The cover. Courtyard of the hospital at Arles.

摘要

Vincent was distraught when Gauguin told him earlier that month of his plans to leave Aries. His departure meant the end of Vincent's dream of an artist colony, the Studio of the South, where he hoped artists could express the religious impulse in post-Impressionist painting. Vincent, like his father and grandfather, had pursued the ministry and he had lived for a time as an evangelist. But he turned away from traditional religion to find his new calling in his art. Sensitive to rejection, he was losing not only someone he admired but also his hope for the new artistic endeavor.