FOUR HOUSES OF VINCENT VAN GOGH THAT I VISITED

One of the things I incorporated into my trip to EUROPE in April was to visit FOUR different homes where my favorite ARTIST, VINCENT VAN GOGH had lived. 

ONE - 

In 1853 VINCENT was BORN in GROOT ZUNDER, NETHERLANDS. We found the HOUSE, but it was raining and we couldn't find a place to park, so we simply drove past it a couple of times. Sadly, I didn't get any worthwhile photos.

TWO - 

At AGE 25, VINCENT lived for A FEW SHORT MONTHS in WASMES, near MONS, BELGIUM, to finish his training as a PASTOR (like his father). 

This dwelling is currently being restored, so we weren't able to go inside. They have painted it a VIBRANT RED, although I'm pretty sure it was not this colorful when he lived there.......

They are also restoring the house to the right to become part of the new MUSEUM.

As you can see, it's located in a very simple neighborhood.

Some views of the restoration from the side and back.

I LOVE the variety of colors of the BRICKS!

And looking at the inside, through the glass........

THREE - 

At AGE 26, VINCENT moved to the nearby village of CUESMES, into an annex of the house of Marcel Decrucq. VINCENT lived here for JUST OVER A YEAR. 

The house was saved from ruin in the 1970's and opened to the public less than 5 years ago as a museum - MAISON VAN GOGH (Van Gogh House).

 This is a recreation of his small living space (from left to right) inside the house.

While here, he took up DRAWING again. With continuing inspiration from the artist MILLET, VAN GOGH completed a number of drawings.

Keep in mind that these seemingly rudimentary DRAWINGS and WATERCOLORS were completed when he was just 26 YEARS OLD. This is where he became a PAINTER!!

The area is called THE BORINAGE, best known then for the extraction of COAL. Men, women and even children under the age of 14 worked in the mines. The death toll was high and their living conditions were poor. All of this made a lasting impression on VAN GOGH, which you may notice in some of his later art.

FOUR - 

Our next VAN GOGH stop was NUENEN, NETHERLANDS, the town where at AGE 30, VINCENT moved back in with his PARENTS for TWO YEARS. He had not seen them during the prior 2 years, so his parents were hesitant, but they offered him some space for living and for a studio. 

This is the house where they all lived.

I LOVED this little town.

After his father died from a heart attack, VINCENT moved out of the house and into a PRIVATE STUDIO in town. About 6 MONTHS later, he left for ANTWERP, BELGIUM.

Across the street from the house is the TOP-NOTCH VINCENTRE, which made it totally worthwhile driving out-of-the-way en route to AMSTERDAM. I highly recommend it. I'm now wishing we had planned for more time in NUENEN to explore a bit more.....

Photos of his FAMILY - his parents at the top, VINCENT (the oldest of 6 children) in the center, his brother THEO (his wife Jo and their son Vincent Willem) below-left, his other brother CORNELIUS (the youngest - 14 yrs younger than Vincent) bottom-right, and his 3 sisters, ANNA, ELISABETH, and WILLEMINA.

A drawing from when he lived in THE BORINAGE.

One of the rooms held wonderful replicas of items from VINCENT'S life in this town. They were CREATIVELY and BEAUTIFULLY displayed.

While in NUENEN, VINCENT produced A QUARTER of his works!!! 

It is here where he painted THE POTATO EATERS. He said that this was the BEST THING THAT HE PRODUCED while living here. 

The museum displays copies of several different versions of this painting (and some studies) leading to the completion of his FINAL MASTERPIECE. You can really see the PROGRESSION TO PERFECTION from these examples.

VINCENTRE is a MARVELOUS MUSEUM.

Our last VAN GOGH stop was not a house, but a museum of his ORIGINAL works in AMSTERDAM -  the EXTRAORDINARY VAN GOGH MUSEUM (seen in the photo below, behind my NIECE LESLIE, her husband BRADY and their 2 daughters, HAZEL and SADIE). It's filled with ORIGINAL drawings and paintings. It's a MUST-VISIT if you are a VAN GOGH fan. 

BUT, plan ahead and purchase your TIMED TICKETS before you leave home or you won't get in. It's extremely popular and so well laid out, you will come away with a real sense of his artistic progression and the TALENT that he developed over his short lifetime. He died by suicide when only 37 YEARS OLD. And he died a PAUPER. So hard to believe.....

JOAN