Unit4Paintingtheworld (2)

about his Guiding Questions Why did Van Gogh decide to be a painter My dear Theo 21 July 1882 You really have to understand how I consider art To reach the essence of it you have to work long and hard What I want and what I am aiming for is crazily difficult and yet believe I am not aiming too high I want to make drawings that will touch people Either in a figure or in landscape I would like to express not something sentimentally melancholy but sincere sorrow In short I want to get to a stage where it is said of my work this man feels deeply and this man feels tenderly It seems rather pretentious to talk like this but that is the reason why I want to devote all my efforts to it What am I in the eyes of most people A nobody or a strange man or a disagreeable fellow someone who has no position in society or will ever have one in short the lowest of the low My dear Theo 11 March 1883 In my view I am often immensely rich not in money but although just now perhaps not all the time rich because I have found my metier something I can devote myself to heart and soul and that gives inspiration and meaning to my life My moods vary of course but nevertheless I have on average acquired a certain serenity I have a strong belief in art a certain faith that it is a powerful current that carries a man to a haven although he himself has to put in an effort too I think in any case that it is such a blessing when a man has found his metier that I don t count myself among the unfortunates I mean that even if I were in some considerable difficulties and if there were dark days in my life I would not wish to be viewed as one of the unfortunates nor would it be right Word s explanation 1 melancholy adj 忧郁的 使人悲伤的 2 pretentious adj 自命不凡的 炫耀的 做作的 3 metier n 特长 专长 得心应手的工作 me t e 4 haven n 保护区 避难所 Questions for exploration What is Van Gogh s attitude towards painting as his career about Guiding Questions To what degree did Van Gogh depend on the financial support of his brother What s Van Gogh s comment on his brother as a dealer as well as his brother My dear Theo 18 December 1882 What a wonderful thing watercolor is to express space and light so that the figure is part of the atmosphere and the whole thing comes to life Now do you want me to make a few watercolors for you here There is nothing I would rather do but staying here and the models paint and paper etc etc all cost money and I have none left So write to me in any case a brief word by return and if you want me to stay here then please send me some money if possible I truly believe that I can make better progress now the more so because I have for once had some practical advice about color and brushwork My dear Theo August 1882 It stands to reason that many people are unable to carry on because of expenses and I cannot express how grateful I am that I can work regularly To catch up on the time I lost by starting later than others I will have to try twice as hard but even with the best will in the world I would have to stop if I did not have you I will tell you what kind of things I have brought My dear Theo 24 July 1890 And to be honest it is only through our pictures that we painters can speak I tell you again that I shall always consider you to be other than a mere dealer in Corots that through me you have your part to play in the actual production of certain canvases which retain their calm even in the midst of this disaster As for my own work I risk my life for it and my sanity is half lost because of it fine but you re not one of those dealers in men as far as I know and you can choose the side you re on it seems to me and act with genuine humanity but what can we do Word s explanation 1 other than 不同于 2 canvas n 帆布油画 3 sane sanity Questions for exploration Could you give us a complete description on the relationship between Van Gogh and his brother Theo Theo Van Gogh Van Gogh Theo about his Guiding Questions What did Van Gogh think of himself find the evidence According to our textbook when why did Van Gogh cut off part of his ear Associate it them with letter four Then please retell the incident with the information given My dear Theo 31 July 1882 Now farewell and believe me that sometimes I have to laugh at the people who suspect me who am actually no more than a friend of nature of study of work and particularly of people of all kinds of malice and absurdities that I would not dream of My dear Theo 4 8 August 1883 Not only did I start drawing at a late stage but added to that it may be that I may not be able to count on so very many years of life About the time span I have ahead of me in which I can still work I believe I can accept the fact that my physical body will last out for a certain number of years say between six and ten My dear Theo February 1886 However it strikes me very forcibly that there are still other things that I absolutely need to change If I compare myself to other people there is something very wooden about me as if I had spent ten years in solitary confinement 独自监禁 And the cause of this lies precisely in the fact that I had a difficult and disturbed time some ten years ago with worry and distress and no friends My dear Theo 23 December 1888 I think Gauguin had become rather disheartened with the good town of Arles with the little yellow house where we work and especially with me In fact I think there are some serious problems still to be overcome here for both of us But these difficulties are inside ourselves rather than anywhere else My dear Theo 8 October 1889 At the moment I am working on a portrait of one of the patients here It is odd that when you have spent some time with them and have got used to them you no longer think of them as mad My dear Theo 3 June 1890 Dr Gachet says that he thinks it very unlikely that it the illness will return and that everything is going very well Word s explanation 1 malice and absurdities n 恶意和谬论 2 disturbed adj 不安的 焦虑的 3 disheartened adj 沮丧的 灰心的 Questions for exploration According to the letters do you agree that for most of his life he was completely sane Can you see some signs that he would take his own life about his Guiding Questions Could you describe Van Gogh s painting concept Was his painting style well accepted at that time according to the letter February 1886 My dear Theo 21 July 1882 You really have to understand how I consider art To reach the essence of it you have to work long and hard What I want and what I am aiming for is crazily difficult and yet believe I am not aiming too high I want to make drawings that will touch people Either in a figure or in landscape I would like to express not something sentimentally melancholy but sincere sorrow In short I want to get to a stage where it is said of my work this man feels deeply and this man is sensitive It seems rather pretentious to talk like this but that is the reason why I want to devote all my efforts to it My dear Theo February 1886 I must also tell you that although I carry on with it the nitpicking by the people at the academy is often unbearable to me since they keep on being decidedly spiteful However I try systematically to avoid any quarrel and go my own way I imagine I am getting on the track of what I am looking for and perhaps I would find it sooner if I could study the classical models on my own My dear Theo 5 or 6 September 1889 I am writing this letter bit by bit in the intervals when I feel weary of painting Work is going quite well I m battling with a canvas I began a few days before becoming ill a reaper the study is all in yellow terrib