Patronage of the struggling artist is a tradition that continues within cities like Antwerp.
Van Gogh feverishly scraped out his soul onto canvas, with no time to indulge in such trivial matters as marketing his products.
In effect, I lived the kind of life Van Gogh experienced
( with the exception that no monthly allowance came my way).
But no harm befell me, as the Belgians, Dutch, Germans, French, Swiss and even Americans produced people who inspired me with their love and respect for the hard path I had chosen to take in pursuit of artistic development.
Now I think I know what Van Gogh tried to say to me and how he suffered for his dignity... and how he tried to set them free.
They did not listen.
They are not listening still.
Perhaps they never will
