VAN GOGH, Vincent (1853-1890). Partial autograph manuscript, no place, c. 1876.

"Thus our soul awakens / When our senses are sated, / And we are no longer pursued / By vain sounds striking the ear."

French Realist poet and painter Jules Breton (1827-1906) was one of Van Gogh's strongest inspirations in part due to his depictions of rural life. Van Gogh "at the outset of his career walked about 80 km (50 miles) from the Borinage region of Belgium to Breton’s home at Courrières in northern France to meet him; however, he was dismayed by the discrepancy between the hard work portrayed in Breton’s pictures and the comfortable life the painter himself led" (Oxford Dictionary of Art).

In French, one page, 17 x 64mm. (Trimmed at right edge with loss of two letters.) Framed with a print of Van Gogh's "Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe (1889).

Totaling four lines of text, Van Gogh's manuscript bears a portion of Jules Breton's poem, "Crepuscule." In full:
"Ainsi notre âme se réveille, / Lorsque nos sens sont assouvis, / Que des vains bruits frappant l’oreille, / Nous ne sommes plus poursuivis." Translated: "Under the twilight and brown / the peasant twice bronze / His forehead bathed in the pale sky / Returns his work done"

acquired from Max Rambod Rare Books