Sorrow (Van Gogh)

Sorrow
Sorrow
Artist	Vincent van Gogh
Year	1882
Catalogue	F929a
Type	Drawing
Medium	Pencil, pen and ink on paper
Subject	Nude
Dimensions	44.5 cm × 27.0 cm (17.5 in × 10.6 in)
Condition	Good
Location	The New Art Gallery Walsall, England
Accession	1973.128.GR

Sorrow is a drawing by Vincent van Gogh, produced in 1882.

The work, created two years after Van Gogh had decided to become an artist, depicts 32-year-old pregnant woman Clasina Maria Hoornik, familiarly known as Sien. Sorrow is widely acknowledged as a masterwork of draftsmanship,^{[citation needed]} the culmination of a long and sometimes uncertain apprenticeship by Van Gogh in learning his craft.^{[failed verification]}^[1] The drawing is part of the Garman Ryan Collection held at The New Art Gallery Walsall.^[2] Previously, it was in the private collection of artist Sally Ryan, who had the work hung in her permanent suite at the Dorchester Hotel in London.^[3]

The drawing is one of a series using Sien Hoornik as model. It is mentioned in a number of letters by Van Gogh, and he appears to have thought highly of it, considering it an important work and describing the drawing as "the best figure I've drawn".^[4] In a letter from July 1882, Van Gogh states; I want to make drawings that touch some people. Sorrow is a small beginning [...] there is at least something directly from my own heart.^[5] The piece is numbered as F929a in the catalogue raisonné by Jacob Baart de la Faille.

^ Hughes, Robert (27 October 2005). "The genius of Crazy Vinnie". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
^ Accession number 1973.128.GR
^ Digger, Jo (2009). Extraordinary People: Portraits in the Garman Ryan Collection. The New Art Gallery Walsall. p. 56. ISBN 978-0946652938.
^ Jansen, Leo (2009). Vincent van Gogh - The Letters: The complete illustrated and annotated edition - Volume 2: The Hague 1881-1883. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 52. ISBN 9780500238653.
^ Roskill, Mark (1963). The Letters of Van Gogh. Glasgow: Fontana. p. 155.

[1] Hughes, Robert (27 October 2005). "The genius of Crazy Vinnie". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2012.

[2] Accession number 1973.128.GR

[3] Digger, Jo (2009). Extraordinary People: Portraits in the Garman Ryan Collection. The New Art Gallery Walsall. p. 56. ISBN 978-0946652938.

[Jansen_2009_52-4] Jansen, Leo (2009). Vincent van Gogh - The Letters: The complete illustrated and annotated edition - Volume 2: The Hague 1881-1883. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 52. ISBN 9780500238653.

[5] Roskill, Mark (1963). The Letters of Van Gogh. Glasgow: Fontana. p. 155.

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