Vincent van Gogh was born in the Netherlands and, despite a tumultuous relationship with his family and long bouts of abject poverty, his heart always remained in the Netherlands. In the summer of 1882 Vincent wrote to Theo:
When you come, I know a few beautiful paths through the meadows where it is so quiet and restful that I am sure you will like it. There I discovered old and new labourers’ cottages and other houses that are characteristic, with little gardens by the water’s edge, very cosy.Van Gogh came to know the fields and villages of the Netherlands better than any of the other countries in which he would live. Many of his years in the Netherlands (those in The Hague and Nuenen especially) were difficult for Van Gogh, both in terms of his ongoing struggle to find success as an artist as well as his deteriorating relationship with his father. More than a century later it's easy to perceive Van Gogh's years in the Netherlands as among his most unhappy. He was poor, his prospects as an artist were bleak, he left behind a series of failed relationships and his family situation grew ever more tense and unpleasant. And yet, for Vincent, the Netherlands was always home.
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Zundert
(1853-64 and 1868-69)
Zevenbergen
Tilburg
The Hague (1)
Helvoirt
Dordrecht
Amsterdam
Etten
The Hague (2)
Drenthe
Nuenen
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See also:Artist Jane Tomlinson's brilliant painting that details all the locations where Van Gogh lived. Highly recommended.
Return to map of locations Van Gogh lived
Return to main Van Gogh Gallery page
