“One may have a blazing hearth in one’s soul and yet no one ever comes to sit by it. Passers-by see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on their way. (June 1880)What am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart.That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion.Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum. (July 1882)”
A creator of great beauty.
