Dear Theo

In my early twenties, upon the insistence of my oldest brother, I checked out from my local library a copy of Dear Theo, the letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother (as collected and edited by Irving Stone; the complete collection is now available online here).

I did not sit down and read the letters straight through. I found that, whenever I picked up the book, it was like grasping hold of a live wire and I rarely got away without a shock. So, instead, I dipped into the volume from time to time (and, when I would visit my brother in Philadelphia, I would occasionally consult his copy). I knew then, without a doubt, that the letters belonged to world literature; some of them, to world religious literature.

While in Paris in September (2014), I began to work my way through the Penguin Classics edition of Van Gogh's letters (published in the mid-1990's). Like Stone's Dear Theo, the Penguin edition offers a selection, but one that reflects a scholarly (rather than a novelistic) perspective. I value both--but prefer Stone's Lust for Life to his Dear Theo because the former does not purport to be Van Gogh's "autobiography."

Although it is possible to read the letters apart from the artist's work, I think that they need to be viewed as part of the artist's total oeuvre; over a ten year period, Van Gogh created an amazing portfolio of words and images. When one encounters him in both media, his genius is made visible.