The Letters of a Post-Impressionist Part 15

Gauguin responded to the call of his friend and came to join him in his work in sunny and gay-coloured Provence. A fit of insanity, however, seized Van Gogh and broke up the companionship of the two artists. From that time onward, Van Gogh lived in an asylum, where in his moments of lucidity he was still able to paint beautiful pictures.

Concerning the last days of his friend, Gauguin writes as follows: "In his last letter from Auvers, near Pontoise, he said that he had always hoped that his health might so far improve as to permit him to paint with me in Brittany, but that he was then convinced that recovery was out of the question. 'My dear master, after having known you and grieved you, it is more dignified to die while I am fully conscious of what I am doing, than to take leave of this world in a state which degrades me.'

He fired a bullet at himself, and, a few hours later, while lying in bed smoking his pipe, with all his wits about him, full of pa.s.sionate love for his art, and without any feelings of resentment towards humanity, he quietly pa.s.sed away.?"

NOTES

NOTE {A}: page 39. The translation of the original French would be: "without having recourse to the old dodges and delusions of intriguers?"

(_aux vieux trucs et trompe-l'il d?'intrigants_).

NOTE {B}: p. 44. The French is _boutons d?'or_ (b.u.t.tercups). The German translation has _Lowenzahn_.

NOTE {C}: p. 45. The German is, _Leute die auf Technik sehen_; but my rendering is more faithful to the French original.

NOTE {D}: p. 51. According to the French this should be: "After many eccentricities you have succeeded in producing,?" etc. The German, however, is, _wirst Du dahin gelangen Sachen von agyptischer Ruhe_, etc.

NOTE {E}: p. 55. The French word is _b.e.s.t.i.a.les_, which the German translator rendered by _grausame_.

NOTE {F}: p. 55. The French is _crane_ (swaggering); the German translation has _elegant_.

NOTE {G}: p. 60. The French has, _your_ grandmother.

NOTE {H}: p. 61. The French is, _amours faciles_.

NOTE {I}: p. 62. The French is, _senti dans son animalite_.

NOTE {J}: p. 62. From this point the original French continues, "is like the consummation of s.e.xual love--a moment of infinity.?"

NOTE {K}: p. 63. In his original publication of these letters in _Le Mercure de France_, E. Bernard inserts a note here to the effect that Van Gogh meant that Rembrandt used religious subjects only as a means of expressing philosophical ideas.

NOTE {L}: p. 64. The French is, _peint un ange surnaturel au sourire a la Vinci_.

NOTE {M}: p. 65. The French is, _folie contagieuse_.

NOTE {N}: p. 66. The French is, _sincerite et devotion_.

NOTE {O}: p. 68. The German translator took what I believe to be a justifiable liberty here; for the original French reads: _et il sagit de souffler de son souffle tant qu?'on a le souffle_.

NOTE {P}: p. 73. The French word is _renaissance_.

NOTE {Q}: p. 74. The German translation (_beim Fechten_) misses the point here; for the French original is not _l?'escrime_, but _l?'escrime a l?'a.s.saut_.

NOTE {R}: p. 77. In the German translation there are no dots here to show that a pa.s.sage has been omitted; as however, this pa.s.sage seems to me important, I thought it advisable to give the translation of it in these notes. After the word "nature,?" the French original proceeds: "in order to convert a study into a picture by arranging the colour, adding here, and simplifying there;...?"

NOTE {S}: p. 81. E. Bernard says that this refers to a caricature by Gauguin of Van Gogh sitting on a ledge of rock drawing the sun.

NOTE {T}: p. 83. The French word is not _talent_ but _superiorite_.

NOTE {U}: p. 89. I confess that I did not understand the proper meaning of this pa.s.sage, either in the French or in the German, so here it is, as it stands in the French original: _Mais justement a cause de ce que c?'est dans le cur des gens qu?'est aussi le cur des affaires, il faut conquerir des amities ou plutot les ranimer_.

NOTE {V}: p. 90. It may be of interest to painters to know that the other colours mentioned in the French original are: _rose de garance_, and _mine orange_.

NOTE {W}: p. 96. I may be wrong here. The German word is _Axiomen_, the French original is, _axiomes_.

NOTE {X}: p. 98. The French original contains simply the word _serenite_, which the German translator paraphrased as "the joy of living, and peace.?"

NOTE {Y}: p. 101. The French original has, _on ne s?'en repent pas_, in the place of "one can never cast it out.?"

NOTE {Z}: p. 102. It is not clear whether Van Gogh meant that he opposed the firm B. and V. or that he quelled the feeling in his heart. The French original is simply: _Seulement je m?'y oppose_.

NOTE {AA}: p. 104. The French original is, _des etabliss.e.m.e.nts pour Zouaves_. On this point see also p. 23, vol. 12, of the "Mercure de France.?"

NOTE {BB}: p. 108. The original reads: _Si je me laissais embeter par le premier venu ici, tu comprends que je ne saurais bientot plus ou donner la tete_. The German rendering was therefore a little too free.

NOTE {CC}: p. 116. A pa.s.sage is omitted here in the German translation, which I think is of sufficient interest to be quoted. In the French original the pa.s.sage reads: _Je crois que Gauguin lui-meme souffre beaucoup et ne peut pas se developper comme pourtant c?'est en dedans de lui de pouvoir le faire_.

NOTE {DD}: p. 116. On both occasions when in the German text I found the word _Schwefelgelb_, I translated it by "cadmium.?" The word in the French original is simply _soufre_. (See also page 73.)

NOTE {EE}: p. 122. The German word is _Quadratnets_, and the French original has _cadre perspectif_. I am not sure that my rendering gives an adequate idea of the instrument.

NOTE {FF}: p. 124. The French is, _rhinoceros dangereux_.

NOTE {GG}: p. 145, "and give a helping hand,?" is a somewhat free rendering, through the German, of _et comme nous le ferons_.

NOTE {HH}: p. 146. The number "28?" seems to be a misprint in the German.

NOTE {II}: p. 147. E. Bernard, himself, leaves one to guess at what this means; for in the original French we read: _Car je n?'ai meme pas, depuis un mois trois semaines, de quoi aller ... pour 3 fr._

NOTE {JJ}: p. 154. In the French original there is no mention of "the south.?"

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.

TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

us in in his favour=>us in his favour {pg xvi}