Who was the recipient of van Gogh's letter describing 'The Starry Night'?

Who was the recipient of van Gogh’s letter describing “The Starry Night”? Theo van Gogh. Vincent’s younger brother Theo was the recipient of the important correspondence in which Vincent discussed the painting and related night studies.

Theo was not merely a family member: he was an art dealer in Paris and Vincent’s closest financial and emotional supporter. The brothers exchanged hundreds of letters, giving historians an unusually detailed record of Vincent’s artistic ideas, working methods, health, and ambitions.

After painting the canvas at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in June 1889, Vincent wrote to Theo about a new “study of a starry sky.” In September he listed the painting among works being sent to his brother in Paris, referring to it as a “night study.” Vincent later called the work a “failure” in a letter to the painter Émile Bernard, which can cause confusion about the recipient.

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Theo’s wife, later helped preserve and promote Vincent’s legacy. She was an important custodian of the letters and paintings, but she was not the recipient of the letter described in this question.