![]() Jo met Vincent in Paris, when he paid the married couple a visit. He read Walt Whitman, whose work was especially popular in France, and interpreted the poet as equating “the great starry firmament” with “God and eternity.” ![]() The written word shaped and helped shape Vincent’s paintings: He tried to put it into words for Theo: “In the blue depth the stars were sparkling, greenish, yellow, white, pink, more brilliant, more emeralds, lapis lazuli, rubies, sapphires.” He became fixated on the idea of painting such a sky. Vincent had been fascinated by the night sky in Arles. One day a canvas arrived that showed a shift in style. Jo recognised that his letters were part of the art. Jo and Theo’s Paris apartment was crammed with Vincent’s work, shipped to Theo in the hope he would find buyers for them. Russell Shorto has written a fabulous essay on Gogh-Bonger’s key part in raising Vincent Van Gogh from someone who sold only ahandful of paintings in his lifetime to one of the world’s most revered and prized artist. Before we get to them, a word about Jo van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925), the painter’s sister-in-law married to the his younger bother, the Paris-based art dealer Theo Van Gogh ( – 25 January 1891), who was instrumental in opening the world’s eyes to his genius. ![]() ![]() All 902 letters written and received by Vincent van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) are housed at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. ![]()
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