1
00:00:10,983 --> 00:00:15,775
They're feeling sorry that I don't have a tattoo. 
For first I'm not --

2
00:00:16,823 --> 00:00:20,464
I would like to take you back to 1887.

3
00:00:20,464 --> 00:00:24,236
There is a young man in front of the door 
of a woman, here in Amsterdam.

4
00:00:24,328 --> 00:00:28,301
He has only seen her three times 
during the past two years.

5
00:00:29,285 --> 00:00:32,006
Her name is Johanna Bonger.

6
00:00:32,006 --> 00:00:36,803
I think I have to show a picture of her.

7
00:00:38,095 --> 00:00:39,965
Here she is.

8
00:00:40,027 --> 00:00:41,367
He has only seen her three times,

9
00:00:41,367 --> 00:00:43,799
but he already knows 
that he's madly in love with her,

10
00:00:43,799 --> 00:00:46,385
and wants to spend 
the rest of his life with her.

11
00:00:46,385 --> 00:00:51,027
She's an English teacher, but 
unfortunately she has a secret love.

12
00:00:51,027 --> 00:00:52,326
And she says no,

13
00:00:52,326 --> 00:00:56,576
and this guy goes back 
in the train to Paris disappointed,

14
00:00:56,576 --> 00:01:00,441
where he lives 
with his artist brother Vincent.

15
00:01:00,441 --> 00:01:03,351
However destiny:
one year later they meet again in Paris.

16
00:01:03,351 --> 00:01:08,223
She is single, and the artist has left 
to the south of France.

17
00:01:08,223 --> 00:01:10,329
And they fall in love,
and to make a long story short,

18
00:01:10,329 --> 00:01:13,519
marry on 18 April '89.

19
00:01:13,519 --> 00:01:16,831
And a happy life in Paris starts.

20
00:01:16,831 --> 00:01:19,531
They meet a lot of friends and --


21
00:01:20,388 --> 00:01:25,447
her ideal was a life full 
of intellectual stimulation, a social life

22
00:01:25,447 --> 00:01:30,279
with friends around her 
who were all working for a good cause.

23
00:01:34,172 --> 00:01:37,144
And they have a baby a year later 
and name him Vincent,

24
00:01:37,144 --> 00:01:40,950
after the uncle
and uncle Vincent is tremendously happy.

25
00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:45,391
And he sends "The Almond Blossom",
representing new life as a baby gift.

26
00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:51,792
So you can imagine that it's a tragedy
when uncle Vincent dies a year later,


27
00:01:51,792 --> 00:01:53,836
in 1890.

28
00:01:54,990 --> 00:01:57,905
And Theo, who was not only his brother 
but also his best friend,

29
00:01:57,905 --> 00:02:00,225
is heartbroken.

30
00:02:00,225 --> 00:02:04,911
He has supported Vincent during his life,
he has encouraged him.

31
00:02:04,911 --> 00:02:07,945
And so he becomes ill and he dies
half a year later.

32
00:02:07,945 --> 00:02:11,143
And this young woman, Johanna Bonger
is suddenly left alone

33
00:02:11,143 --> 00:02:13,814
and has to make a living 
with her little boy.

34
00:02:13,814 --> 00:02:15,778
And she does so by starting up

35
00:02:15,778 --> 00:02:19,717
what we would call now 
a bed-and-breakfast in Bussum,

36
00:02:19,717 --> 00:02:22,640
where a lot of artists will stay,


37
00:02:22,825 --> 00:02:26,130
who will become later 
a part of her network.

38
00:02:26,699 --> 00:02:31,488
And she works as a translator, 
but she also starts to continue the work of Theo.

39
00:02:31,704 --> 00:02:35,223
And she starts to approach museums, 
and galleries

40
00:02:35,223 --> 00:02:39,502
and giving works in consignments
in order to promote the work of Vincent.

41
00:02:39,502 --> 00:02:42,842
She also starts to type out 
all the letters of Vincent.

42
00:02:42,934 --> 00:02:48,687
And you can imagine no computers, 
an old typewriter, that was a tremendous job.

43
00:02:48,687 --> 00:02:52,978
She is watching all the refuse 
about exhibitions on Vincent,

44
00:02:52,978 --> 00:02:58,664
and commenting on them, 
and trying to build her network in the art world.

45
00:02:58,664 --> 00:03:01,378
And in the beginning 
she's looked at with suspicion:

46
00:03:01,378 --> 00:03:05,769
she's a woman, she's not an art historian,
she has no experience,

47
00:03:05,769 --> 00:03:10,439
but she reads a lot, she learns a lot
and she's a really good negotiator.

48
00:03:10,439 --> 00:03:13,356
So, she gains her respect in the art world.

49
00:03:13,356 --> 00:03:18,784
And, when the first exibition is a fact, 
she really has some power in the art world,

50
00:03:18,784 --> 00:03:21,785
which is here in Amsterdam 
in the Panorama Room.

51
00:03:21,785 --> 00:03:26,306
Followed in 1905,
in the Stedelijk Museum -- our neighbors --

52
00:03:26,306 --> 00:03:30,522
with a real large exhibition, 
over 400 works.

53
00:03:30,522 --> 00:03:33,784
And this is very well received. 
This time she does not have to beg again,

54
00:03:33,784 --> 00:03:36,907
at the galleries and museums,
they will now come to her.

55
00:03:36,907 --> 00:03:42,384
And large exhibitions will follow 
in London and Germany.

56
00:03:42,384 --> 00:03:45,450
We know that she was not only in it 
for the money,

57
00:03:45,450 --> 00:03:48,871
because sometimes art traders 
would advise her to sell for a lower price,

58
00:03:48,871 --> 00:03:50,528
in order to sell more.

59
00:03:50,543 --> 00:03:55,063
Instead of that, 
she raised the price. (Laughter)

60
00:03:55,063 --> 00:03:59,304
So, her son would later call her 
very independent woman.

61
00:03:59,304 --> 00:04:02,066
And I think, she really was.

62
00:04:02,066 --> 00:04:06,144
Well, she loves to travel,
she speaks four languages,

63
00:04:06,144 --> 00:04:09,110
so she follows her son to Spain,
where he lives,

64
00:04:09,110 --> 00:04:11,355
and later on to New York.

65
00:04:11,355 --> 00:04:14,064
Then she starts to translate 
the letters in English.

66
00:04:14,064 --> 00:04:19,104
By the time she dies in 1925,
she has translated

67
00:04:19,104 --> 00:04:23,943
562 of all the letters from Vincent to Theo
and vice versa.

68
00:04:23,943 --> 00:04:29,496
And in 1914, she has published 
the letters to his brother,

69
00:04:29,943 --> 00:04:31,823
together with a biography,

70
00:04:31,823 --> 00:04:35,475
which is still very useful 
for our research today.

71
00:04:35,475 --> 00:04:40,304
Well, I wanted to say, 
but as Sylvana has said, that

72
00:04:40,304 --> 00:04:44,579
without her,
we probably would not have been here today.

73
00:04:44,703 --> 00:04:49,858
And Vincent might not be 
as famous as he is today.

74
00:04:51,751 --> 00:04:53,704
I should point that.

75
00:04:53,704 --> 00:04:56,246
And I would like to share 
a few words that have been put

76
00:04:56,246 --> 00:05:00,992
by the two directors
of the World Library on her grave:

77
00:05:00,992 --> 00:05:04,223
faithfulness, devotion and love.

78
00:05:04,223 --> 00:05:08,225
And I believe that if we carry those with us,
we will also succeed.

79
00:05:08,225 --> 00:05:10,363
Thank you.
(Applause)