Vincent in Arles
(1889)
 

"At the end of the month I’d still wish to go to the mental hospital at St-Rémy or another institution of that kind, which Mr Salles has told me about.
Forgive me for not going into details to weigh up the pros and the cons of such a course of action.
It would strain my mind a great deal to talk about it.
It will, I hope, suffice to say that I feel decidedly incapable of starting to take a new studio again and living there alone, here in Arles or elsewhere – it comes down to the same thing – for the moment – I’ve nevertheless tried to make up my mind to begin again – for the moment not possible. I’d be afraid of losing the faculty of working, which is coming back to me now, by forcing myself to have a studio, and also having all the other responsibilities on my back.
And for the time being I wish to remain confined, as much for my own tranquillity as for that of others.
What consoles me a little is that I’m beginning to consider madness as an illness like any other and accept the thing as it is, while during the actual crises it seemed to me that everything I was imagining was reality. "

From a letter to his brother Theo, Arles, Sunday, 21 April 1889
https://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let760/letter.html

Grass and Butterflies


April, 1889
Oil on canvas
51.0 x 51.0 cm. 


France: private collection