![]() ![]() This sense of balance, which frankly amounts to nobility, has been evident in all editions of his letters, ever since the first was published by his sister-in-law, Jo Bonger, in 1914. But the great majority of them are impressive – even lovable – because, no matter how distressing their surrounding circumstances, they show an extraordinarily calm-sounding good sense and a beautiful directness in their account of complicated emotional states. ![]() There are, of course, harrowing stretches in which he frets about insanity, about poverty and about how others perceive him. Yet anyone who has actually read them (rather than watched the movie) will feel uncomfortable about this. Received wisdom has it that the letters show Van Gogh as a tortured genius. Their mixture of humble detail and heroic aspiration is quite simply life-affirming. No wonder, either, that singers have used them in their songs ("Starry Night"), and film-makers as the basis of their movies ( Lust for Life). No wonder readers have long since taken them to heart. Engrossing, moving, energetic and compelling, they dramatise individual genius while illuminating the creative process in general. But Van Gogh's letters are the best written by any artist. ![]() M ichelangelo wrote some wonderful sonnets Constable's correspondence has a fascinating tough-tenderness most visualisers have, with varying degrees of success, tried to match words to their images. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |