Van Gogh Museum Journal 2000

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fig. 1
Goupil & Cie. in The Hague (Plaats 20), The Hague, Gemeentearchief

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An art dealer in the making: Theo van Gogh in The Hague
Chris Stolwijk

Introduction

In recent years Theo van Gogh's youth, his years as an art dealer in Paris and his contribution to the development of modern art have all been the subject of extensive study.¹ Far less is known about his formative years (1873-79) as the youngest employee at Goupil's in The Hague, a period which would make its mark on his later activity. This lacuna in Theo's biography is easily explained. Although many family documents for his childhood years have been preserved - providing a fairly accurate picture of his emotional evolution - and a relatively large amount of archive material exists on his ventures in Paris, there is only scanty information on his early career in The Hague. For this period the biographer must resort to Vincent's early correspondence, where evidence of Theo's professional development can sometimes be gleaned from between the lines, and to secondary sources and data principally connected with the ‘climate’ in which Theo worked. However, since this material does not enable us to give a precise account of Theo's early career, the following will set his years in The Hague in the broader context of the Dutch art market and the city's artistic life that time.

1 See John Rewald, ‘Theo van Gogh as art dealer,’ Studies in post-impressionism, New York 1986, pp. 7-116; Chris Stolwijk, ‘“Our crown and our honour and our joy”: Theo van Gogh's early years,’ Van Gogh Museum Journal (1997-98), pp. 42-57; and Richard Thomson, ‘Theo van Gogh: an honest broker,’ in exhib. cat. Theo van Gogh, 1857-1891: art dealer, collector and brother of Vincent, Amsterdam (Van Gogh Museum) & Paris (Musée d'Orsay) 1999-2000, pp. 61-148.

The young art dealer

Alongside his talent, insight, drive and education, chance played a role in Theo's career. At a time when Dutch society was still subtly configured by class distinctions and the labour market dominated by a traditional structure in which family connections determined profession, Theo's background as the nephew of three major Dutch art dealers was the deciding factor in his choice of vocation. In 1873 Theo's father, Reverend Theodorus van Gogh (1822-1885), had little problem persuading his brothers Vincent (1820-1888) - Uncle Cent - and Hendrik (1814-1877) - Uncle Hein - to arrange a suitable apprenticeship for his son, who had proved more practical than academic, as an employee at the latter's Brussels art gallery.

Vincent, who in similar fashion had started what would ultimately be a failed career as an art dealer at Goupil & Cie. in The Hague in 1869, was delighted that he and Theo would henceforth be working in the same ‘splendid business’; he predicted a fine future for his brother if he was ‘tenacious’ [3/3]. Vincent was prepared to give that future a helping hand, playing his part in the direction of Theo's education through an unremitting stream of advice about matters of art history. Looking back in July 1887, Theo wrote to his then-fiancée Johanna Bonger (1862-1925) that Vincent had taken him under his wing during these early years and had passed on his love of art.²

With his brother already an impassioned mentor in the field of art history, Theo's transfer to Goupil & Cie. in The Hague in November 1873 meant that he would now be working for one of the most prestigious galleries in the country (fig. 1), and at a time that was particularly exciting for Dutch art dealing in general. The opening of Goupil's lavish branch in The Hague in 1861 had resulted from the association of Goupil & Cie.'s owners, Adolphe Goupil (1806-1893) and Léon Boussod (1826-1896), with Theo's Uncle Cent. Since the 1820s Goupil had built up a monopoly in the print trade; in the 1840s the firm began

2 Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincent van Gogh Foundation, family correspondence, Theo van Gogh to Jo Bonger, 26 July 1887, letter b 4284 V/1984.

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fig. 2
Hermanus Gijsbertus Tersteeg (1845-1927), Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

selling contemporary painting and for a long time the business had been in search of new channels of distribution.³ Vincent van Gogh, a dealer in The Hague since 1840 and a specialist in the field of present-day Dutch art and French painting of the juste milieu, could provide just what was needed.⁴

Once Uncle Cent had moved to Paris in 1862, The Hague gallery was managed in succession by his brothers Hendrik Vincent (until the summer of 1863) and Eduard Reinhold (1841-1867). In 1867 Hermanus Gijsbertus Tersteeg (1845-1927) (fig. 2), who had already been working in The Hague for several years, was appointed gérant. Together with his brother Vincent, Tersteeg can be regarded as Theo's most important mentor, instructing him at an early age in the ins and outs of the art dealer's trade. Until his retirement in 1914, this energetic dealer steered the firm's policy for almost 40 years. Under Tersteeg's management The Hague branch grew into the most important company of its kind in the Netherlands, and played a prominent role in the further professionalisation and internationalisation of the Dutch art market.⁵

Goupil & Cie. offered its young employees good career opportunities, as Vincent stressed to his younger brother [3/3]. A number of renowned art dealers - Michael Knoedler (1823-1878), Ernest Gambart (1814-1902) and Elbert Jan van Wisselingh (1848-1912)⁶ - had, like Theo, been employed at Goupil's from an early age. Although Theo was never able to establish an independent gallery - to his great chagrin and in sharp contrast to the colleagues mentioned above - he did enjoy a steady career. Following his apprenticeships in Brussels (1873) and The Hague (1873-1879), he moved to Paris in 1879. Two years later, in 1881, he was appointed gérant of Goupil's oldest establishment in Paris, at 19, Boulevard Montmartre, at the age of just 23.

3 [Anon.], ‘Adolphe Goupil,’ Art Journal (1893), p. 3L.

4 Initial contacts between the dealers date to the mid-1840s. See Monique Nonne, ‘Les marchands de Van Gogh,’ in exhib. cat. Van Gogh à Paris, Paris (Musée d'Orsay) 1988, p. 333. For Vincent van Gogh and further references to relevant literature see Chris Stolwijk, Uit de schilderswereld: Nederlandse kunstschilders in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw, Leiden 1998, pp. 312-13. Over the years Goupil also did excellent business with major collectors in The Hague such as T.H. Blom Coster (1817-1904), H.W. Mesdag, F.H.M. Post (1829-1894) and W.J.G. Scheurleer (1825-1882).

5 See Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Archives, H.G. Tersteeg file, N.v. [an] H. [arpen], ‘H.G. Tersteeg’ [Laren, 18 Sept. '27]. For the history of Goupil's branch in The Hague specifically see Dieuwertje Dekkers, ‘Goupil en de verspreiding van Nederlandse eigentijdse kunst,’ Jong Holland 11 (1995), no. 4, pp. 22-36; Chris Stolwijk, ‘Un marchand avisé. La succursale hollandaise de la maison Goupil,’ in Hélène Lafont-Couturier (ed.), État des Lieux, vol. 2, Bordeaux 2000, pp. 72-96; and Robert Verhoogt, ‘Kunsthandel in prenten: Over de negentiende-eeuwse kunsthandels van Goupil en Gambart,’ Kunstlicht 20 (1999), no. 1, pp. 22-29. The branch was closed in 1917 when the owners René Valadon (1848-1921), Étienne Boussod (1857-1918) and (probably) Léon Avril (1856-1942) liquidated the firm. The building at Plaats 20, which had housed the gallery since 1875, was sold and the remaining stock auctioned by Kleykamp (The Hague) on 12 June 1917.

6 For these art dealers see exhib. cat. The rise of the art world in America: Knoedler at 150, New York (Knoedler Gallery) 1996; Jeremy Maas, Gambart: prince of the Victorian art world, London 1975; and J.F. Heijbroek and E.L. Wouthuysen, Portret van een kunsthandel: de firma Van Wisselingh en zijn compagnons, 1838-heden, Zwolle & Amsterdam 1999.

The Hague as an art centre

When Theo started work at Goupil & Cie. in The Hague the Dutch art market was experiencing a period of unprecedented growth. Appreciation for contemporary Dutch works had gradually increased after 1830, following 150 years of stagnation and even decline, when business had flagged and only a marginal market existed for trade in older art and top pieces by renowned contemporary masters.⁷ Growing demand for modern pictures and considerable expansion in art production meant a more prominent role for art dealers, who sought to structure supply and demand in a burgeoning market. The last quarter of the 19th century even experienced what might be described as a mass market for contemporary art; more art dealers were active in the Netherlands than ever before.

The Hague was the perfect place for Goupil & Cie. to thrive, and for a young inquiring art dealer to further his education through visits to museums and exhibitions. Although The Hague was no metropolis, as a result of positive economic developments it enjoyed substantial growth during the second half of the 19th century. Theo was able to experience at first-hand the city's assumption of metropolitan elegance, as it became an art centre of national significance.⁸

7 Unlike France, where the government played a central role in the distribution of new works, the Netherlands had had an art market in which products had been traded with relative ease since the late 16th century. See Annemieke Hoogenboom, De stand des kunstenaars: De positie van kunstschilders in Nederland in de eerste helft van de negentiende eeuw, Leiden 1993, pp. 129-56, and Stolwijk, op. cit. (note 4), pp. 187-221.

8 For the history of The Hague in the 19th century see P.R.D. Stokvis, De wording van modern Den Haag: De stad en haar bevolking van de Franse Tijd tot de Eerste Wereldoorlog, Zwolle 1987, pp. 11-20.

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fig. 3
Prinsessegracht in The Hague seen from the Herenburg with, in the left background, the Teekenacademie, c. 1880, The Hague, Gemeentearchief

The Hague was a magnet for artists, thanks to its location near the sea and the Dutch polders, the presence of a substantial group of major collectors and the establishment of a large number of important cultural institutions - museums, a drawing academy (fig. 3), galleries and the artists' society Pulchri Studio. The city had traditionally accommodated a considerable colony of painters. Well-known Hague School artists such as Johannes Bosboom, the brothers Jacob, Thijs and Willem Maris, and Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch all lived in the city, as did Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer, who would eventually cause a stir in Paris with his pretty 18th-century costume pieces, and lesser-known artists such as the Verveer brothers Sam, Mauritz and Elchanon.

At the beginning of the 1870s a large number of new painters settled in the court capital, including Bernard Blommers, Jozef Israëls, Anton Mauve and Hendrik Willem Mesdag. Their arrival heralded the dawn of a new golden age for Dutch art in general and The Hague art world in particular.⁹ These artists, who became known as the Hague School, used accurate studies of nature to transform Dutch 17th-century realism and their most important source of inspiration, the works of the Barbizon School, into a new painterly idiom that would dominate the contemporary art scene from the mid-1870s onward. In their letters, Theo and Vincent praised the work of many of these painters, including Israëls, the Maris brothers and Mauve. In June 1879, for example, Vincent wrote to Theo: ‘A painting by Mauve or Maris or Israëls says more and says it more clearly than nature herself’ [151/130].

The newcomers met at Pulchri Studio, where over the years they filled the most important offices on the society's board. Pulchri was the ideal breeding ground for their ‘explicit sense of artistic solidarity.’¹⁰ The society endeavoured to promote ‘the visual arts in general, and the

9 See exhib. cat., The Hague School: Dutch masters of the 19th century, Paris (Galeries nationales du Grand Palais), London (Royal Academy of Arts) & The Hague (Haags Gemeentemuseum) 1983.

10 John Sillevis, ‘Van Gogh en de Haagse kunstwereld,’ in Michiel van der Mast and Charles Dumas (eds.), Van Gogh en Den Haag, Zwolle 1990, p. 152.

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interests of artists in particular,’ and to foster ‘the artistic sense’ by organising exhibitions and art viewings.¹¹ Pulchri Studio was particularly famous for the latter which, according to one critic, ‘always [held] an exceptional attraction’ for the public.¹² Theo probably did not attend any of these events, as they were mainly for artists and art-lovers from higher social circles. However, Tersteeg, who was on friendly terms with many Hague School artists, was a welcome guest and he may well have informed Theo about them. Moreover, Theo could have visited the exhibitions organised by the association in 1875 and 1876. In 1875 its galleries in the Hofje van Nieuwkoop on the Fluwelen Burgwal displayed an ‘exhibition with drawings’; a year later the works on view were ‘paintings destined for the Paris exhibition.’

Among the shows Theo could not afford to miss were the Tentoonstellingen van Levende Meesters (Exhibitions of Living Masters) - the so-called ‘Driejaarlijksche’ or triennial exhibitions of contemporary art. These were held at the Teekenacademie on the Prinsessegracht from May through June in 1875 and 1878. Such large sales exhibitions had taken place in major Dutch cities since 1808. Until about 1850 they offered contemporary painters one of the few opportunities to show new work, thereby considerably increasing the public's exposure and access to the latest in art. By the 1870s, however, they had long been failing to meet the needs of artists and art lovers. Distribution was now largely effected through more specialised channels. Artists' societies, such as Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam and Pulchri Studio, and art dealers provided a extensive circuit of similar, small-scale and highly exclusive exhibitions. Nevertheless the Dutch Salon continued to play a modest role in the presentation and distribution of contemporary art until the First World War. During Theo's time in The Hague it still formed the city's cultural high point.

In the halls of the Teekenacademie in 1875 Theo would have been able to view 473 works of art by 280 contemporary painters from the Netherlands and abroad, including Bernard Blommers, Adolphe-William Bouguereau, Charles Landelle, Jacob Maris and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Although there were so many pictures on display, various critics, including Johan Gram, perceived a clear theme amongst the entries: ‘One peculiarity of this salon that one may mention is that one finds snow and mothers with children in great abundance. Elsewhere I

fig. 4
Carel Fabritius, The goldfinch, The Hague, Mauritshuis

have called it a “snowy” exhibition, for last winter's frozen rain has enticed our St Luke's brethren to such a degree with its wet pitch effect and rich contrast that one finds landscapes, figures, sheep, oxen, in short everything in the snow, even a courting couple whose warm love is not quenched by either snow or cold.’¹³ Nevertheless the critic concluded with the words: ‘There is more than enough choice; and when so many exhibitions are later recorded for posterity, the 1875 one in The Hague will be distinguished in that series by golden letters in our art calendar.’

For Goupil & Cie. the period of the Levende Meesters exhibition was a busy one. The firm regularly lent a considerable number of works by masters with whom it did business. The exhibitions thus formed a lucrative, albeit local, sales market where many works were sold over the years.

11 Reglement van het Genootschap Pulchri Studio, [The Hague] 1872, article 1. Unlike its elegant Amsterdam counterpart, Arti et Amicitiae, which annually organised substantial exhibitions of the work of ‘living masters,’ Pulchri was for many years mainly a social meeting place with a vigorous and interesting club life.

12 T.[obias] v.[an] W.[esthreene], ‘Kunstnieuws,’ Kunstkronijk N.S. 5 (1863), p. 56.

13 J.[ohan] G.[ram], ‘De tentoonstelling van schilderijen te 's Gravenhage,’ Kunstkronijk N.S. 17 (1875), p. 35: ‘Eene eigenaardigheid van dit salon mag men het noemen dat men in grooten overvloed sneeuw en moeders met kinderen vindt. Elders heb ik het een “besneeuwde” tentoonstelling genoemd, want de bevroren regen van den jongsten winter heeft zoovelen onzer Lucasbroeders door haar piknat effect en rijke tegenstelling verlokt, dat men er landschappen, figuren, schapen, ossen, kortom alles in de sneeuw vindt, tot zelfs een minnend paar, welks warme liefde zich door sneeuw noch kou laat bedwingen. [...] Er is keuze te over; en wanneer zooveele tentoonstellingen later pro memoria geboekt staan, zal die van 1875 in den Haag zich onder die reeks door gouden letteren in onzen kunstkalender kenmerken.’ See also M.[arcellus] E.[mants], ‘De Haagsche tentoonstelling van schilderijen,’ Nederlandsche Kunstbode (10 June 1875), p. 83.

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Many works were also sold at the annual exhibitions of the Hollandsche Teeken-Maatschappij (Dutch Drawing Society), which were held in The Hague from 1876 onwards in the months August to September. This association was founded by a number of Goupil's best-selling Hague School artists - Blommers, Bosboom, Israëls, Mesdag, Jacob and Willem Maris and Anton Mauve - for the purpose of drawing the public's attention to the watercolour as an independent medium. It is no longer possible to deduce the real extent of the gallery's involvement in the Teeken-Maatschappij's foundation. Clearly, however, Goupil's Hague branch was closely involved in the project: Tersteeg was the society's secretary for many years, and in that capacity he was responsible for organising the annual exhibitions - for which he could freely draw on the firm's stock.

These exhibitions were particularly successful. The press praised the consistently high quality of the entries and the shows' elegant setting, as in 1876: ‘The extremely graceful salon, decorated with flowers, carpets and draperies, holds 120 drawings. The majority outstanding thanks to their size and import, watercolours whose masterly treatment splendidly illuminates the strength of Dutch painters in this discipline.’¹⁴

As Tersteeg's employee Theo probably carried out a variety of tasks connected with the organisation of the exhibitions, and he would certainly have visited these important events, where the latest drawings by renowned masters, Dutch and foreign, were on display. In August 1877 he tried to persuade Vincent to visit the society's second exhibition with him. However, not even a money order could convince his impecunious older brother to travel to The Hague [125/105].

In his spare time Theo could visit a number of public art collections in The Hague. The most important of these was found in the Mauritshuis, the Royal Cabinet of Paintings, whose charming, intimate character and exceptional range of Old Masters pictures had made it a popular venue already in the early 19th century. Soon after Theo arrived in The Hague Vincent urged him to go ‘to the museum often,’ writing: ‘it is good that you know old painters, too’ [15/12]. In the same letter he also advised Theo to write and tell him which artists he liked the most, ‘both the old and the new.’ In the Mauritshuis Theo could admire many of the most famous works of the Golden Age. Masterpieces such as Carel Fabritius's Goldfinch (fig. 4), Paulus Potter's Young bull, Rembrandt's Anatomy lesson of Dr Tulp and Johannes Vermeer's View of Delft must have particularly appealed to him.

Theo kept his brother informed of his museum visits in his letters. At the beginning of September 1875, for example, Vincent replied that he would have very much liked to have seen the painting ‘in question’ by Jan Symonsz Pynas that Theo had told him about [42/35].¹⁵ Theo's activities increased his interest in old (Dutch) paintings and his knowledge of the subject. His print collection, which he started on Vincent's advice and assembled in close consultation with his brother, also contained

14 [Anon.], ‘Eerste tentoonstelling der Haagsche Teeken-Maatschappij,’ Kunstkronijk N.S. 18 (1876), p. 44: ‘De zeer smaakvol, met bloemen, tapijten en draperieën ingerichte salon bevat 120 teekeningen. De meesten uitstekend door omvang en beteekenis, aquarellen wier meesterlijke behandeling de kracht der nederlandse schilders in dit kunstvak schitterend in het licht stelt.’

15 Theo may have been referring to the panel Mary and John at the cross, which the museum had acquired in 1874; see Mauritshuis: the royal cabinet of paintings. Illustrated general catalogue, The Hague 1977, p. 188, no. 131.

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fig. 5
Wijnand Nuyen, The old mill in winter, 1838, The Hague, Haags Cemeentemuseum

examples by the Old Masters.¹⁶ As a Goupil employee Theo came into daily contact with contemporary painting - of the Barbizon and Hague Schools - that had been inspired by the celebrated Dutch works of the 17th century; an interest in and understanding of this art was therefore essential.

For contemporary art in The Hague Theo could visit the Museum van Moderne Kunst. From 1871 to 1881 this small museum was housed in the former home of an art collector at Korte Beestenmarkt 9, a continuation of the Lange Beestenmarkt where Theo lived. In addition to pieces connected with the history of the city and owned by the municipality, the museum contained works that belonged to The Hague's Vereeniging tot het oprigten van een Museum voor Moderne Kunst (Association for the Foundation of a Museum of Modern Art).¹⁷ Thus, on his doorstep, Theo had an opportunity to see pictures by the Dutch romantics and other artists from the middle of the century - works such as Bosboom's St Peters Church in Leiden, Wijnand Nuyen's The old mill in winter (fig. 5) and Charles Rochussen's The suspicious house.¹⁸

As a centre for the arts The Hague accommodated various important galleries. The Koninklijke Bazaar in the Zeestraat, opened in 1843, was a renowned establishment where Theo could have seen a permanent exhibition of contemporary painting, alongside a wide range of curiosities and antiques. The Bazaar was typical of those establishments that combined the sale of works of art and decorative objects, still the custom in the art world around 1850. However, by the 1870s dealers were increasingly fitting out elegant galleries where an orderly selection of contemporary art could be viewed at leisure - a far cry from the crowded halls of the Levende Meesters shows. By presenting pictures by artists working in a similar manner as an ensemble, art dealers were able to give contemporary art an exclusive character it had nearly lost as a result of the jumbled installation at the Driejaarlijksche. On Lange Poten, for example, not far from Goupil's establishment on the Plaats, there was the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Boek-en Runsthandel Couvée, which boasted a ‘gallery with top light’ where permanent exhibitions of contemporary paintings from stock were held. From 1876 Theo could also have visited an art dealer of Amsterdam origin, Hendrik Jan van Wisselingh (1816-1884), father of the more well-known Elbert Jan. In 1876 Van Wisselingh's ‘relatively small house’ on Westeinde housed an exhibition

16 On this aspect of the collection see Sjraar van Heugten and Chris Stolwijk, ‘Theo van Gogh: the collector,’ in Theo van Gogh, cit. (note 1), pp. 154-55.

17 The association was founded in 1866 by several collectors and artists from The Hague; its aim was to ‘create a collection of artworks by contemporary Dutch masters’ by annually making purchases at Dutch exhibitions. It restricted itself to the acquisition of pieces by artists who worked or had worked in The Hague; see exhib. cat. Wij zijn 100 jaar museumvrienden, The Hague (Haags Gemeentemuseum) 1966, p. 1.

18 See Gemeentemuseum Den Haag: catalogus schilderijen / afdeling moderne kunst 1962, The Hague 1962, nos. 19, 62 and 74.

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with artworks ‘that one does not often see in the Netherlands: Corot, Diaz, Dupré.’¹⁹ Van Wisselingh, one of the earliest champions of Barbizon, was highly regarded by many artists of the Hague School; he also kept works by them permanently in stock.

19 Kunstkronijk N.S. 18 (1976), p. 79, quoted after Heijbroek and Wouthuysen, op. cit. (note 6, p. 23; for H.J. van Wisselingh see pp. 17-25.

Goupil in The Hague

The favourable artistic climate in The Hague offered Theo countless opportunities for viewing (contemporary) art. And from November 1873 he was also confronted by an immense quantity of new works at the ‘consummately’ neat and ‘suitably appointed’ gallery on the Plaats.²⁰ Goupil's flexible commercial policy, which combined the sale of paintings, drawings and illustrated books,²¹ generated a lively trade in works by Dutch and foreign masters, although the most progressive art of the day was virtually excluded from the premises.²² The heterogeneous selection of art objects executed in diverse techniques and of varying price made the establishment a luxury department store for exclusive craft products.

In order to gain and maintain a position in the expanding market(s) for contemporary art, it was essential for dealers to effectively promote the work and the artist who made it; in other words, to increase the visibility and saleability of what was on offer. Goupil's was able to benefit from the knowledge the firm had built up dealing in prints, and the new technologies it had already employed, such as the photogravure and photography. The establishment successfully marketed prints, (artists') albums, reproductions, illustrated magazines, catalogues and special series such as the Galérie photographique and the Musée Goupil.²³

The Hague branch of the company offered its clientele a wide range of prints and reproductions after works by old and modern masters in various price categories. The most popular genre painters from the Paris Salon, such as Bouguereau and Jean-Léon Gérôme (fig. 6), were the best represented; it was not until the end of the 19th

fig. 6
After Jean-Léon Gérôme, Vente d'esclaves, Bordeaux, Musée Goupil

century that work by painters of the Barbizon and Hague schools appeared in print form.²⁴ Once Theo had proved his worth as an employee, Tersteeg made him responsible for the print department; from 1876 to 1879 Theo made annual trips with new merchandise from stock, the so-called nouveautés, to business associates around the country.²⁵

As a print dealer Theo profited from the knowledge he had acquired about (reproduced) graphic works in preceding years. In 1873 he had started his own print collec-

20 [Anon], ‘Berigten, mededeelingen, enz.,’ De Nederlandsche Spectator (17 August 1861).

21 Thomson, op. cit. (note 1), pp. 69-78. The Hague branch of Goupil's had access to its own restoration workshop and the firm also acted as a publisher.

22 It was not until March 1888 that a consignment of French impressionists was displayed at the Hague branch. This consignment had been arranged by Theo; see ibid., pp. 81 and 201, note 90. At the time there was hardly any interest in the Netherlands in this type of modern painting; see Benno Tempel, ‘“Such absurdity can never deserve the name of Art”: impressionism in the Netherlands,’ Van Gogh Museum Journal (1999), pp. 112-29.

23 For these series see P.-L. Renié, ‘Goupil & Cie. à l'ère industrielle: la photographie appliquée à la reproduction des oeuvres d'art,’ in Hélène Lafont-Couturier (ed.), Etat des lieux, vol. 1, Bordeaux 1994, pp. 96-97.

24 Verhoogt, op. cit. (note 5), pp. 23-24.

25 Stolwijk, op. cit. (note 1), pp. 49-50. Theo made extensive use of Goupil's stock catalogues, for example, Extrait du catalogue général de Goupil & Cie., imprimeurs et éditeurs à Paris of 1874, and Gravures, photogravures, lithographies et photographies of 1877, in which the items are classified according to technique (and price).

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tion, at Vincent's instigation. Their letters bear witness to this early passion for collecting. Both brothers enthusiastically sought out prints after Dutch Old Masters and contemporary artists such as Jean François Millet, Israëls and Philip Sadée.²⁶ Theo continued to be attracted to such works in his later career. As a collector he bought many prints, while as gérant of the Goupil branch on the Boulevard Montmartre he endeavoured to further stimulate the trade in ‘illustrations.’ At the end of the 1880s, for example, he handled the publication of various important albums of prints for Boussod, Valadon & Cie. These included George William Thornley's Quinze lithographies d'après Degas (1889), Paul Gauguin's set of ten zincographs (1889) and August Lauzet's Adolphe Monticelli: vingt planches d'après les tableaux originaux de Monticelli et deux portraits de l'artiste (1890).²⁷

Although the importance of print sales must not be underestimated, turnover at Goupil's branch in The Hague was largely determined by the growing commerce in contemporary painting. Unlike the majority of Dutch art dealers, who concentrated on ‘average’ works for the domestic market, Goupil's specialised in the sale of contemporary masterpieces both nationally and internationally. To this end the firm combined a highly speculative commercial business strategy with more traditional forms of business, such as low-risk commissions and auctions.²⁸ By explicitly investing in the work of a limited number of artists - an approach derived from the print trade - Goupil endeavoured to monopolise the market. To meet the specific demands of its extensive clientele the firm put contemporary masters on contract, engaging them to supply their work to the firm at ‘fixed’ prices. These pieces were then resold in the relatively short term, with an average profit margin of around 30 to 40 per cent.²⁹

In the 1860s and 70s Goupil's in The Hague dealt in important works by established Salon painters such as Bouguereau, Alfred de Neuville and Gérôme, all of whom were highly regarded by Dutch collectors. These collectors were also interested in cheaper works by artists such as Benjamin-Eugène Fichel, who was popular for his 18th-century costume pieces; Léon Perrault, known for his paintings in the style of his master Bouguereau; and Félix Ziem, whose seascapes found a ready market. The knowledge Theo acquired of these artists' work in The Hague proved useful to him in Paris, where he continued to occasionally deal in their paintings.

In contrast to their feelings about French academic painting, Theo (and Vincent) conceived a great passion for the works of Barbizon School masters such as Camille Corot, Alexandre Gabriel Decamps, Narcisse Diaz de la Peña, Charles François Daubigny and Charles Troyon. Theo must have thus regretted the fact that their work was only sporadically traded while he was working in The Hague. Corot's work did not find a market in the Netherlands until after 1880. Theo was partially responsible for these sales: in Paris he was Goupil's most important dealer in Corot, and in this capacity supplied several paintings by him to his former employer.³⁰

During the 1860s Goupil's in The Hague still sold mainly genre pieces, landscapes, cityscapes, village views and seascapes by the Dutch painters of around 1850 - Alexander Bakker Korff, Charles Leickert and Cornelis Springer. From about 1870 Tersteeg began to invest cautiously in work by the future masters of the Hague School. It proved to be a winning move. Initially the main interest came from foreign collectors. However, from the mid-1870s important Dutch collectors also shifted their attention from French academic painting to more modern work by their compatriots.³¹ In subsequent decades The Hague branch of Goupil became the most important supplier of paintings by artists such as Blommers, Israëls, Jacob and Willem Maris, Mauve and Hendrik Jan Weissenbruch. Jacob Maris, for example, a painter whose work was frequently discussed and praised by Theo and Vincent, turned over his entire production exclusively to Tersteeg (fig. 7). From 1873 to 1879 the dealer handled several hundred of

26 See Van Heugten and Stolwijk, op. cit. (note 16), pp. 154-55.

27 Thomson, op. cit. (note 1), pp. 126-29; for Monticelli see also the article by Aaron Sheon in this volume of the Van Gogh Museum Journal.

28 The branch sold around ten per cent of its stock in this manner; see Stolwijk, op. cit. (note 4), p. 198.

29 For these contracts between art dealers and painters in Holland see, especially, Dieuwertje Dekkers, ‘“Zeer verkoopbaar”: Zakelijke afspraken tussen de Hollandse schilder en zijn kunsthandelaar (1860-1915),’ in J.L. de Jong and E.A. Koster (eds.), Onverwacht bijeengebracht, Groningen 1996, pp. 33-40, and Stolwijk, op. cit. (note 4), pp. 208-15. Until about 1900 Goupil bought more than five works directly from around 40 artists.

30 For example: Les deux bouleaux (no. 17087), Soleil couchant (no. 18366), Bords de rivière (no. 20440), Ruines à Rome (no. 20649), Etude côteau boise (no. 20701) and Figure (no. 20857). The numbers refer to the ledgers of Boussod, Valadon & Cie.

31 See Dieuwertje Dekkers, ‘“Where are the Dutchmen?”: promoting the Hague School in America, 1875-1900,’ Simiolus 24 (1996), pp. 54-73.

[p. 27]

Jacob Maris's paintings, drawings and watercolours.³² Despite his great admiration for the Hague School artists, Theo only occasionally managed to sell their canvases in Paris; in France there was little interest in the pictures he had come to know so well and appreciate during his apprenticeship.

32 On the relationship between Maris and Goupil's see Bart Boon, ‘Jacob Maris en kunsthandel Goupil,’ Jong Holland 15 (1999), no. 3, pp. 15-27 and 63 (summary).

Epilogue

During his time in The Hague Theo was taken under Tersteeg's wing, a man about whom Vincent wrote in 1875: ‘Keep [your] regard for Mr Tersteeg; you will see later on, better than now, that he deserves it’ [48/38]. Tersteeg had great confidence in Theo's abilities, as he regularly intimated to his employee's parents.³³ Although Vincent became extremely negative towards Tersteeg in the 1880s - in March 1882 he wrote to his brother: ‘Theo, remain a little better than H.G.T.! H.G.T. was better than now when I first knew him’ [210/181] - Theo maintained friendly relations with him throughout his career. In 1890 he took his former mentor into his confidence after a serious conflict with his superiors in Paris, probably connected with his attempts to open up new markets for the most progressive art of the period. Tersteeg advised Theo: ‘Above all take care to do no business that Valadon could rightly seize on as a weapon against you. In the event of doubt it is better to refrain [...] you should start by being far less concerned by all the issues and arguments and simply continue to do business in a manner, and employing the knowledge, that has seemed most appropriate to you for the Boulevard. Be brave, stay calm and carry on prudently [...] this will also continue to be the best rule of life for you.’³⁴ Theo's ‘courageous’ investments of 1885 in impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, his ‘calm’ and ‘prudent’ dealings in the work of established masters, and his efforts to promote and modernise the print trade, show that as gérant of the Goupil branch on the Boulevard Montmartre he employed the modus operandi had encountered daily in The Hague.

fig. 7
Jacob Maris, The mill, 1879, The Hague, Museum Mesdag

33 Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincent van Gogh Foundation, family correspondence, Theodorus van Gogh to Theo, 7 January 1874, letter b 2681 V/1982.

34 Loc. cit., H.G. Tersteeg to Theo, 7 April 1890, letter b 1368 V/1962.