On September 15, 1866 Vincent Van Gogh, then aged 13, registered in the Tilburg population register. The former city palace of Willem II had just housed the Higher Civilian School. Here Vincent was taught by one of the best drawing teachers at the time: Constant Cornelis Huijsmans, who worked according to traditional academic rules in which drawing by observation was central. Remarkably, Vincent did not write a word about the course in his later letters.
At school, Vincent received drawing lessons from an artist who was well-known in his time: Constant Huijsmans. He was a draftsman, painter and author of books on the teaching of drawing. Master Huijsmans paid much attention in his lessons to drawing depth. Remarkably, Vincent had a lot of trouble with this in his later work.
Halfway through his second year, Vincent unexpectedly left the HBS in Tilburg and returned to his parents in Zundert. Why he dropped out is not known. He was a good student, so it was probably not due to his performance. Perhaps he was homesick, quarreling, or his parents could no longer pay the tuition - we don't know. One drawing has survived from his time in Tilburg: Two sketches of a man leaning on his spade (1867), signed V.W. van Gogh.
At Korvel 57, stood the home of Chief Commissioner of Taxes Jan Hannik and his wife Adriana van der Griend. Vincent found a boarding house here. Son Marinus was five years older than Vincent and also attended HBS. Today another building stands there, with the address St. Annaplein 18-19. Against the facade of the building St. Annaplein 18-19, the place where his boarding house stood, a memorial plaque has been installed on the initiative of Prof. Dr. Harry van den Eerenbeemt.
