Vincent Van Gogh revered the novels of George Eliot; he wrote about them, recommended them, they influenced his life choices and ultimately inspired his art. What was it about her writing that appealed to him and to what extent are her ideas evident in his own work?
It is often said that the art of Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) is the result of a disturbed and volatile mind, an idea that has come to reinforce our notion of the artistic temperament. However, I believe he always painted with purpose, that his art was considered, rather than impulsive and influenced by both intellectual and emotional responses. This is borne out in his many letters (of which 902 survive) that show him to be a very intelligent and thoughtful man. They are revealing of his feelings about life and art and show how he was strongly influenced by religion and social compassion. His letters also show how he was inspired by literature, particularly English Victorian writers. Charles Dickens was a favourite, but I would like to focus on George Eliot, who had a particular influence and show how her views about religion, people and the need for a social conscience as well as her vivid descriptive language, helped inform his art.
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