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.
After staying in Hoogeveen …
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.
After staying in Hoogeveen for three weeks, Vincent van Gogh left for Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord in a tow barge. The 30-kilometre journey would take around six hours. The first part of the journey was made on the Hoogeveense Vaart, and then he sailed the Verlengde Hoogeveense Vaart towards Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord. On the way there, he passed this place.
In a letter to his brother Theo he described the journey as follows: “… an ever-lasting boat trip in the tow barge across the heathland”. Van Gogh was very enthusiastic about the journey and, according to himself, full of what he had seen. At night, the heathland had been exceptionally beautiful. The mills were ‘Don Quichot-like’, and he saw the drawbridges as ‘weird monsters’ with ‘their fanciful silhouettes against the moving evening skies’.
A layer of clouds had covered the entire sky in hues of lilac, grey and white, with a few cracks through which the blue shimmered. On the horizon, he had seen a magnificent red stripe, with underneath it the stunningly dark plane with brown heather. During his boat trip, Van Gogh had already been making drawings in the barge. He added a page with sketches to the letter that he sent to his brother Theo.
