''87 Hackford Road'' is the first known work of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

, dating back to 1873 or 1874. It depicts the house where he lived while working in London. It was only recognised as his work a whole century later, in 1973.

Background

Van Gogh lodged at the home of Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie,Hackford RoadVauxhall Society
. at 87 Hackford Road, Stockwell, London, England, from August 1873, while working at the art dealership Goupil & Co. He sketched the 1824-built, three-storey Georgian terrace including the house, opposite Durand School, using pencil with chalk highlights. He lettered the wall "Hackford Road" and the gate "". Was an inspiring artist, using Post Impressionistic styles.

Discovery

In 1973, while researching an article on van Gogh, the journalist Ken Wilkie visited Eugenie's granddaughter, Kathleen Maynard, at her home in Stoke Gabriel,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. While she was showing him photographs of the Loyers and their house, he noticed a dusty, tea- or coffee- stained drawing in the box in which the photographs were kept. Maynard recalled that her father said it had been drawn by "one of my aynard'sGrandmother's lodgers" and "it's been up in the attic as long as I can remember". Wilkie recognised it as depicting the house in Hackford Road, and being potentially Van Gogh's work. With Maynard's blessing, he took it to Amsterdam, where Dr Hans Jaffé, an authority on the artist working at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, authenticated it. The final paragraph of Jaffé's report read:Report by Dr Hans Jaffé, dated 14 December 1973, in Wilkie ''In search of Vincent''.

Display

Maynard lent the drawing to the

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened o ...

in Amsterdam, for its reopening in 1973, and it remained in their care for over three decades, during which time it was exhibited there, and at the Kröller-Müller Museum and at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

in London. Maynard died in 2000, and in 2005 her daughter Anne Shaw requested its return; and so it remains in the possession of the original family.

References

{{Authority control (arts) Vincent van Gogh 19th-century drawings

Background

Discovery

Display

See also

References