mon cher frère

During the course of his life, Vincent Van Gogh wrote hundred of letters to his beloved brother, Theo. Lately, I’ve been reading some of their correspondence and came across a letter last night, part of which caught my attention:

“Ah, mon cher frère, quelquefois je sais tellement bien ce que je veux. Je peux bien dans la vie et dans la peinture aussi me passer de bon Dieu mais je ne puis pas, moi souffrant, me passer de quelque chose plus grand que moi qui est ma vie, la puissance de créer.

Translation:
“Ah, my dear brother, sometimes I know so clearly what I want. In life and in painting too, I can easily do without the dear Lord, but I can’t, suffering as I do, do without something greater than myself, which is my life, the power to create.

And if frustrated in this power physically, we try to create thoughts instead of children; in that way, we’re part of humanity all the same.”

Interestingly enough, Vincent composed this letter a hundred and twenty-four years ago today…