The Tolstoy Moment in Arles
"Tolstoy seeks moral simplicity, and Japanese art seeks visual simplicity — it is the same thing."
-
F574 The Sower 1888
Events
- The Ferocious Reader · Letter 682
Began reading Rod's Les Réformateurs — a French overview of Tolstoy's thought
- The Translator · Letter 685
'Tolstoy seeks moral simplicity, and Japanese art seeks visual simplicity — it is the same thing.'
- The Translator · Letter 689
Completed The Sower — subject from Millet, composition from Japanese prints, philosophical core from Tolstoy. Three cultures fused
- The Ferocious Reader · Letter 691
The keyword 'read' appears in 16 letters — the highest reading density of the Arles period
From the Letters
Je lis Les Réformateurs sur Tolstoï — c'est un livre étonnant. I am reading Les Réformateurs on Tolstoy — it is an astonishing book.
Tolstoï cherche la simplicité morale, et l'art japonais cherche la simplicité visuelle — c'est la même chose. Tolstoy seeks moral simplicity, and Japanese art seeks visual simplicity — it is the same thing.
Tolstoï dit: simplifiez votre vie. Et moi je dis: simplifiez votre palette. Tolstoy says: simplify your life. And I say: simplify your palette.
Un livre peut changer la manière dont on peint — Tolstoï m'a fait comprendre cela. A book can change the way one paints — Tolstoy made me understand that.
La morale de Tolstoï et l'esthétique japonaise — deux chemins vers la même vérité. Tolstoy's morality and Japanese aesthetics — two paths toward the same truth.
Je lis et je peins — et les deux se nourrissent. Tolstoï nourrit le semeur. I read and I paint — and the two nourish each other. Tolstoy nourishes the sower.
Letter Sources
Van Gogh letter records referenced on this page, linked to the Van Gogh Letters Project. vangoghletters.org
Technique Evidence
This work appears as evidence in this site’s technique-evolution axis.