![culturaltutor's tweet photo. You would never have heard of Vincent van Gogh if it wasn't for his sister-in-law Jo, who deserves to be better known.
Because she turned Vincent from an obscure Dutch painter into the world's most famous and beloved artist.
How? Well, this is the story of the other van Gogh...
Johanna, or Jo, is the least famous of the van Goghs.
Vincent is probably the world's best-known artist. Then there's Theo, his devoted brother, without whose undying financial, emotional, and creative support Vincent could never have done what he did.
And finally we have Johanna Gezina Bonger, the daughter of an insurance broker, born in 1862. Jo was a bright and naturally artistic child. She wrote this in her diary at the age of seventeen:
"I would think it dreadful to have to say at the end of my life that I’ve actually lived for nothing and have achieved nothing great or noble."
Whatever her dreams may have been, she studied English and became a teacher at a girls' school. In 1884 she was introduced to Theo van Gogh by her brother; they were both art dealers.
Theo was immediately taken, but it was five years later — having only met her twice — that he proposed. Jo said yes and they were married in early 1889.
She left Amsterdam and went to live with Theo in Paris, where until the previous year he had been living with Vincent, who had since gone to Arles and entered the creative apotheosis of swirling colour for which he is now so famous.
Theo was devoted to Vincent; Jo knew that by marrying the one she was in an intimate relationship with the other. In July 1889 Jo wrote this letter to her brother-in-law:
"My dear brother,
This time I’ll try to write to you in French, first I know that you like it more, and then with both of us expressing ourselves in the same language we’ll eventually understand each other better, I believe.
I’m going to begin by telling you a great piece of news which has greatly occupied us lately — it is that this winter, around February probably, we’re hoping to have a baby, a pretty little boy — whom we’ll call Vincent if you’ll consent to be his godfather.
Do you remember the portrait of the Roulin baby you sent Theo? Everyone admires it greatly, and many times now people have asked ‘but why have you put this portrait in this out-of-the-way corner?’ It’s because — from my place at table I can just see the child’s big blue eyes, its pretty little hands and round cheeks, and I like to imagine that ours will be as strong, as healthy and as beautiful as that one — and because his uncle will consent to do his portrait one day!
Your sister,
Jo"
After which Vincent wrote:
"I started right away to make a picture for him [Theo and Jo's child], to hang in their bedroom, branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."
But within a year Vincent had killed himself. Theo, crippled by grief, died just six months later. The tight-knit family was gone and Jo was left alone to raise her one year old son. So what did Jo do?
She left Paris, moved backed to the Netherlands, and set up a boarding house. But that's not all. The chance had come to fulfil her youthful dream of doing something noble. She inherited all of Vincent's then valueless paintings and took them with her. Although Vincent had sold only one painting in his lifetime and died a nobody, Jo was committed to continuing where her beloved husband had left off and sharing Vincent's artistic genius with the world.
Jo was a highly competent organiser and, even more importantly, a deep and perceptive thinker. Having known Vincent and Theo first hand, Jo was convinced that the art she had inherited could not be fully understood without a knowledge of the troubled genius who had created it.
So while she organised retrospective exhibitions of Vincent's work all on her own, gradually building his reputation and even starting to sell his work, perhaps her greatest contribution to his legacy was the publication of Theo and Vincent's letters in 1914.
She remarried in 1901 and when she died in 1925 the legacies of both Vincent and Theo were secured. Thanks to Jo's work he had gone from an obscure and near-forgotten Dutchman to one of the world's most renowned artists within two decades of his death.
And this was not only because of his paintings but because of the story told through the letters he had written to Theo and Theo to him. She sold some of Vincent's paintings, usually with regret but consoled by the thought that more people around the world would learn about his work that way; London's National Gallery bought their version of Sunflowers from Jo. And her son, Vincent Willem, was instrumental in founding the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1973.
There were people who already knew about Vincent van Gogh before Jo's work: the critic Albert Aurier was a supporter of his and he had been friends, after all, with the circle of Parisian artists who essentially created modern art and whose names are now revered.
But if not for Jo's tireless work and decades-long crusade he would probably be, at best, a relatively obscure Post-Impressionist. So while Vincent van Gogh may seem like the ultimate artist — an eternal outsider, a misunderstood rebel, a troubled genius — it was through the enduring love of those closest to him that his legacy has survived.
Without Jo, devoted custodian of the dreams of her husband and brother-in-law, you or I wouldn't know anything about that brilliant Dutchman. She is as much a part of the story as them. John Donne's famous words never rang so true:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3fk41zXMAAA1my.jpg)
![culturaltutor's tweet photo. You would never have heard of Vincent van Gogh if it wasn't for his sister-in-law Jo, who deserves to be better known.
Because she turned Vincent from an obscure Dutch painter into the world's most famous and beloved artist.
How? Well, this is the story of the other van Gogh...
Johanna, or Jo, is the least famous of the van Goghs.
Vincent is probably the world's best-known artist. Then there's Theo, his devoted brother, without whose undying financial, emotional, and creative support Vincent could never have done what he did.
And finally we have Johanna Gezina Bonger, the daughter of an insurance broker, born in 1862. Jo was a bright and naturally artistic child. She wrote this in her diary at the age of seventeen:
"I would think it dreadful to have to say at the end of my life that I’ve actually lived for nothing and have achieved nothing great or noble."
Whatever her dreams may have been, she studied English and became a teacher at a girls' school. In 1884 she was introduced to Theo van Gogh by her brother; they were both art dealers.
Theo was immediately taken, but it was five years later — having only met her twice — that he proposed. Jo said yes and they were married in early 1889.
She left Amsterdam and went to live with Theo in Paris, where until the previous year he had been living with Vincent, who had since gone to Arles and entered the creative apotheosis of swirling colour for which he is now so famous.
Theo was devoted to Vincent; Jo knew that by marrying the one she was in an intimate relationship with the other. In July 1889 Jo wrote this letter to her brother-in-law:
"My dear brother,
This time I’ll try to write to you in French, first I know that you like it more, and then with both of us expressing ourselves in the same language we’ll eventually understand each other better, I believe.
I’m going to begin by telling you a great piece of news which has greatly occupied us lately — it is that this winter, around February probably, we’re hoping to have a baby, a pretty little boy — whom we’ll call Vincent if you’ll consent to be his godfather.
Do you remember the portrait of the Roulin baby you sent Theo? Everyone admires it greatly, and many times now people have asked ‘but why have you put this portrait in this out-of-the-way corner?’ It’s because — from my place at table I can just see the child’s big blue eyes, its pretty little hands and round cheeks, and I like to imagine that ours will be as strong, as healthy and as beautiful as that one — and because his uncle will consent to do his portrait one day!
Your sister,
Jo"
After which Vincent wrote:
"I started right away to make a picture for him [Theo and Jo's child], to hang in their bedroom, branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."
But within a year Vincent had killed himself. Theo, crippled by grief, died just six months later. The tight-knit family was gone and Jo was left alone to raise her one year old son. So what did Jo do?
She left Paris, moved backed to the Netherlands, and set up a boarding house. But that's not all. The chance had come to fulfil her youthful dream of doing something noble. She inherited all of Vincent's then valueless paintings and took them with her. Although Vincent had sold only one painting in his lifetime and died a nobody, Jo was committed to continuing where her beloved husband had left off and sharing Vincent's artistic genius with the world.
Jo was a highly competent organiser and, even more importantly, a deep and perceptive thinker. Having known Vincent and Theo first hand, Jo was convinced that the art she had inherited could not be fully understood without a knowledge of the troubled genius who had created it.
So while she organised retrospective exhibitions of Vincent's work all on her own, gradually building his reputation and even starting to sell his work, perhaps her greatest contribution to his legacy was the publication of Theo and Vincent's letters in 1914.
She remarried in 1901 and when she died in 1925 the legacies of both Vincent and Theo were secured. Thanks to Jo's work he had gone from an obscure and near-forgotten Dutchman to one of the world's most renowned artists within two decades of his death.
And this was not only because of his paintings but because of the story told through the letters he had written to Theo and Theo to him. She sold some of Vincent's paintings, usually with regret but consoled by the thought that more people around the world would learn about his work that way; London's National Gallery bought their version of Sunflowers from Jo. And her son, Vincent Willem, was instrumental in founding the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1973.
There were people who already knew about Vincent van Gogh before Jo's work: the critic Albert Aurier was a supporter of his and he had been friends, after all, with the circle of Parisian artists who essentially created modern art and whose names are now revered.
But if not for Jo's tireless work and decades-long crusade he would probably be, at best, a relatively obscure Post-Impressionist. So while Vincent van Gogh may seem like the ultimate artist — an eternal outsider, a misunderstood rebel, a troubled genius — it was through the enduring love of those closest to him that his legacy has survived.
Without Jo, devoted custodian of the dreams of her husband and brother-in-law, you or I wouldn't know anything about that brilliant Dutchman. She is as much a part of the story as them. John Donne's famous words never rang so true:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3fk0iIWoAMvaKq.jpg)
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Premier @fordnation please take a country drive on Canal Road from Hwy 400 to Newmarket. Please consider the precious farmland of the #HollandMarsh and #StopTheBradfordBypass I dont live there this isn’t NIMBYism, just a love ecosystems and eating @stopbwgbypass
@DhkBeau My sincerest condolences Dominic, I’m sad to read of your family’s loss
In Ojibwe our word for fire fighters is aategejig (pronounced aa-te-ge-jig). Ojibwe fire fighters blessing the grounds of the devastation left behind.
🟠Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Today, we commemorate the children who never returned home, Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities; & reflect on the ongoing impacts that residential schools continue to have.
🟠Across Canada, people will come together to mark National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in many different ways. Consider joining a gathering near you to learn more about Indigenous culture, and heritage as well as key educational opportunities surrounding Indigenous history and ongoing reconciliation efforts.
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#SaveSoil movement to enrich the rapidly depleting soil in 192 Nations. Let's all come together to make it happen for all lives now and future. http://savesoil.
I have. In 2012. Under Stephen Harper!
Toronto public library @torontolibrary A request for “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act” as audiobook via Libby. Access to this book should be as broad as possible. It’s not currently available as an audiobook
#IndigenousStudies #IndianAct #TruthAndReconciliation
All Ontarians should be outraged about what’s happening in the Greenbelt.
https://t.co/dC9Ezpf0yE
Yes, the Ontario Government decided to remove thousands of hectares from the #Greenbelt.
Still, fortunately, we now have a “big tent” that brings together groups concerned about the relentless onslaught of damaging changes to Ontario’s land use policies👇
https://t.co/EpCOaCuPDT
Yes!
Hundreds of protestors keep up the heat in wake of damning Auditor General’s report on #Greenbelt land removals.
https://t.co/ILr934VMpV #ONpoli
You would never have heard of Vincent van Gogh if it wasn't for his sister-in-law Jo, who deserves to be better known.
Because she turned Vincent from an obscure Dutch painter into the world's most famous and beloved artist.
How? Well, this is the story of the other van Gogh...
Johanna, or Jo, is the least famous of the van Goghs.
Vincent is probably the world's best-known artist. Then there's Theo, his devoted brother, without whose undying financial, emotional, and creative support Vincent could never have done what he did.
And finally we have Johanna Gezina Bonger, the daughter of an insurance broker, born in 1862. Jo was a bright and naturally artistic child. She wrote this in her diary at the age of seventeen:
"I would think it dreadful to have to say at the end of my life that I’ve actually lived for nothing and have achieved nothing great or noble."
Whatever her dreams may have been, she studied English and became a teacher at a girls' school. In 1884 she was introduced to Theo van Gogh by her brother; they were both art dealers.
Theo was immediately taken, but it was five years later — having only met her twice — that he proposed. Jo said yes and they were married in early 1889.
She left Amsterdam and went to live with Theo in Paris, where until the previous year he had been living with Vincent, who had since gone to Arles and entered the creative apotheosis of swirling colour for which he is now so famous.
Theo was devoted to Vincent; Jo knew that by marrying the one she was in an intimate relationship with the other. In July 1889 Jo wrote this letter to her brother-in-law:
"My dear brother,
This time I’ll try to write to you in French, first I know that you like it more, and then with both of us expressing ourselves in the same language we’ll eventually understand each other better, I believe.
I’m going to begin by telling you a great piece of news which has greatly occupied us lately — it is that this winter, around February probably, we’re hoping to have a baby, a pretty little boy — whom we’ll call Vincent if you’ll consent to be his godfather.
Do you remember the portrait of the Roulin baby you sent Theo? Everyone admires it greatly, and many times now people have asked ‘but why have you put this portrait in this out-of-the-way corner?’ It’s because — from my place at table I can just see the child’s big blue eyes, its pretty little hands and round cheeks, and I like to imagine that ours will be as strong, as healthy and as beautiful as that one — and because his uncle will consent to do his portrait one day!
Your sister,
Jo"
After which Vincent wrote:
"I started right away to make a picture for him [Theo and Jo's child], to hang in their bedroom, branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."
But within a year Vincent had killed himself. Theo, crippled by grief, died just six months later. The tight-knit family was gone and Jo was left alone to raise her one year old son. So what did Jo do?
She left Paris, moved backed to the Netherlands, and set up a boarding house. But that's not all. The chance had come to fulfil her youthful dream of doing something noble. She inherited all of Vincent's then valueless paintings and took them with her. Although Vincent had sold only one painting in his lifetime and died a nobody, Jo was committed to continuing where her beloved husband had left off and sharing Vincent's artistic genius with the world.
Jo was a highly competent organiser and, even more importantly, a deep and perceptive thinker. Having known Vincent and Theo first hand, Jo was convinced that the art she had inherited could not be fully understood without a knowledge of the troubled genius who had created it.
So while she organised retrospective exhibitions of Vincent's work all on her own, gradually building his reputation and even starting to sell his work, perhaps her greatest contribution to his legacy was the publication of Theo and Vincent's letters in 1914.
She remarried in 1901 and when she died in 1925 the legacies of both Vincent and Theo were secured. Thanks to Jo's work he had gone from an obscure and near-forgotten Dutchman to one of the world's most renowned artists within two decades of his death.
And this was not only because of his paintings but because of the story told through the letters he had written to Theo and Theo to him. She sold some of Vincent's paintings, usually with regret but consoled by the thought that more people around the world would learn about his work that way; London's National Gallery bought their version of Sunflowers from Jo. And her son, Vincent Willem, was instrumental in founding the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1973.
There were people who already knew about Vincent van Gogh before Jo's work: the critic Albert Aurier was a supporter of his and he had been friends, after all, with the circle of Parisian artists who essentially created modern art and whose names are now revered.
But if not for Jo's tireless work and decades-long crusade he would probably be, at best, a relatively obscure Post-Impressionist. So while Vincent van Gogh may seem like the ultimate artist — an eternal outsider, a misunderstood rebel, a troubled genius — it was through the enduring love of those closest to him that his legacy has survived.
Without Jo, devoted custodian of the dreams of her husband and brother-in-law, you or I wouldn't know anything about that brilliant Dutchman. She is as much a part of the story as them. John Donne's famous words never rang so true:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
![culturaltutor's tweet photo. You would never have heard of Vincent van Gogh if it wasn't for his sister-in-law Jo, who deserves to be better known.
Because she turned Vincent from an obscure Dutch painter into the world's most famous and beloved artist.
How? Well, this is the story of the other van Gogh...
Johanna, or Jo, is the least famous of the van Goghs.
Vincent is probably the world's best-known artist. Then there's Theo, his devoted brother, without whose undying financial, emotional, and creative support Vincent could never have done what he did.
And finally we have Johanna Gezina Bonger, the daughter of an insurance broker, born in 1862. Jo was a bright and naturally artistic child. She wrote this in her diary at the age of seventeen:
"I would think it dreadful to have to say at the end of my life that I’ve actually lived for nothing and have achieved nothing great or noble."
Whatever her dreams may have been, she studied English and became a teacher at a girls' school. In 1884 she was introduced to Theo van Gogh by her brother; they were both art dealers.
Theo was immediately taken, but it was five years later — having only met her twice — that he proposed. Jo said yes and they were married in early 1889.
She left Amsterdam and went to live with Theo in Paris, where until the previous year he had been living with Vincent, who had since gone to Arles and entered the creative apotheosis of swirling colour for which he is now so famous.
Theo was devoted to Vincent; Jo knew that by marrying the one she was in an intimate relationship with the other. In July 1889 Jo wrote this letter to her brother-in-law:
"My dear brother,
This time I’ll try to write to you in French, first I know that you like it more, and then with both of us expressing ourselves in the same language we’ll eventually understand each other better, I believe.
I’m going to begin by telling you a great piece of news which has greatly occupied us lately — it is that this winter, around February probably, we’re hoping to have a baby, a pretty little boy — whom we’ll call Vincent if you’ll consent to be his godfather.
Do you remember the portrait of the Roulin baby you sent Theo? Everyone admires it greatly, and many times now people have asked ‘but why have you put this portrait in this out-of-the-way corner?’ It’s because — from my place at table I can just see the child’s big blue eyes, its pretty little hands and round cheeks, and I like to imagine that ours will be as strong, as healthy and as beautiful as that one — and because his uncle will consent to do his portrait one day!
Your sister,
Jo"
After which Vincent wrote:
"I started right away to make a picture for him [Theo and Jo's child], to hang in their bedroom, branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."
But within a year Vincent had killed himself. Theo, crippled by grief, died just six months later. The tight-knit family was gone and Jo was left alone to raise her one year old son. So what did Jo do?
She left Paris, moved backed to the Netherlands, and set up a boarding house. But that's not all. The chance had come to fulfil her youthful dream of doing something noble. She inherited all of Vincent's then valueless paintings and took them with her. Although Vincent had sold only one painting in his lifetime and died a nobody, Jo was committed to continuing where her beloved husband had left off and sharing Vincent's artistic genius with the world.
Jo was a highly competent organiser and, even more importantly, a deep and perceptive thinker. Having known Vincent and Theo first hand, Jo was convinced that the art she had inherited could not be fully understood without a knowledge of the troubled genius who had created it.
So while she organised retrospective exhibitions of Vincent's work all on her own, gradually building his reputation and even starting to sell his work, perhaps her greatest contribution to his legacy was the publication of Theo and Vincent's letters in 1914.
She remarried in 1901 and when she died in 1925 the legacies of both Vincent and Theo were secured. Thanks to Jo's work he had gone from an obscure and near-forgotten Dutchman to one of the world's most renowned artists within two decades of his death.
And this was not only because of his paintings but because of the story told through the letters he had written to Theo and Theo to him. She sold some of Vincent's paintings, usually with regret but consoled by the thought that more people around the world would learn about his work that way; London's National Gallery bought their version of Sunflowers from Jo. And her son, Vincent Willem, was instrumental in founding the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1973.
There were people who already knew about Vincent van Gogh before Jo's work: the critic Albert Aurier was a supporter of his and he had been friends, after all, with the circle of Parisian artists who essentially created modern art and whose names are now revered.
But if not for Jo's tireless work and decades-long crusade he would probably be, at best, a relatively obscure Post-Impressionist. So while Vincent van Gogh may seem like the ultimate artist — an eternal outsider, a misunderstood rebel, a troubled genius — it was through the enduring love of those closest to him that his legacy has survived.
Without Jo, devoted custodian of the dreams of her husband and brother-in-law, you or I wouldn't know anything about that brilliant Dutchman. She is as much a part of the story as them. John Donne's famous words never rang so true:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3fk7-uXkAErRCx.jpg)
Beautiful
Poseidon statue, Versailles, France
Stunning shot!
📸 Thank you @deanheliotis for this amazing shot and thank you for letting us be part of your journey 🛶
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It’s time for our annual Celebration of Summer Sale! Everything you could need – and we mean everything - to camp, hike, paddle, swim, eat, & play in #KillarneyProvincialPark - in store on sale!
Take a look and see what we mean 👀
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A beautiful day at Killarney Outfitters in Killarney, Ontario - 5 minutes from the Park gates.
Come say hi!
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I’m excited to have picked up my Friends of Charleston Lake Park raffle tickets! Great prizes to be drawn Monday, October 9. Get your tickets at Charleston Lake Provincial Park @CharlestonLkPP in #LansdowneOntario
#CharlestonLake
If you don’t love seagulls, then I’m probably your weird friend. But to live in a place where I hear #seagulls has been a lifelong dream. This makes me so happy and this is such a gift! I can hear this beautiful, historic, seaside sound from inside my home 💕
I can’t get over these images from the James Webb Space Telescope! They’re igniting curiosity and wonder in a whole new generation.
A couple of great reasons to connect with Killarney Outfitters. Let us connect you with #KillarneyOntario
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On Juneteenth, we commemorate the anniversary of the delayed but welcome news of freedom reaching the enslaved Black folks in Galveston, Texas. It’s a reminder that even in the darkest hours, there is cause to hope — and a reason to keep building a country that lives up to its highest ideals.
#ONStorm #ONwx So we’re doing this again… the GTHA and Niagara region currently has the worst air quality on the east coast! This is due to a localized pocket of near-surface wildfire smoke from the fires in Northern Ontario and Quebec that has set up over the region.
The Air Quality Index is currently above 150 around the Golden Horseshoe indicating unhealthy levels of air pollution. Please limit your exposure to the outside as much as possible over the next few hours.
Moderate levels of air pollution is also affecting much of Southwestern Ontario into parts of Central Ontario. While this isn’t considered unhealthy, it could still lead to some health complications for those with preexisting conditions.
We expect the smoke will clear out overnight after midnight which will lead to an improvement in the air quality by morning.
Are you smelling the smoke?
- Brennen
Data from https://t.co/8mHNQ2Obkc
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