From Van Gogh to Walt Disney, The Magic of Handwriting showcases intimate letters from the past
- Book features 140 examples of penmanship spanning 900 years from the private collection of Brazilian art historian
- Included are handwritten letters from a seven-year-old who would become Britain’s Queen Victoria, and Albert Einstein being critical of Sigmund Freud
The Magic of Handwriting by Christine Nelson, published by Taschen. 4/5 stars
In 1888, Paul Gauguin left Paris to join fellow artist Vincent van Gogh in Arles, a city in the Provence region of southern France. The next year, Gauguin dramatically claimed in a letter that he had feared for his life during his time there.
“Unfortunately this friend went raving mad,” Gauguin wrote of Van Gogh, “and for a whole month I lived under the constant fear of a mortal or tragic accident.”
Following his breakdown, Van Gogh entered an asylum. In 1890 – as he was about to leave the facility – he wrote to his former landlord asking the man to forward him his meagre furniture (which the struggling artist had already immortalised in three paintings entitled Bedroom in Arles).
“Completely recovered,” he was eager to start life afresh. But within two months Van Gogh was dead, having shot himself in the stomach.
