Reading someone’s personal correspondence always leaves a sense of learning a particularly intimate part of the individual’s life, namely, the emotions and ideas that are typically concealed from prying eyes of the public. Vincent Van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo and his friend Paul Gauguin, another famous artist, convey a distinctive emotion of warmth and friendliness that makes them particularly touching and personal. Though addressing mostly trivial issues and various challenges that Van Gogh had to overcome, these letters reveal the supportive nature of the relationships between him and his brother, as well as him and his fellow artist, Gauguin.
The letters that Van Gogh sent to his brother and friend, as well as those that he received from them, convey a profound sense of closeness, empathy, and trust. Though touching upon mostly mundane issues, these letters represent the role that strong relationships with his brother and Gauguin played in Van Gogh’s life. Furthermore, the correspondence provides rare and quite exciting details about Van Gogh’s artistic process and his vision (Bailey, 2021). Delving into the artist’s imagination and viewing the word through his lens was a particularly inspiring part of the overall experience. Though Van Gogh mentions not only the wonders of creating art but also the associated challenges, the magic of this experience has an enormous staying power for the reader.
Despite touching upon rather mundane concerns, Van Gogh’s letters, as well as those of his brother and his friend Paul Gauguin, convey the sense of support and understanding. Reading the letters evokes the feeling of familiarity with the artist, his brother, and his friend. Moreover, the letters help discover peculiar details about Ban Gogh’s artistic process. Therefore, the specified correspondence represents a particularly unique remnant of Van Gogh’s life worth studying closer.
Reference
Bailey, M. (2021). The illustrated letters of Vincent Van Gogh. Batsford.