INTRODUCTIONJuly 29, 1990, the television newscaster Charles Kuralt, discussing the ideaof an artists’ colony, asked what the purpose was of an artists’ colonysince artists are so isolated. Mr. Kuralt went on to describe Vincent vanGogh as “that great loner.” Mr. Kuralt’s statement is representative of anunexamined popular belief that mystifies creative work and depicts thecreative person as basically solitary and working in solitude. In general,this picture is quite inaccurate. As far as van Gogh is concerned, he mayhave been difficult to get along with; he may have been argumentative;and may have developed an individual philosophy and a unique stylewhich was not understood nor appreciated very much in his lifetime. Buthe was not a loner. He was certainly lonely from time to time; but he63

64RICHARD BROWERnever avoided other people. During every period of his development as aperson and an artist, he maintained a network of social relations pertinentto his work. While in Paris, for example (1886–1888), this network includedPaul Gauguin, Paul Signac, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Charles Verlat, andGeorges Seurat, among others. Van Gogh was especially skilled at learningfromothers.Hewasabletoincorporatetheworkofotherswhileatthesametime establishing his own independent style.In this chapter, I make use of social comparison theory as a viableway of understanding important aspects of creative work. I focus on itsrole in the artistic, intellectual and spiritual growth of an individual cre-ator, the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Social comparison theory, firstproposed by Leon Festinger (1954), has developed considerably in the fivedecades since Festinger and has recently been represented in a comprehen-sive handbook of theory and research (Suls & Wheeler, 2000). The theorymaintains that comparisons with others may play a significant role in a per-son’s self-evaluation and subjective well-being (Buunk & Gibbons, 1997).At the individual level, such comparisons result in a reorganization ofthought and affect and, thus, in a new meaning of the evolving self-image.Motives for comparison include cognitive processes, such as seeking in-formation, as well as emotional issues of self esteem (Wayment & Taylor,1995), and self-enhancement (Wills, 1981) Three types of social compari-son proposed in the theory are pertinent to an understanding of the rela-tionship between a person’s creativity and his or her social comparisons:(1)upward social comparison, i.e. comparing oneself with someone judgedto be better than oneself; (2)downward social comparison, i.e. comparingoneself with someone judged to be not as good as oneself; and (3)lat-eral social comparison, i.e. comparison with another who is more or lessequal.My study of Vincent van Gogh has been influenced by theEvolving Sys-tems Approachdeveloped by Howard Gruber (see Gruber, 1981, Gruber &Davis, 1988, Wallace & Gruber, 1989). Using intense and detailed case studyexamination, Gruber and his colleagues attempted to understand how anindisputably creative person actually does his or her work. The approachrequires that the investigator pay close attention to the person’s organiza-tion of three loosely coupled systems: knowledge, purpose, and affect; andby carefully detailing the person’s thought and work over time, to under-stand how that particular creator produced a novel idea, theory, and prod-uct. Gruber has developed the methodologies and techniques to enablethe investigator to fulfill these requirements (see, for example, Gruber &Davis, 1988). At the heart of Gruber’s theory is the idea that the creator is anintensely focused person, often engaged in the pursuit of an overarchingidea which, in turn, spawns a “network” of multiple enterprises—someTHE ROLE OF SOCIAL COMPARISON65sequential, some simultaneous. InDarwin on Man(1981), his case studyof Charles Darwin, Gruber demonstrated that creativity demands pur-poseful, protracted work, which can include dozens, perhaps hundreds, ofinsights, leading metaphors, and other significant tropes. Creativity doesnot consist of a single spectacular insight and other mysterious and un-knowable processes.In this chapter, I examine the life and work of Vincent van Gogh andconsider one system that figured prominently in the development of hiscreative skills—his network of social and professional encounters and theirinfluence on his development as a creative artist.In order to undertake such a study, it is essential, of course, that suffi-cient material and original sources are available.LETTERSVan Gogh’s letters represent an extraordinary and revealing body ofinformation. Van Gogh wrote letters copiously. Most were to his brotherTheo, who retained the great majority. Unfortunately, Vincent did not keephis brother’s letters to him so the available correspondence is essentiallyone way. One of the reasons van Gogh’s letters are so powerful is becausethey are pure “thinking aloud” material. He carried paper with him andjotted down his thoughts while he was creating. His writings are thereforenot distorted by the passage of time and the haziness of memory that at-tends it. Van Gogh also wrote many letters to his friends and collaborators.The letters give a firm picture of his thinking during critical phases of hiscreative work. They also supply us with a profile of the shifting quality ofhis moods, and emotions concerning significant events, people, places andactivities. The letters to Theo are vivid, detailed, and often moving.In his letters, van Gogh also reveals the gentleness, love of humanityand clarity of thought about his art that he maintained throughout hisworking life—qualities that have been neglected in the sensationalizedaccounts of his brief psychotic episodes.CHILDHOODOn March 30, 1852 in the village of Groot Zundert, Holland, AnnaCornelia Carbentus van Gogh, 33 years old, gave birth to her first child. Itwas a still-born son. Christened Vincent Willem van Gogh, he was buriedin the cemetery of the local church. Exactly one year later, also on March 30,in 1853, Anna Cornelia gave birth to a healthy son and he too was named66RICHARD BROWERVincent. As a young boy, walking to school or church, past the fresh-cutgrass and the neat rows of tombstones, Vincent van Gogh must have hadfood for thought at seeing a tombstone bearing his own name and birthdate of March 30. There was a dead Vincent van Gogh, his brother, and aliving one, himself.Vincent’s parents were loving and attentive. His father, Theodorus vanGogh, born 1822, was a Protestant pastor in the village of Groot Zundert,which was in southern Holland, near the Belgian border. He was knownas “the handsome parson” and considered by people who knew him as anamiable, straight-forward man. Vincent’s mother, Anna Carbentus, wasthe daughter of a bookseller, and considered by people who knew her as akind, considerate, respected person.Van Gogh came from a relatively unremarkable background. His an-cestors had been art dealers, consuls, goldsmiths, preachers, and there hadbeen a sculptor. There were no direct precursors for the kind of talent re-vealed by Vincent.After Vincent, Anna and Theodorus had five more children. Thesewere Anna Cornelia, Theodorus (Theo), four years younger than Vincent,Elizabeth Huberta, Cornelis Vincent, and Wilhelmina Jacoba (Wil). Duringhis adult years, Vincent remained close to Wilhelmina, his youngest sis-ter, and extremely close to his brother, and staunch supporter, Theo. Thecollaboration between Theo and Vincent remains one of the most remark-able in the history of art; it is difficult to imagine Vincent’s creative workwithout the support of, and feedback from, his younger brother.Johanna Bonger, Theo’s wife, reported that, as a child, Vincent had adifficult temper, was often troublesome and strong-willed. She noted hisgreat love for animals and flowers, and his delight in collecting things; butthere was no indication, during his childhood, that Vincent had unusualartistic talent.ART DEALER’S APPRENTICEVincent’s Uncle Cent (also named Vincent) was a successful art dealer.In 1858, he was offered a partnership in the prominent firm of Goupil andCo., in Paris. He subsequently opened a branch of the firm in The Hague,Holland, where he got young Vincent, then sixteen, an apprenticeship as anart dealer. The Hague branch of Goupil was headed by Herman Tersteeg,who became quite an important figure in van Gogh’s life, though their re-lationship was difficult and van Gogh was very conflicted in his views ofTersteeg. Tersteeg was important and influential in the art world and lateralso bought one of van Gogh’s drawings. But van Gogh was extremely