Was Van Gogh good with money?

Vincent’s brother Theo was director of art dealer Goupil & Cie in Paris and he was able to send Vincent a lot more money than most people made. With this financial support Vincent could buy painting supplies and have a decent living. But it frustrated Theo that Vincent was often still short of money. In Arles Vincent spent a lot of money to prepare The Yellow House as Studio of the South to welcome Gauguin and other fellow artists.

Today 133 years ago, on 23 October 1888,

Theo van Gogh wrote to his brother Vincent from Paris:

"What a financier you are! What distresses me is that even so, you’re still in poverty, because you can’t stop yourself doing things for others. I’d be very glad to see you more selfish until you’re on an even keel.”

Vincent had just finished “The Public Garden” then.

"I have another no. 30 canvas, autumn garden, two bottle-green and bottle-shaped cypresses, three little chestnut trees with tobacco-coloured and orange foliage. A small yew with pale lemon foliage, with purple trunk. Two small bushes with blood-red and scarlet purple foliage.A little sand, a little lawn, a little blue sky.”

The Public Garden / Autumn garden / Path in the Park at Arles
Arles, 1888
Oil on canvas
72 x 93 cm
Private collection

You may also like to read:

• Why did Van Gogh find himself often immensely rich?

Van Gogh's 'Path in the Park at Arles'

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