Describe the characteristics of the Wil van Gogh in Van Gogh's family in his art's Family.

Wil, short for Wilhelmein, was the youngest of Vincent's sisters, born in 1862.  She lived with her parents, and after her father died, stayed on with her mother.  At times she was a governess, private nurse, social worker and religion teacher.  She longed to be a writer and was enthusiastic to hear of news about Paris, its art and cultural happenings.  Van Gogh and Wil wrote to each other about literature and modern art in much the same way he did with his brother, Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin.Novel Reader is evocative of Vincent's sister. He describes it in a letter to Wil, "'Une Liseuse de Romans', the luxuriant hair very black, a green bodice, the sleeves the color of wine lees, the skirt black, the background all yellow, bookshelves with books. She is holding a yellow book in her hands." The painting was made immediately after Vincent completed a "fantasy" painting of his mother and Wil, Memory of the Garden at Etten.			
			
		
		
			
			
		
Vincent made a drawing of his sister, "Portrait of Willemina Jacoba ('Willemien') van Gogh" (F849) in July 1881 with pencil and charcoal.  It is owned by the Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. The work is also said to be a "possible" portrait of Wil.In 1888 he gave two paintings to Wil for her birthday.  One was Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book, which he described to her in a letter as "a little study of a book for you."  The second, Still Life with French Novels and a Rose, "on a somewhat larger scale, a flower, with a lot of books with pink, green and bright red bindings – they were my set of seven Parisian novels."During the summer of 1889, honoring his sister Wil's request, Vincent made several smaller versions of Wheat Field with Cypresses.
Kroller-Muller Museum Émile Bernard Wil van Gogh Memory of the Garden at Etten Wheat Field with Cypresses Paul Gauguin Wil Netherlands