Yesterday a good friend of mine sent me the link to a new book by one of her fav authors Christopher Moore. The book is called Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art and is a novel about art, the color blue, and van Gogh. My life, my color, and my artist all in one book. My friend knows me too well. Moore wrote in the prelude, “Blue is glory and power, a wave, a particle, a vibration, a resonance, a spirit, a passion, a memory, a vanity, a metaphor, a dream. Blue is a simile. Blue, she is like a woman.”
While I was reading the reviews I remembered a famous letter van Gogh had written to his brother Theo in April of 1888. What I didn't realize was that the letter had actually been written 124 years ago to the day,
April 11, 1888.
Karma.
"My dear Theo,
It’s awfully good of you to have sent me the complete order of colours, I’ve just received them but haven’t yet had the time to check them. I’m so pleased about it. Today has been a good day too. This morning I worked on an orchard of plum trees in blossom — suddenly a tremendous wind began to blow, an effect I’d only ever seen here — and came back again at intervals. In the intervals, sunshine that made all the little white flowers sparkle. It was so beautiful! My friend the Dane came to join me, and at risk and peril every moment of seeing the whole lot of it on the ground I carried on painting — in this white effect there’s a lot of yellow with blue and lilac, the sky is white and blue. But as for the execution of what we do out of doors like this, what will they say? Well, let’s wait and see..." Read the entire letter here.
The painting he was working on was The White Orchard.
While I was reading the reviews I remembered a famous letter van Gogh had written to his brother Theo in April of 1888. What I didn't realize was that the letter had actually been written 124 years ago to the day,
April 11, 1888.
Karma.
"My dear Theo,
It’s awfully good of you to have sent me the complete order of colours, I’ve just received them but haven’t yet had the time to check them. I’m so pleased about it. Today has been a good day too. This morning I worked on an orchard of plum trees in blossom — suddenly a tremendous wind began to blow, an effect I’d only ever seen here — and came back again at intervals. In the intervals, sunshine that made all the little white flowers sparkle. It was so beautiful! My friend the Dane came to join me, and at risk and peril every moment of seeing the whole lot of it on the ground I carried on painting — in this white effect there’s a lot of yellow with blue and lilac, the sky is white and blue. But as for the execution of what we do out of doors like this, what will they say? Well, let’s wait and see..." Read the entire letter here.
The painting he was working on was The White Orchard.
