Letter 19, page 4

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Vincent van Gogh, letter to Émile Bernard, Arles, 5 October 1888, Letter 19, page 4

Thaw Collection, given in honor of Charles E. Pierce, Jr., 2007

MA 6441.17
Translation: 

But you'll probably find these studies ugly, I don't know. In any case, neither you nor anyone
else should do an exchange grudgingly.

My brother writes that Anquetin's back in Paris; I'm curious to know what he's made. When
you see him you'll give him my kind regards.

The house will seem more lived in now that I'll see the portraits in it.

How happy I would be to see you there yourself this winter; it's true that the trip costs rather
a lot. Nevertheless, may one not risk those expenses by taking one's revenge by working? Work's so
difficult in the north in winter. Here too, perhaps; I've hardly had the experience yet and it remains
to be seen.

But it's damned useful to see the south, where life is lived more in the open air, in order to
understand the Japanese better.

And that touch of the haughty and the noble that certain places have down here will suit your
book very well. In The Red Sunset, the sun should be imagined higher, outside the painting, let's
say just at the level of the FRAME. Because it so happens that an hour, an hour and a half before it
sets, the things on the earth still keep their colors like that. Later the blue and the violet color them
darker, as soon as the sun sends out rays that are more horizontal. Thanks once again for what you
sent me, it really warmed my heart.

And a good handshake in thought, and write to me the day of your departure so that I know
when you'll be in Paris; address in Paris still avenue de Beaulieu 5, isn't it?

Ever yours,
Vincent

© 2007 Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam