1883-06 · The Hague · Knot of Motif

The Zola Summer in The Hague

He read Zola’s Mes haines without agreeing with all of it; when he later quoted Zola on art, he changed ‘a corner of creation’ to ‘a corner of nature’.

No painting at this knot.

Letter

July 1883, The Hague. He had borrowed Zola’s Mes haines from Rappard. After reading it, he told Theo that there were strong things in it, but that Zola was greatly mistaken, not even mentioning Millet in his general reflections. He agreed with one point: what pleases the public is always what is most banal, what it is used to seeing every year. Shortly afterwards he wrote to Rappard in the book’s defence, applying to it Zola’s own words about Hugo: given such a man on such a subject, the result could not be another book than the one it is.
In mid-July, writing of landscapes by Dupré and Rousseau, he said their dramatic effect helps us understand ‘a corner of nature seen through a temperament’, and that ‘man added to nature’ is needed more than anything in art; Rembrandt’s portraits are the same — more than nature, more like a revelation.

The Ferocious Reader

He read Zola’s criticism critically. In Mes haines he agreed with Zola’s verdict on public taste but objected that Zola discussed art without mentioning Millet; shortly afterwards he defended the book with Zola’s own words about Hugo. Half a year later in Nuenen he would not accept Zola’s praise of Manet as the man opening up a new future either — for him that painter was Millet. The ferocious reader here argues with his author, agreeing and objecting at once.

The Translator

Zola’s own sentence reads: ‘A work of art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament.’ When he quoted it in July 1883 he wrote ‘a corner of nature’, and set it beside Bacon’s ‘man added to nature’ to explain the dramatic effect of landscapes by Dupré and Rousseau. Two years later in Nuenen he put it in his own words: one sees nature through one’s own temperament; in Arles in 1888 he wrote of what moves us deeply when we know how to look at a corner of old Holland through the temperament of Potter and Ruisdael. A critic’s definition, rewritten again and again in a painter’s terms.

Events

c. 1883-05-21 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 345
He told Rappard he was glad to see books by Hugo, Zola and Dickens in his studio — ‘figure painter books’.
c. 1883-06-15 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 354
He asked Rappard to send along Zola’s book about Manet, if he had finished it.
c. 1883-06-16 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 355
He told Theo that Rappard’s drawing of machines in operation was like reading a description of a factory by Zola, Daudet or Lemonnier.
1883-07-02 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 358
He read Zola’s Mes haines: there were strong things in it, but Zola, he thought, was greatly mistaken, not even mentioning Millet in his general reflections. He agreed with one point: what pleases the public is always what is most banal, what it is used to seeing every year.
c. 1883-07-03 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 359
Shortly afterwards he wrote to Rappard in the book’s defence, applying to Mes haines Zola’s own words about Hugo: given such a man on such a subject, the result could not be another book than the one it is.
c. 1883-07-07 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 360
He reported that his friend De Bock had also taken to reading Zola, and that he himself meant to get hold of the Goncourts’ Germinie Lacerteux, said to be ‘in the manner of Zola’.
c. 1883-07-11 The Translator · Letter 361
Writing of landscapes by Dupré and Rousseau, he said their dramatic effect helps us understand ‘a corner of nature seen through a temperament’, and that the principle of ‘man added to nature’ is needed more than anything in art; Rembrandt’s portraits are the same — more than nature, more like a revelation.
1883-08 The Ferocious Reader · Letter 379
Speaking of Sien, he applied to her what Bishop Bienvenu in Hugo’s Les misérables used to say to ugly, even poisonous creatures: Poor beast, it isn’t her fault that she’s like that.

From the Letters

Wat ik ook heel best vind is dat op Uw atelier men boeken ziet/ Hugo/ Zola/ Dickens – figuurschilder boeken.

What I also think very good is that one sees books in your studio, Hugo, Zola, Dickens – figure painter books.

Letter 345

’t is net als of men een beschrijving van een fabriek door Zola of Daudet of Lemonnier zou lezen.

It’s as if one were reading a description of a factory by Zola or Daudet or Lemonnier.

Letter 355

Ik las “mes haines” van Zola – er staan wel flinke dingen in ofschoon m.i. hij zich zeer vergist/ in zijn algemeene beschouwing Millet niet eens noemt.

I read ‘Mes haines’ by Zola — there are strong things in it, although in my view he is greatly mistaken, not even mentioning Millet in his general reflections.

Letter 358

Mes haines van Zola zou ik op willen toepassen Zola’s eigen woorden betreffende Hugo/ “je voudrais démontrer qu’étant donné un tel homme sur un tel sujet/ le résultat ne pourrait être un autre livre qu’il n’est”

I would like to apply to Zola’s Mes haines Zola’s own words about Hugo, ‘I should like to demonstrate that, given such a man on such a subject, the result could not be another book than the one it is’

Letter 359

’t Dramatisch effekt in die schilderijen is iets wat doet begrijpen “un coin de la nature vu à travers d’un temperament”

The dramatic effect of these paintings is something that helps us to understand ‘a corner of nature seen through a temperament’

Letter 361

’t is meer dan de natuur/ iets van een openbaring.

it’s more than nature, more like a revelation.

Letter 361

Letter Sources

Van Gogh letter records referenced on this page, linked to the Van Gogh Letters Project. vangoghletters.org

The Zola Summer in The Hague

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From the Letters

Letter Sources