When does genius begin?

Mozart began composing music at the age of four, but what about the genesis of Vincent van Gogh's brilliance? Vincent decided relatively late--in 1880 at the age of 27--to devote his life to being an artist. But this is not to say that he hadn't been interested in painting and drawing long before then.

Although serious studies of Vincent van Gogh's early works didn't appear until at least 1955, it's clear that an exploration of these drawings yields some striking insights into the very first origins of Van Gogh's career as an artist. The works listed below haven't been given official catalogue numbers in either the De la Faille or Hulsker catalogues raisonnés, but rather they are listed as part of a separate classification called "Juvenilia" -- Vincent's earliest works.

In addition, between the De la Faille or Hulsker catalogues raisonnés there are some overlaps and conflicts. Hulsker categorizes Coal Shoveler (1879) as a Juvenilia work, whereas De la Faille includes it in the main catalogue under number F 827.

The categorization will continue to evolve as ongoing research offers new insights into Vincent's works. For now, I include the accepted De la Faille listings as a basis for an examination of the Van Gogh Juvenilia works.

No.	Name	Date	Current Location	Thumbnail
V	Goat Herd, The	Zundert: 9 October 1862	Location unknown
VIII	Corinthian Capital	Zundert: 22 August 1863	Otterlo, Kröller-Müller Museum
XI	Surroundings of Croy Castle Near Aarle (?), The	Zundert: 1863?	Amsterdam, Mrs. E. Rijnders-Rehbock
XII	Barn and Farmhouse	Zundert: 8 February 1864	Lochem, Scholte-van Houten Collection
XIIa	Two Sketches of a Man Leaning on His Spade	Tilburg: 1867	Zundert: The Community of Zundert
XIII	Country Lane	The Hague: early 1873	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XIV	Lange Vijverberg, The	The Hague: Spring, 1873	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XV	Ditch, The	The Hague?: Spring, 1873	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XVI	Canal, The	The Hague?: Spring, 1873	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XVII	Old Breton Woman, Asleep in Church	---: probably before 1873-74	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
--	Assorted drawings from sketchbooks	1873-74	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XVIII	Church of Helvoirt	Helvoirt: June-October, 1874	New York, Mrs. and Mrs. Howard Cullman
XIX	View of Helvoirt	Helvoirt: July, 1874	Location unknown
XX	Ville d'Avray: L'Etang au Batelier	London: April, 1875	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXI	Vicarage and Church at Etten	Etten: April, 1876	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXII	Vicarage at Etten	Etten: April, 1876	Location unknown
XXIII	Sketch of Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament	Paris: 24 July 1875	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXV	Church, Austin Friars, The	England: July, 1873 - May, 1875	Amersfoort, Miss R. Nieweg
XXVI	Square at Ramsgate	Ramsgate: April, 1876	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXVII	Square at Ramsgate	Ramsgate: 31 May 1876	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXVIII	Churches at Petersham and Turnham Green	Isleworth: November, 1876	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXIX	Mills in the Neighbourhood of Dordrecht	Dordrecht: April, 1877	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXX	Landscape with Bridge	Amsterdam: April, 1878	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXXI	Cafe Au Charbonnage ('At the Coal Mine') at Laeken	Laeken: November, 1878	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
XXXII	La Maison Magros	Cuesmes: 1879	Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art
XXXIII	La Maison de Zandmennik	Cuesmes: 1879	Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art
--	Vincent's Boarding House in Hackford Road, Brixton, London	London: 1873-74	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum (on permanent loan from Mrs. K. Maynard since 1973)
--	Winter, In Life As Well (after Jozef Israëls)	Amsterdam: c. 1877	Private collection

Additional juvenilia work from Jan Hulsker's 1996 catalogue raisonné

No.	Name	Date	Current Location	Thumbnail
Juv. 10	Miners in the Snow at Dawn (sketch in letter 134)	Cuesmes: 20 August 1880	Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum

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