Theophile de Bock
(1851 - 1904)
"Born in Haarlem, 1851. Pupil of J.W. Borselen and J. Weissenbruch.
Awarded medals at Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, Paris (Exposition
Universelle, 1889), Chicago (World's Fair, 1893), and Barcelona (1894).;
Diploma of Honor at Ghent, and silver medal at the Exposition
Universelle, Paris 1900. Chevalier of the Order of Saint Michael of
Bavaria." Charles M. Kurts, St. Louis, 1904.
Dear Theo,
"If you feel the way I do, you will occasionally have
a sudden urge to look up some fellow whom you haven't seen for a long
time. I felt this way about De Bock, and I will tell you what I
saw in his studio, because you used to know him even better than I."
"The first thing I saw in the hall was a large sketch - an enormous
windmill covered with snow, near a kind of ditch or canal. Half
romantic, half realistic - a combination of styles which I don't
dislike. But far from finished - though energetically put down with a
fine, strong effect in it. In short, a thing one would always look at
with pleasure, and I don't mind it's being unfinished. I should like
that thing of his just as it is, in my studio, because it is so
impressive." Vincent Van Gogh