Vincent van Gogh is known all over the world. Did you know that in 1883, Van Gogh lived in Drenthe for three months? On the recommendation of artist friends, Van Gogh came to Drenthe. He was inspired by the original landscape and peat workers of Drenthe. This was a short, but important period in his life. It was here that he developed his passion for painting.
When Vincent van Gogh staye…
Vincent van Gogh is known all over the world. Did you know that in 1883, Van Gogh lived in Drenthe for three months? On the recommendation of artist friends, Van Gogh came to Drenthe. He was inspired by the original landscape and peat workers of Drenthe. This was a short, but important period in his life. It was here that he developed his passion for painting.
When Vincent van Gogh stayed here in Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord in the autumn of 1883, he went for long walks in the surrounding area. He was fascinated by the turf huts, peat shacks and the peat workers who lived here. Vincent enthusiastically wrote to his brother Theo how ‘inexpressibly beautiful’ this place was to him. According to himself, beauty was a quality that was still lacking in his paintings. He still had to ‘learn a lot’. In Drenthe he extensively practiced with the contrast between light and dark, which can also be seen in his later works.
Van Gogh made several sketches and paintings that featured turf huts or peat shacks. He may very well have made this painting ‘Cottages’ in this region. The peat shacks in these surroundings of the Middenweg have been recorded on an old cadastral map. This is how we know that there were peat shacks here that belonged to peatery operator Mr Jan Albert Willinge Gratema. They were torn down around 1890.
A fun thing to know about this painting is that, when you look closely, you can see grains of sand light up in the dark paint. Probably, a rather strong wind was blowing when Vincent made this painting outdoors.
