The Webexhibits archive, Van Gogh’s Letters reveals the struggle of this most famous post-impressionist. His moods, ambitions, and most interestingly his relationships with his brother and dealer Theo, his mother, and well-known artist-contemporaries, bring alive a man who produced some of the most valued art in the world today but struggled just to eat while alive.

From mundane concerns like dental work, to pragmatic concerns of how to market his work, to profound moments of artistic insight, we see the artist-in-life, as in this quote from his last letter, which Theo found in his pocket upon discovering his suicide at the age of 37:

Quote

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The other painters, whatever they think of it, instinctively keep themselves at a distance from discussions about actual trade…

Well, the truth is, we cannot speak other than by our paintings. But still, my dear brother… you are something other than a simple dealer in Corots… you have your part in the actual production of some canvases, which even in the cataclysm retain their calm.

For this is what we have got to, and this is all or at least the chief thing that I can have to tell you at a moment of comparative crisis. At a moment when things are very strained between dealers in paintings by dead artists, and living artists.

Well, my work to me, I risk my life on it, and my reason has half foundered - all right - but you are not one of those dealers in men, as far as I know, and you can take sides, I find, truly acting with humanity, but what is the use?

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One of the best features of the archive is the placement, with many of the letters, of his paintings done at a corresponding point in time. The interplay between the artist’s notably turbulent moods, his external circumstances, and his contemporaneous artistry provides a unique illumination of the creative process of this troubled genius.

Many letters refer or are written to other contemporary artists; it would have been nice to have their work displayed as well, or some links to their work, by way of contrasting their influence on each other and how common circumstances may have resulted in similar, or very different, work. A timeline of the correspondence is provided, but it would be even better to have annotated the work with some information about Van Gogh’s external world and experiences at the time each letter was penned.

For anyone interested in the art of this period or the emergence of creative brilliance, this sight is a very worthwhile destination. Beware, though – there is a simple, engaging quality to his prose and a compelling arc to his story. You may find it difficult to leave the inner world of Vincent Van Gogh.