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Was Van Gogh jealous of Milliet?
Vincent van Gogh admired lieutenant Paul Eugène Milliet (‘The lover’) for his way with women. He confesses to Theo:
‘Milliet’s lucky, he has all the Arlésiennes he wants, but there you are, he can’t paint them, and if he was a painter he wouldn’t have any.’ In this portrait he depicts him as the prototype of a lover.
"As long as autumn lasts I won’t have enough hands, canvas or colours to paint the beautiful things that I see. I’m also working on the portrait of Milliet, but he poses badly, or else it’s my fault, which I don’t believe, however, because I badly need some studies of him because he’s good-looking, very jaunty, very easy-going in his appearance, and he’d suit me down to the ground for a painting of lovers. I’ve already promised him a study for his trouble, but there you are, he can’t keep still.”
Paul Eugène Milliet (‘The lover’)
Arles, 1888
Oil on canvas
60,3 x 49,5 cm
Kröller-Muller Museum
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‘Milliet’s lucky, he has all the Arlésiennes he wants, but there you are, he can’t paint them, and if he was a painter he wouldn’t have any.’ In this portrait he depicts him as the prototype of a lover.
Today 133 years ago, on 25 September 1888,
Vincent van Gogh wrote to Theo from Arles:"As long as autumn lasts I won’t have enough hands, canvas or colours to paint the beautiful things that I see. I’m also working on the portrait of Milliet, but he poses badly, or else it’s my fault, which I don’t believe, however, because I badly need some studies of him because he’s good-looking, very jaunty, very easy-going in his appearance, and he’d suit me down to the ground for a painting of lovers. I’ve already promised him a study for his trouble, but there you are, he can’t keep still.”
Paul Eugène Milliet (‘The lover’)
Arles, 1888
Oil on canvas
60,3 x 49,5 cm
Kröller-Muller Museum
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