In his lithograph ‘Sorrow’, Van Gogh wanted to convey just how empty and unredeemable a heart can be. For this image of desperate human grief, he was inspired by a quote from the work of French historian Jules Michelet. Van Gogh was terrified of being the cause of such sadness, and used this in a letter to his brother Theo: ‘I do not want to deceive or abandon any woman’. 1.🌻 Vincent van Gogh, Sorrow (1882) 2.📝 Fragment from a letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, The Hague, 14 or 15 May 1882 #vangoghmuseum #vangoghletters #sketch #inspiration