All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life.
M.C. Richards
Clues within Each Section Break
Here was my challenge: The book takes place after Vincent’s death, yet he’s central to the story. How do I include him? Give him an invisible yet tangible presence?
The answer: Let him speak for himself!
There are six sections in the novel. I introduce each with a reference to a Van Gogh painting and quote. The excerpts come from letters Vincent wrote to his brother Theo about each specific painting.
The quotes are selected to do two things: Let you in on how Vincent was feeling in that moment while also giving you a clue on what Jo will encounter in that section. A tip off for you. A premonition.
Almond Blossom
Work was going well, the last canvas of the branches in blossom, you’ll see that it was perhaps the most patiently worked, best thing I had done, painted with calm and a greater sureness of touch. And the next day done for like a brute.
—Vincent van Gogh, on or about March 17, 1890
The story begins with Jo nervously hoping for Theo’s return. Almond Blossom was a gift from Vincent to his brother and wife welcoming their newborn son. Like Jo’s love-match marriage to Theo, the painting is calming and joyous, but will soon be interrupted by a shock.
The Potato Eaters
These folk, who are eating their potatoes by the light of their little lamp, have tilled the earth themselves with these hands they are putting in the dish, and so it speaks of MANUAL LABOR and—that they have thus honestly earned their food. I wanted it to give the idea of a wholly different way of life from ours—civilized people . . . I’m convinced that in the long run, it produces better results to paint them in their coarseness than to introduce conventional sweetness . . . You’ll hear—“WHAT A DAUB!”; be prepared for that as I’m prepared myself. But nonetheless go on giving something genuine and honest.
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—Vincent van Gogh, April 30, 1885
This iconic painting turned out to be a breakthrough for Vincent, Instead of beautiful facial features, he strives to express the integrity of hard-working laborers. He’s braced for critics, and the disdain does come. For Jo, she makes a life-changing decision and steels herself for criticism as she turns her back on family expectations to face a new situation.
Sunflowers in a Vase
I’m painting with the gusto of a Marseillais eating bouillabaisse, which won’t surprise you when it’s a question of painting large SUNFLOWERS. . . . I work on it all these mornings, from sunrise. Because the flowers wilt quickly and it’s a matter of doing the whole thing in one go. . . . I’d like to paint in such a way that if it comes to it, everyone who has eyes could understand it.
—Vincent van Gogh, August 21 or 22, 1888
Vincent has been in limbo, hoping that a friend would join him to help create a new artist community in the south of France. With joy at the news that Paul Gauguin will come soon, Vincent celebrates by producing eleven sunflowers to decorate his Arles home. Similarly, Jo’s been stuck, struggling with what actions to take next when she renews her energy with a change in plans. On behalf of Vincent’s paintings, she declares a new stretch goal.
Starry Night Over the Rhône
It does me good to do what’s difficult . . . so I go outside at night to paint the stars, and I always dream a painting like that . . . My only wish is that they could manage to prove something that would be calming to us . . . without having at each step to fear or nervously calculate the harm which, without wishing to, we might cause others.
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—Vincent van Gogh, September 29, 1888
Vincent feels despair over the lack of painting sales. He doesn’t want to reverse course by following the dictates of other art dealers’ definitions of what “correct” art is. It’s the same for Jo. Her enemies have the upper hand, giving her an ultimatum to either back down or someone she loves could be harmed.
Joseph Roulin
I have . . . a head, and a bust with hands, of an old postman in a dark blue uniform. He has a Socratic head that’s interesting to paint. . . . I always feel confidence when doing portraits, knowing that that work is much more serious . . . but rather is the thing that enables me to cultivate what’s best and most serious in me.
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—Vincent van Gogh, August 3, 1888
Vincent returns to portraiture to ground himself and studies individual elements of his friend, Joseph Roulin, a postman and neighbor in Arles. From here, he can push forward again. I saw Jo in the same situation when a shocking setback causes her to question whether her life’s work has been worthwhile.
Sower with Setting Sun
At the moment I’m really in the shit, studies, studies, studies, studies, and that’ll go on for some time yet—such a mess that it breaks my heart . . . From time to time a canvas that makes a painting, such as that sower . . . If we can withstand the siege, a day of victory will come for us, even though we wouldn’t be among the people who are being talked about.
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—Vincent van Gogh, December 1, 1888
What a premonition Vincent makes when writing about the Sower with Setting Sun! Yet, instead of a gut feeling for himself, it’s one for Jo. The day of victory comes. Jo is successful in gaining Vincent's recognition as a great artist. His warning that “we wouldn’t be among the people who are talked about” is not for him, but instead for Jo, whose story was lost.