«Io decisamente non sono un pittore di paesaggi». Vincent van Gogh all'Aja (1881-1883): note sulla nascita di una coscienza artistica

Though Vincent van Gogh’s French years (1885-1890) are traditionally the most studied and appreciated by the critics and by the public as well, some key aspects of his mature poetics and style cannot be successfully explained if not linked to the painter’s first attempts in art training. This essay makes a detailed analysis of Vincent’s letters from The Hague (1881-1883) to map his opinions on the matter of art at that time and to show how almost all the main features of van Gogh’s art really date back to those years.