai cherche i exprimer que le cafe est un endroit oi l'on cela m'avait pousse a reprendre une grande etude que j'avais commen-
peut se ruiner, devenir fou, commettre des crimes. [...] Et toutefois ce dans la salle des fievreux a Aries.") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. W I5,
sous une apparence de gaiete japonaise et la bonhomie du Tartarin.") p. 461. The French translation of Dostoevsky's book dates from I886.
Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 534, p. 3 This conception of the cafe is far Possibly van Gogh had read one of Eugene Melchior de Vogii's arti-
removed from Lemud's sentimental prints Le cafe and Le vin of I840, cles on the Russian novel in the Revue des Deux Mondes. During this
which were published by Rittner and Goupil in Paris. same period the journal also published a series of articles under the
52 "It is the equal, although different, of the 'Potato Eaters.' [...] heading "La religion en Russe" by Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu. We know
The 'Night Cafe carries on the style of the 'Sower'..." ("II est equi- for certain that van Gogh read part five of this series, which appeared
valent, quoique different, aux mangers de pommes de terre. [...] Le in the literary supplement of September I5th, I888. Collected letters,
vol. 3, nr. 542, p. 52.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 235

'A,
.'- ..i.
.? (.::-. .:-4.

--l-l?ll

8 Vincent van Gogh, Women crossing the fields (F 8

8 Vincent van Gogh, Women crossing thef

humor."55 Van Gogh painted

which his
he had seen
style suggestive to
of the home of
Pointillism Lei
and i
rat was also a mind
source while
of he was
inspiration
canvases. of landscapes
Significant in is
at any rate lar
the quotation in One of Vincent's
the letter just citl
whole lot would included in his
do for the oeu
decorat
also on This
or a country house."56 account
commof
plicit reference Daubigny. The repr
both to Vincent's
Eindhoven, for at the rear
which by Dau
he execute
ing, to
discussed above, and which was con
the decorati
er Leijs had madehas thematic
for affir
the dining
Antwerp.57 Moreover, the
decoration statem
that van
decorations vanbeGogh
Paul would later
Gauguin's i
physical situation of
The such painted
portrait whic
above a dark wainscot
daughterunder the
seated be
their elongated conceived
format. Such
of as deco
par

55 "Je sais bien que ces 57 grandes See notes toiles 43 and longue 44
85.
mais plus tard on verra qu'il y a du plein ai
Complete letters, vol. 58 The works2,
referred to (F 770, 771, 773,
nr. 775, 778 & 779, the p. 523. T
462,
landscapes (F 316 & famous350), which
Wheatfield with crows) all measure about 50 by o00 centi-he had al
pendants, were conceived
meters. of as real masterpi
museum in The Hague. 59 The Garden Complete ofDaubigny exists in two versions (F 776 & 777).
letters, vo S
for this theme
56 "Maintenant le tout van Uitert, une
fera op. cit. (notedecoration
40), p. 102.
maison de campagne." Collected letters, vol

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
236 EVERT VAN UITERT

large canvas measuring IOO by 50 centimeters, but by

way of exception it is higher than it is wide. In a letter
Vincent sketched the composition (fig. 7) juxtaposed to a
landscape of the same size, but oblong (F 775). "I have
noticed," he wrote of the portrait, "that this canvas goes
very well with another, horizontal one of wheat, as one
canvas is vertical and in pink tones, the other pale green
and greenish-yellow, the complementary of pink;..."60
As was so often the case, van Gogh first drew attention
to the harmonious contrasts of complementary colors
and "combinations of very pretty light
-? colors."61 Never-
- 1 L_- __Al k w

theless, it soon becomes apparent that in addition to the I

stylistic points of comparison there are also thematic

associations at work. Van Gogh's further comments in
i
this same letter indicate that the combination of the two
works has to do with the relationship between man and
nature. Van Gogh had encountered that subject invan
9 Vincent Puvis
Gogh, Sketch of the Sow
de Chavannes's Inter artes et naturam,
(Bof7),
which he had
Aries, June, i888
seen a sketch while travelling through Paris. He later
copied the sketch from memory in a letter.62 One could
give the title Inter artes et naturam to the decoration
consisting of the girl behind the piano and the expansive
landscape as well as to an oblong canvas depicting two
women walking in a landscape (F 819; fig. 8).

THE SOWER All of the factors which played a exceptionally

Graefe, role in influentia
the development of any particular motif are Gogh
van encountered
legend, should suffice
in the various versions of the Sower, a subject which
sociation. In his two-volume mo
Vincent borrowed from Millet. The theme appeared in I92I, Meier-Graefe
is not only
the one with which van Gogh began parable his careerofas an
the sower and wrote,
artist; in the praises of the French critic
wasAurier written to create a new kin
destined
remaining
during the artist's lifetime and especially to us, the legend of t
in the later van
Gogh literature, Vincent himself came to be identified
make living men." "The picture
with the Sower.63 A quotation from Julius
that Meier-
legend hardly be anything e

60 "J'ai remarque que cette toile fait tres bien scape,

avec unea landscape
autre en and a portrait." ("En
largeur, de bles, ainsi l'une toile etant en hauteur et rose, l'autre
portret, een d'un
landschap, een landschap
vert pale et jeune vert complementaire du rose;..."ters, Vanvol.Gogh then
3, nr. W 5, p. 440.
continues, "but we are still far from the time when 6ipeople
"deswillarrangements
under- de couleurs cla
stand the curious relation between one fragment of nature
letters, vol.and
3,an-nr. 645, p. 289. Here van
other, which all the same explain each other and enhance
ing each other."
of passers-by who have feeling fo
("mais nous en sommes encore loin avant les gens wouldcomprennent
like to les paint.
curieux rapports qui existent entre un morceau62 de la nature et un
Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. W 22, p
63l'autre."
autre, qui pourtant s'expliquent et se font valoir l'un Albert Aurier, "Les isoles. Vincent
Complete
de thought
letters, vol. 3, nr. 645, p. 288. Van Gogh had already France, January,
about the 1890, pp. 24-29. S
combination of a portrait with a landscape while "Dehe waslegendevorming
working on the te bevorderen;
Woman rocking a cradle ("la Berceuse"). He wrote his sister Wille-in Rond de roem van Vi
Goghmythe,"
mien: "I am always looking for the same thing-a portrait, a land-
(Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh) 197

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 237

+ 4
.R

io Vincent van Gogh, The sower (F 422), Aries, June, I8

life of the
Sower:
in a the great
vast seed and curre
landscape. On
kingdom."64 viewed from the front
The development of the
tion sower series
"Zaaijer" is easy t
["Sower"]
Van Gogh's earliest drawings contained
a role in the decoration a nu
variants on the theme. The monumental
Nuenen period for his sow
ed from Millet sometimes appears
(F 143). as a
Only in small
Aries,

64 "Die Geschichte seineswas

Lebens ist bestimmt,
traditional (see Kris eine ne
& Kur
Legende zu bilden, die einzige, die of
creation uns
hisiibrigbleibt,
"new legend" dieM
dem Samann, der Menschen vanmachen
Gogh's wollte. [...] Die in
own imagery, Bild
w
dafiir kaum etwas anderes sein,
artist alsall
than was sie artists,"
other im Leben w
Samanns waren: Samen und Tauschmittel
cent completes the seiner Genoss
connection
Julius Meier-Graefe,
Vincent,
spokevol. 2, Munich
in parables 1921,a p.
"(What i
sow
volume of Meier-Graefe's
monograph has been translated
etc.)." See Complete letters, vo i
by John Holroyd-Reece, London 1922 (and
Meier-Graefe later
was not editi
origina
Kenworth Moffett, Meier-Graefe as art only
sower applied critic,toMunich
Vincen
Kunst des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts,
Poeten, published19] 1973,
in 1899pp.inI24
S
The "sower who wantedartist
to make living
Hans Thoma men" does n
a sower.
origin in the parable but derives from
Feuerbach, other sources.
B6cklin, The
Klinger,
of the divine artist endowed with
reau; notcreative
exactly powers with
Meier-Graef

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
238 EVERT VAN UITERT

of the subject as one that he wanted to incorporate into

his oeuvre; an attempt which initially failed.65 In June of
1888 he worked on a Sower which he characterized as a
color study in a number of letters, including one to Ber-
nard in which he also made a sketch (fig. 9).66 The sub-
ject was a difficult one, van Gogh wrote in late June, and
several days later he remarked, "the sketch, such as it
is-a size 25 canvas-torments me, making me wonder
if I shouldn't attack it seriously and make a tremendous
picture of it. My Lord, I do want to."67
About a week later, Vincent let his brother know that
he had completely reworked his Sower (F 422; fig. io).68
He was not satisfied with this new version either, how-
ever, for in a letter written during the middle of August
he calls the work a failure.69 Sometime later he referred
to the work as an attempt at a composed painting, and in
the following letter to Theo the Sower and the Night cafe _- - * I ? gr
were described as "exaggerated studies."70 Here Vin- ii Vincent van Gogh, Sketc
cent's nomenclature quite accurately reflects his inten- Aries, October, I888
tions and his judgements.
Dissatisfied with the results of these experiments, in
the Fall of 888 van Gogh painted another version of the with a tree occupies
Sower (F 494) in which a small figure is represented in head isenframed by a
a flat landscape (fig. I ).71 Important for him at that time the canvas was
moment was the fact that Gauguin approved of the estimation.73 Only n
work.72 Yet this variant did not mark the end of the transforming the mot
series, for in November van Gogh executed another help of compositional
Sower, now presented as a large figure which together guin, into a personally

65 The sower is portrayed in a side view in, among others, F 830 (a 68 Complete letters, vol. 2,
copy after Millet), 856, 858 & 866a; all made in Etten. In Nuenen: 69 Ibid., vol. 3, nr. 522, p.
F I 143 (part of the decoration for Hermans); Hulsker (op. cit. [note 2]) 70 "Car il y a encore gutr
also illustrates a page from a sketchbook depicting a sower, p. x28, nr. soient des essais de tableaux
556. The theme of the sower does not recur until his Aries period, 534, p. 3I; nr. 535, p. 33-
where Vincent also made painted versions: F422, 1441, 575a, the 71 Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 558b (with sketch of F 494), pp. 98-
version with the sun and a tree (F 450 & 45 ) and a sketch in a letter.99-
In St. Remy he painted two canvases in direct imitation of Millet's 72 "I do not yet know what Gauguin thinks of my decorations in
version: F 689 & 690; drawings dating from this period are F 1551, general, I only know that there are already some studies which he
I592 verso, 1603, i6x8 & I645 recto and verso. In Auvers the motif has really likes, like the sower, the sunflowers, and the bedroom." ("Ce
disappeared from his work. que pense G[auguin] de ma decoration en general je ne le sais pas
66 Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. B 7, pp. 491-93. The color study isencore, je sais seulement qu'il y a deji quelques etudes qu'il aime
also described in a letter to Theo (vol. 2, nr. 501, p. 591) and one toreellement, ainsi le semeur, les tournesols, la chambre i coucher."
Russell (vol. 2, nr. 5soa, p. 594). Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 558, p. 95.
67 "Aussi l'esquisse telle quelle-toile de 25-me tourmente-t-elle 73 Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 558a (with sketch of F 450), p. 96.
beaucoup dans ce sens que je me demande s'il ne faudrait pas la pren-"From time to time there's a canvas which will make a tableau, such as
dre au serieux et en faire un terrible tableau, mon dieu comme j'enthe "Sower" in question, which I myself think better than the first."
aurais envie!" Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 501, p. 591. Hulsker (op. cit. ("De temps en temps une toile qui fait tableau, tel que le semeur en
[note 4], p. 135) dates letter 501 two or three days after 50oa. Bothquestion, que je crois moi aussi mieux que le premier.") Complete
letters, as well as that to Bernard, were written during the last week ofletters, vol. 3, nr. 560, p. ioI.
June, i888.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 239

I2 Vincent van Gogh, The sower (F 451; smaller version of F 450), Aries, November (?), i888.
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh

to Sensier Millet's Sower lived on in the memory of dated both by the authority of his real father, the Rever-
artists as "le chef-d'oeuvre de Millet," then van Gogh end Theodorus van Gogh, and that of Millet, one of his
had finally succeeded in emulating Millet.74 artistic fathers.
In contrast to the series of huts, shoes, orchards, gar- During his hospitalization in St. Remy van Gogh did
dens, sunflowers and other subjects, van Gogh had great not continue to explore the possibilities of his own em-
difficulty in arriving at his own personal interpretation ulated version of the sower theme but instead reverted
of the sower. That had undoubtedly to do with the sub- back to that of Millet (F 689 & 69o).75 At this point the
ject's religious overtones and with van Gogh's great re- development of the motif had gone full circle, for after-
verence for Millet. In other words, Vincent was intimi- wards van Gogh no longer painted sowers.

74 Alfred Sensier, La vie et l'oeuvre de J.F. Millet, Paris i88I, p. sense that humanity might be the wheat he is reaping. So it is-if you
127. like-the opposite of that sower I tried to do before." ("J'y vis alors
75 The parable of the Sower (Matthew 13: 3ff.) made a great im- dans ce faucheur-vague figure qui lutte comme un diable en pleine
pression on Vincent. In Amsterdam in 1877 he heard a sermon on the chaleur pour venir a bout de sa besogne-j'y vis alors l'image de la
subject by the Reverend Laurillard, which he wrote to Theo had mort, dans ce sens que l'humanite serait le ble qu'on fauche. C'est
deeply affected him. Complete letters, vol. i, nr. 101, p. 125. donc-si tu veux-l'opposition de ce semeur que j'avais essaye aupa-
Sower and reaper, a subject also painted by van Gogh (F 617, 618 & ravant." Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 604, p. 202. Compare the texts of
619) belong together according to their biblical context. "For I see in Luke 19:21-22 and John 4:30-37. See also letter nr. 607, p. 218.
this reaper-a vague figure fighting like a devil in the midst of the heat Vincent thought his Reaper (F 617) good enough to be sent to the
to get to the end of his task-I see in him the image of death, in the exhibition of Les Vingts in Brussels.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
240 EVERT VAN UITERT

?.:.' .:i

:~.. ,

I3 Vincent van Gogh, Still-life

?"
?,.

i ?*:. ?:::r:e: ;?

with fruit (F 378), Paris,

:'I?'*??
.0 : .:. '#?
?, :
i1*45:
as??sb t? " ??? I i.:~~~/
P'c. ..,.
Autumn, 1887. Otterlo, i?? ;; :?,,? ?i?
8 :* .'* red, ???.*
Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller ?r gi.., ':ii

STILL-LIFES AND PORTRAITS To several other se- the development of van Gogh's oeuvre, the break in cor-
respondence
ries within the oeuvre no attention has of yet been de- with Theo during this period stands in the
voted. The water colors of the weavers on which Vincent
way of closer analysis. Little can be said other than that
the fur-
worked during the beginning of his career were not subject was a familiar one in the graphic arts and that
ther developed. The theme never evolved into van Gogh almost certainly identified with the workers
a full-
who wore such sturdy shoes.77 The symbolism of van
fledged series, possibly because van Gogh no longer
Gogh's shoe representations, like that of his series of
encountered weavers in his daily surroundings.76
birds'
The shoe series was largely executed in Paris, and nests, seems to have been determined to a great
extentin
although this seems to have been an important subject by personal idiosyncrasy and not geared to an art-

76 The theme of the weaver represented in an interior withnature

his loom(Studies in honor of H.W. Janson), New York & Englewood
originated in art in about the middle of the I7th century Cliffs
in Haar-1981, pp. 669-88.
77 See John A. Walker, "Art history versus philosophy. The enig-
lem. See A. Heppner, Weverswerkplaatsen geschilderd door Haarlem-
ma ofthe
sche meesters der i7e eeuw, Haarlem 1938. During the I9th century the 'old shoes,"' in: Van Gogh studies. Five critical essays, Lon-
donGogh's
motif occurs most often in prints, which seem to have been van 1981, pp. 61-71. Walker is able to convincingly disprove Heideg-
direct source of inspiration. See Ronald Pickvance, introduction and
ger's interpretation. An etching of Jacquemart's dating from 1862
which
exhib. cat. English influences on Vincent van Gogh, Nottingham (Uni-represents old shoes, a role of canvas and a palette is entitled
versity Art Gallery) 1974 (travelling exhibition organized by the Fine de voyage. See exhib. cat. Von Delacroix bis Munch, Kunstler-
Souvenirs
Art Department, University of Nottingham and the Arts Councilgraphikof im ig. Jahrhundert, Minster (Westfalisches Landesmuseum)
Great Britain, 1974-75), pp. 53, 55 & 69 and Linda Nochlin, 1978,"Van
p. 56, cat. nr. 55. For the particularly rich iconography of shoes,
Gogh, Renouard, and the Weavers' Crisis in Lyon: the status of a cat. Schuhwerke. Aspekte zum Menschenbild, Nuremberg
see exhib.
social issue in the art of the later nineteenth century," in Art, (Kunsthalle)
the ape of 1976, esp. Claus Korte, "Van Gogh und das Schuh-
Stilleben der Bataille du Realisme," pp. 8-i6.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 24I

_ C . . .. I4 Vincent van Gogh, Basket of

-- ^ il ? p fruit (F 502), Aries, May, 1889.
. ; ,: i" ' ^i ) Upperville, Virginia, Collection
rf ....of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

buying public. There is also no mention of exhibiting acquaintances.78 Later Vincent sometimes offered such
works depicting either of these subjects, in contrast to fruits of his labor to his friends. He exchanged a Basket
the Sower and other masterpieces. offruit painted in Paris with Lucien Pissarro (F 378;
The paintings of baskets, sometimes filled with po- fig. 13) and designated another for Breitner (F 379).79
tatoes, sometimes with fruit and occasionally with flower These iconographically traditional fruit baskets are
bulbs form a separate category. Van Gogh seems to have studies which strictly speaking cannot be included in the
conceived of the still-lifes of his Brabant period as exer- official oeuvre, but of course are hardly the worst works
cises in the rendition of color and space and related them Vincent could have chosen to offer. Of the signed and
to the lessons in painting he was giving to his Eindhoven dated Basket offruit executed in Aries in January, 1889

78 Vincent wrote to his brother that he could give lessons in paint- Ibid., nr. 435c, p. 444. Van Gogh was probably also stimulated to paint
ing, "letting them begin by painting still life, which I think is a differ- still-lifes by his reading about Chardin in the Goncourt brothers' L'art
ent method from that of the drawing masters. I have tried it on those du XVIIIe siecle. In November, 1885, he wrote to Theo that he had
acquaintances of mine in Eindhoven, and I should dare to repeat it." just received and was reading the book and that he very much enjoy-
("met stilleven schilderen latende beginnen, 't geen geloof ik een an- ed the comments on Chardin's technique. Complete letters, vol. 2, nr.
dere methode is dan die van de teekenmeesters. Op die kennissen van 43I, p. 431.
me in Eindhoven heb ik daar proeven mee genomen, die ik zou durven 79 Both works are signed. In Aries Vincent conceived a-never
herhalen.") Complete letters, vol. 2, nr. 434, p. 439. Kerssemakers also carried out-plan to dedicate the painting (F 379) to Breitner and to
reports that van Gogh had told him there was nothing like painting make a present of others to the widow of the painter Mauve, his sister
still-lifes "for learning to put things in their right positions, and for Willemien, the museum at The Hague and the art dealer Tersteeg; all
learning to get them properly separated in space." ("...om de dingen with the intention of "launching the Impressionists." Complete letters,
op zijn plaats te leeren zetten en ze van elkaar af te leeren brengen.") vol. 2, nr. 473, pp. 539-40.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
242 EVERT VAN UITERT

(F 502; fig. I4), van Gogh remarked that it had

between "almost
mere studies of physical features and portraits
with aa deeper
what you would call chic;" in other words, qualitysignificance.
that The portrait of Dr. Gachet
would make it more salable.80 belongs without doubt to the latter category, as do the
The many flower still-lifes have a comparable status. various versions of the Arlesienne, the portrait of the
These are regularly described as color studies and on a poet Boch, the portrait of Madame Roulin as "la Ber-
few occasions were conceived of as part of a decoration. ceuse" and a few others. In all of these cases van Gogh
We know for certain that this was true of the sunflowers made his intentions evident through the addition of
in a vase; in other cases it is surmisable. Such works ofbooks or other props. Sometimes the title of a book pro-
course also made very suitable gifts to friends and ac- vides the key to an underlying system of symbolism. A
quaintances.81 further important characteristic of such works is the use
The fish still-lifes form an even more problematic of stylization. This is obvious in the Arlesienne series,
group. The last work in this series was painted in Aries where the representation was based on a drawing of
(F 5 Io) and was given as a keepsake to Signac, who help- Gauguin's, and it also applies to a significant extent to
ed van Gogh during a difficult situation with the local his last self-portrait (F 627) and to the portrait of Dr.
police. In a letter to Theo Vincent explained the pun Gachet.83
with regard to this present: the two "harengs fumes" Self-portraits, of which Vincent painted many, can be
(bloaters) alluded to the gendarmes of Aries, whose conceived of as painted signatures. One reason that he
nickname it was.82 practised the genre so often was of course that it was his
Van Gogh considered his portraits to be one of the ambition to be a figural painter and for want of other
most important constituents of his overall oeuvre. Part models had to use himself.84 Yet this can only have been
of the reason for this was simply that he believed portrai- a part of his motivation, for van Gogh also exchanged
ture to offer the best opportunity to earn a living. Yet even self-portraits with other painters and hoped to form his
within this genre it is not always easy to draw the line own personal collection of artists' portraits. The image

80 "I have just finished a new canvas which has almost what you idea symbolizing 'gratitude."' ("Mettons que les deux toiles de tour-
would call chic, a wicker basket with lemons and oranges, a cypress nesols qui actuellement sont aux Vingtistes ayant de certaines qualites
branch and a pair of blue gloves. You have already seen some of these de couleur et puis aussi qa exprime une idee symbolisant 'la grati-
baskets of fruit of mine." ("Je viens de terminer une nouvelle toile qui tude.'") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 626a, p. 257. In a letter of the same
a un petit air presque chic, un panier d'osier avec citrons et oranges- date to Theo (nr. 626) Vincent proposed to exchange the copies of the
une branche de cypres et une paire de gants bleus, tu as deja vu de ces Sunflowers and the Woman rocking a cradle ("la Berceuse") for some-
paniers de fruits de moi.") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 573, p. I26. thing of Gauguin's.
Vincent despised works made to be pretty or for effect. In such cases 82 "Je lui [Signac] ai donne en souvenir une nature morte qui avait
he spoke disparagingly of a "chickje," as his Brabant pupil Gestel tells exaspere les bons gensd'armes de la ville d'Arles, parce que cela re-
us. He once chastized another student, van de Wakker: "You've got a presentait deux harengs fumes, qu'on nomme gensdarmes comme tu
'chicie' about you, something French; how you got it I don't know, sais." Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 581, p. I43.
you're making a 'chicie.' But you must paint more after nature; you're 83 See van Uitert, op. cit. (note 40), pp. 87-102. Baudelaire had
not disciplined enough." ("Jij hebt een chickie over je, iets Fransch; contributed greatly to the revaluation of the portrait, as that genre
hoe je er aan komt, weet ik niet; je maakt een chickie. Maar je moet above all others lent itself to the expression of his modern ideal of
meer naar de natuur schilderen; je bent niet streng genoeg." Verza- beauty. He treated the subject most extensively in his essay "Le pein-
melde brieven, op. cit. (note 22), nr. 435d. p. ioi and nr. 435e, p. 105 tre de la vie moderne" of 1863. The old hierarchy of the genres had
(letters not included in the English edition). The most famous treatise now been reversed, something that van Gogh also realized. He
on le chic is in Baudelaire's Salon de 1846; the chapter entitled "Du debated the matter heatedly with Gauguin and among other things
chic et du poncif." Baudelaire defined this "modern monstrousness" wrote of portraiture: "You may say that it is an old story, but it is a new
as the "absence of relief and of nature;" as an adroitness of hand on the one as well." ("...le portrait, c'est du vieux qa peut-on dire, mais c'est
part of the painter. Quoted from Curiosites esthetiques: I'art romantique aussi tres-neuf.") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 604, p. 205.
et autres oeuvres critiques, Paris 1962, pp. I63-64. 84 See A.M. Hammacher, Vincent van Gogh, Selbstbildnisse, Stutt-
8I To the critic Aurier van Gogh wrote, "Suppose that the two gart 1960 and F. Erpel, Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs, Berlin
pictures of sunflowers [F 454 & 456], which are now at the Vingtistes' 1963. Forty drawn and painted self-portraits are known; see the "List
exhibition, have certain qualities of color, and that they also express an of subjects" in de la Faille, op. cit. (note 2), p. 677.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Van Gogh's concept of his oeuvre 243

15 Eugene Delacroix, Portrait of Alfred Bruyas, I853.

Montpellier, Musee Fabre

of the artist and that of himself must have weighed on and Cabanel, among others. His role as patron of the arts
his mind.85 In the company of Gauguin he visited one of was well known. The melancholy portrait painted by
the most curious portrait galleries of the i9th century, Delacroix made a particularly strong impression on van
that of Bruyas in Montpellier. Bruyas had had his por- Gogh (fig. 5). Vincent thought that the portrait bore a
trait painted by Delacroix, Courbet, Couture, Ricard family resemblance to himself and Theo as to that of

85 In a letter to Bernard van Gogh referred to the custom among ment, et non pas dans les intrigues.") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. B 18,
Japanese artists of exchanging works with one another: "For a long p. 516. A year later van Gogh wrote from St. Remy, "...but let's keep
time I have thought it touching that the Japanese artists used to ex- looking out for portraits, especially by artists such as Guillaumin, and
change works among themselves very often. It certainly proves that the portrait of the girl by Guillaumin, and carefully keep my portrait
they liked and upheld each other, and that there reigned a certain by Russell that I am so fond of. Have you framed the portrait of
harmony among them, and that they were really living in some sort of Laval?..." ("...mais continuons toujours a rechercher des portraits
fraternal community, quite naturally, and not in intrigues." ("J'ai surtout d'artistes tel le Guillaumin et le portrait de jeune fille de Guil-
depuis longtemps ete touche de ce que les artistes japonais ont prati- laumin et garde bien mon portrait par Russell auquel je tiens tant. As-
que tres souvent l'echange entre eux. Cela prouve bien qu'ils s'aimai- tu encadre le portrait de Laval?") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. 604, p.
ent et se tenaient, et qu'il regnait une certaine harmonie entre eux; 205.

qu'ils vivaient justement dans une sorte de vie fraternelle, naturelle-

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
244

"another brother."86 This statement, containing as it members. For Vincent these figures apparently func-
does a barely disguised revelation both of Vincent's de- tioned as a private audience so long as he couldn't reach
pendence on his brother and his longing to break free, the general public with his oeuvre. Poor health and lack
either by earning recognition with the public at large of time prevented him from realizing that aim. His oeu-
or by finding another patron, betrays the psychological vre remained incomplete in two respects: ideas which he
motivation which also played a role in Vincent's ambi- carried around in his head were never worked out on
tion to create an oeuvre. Van Gogh had been prepared canvas and he was never able to organize a retrospective
for viewing the Bruyas portrait by his reading of Sil- exhibition for which he could make his own selection of
vestre, who had written that Delacroix was no portrait- works. In spite of that, it is still possible, through the
ist, but "almost its opposite: a painter-creator."87 Van application of a combination of criteria, to form an im-
Gogh used this same term to characterize his partner pression of what Vincent van Gogh believed to consti-
Gauguin and in his Portrait of the poet he gave the con- tute his real oeuvre.
cept visual form.88
With his artists' portraits van Gogh was trying to es-
tablish an artistic family which in reality could never INSTITUTE FOR ART HISTORY

exist. Opponents such as Gauguin and Seurat were to be UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT

86 "...is as like you and me as another brother." ("...nous ressemble 87 "...Delacroix, non pas un portraitiste, mais presq
a toi et H moi comme un nouveau frere.") Complete letters, vol. 3, nr. traire: un peintre cr6ateur." Theophile Silvestre, Les art
564, p. Io9. In the same letter Vincent asked his brother to tell Degas vol. 2, Paris I926 (ed. princ. I855-56), p. 240. Silvestr
that he and Gauguin had seen Delacroix's portrait of Bruyas. Vincent proclamation in connection with the Bruyas portrait, w
associated the painting with a line by Alfred de Musset: "Wherever I cussed along with those of Courbet and Couture. The i
touched the earth-an unfortunate fellow in black sat down close to us, Silvestre's article on Delacroix for van Gogh can be gauged
and looked at us like a brother." ("partout oiu j'ai touch6 la terre-un his citations from it, but also by virtue of the fact that
malheureux vetu de noir, aupres de nous venait s'asseoir, qui nous have his physicians, Dr. Rey and his colleague, read Silv
regardait comme un frere.") Ibid., p. io8. The small discrepancies Van Gogh had also apparently lent the book to Bernar
would indicate that van Gogh was probably quoting the passage from letters, vol. 3, nr. 570, p. 16.
Alfred de Musset's La nuit de decembre from memory. He had read the 88 See Evert van Uitert, "Vincent van Gogh and Paul
book in or before 1875. Ibid., vol. i, nr. 32, p. 30. creative competition," Simiolus 9 (1977), p. 162, note
Uitert, op. cit. (note 50), p. i88.

This content downloaded from

31.217.54.17 on Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:28:54 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms