After failed attempts as an art dealer, teacher, bookseller and preacher, 28-year-old Vincent van Gogh returned to his parents' home in the parsonage at Etten in April 1881. He is penniless but determined: he wants to become an artist. Etten becomes his training ground, the place where he begins to work in earnest on his development as a painter.
Here Vincent draws daily, looks for models and subjects, and tries to find his style. He falls in love, makes radical choices and comes into conflict with his surroundings. Etten marks a turning point in his life - the beginning of his artistic journey.
1853 | Birth in Zundert
Vincent van Gogh was born in Zundert on March 30, 1853. He learned to read and write at the village school opposite the parsonage. His mother teaches him to draw and encourages his love of nature. At a young age he attends a boarding school in Zevenbergen and later the HBS in Tilburg. There he receives formal drawing education for the first time. In 1868 he quits school early and returns home.
1872 | First steps in the art world
At the age of 16, Vincent went to work for art dealers Goupil & Cie, through his uncle "Cent. He worked in The Hague, London and Paris, becoming familiar with the works of Millet and Breton. However, his interest shifts more and more from commerce to religion. In 1876, he is fired.
1875 | Van Gogh moves to Etten
Vincent's parents move to Etten, where his father becomes a pastor. Vincent visits them at Easter and Christmas. After his dismissal, he spent two weeks in Etten in April 1876, where he drew the rectory and church, among other things.
" - Vincent to Theo, 1875 "
"Today 14 days I hope to be at Etten, how I long for it thou canst think."
1876-1877 | Quest for meaning
Vincent leaves again for England as an assistant preacher, but returns to Etten at Christmas. On the advice of his father, he goes to work in a bookshop in Dordrecht. He tries to study theology in Amsterdam, but drops out early.
1878 | In the Borinage mining area
In Belgium, Vincent works as a lay preacher among the miners. Living in poverty, he tries to propagate faith through deeds. Although his efforts are appreciated, his mission fails. His contract is not renewed.
"The cheapest thing was probably that I spent this summer at Etten; there is plenty of dust there." - Vincent to Theo, 1881
1881 | Etten: the beginning of his artistic life
Vincent returns to the parsonage in Etten in April. He is given a studio in an outbuilding and works daily on his drawing skills. He studies prints by Millet, drawing landscapes, peasants and simple village scenes.
"I hope to make as many studies as I can, for that is the seed from which later drawings will come." - Vincent to Theo, 1881
Summer 1881 | Love of the landscape
As soon as the weather permitted, Vincent set out. He draws huts, pollard willows, the heath near Seppe and the Passion Canal. Together with his friend Van Rappard he takes long walks through the nature around Etten.
August 1881 | In love with Kee Vos
During a family visit, Vincent falls madly in love with his cousin Kee Vos. He proposed to her, but she resolutely rejected him. The rejection led to tensions within the family.
"Let me see her... Yet they blew out the lamp I believe." - Vincent to Theo
September 1881 | Inspiration in The Hague
Vincent visits The Hague and meets artist Anton Mauve. Mauve encourages him to paint. Along the way, Vincent makes sketches at Kinderdijk. Back in Etten, he immerses himself in drawing peasants and working people.
Autumn 1881 | Farmers as inspiration
Spurred on by Mauve, Vincent begins to draw figures more intensively. He looks for peasants and workers as models - preferably in their working environment. One of his regular models is Piet Kaufmann, a young gardener.
"Spitters, sowers, plowers ... must I now draw incessantly." - Vincent to Theo
The Sower
Vincent van Gogh, December 1882 (private collection)
The Sower
Vincent van Gogh, June 1888 (collection Kröller-Müller museum)
The Sower
Vincent van Gogh, August 1888 (Van Gogh Museum collection, Amsterdam)
The Sower
Vincent van Gogh, November 1888 (Van Gogh Museum collection, Amsterdam)
The Sower
Vincent van Gogh, January 1890 (collection Kröller-Müller museum)
" Vincent to Theo, Etten, May 1881 "
"When it is not raining I go outside every day, mostly on the heath. Thus I made a hut on the Heike & also that shed with moss roof on the Roozendaalschen road which they call here the Protestant shed."
October 1881 | Pollard Willows as Characters
Vincent sees trees almost as people. He draws old pollarded willows as if they were living creatures. His attention to detail grows: he observes, compares and works with increasing intensity.
"If one draws a pollard willow as if it were a living creature.... then the surroundings naturally follow." - Vincent to Theo
December 1881 | His first paintings
Mauve invites Vincent into his studio and gives him his first painter's box. Vincent paints three still lifes with oils. With no money, he returns to Etten. There it ends in a clash with his father.
Late 1881 | Departure from Etten
Quarreling with his father reaches a climax when Vincent refuses to go to the Christmas sermon. Theodorus evicts him from the house. Vincent leaves for good for The Hague to further develop as an artist.
1888 | Remembrance of Etten
Seven years after his departure, Vincent painted the canvas "Souvenir du jardin à Etten" in Arles. The work is a nostalgic look back at the rectory's garden and his time in Etten.
"For me it reflects the poetic character and style of the garden as I feel it." - Vincent to Willemien
