Vincent van Gogh View of Arles with Irises in the Foreground 1888
from Vincent’s letter to his brother Theo, 12 May 1888:
“I am in better health now… . I have two new studies… . A meadow full of very yellow buttercups, a ditch with iris plants with green leaves and purple flowers, the town in the background, a few gray willows - a strip of blue sky.If they don’t mow the meadow I’d like to do this study again, for the subject was very beautiful, and I had some trouble finding the composition. A little town surrounded by fields completely blooming with yellow and purple flowers; you know, it is a beautiful Japanese dream.”
37-year-old Vincent van Gogh was nearing the end of his year-long stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy and was preparing to move to the Paris suburb of Auvers-sur-Oise in order to be under the care of Dr. Paul Gachet in early May 1890.
On 11 May he wrote to his brother Theo: “[I]f I had not had my work, I should long ago have been even more broken. At present all goes well, the whole horrible attack has disappeared like a thunderstorm and I am working to give a last stroke of the brush here with a calm and steady enthusiasm. I’m working on a canvas of roses on bright green background and two canvases of large bouquets of violet Irises, one lot against a pink background in which the effect is harmonious and soft through the combination of greens, pinks, violets. On the other hand, the other violet bouquet (ranging up to pure carmine and Prussian blue) standing out against a striking lemon yellow background with other yellow tones in the vase and the base on which it rests is an effect of terribly disparate complementaries that reinforce each other by their opposition… .
“The day I leave depends on my having packed my trunk and finished my canvases, I’m working on the latter with so much enthusiasm that packing my trunk seems more difficult to me than doing the paintings. Anyway it won’t be long.“
20 year-old Vincent van Gogh worked as an art dealer in London from May 1873 until he was let go in January 1876 (he continued to work at the firm until 1 April).
Van Gogh lived at a boarding house, which he described in a letter: “The neighborhood where I live is quite beautiful, and so quiet and intimate that you almost forget you are in London. In front of every house there is a small garden with flowers or a few trees, and many houses are built very tastefully in a sort of Gothic style. Still, I have a good half-hour’s walk to get to the country.We have a piano in the sitting room, and there are also three Germans living here who are very fond of music, which is very pleasant.”
During his stay at the boarding house, van Gogh fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, Eugénie Loyer, but was rejected when he told her his feelings for her. Van Gogh refuses to accept Loyer’s rejection of him and is asked to leave the house in early 1875.
Van Gogh’s behavior becomes troubling to his family and he is sent to Paris for a couple of months. When he returns to London, van Gogh begins to read the Bible and writes to his brother on 8 May 1875, “I hope and believe that I’m not what many think me to be at present, we’ll see, we have to give it time… To act on the world one must die to oneself… . Man is not placed on the earth merely to be happy; nor is he placed here merely to be honest, he is here to accomplish great things through society, to arrive at nobleness, and to outgrow the vulgarity in which the existence of almost all individuals drags on.”
“The night is even more richly colored than the day… . If only one pays attention to it, one sees that certain stars are citron yellow, while others have a pink glow or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expiating on this theme, it should be clear that putting little white dots on a blue-black surface is not enough.”- Vincent Van Gogh
