The earliest known works 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 ...

comprise a group of paintings and drawings that Vincent van Gogh made when he was 27 and 28, in 1881 and 1882. Over the course of the two-year period Van Gogh lived in several places. He left Brussels, where he had studied for about a year in 1881, to return to his parents’ home in Etten (

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

), where he made studies of some of the residents of the town. In January 1882 Van Gogh went to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

where he studied with his cousin-in-law

Anton Mauve Anthonij "Anton" Rudolf Mauve (; 18 September 18385 February 1888) was a Dutch realist painter who was a leading member of the Hague School. He signed his paintings 'A. Mauve' or with a monogrammed 'A.M.'. A master colorist, he was a very signi ...

and set up a studio, funded by Mauve. During the ten years of Van Gogh's artistic career from 1881 to 1890 Vincent's brother

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root ''Theo-'' derive from the Ancient Greek word (), which means God, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, Theophano and The ...

would be a continuing source of inspiration and financial support; his first financial support began in 1880 funding Vincent while he lived in Brussels. In 1882 Van Gogh had an offer for a commission of paintings of The Hague however the paintings, now considered masterpieces, were not acceptable. Van Gogh started out primarily drawing and painting with watercolor. Under Mauve's tutelage Van Gogh began painting with oils in 1882. A subject that fascinated Van Gogh was the working class or

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

, inspired by the works of

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realis ...

and others.

Background

Early adulthood

In July 1869, Van Gogh's uncle, “Cent” Van Gogh, helped him obtain a position with the art dealer

Goupil & Cie Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...

. After his training, in June 1873, Goupil transferred him to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he lodged at 87 Hackford Road, Brixton, and worked at Messrs. Goupil & Co., 17 Southampton Street. This was a happy time for him; he was successful at work and was, at 20, earning more than his father. He fell in love with his landlady's daughter, Eugénie Loyer, who rejected him. He was increasingly isolated and fervent about religion. His father and uncle sent him to Paris to work in a dealership. However, he became resentful at how art was treated as a

commodity In economics, a commodity is an economic goods, good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the Market (economics), market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to w ...

, a fact apparent to customers. On 1 April 1876, his employment was terminated. Van Gogh explored his interest in ministry to serve working people. He studied for a time in the Netherlands but his zeal and self-imposed

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

cost him a short-term position in lay ministry. He became somewhat embittered and rejected the church establishment, yet found a personal spirituality that was comforting and important to him. By 1879, he made a shift in the direction of his life and found he could express his "love of God and man" through painting. In 1880 Van Gogh writes of his desire to be useful as an artist, "To try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another, in a picture." After having moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Van Gogh decided to study on his own, rather than at the art academy, often in the company of

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

artist Anthon van Rappard. It is at this point his brother

, working as an art dealer at the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

branch, began sending him money for support, a practice that continued throughout the brothers' lives.

Etten, Drenthe and The Hague

In April 1881, Van Gogh moved to the Etten (North Brabant) countryside in the Netherlands with his parents where he continued drawing, often using neighbors as subjects. Through the summer he spent much time walking and talking with his recently widowed cousin, Kee Vos-Stricker. She was the daughter of his mother's older sister and Johannes Stricker, who had shown warmth towards the artist.Erickson (1998), 5 Although Van Gogh would have liked to marry Stricker, given her decisive refusal: "No, never, never" (''niet, nooit, nimmer'') and his inability to support himself financially, marriage was out of the question.Gayford (2006), 130–1. Van Gogh was hurt deeply. That Christmas he quarreled violently with his father, to the point of refusing a gift of money, and left for

In January 1882, he settled in

where he called on his cousin-in-law, the painter

(1838–88). Mauve introduced him to painting in both

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

and lent him money to set up a

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

; however, the two soon fell out, possibly over the issue of drawing from

plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – ...

s. Mauve appears to have suddenly gone cold towards Van Gogh and did not return a number of his letters, Van Gogh supposed that Mauve did not approve of his domestic arrangement with an alcoholic

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

, Clasina Maria "Sien" Hoornik (1850–1904) and her young daughter. He had met Sien towards the end of January, when she had a five-year-old daughter and was pregnant. On 2 July, Sien gave birth to a baby boy, Willem.Tralbaut (1981), 107 Van Gogh's father put considerable pressure on his son to abandon Sien and her children. Vincent was at first defiant in the face of opposition. Van Gogh's art dealer uncle, Cornelis, commissioned 20 ink drawings of the city, which the artist completed by the end of May. That June, he spent three weeks in a hospital suffering from

gonorrhea Gonorrhoea or gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Gonorrhea is spread through sexual c ...

. That summer he began to paint in oil. In autumn 1883, after a year together, he left Sien and the two children. Van Gogh moved to the

province of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

, in the northern Netherlands. That December, driven by loneliness, he went to stay with his parents who were by then living in

Nuenen Nuenen () is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten in the Netherlands. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen. In 1944, a battle was fought there during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect is c ...

, North Brabant.

Development as an artist

Van Gogh drew and painted with

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

while at school; few of these works survive and authorship is challenged on some of those that do. When he committed to art as an adult, he began at an elementary level by copying the ''Cours de dessin'', edited by

Charles Bargue Charles Bargue was a French painter and lithographer noted for devising an influential drawing course. Life and career His most illustrated work is 'Cours de Dessin’, known as one of the most influential classical drawing courses. The course ...

and published by

. Within two years he had begun to seek commissioned. In Spring 1882, his uncle, Cornelis Marinus - owner of a renowned gallery of contemporary art in Amsterdam - asked him for drawings of the Hague. Van Gogh's work did not prove equal to his uncle's expectations. Marinus offered a second commission, this time specifying the subject matter in detail, but was once again disappointed with the result. Nevertheless, Van Gogh persevered. He improved the lighting of his studio by installing variable shutters and experimented with a variety of drawing materials. For more than a year he worked on single figures —highly elaborated studies in "Black and White", which at the time gained him only criticism. Today, they are recognized as his first masterpieces.

Peasant genre

The "peasant genre" related to the Realism movement that greatly influenced Van Gogh began in the 1840s with the works of

Jules Breton Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (; 1 May 1827 – 5 July 1906) was a 19th-century French Naturalism (arts), naturalist Painting, painter. His paintings are heavily influenced by the French countryside and his absorption of traditional methods ...

, and others. He described the works of Millet and Breton of religious significance, "something on high," and described them as the "voices of the wheat." Throughout Van Gogh's adulthood he had an interest in serving others, especially manual workers. As a young man he served and ministered to coal miners in

Borinage The Borinage () is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The name derives from the coal mines of the region, ''bores'', meaning mineshafts. In French, the inhabitants of the Borinage are called Borains. The provincial capit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

which seemed to bring him close to his calling of being a minister or missionary to workers. A common denominator in his favored authors and artists was sentimental treatment of the destitute and downtrodden. Referring to painting of peasants Van Gogh wrote to his brother

: "How shall I ever manage to paint what I love so much?" He held laborers up to a high standard of how dedicatedly he should approach painting, "One must undertake with confidence, with a certain assurance that one is doing a reasonable thing, like the farmer who drives his plow... (one who) drags the

harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

behind himself. If one hasn't a horse, one is one's own horse." In 1885 Van Gogh described the painting of peasants as the most essential contribution to modern art. See also

Peasant Character Studies (Van Gogh series) ''Peasant Character Studies'' is a series of works that Vincent van Gogh made between 1881 and 1885. Van Gogh had a particular attachment and sympathy for peasants and other working class people that was fueled in several ways. He was particul ...

The works

1881

File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Kohl und Holzschuhen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs''
1881

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 ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

(F1) File:Van Gogh - Kauernder Junge mit Sichel.jpeg, '' Crouching Boy with Sickle'', Black chalk and watercolor
1881

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...

, Otterlo, Netherlands (F851) File:Van Gogh 1881-12, Etten - Scheveningen Woman Sewing F 869 JH 83.jpg, ''Woman Sewing'' Watercolor
1881-82
P. and N. de Boer Foundation,

(F869)

1882

On a blustery day, Van Gogh set up his easel and painted "

plein-air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...

" (in the open air) at a beach resort,

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

, near

to paint '' View of the Sea at Scheveningen'' (F4). While

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

are often given credit for painting outdoors, they were not the first to do so. Most, however, made sketches on the spot and worked on the painting in a studio. In this case, Van Gogh struggled with the strong wind which sent grains of sand into his thickly applied paint. Although most of the sand was scraped off, there are still a few grains of sand enmeshed in the layers of paint. The tumultuous weather is well depicted with white-capped seas, threatening sky and wind-blown flags. This painting was stolen from the

in December 2002 and discovered in Naples, Italy in September 2016.

Of a study that Van Gogh made for ''Girl in a Wood'' or ''Girl in White in the Woods,'' (F8) he remarked at how much he enjoyed the work and explains how he wishes to trigger the audience's senses and how they may experience the painting: "The other study in the wood is of some large green beech trunks on a stretch of ground covered with dry sticks, and the little figure of a girl in white. There was the great difficulty of keeping it clear, and of getting space between the trunks standing at different distances - and the place and relative bulk of those trunks change with the perspective - to make it so that one can breathe and walk around in it, and to make you smell the fragrance of the wood."

In ''The Girl in the Woods'' (F8a) the girl is overshadowed by the immense oak trees. The painting may be reminiscent for Van Gogh of the times in his youth he fled to the

Zundert Zundert () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the south of the Netherlands bordering Belgium, in the province of North Brabant. Zundert is the birthplace of Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter Vincent va ...

Woods to escape from his family. In November 1882 Van Gogh began drawings of individuals to depict a range of character types from the working class, ''Worn Out'' was one of the series. The works were drawn in a black in an angular style. On November 24, 1882 Van Gogh wrote to his brother

of Adrianus Zuyderland, the man who posed for ''Worn Out'' (F997), "What a fine sight an old working man makes, in his patched bombazine suit with his bald head". Zuyderland was resident of the Dutch Protestant Almshouse for Old Men and Women. Van Gogh would offer a small payment for residents who would pose for him. On his pencil drawings, Van Gogh used milk as a fixative to counteract the graphite pencil shine and left the image "velvety black". While it was recommended to use an atomizer to control the amount of milk placed on the work, Van Gogh would pour an entire glass of milk on the work. In this drawing there is a noticeable stain around the drawing where the puddle of milk dried. ''Worn Out'' is not displayed on this page, but can be found on the

website. Unlike the character studies Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in November 1882 that he had drawn a portrait of Jozef Blok (F993), a street bookseller who was sometimes called "Binnenhof's outdoor librarian". The work was detailed in pencil with watercolor and chalk. At this time it was rare for Van Gogh to use color, as he found it difficult to work with. File:Van Gogh - Strand von Schevenigen bei Windstille.jpeg, ''Beach at Scheveningen in Calm Weather'', oil on paper on wood
1882
Private collection (F2), displayed in the Minnesota Maritime Art Museum File:Van Gogh - Landschaft mit Dünen.jpeg, ''Dunes''
1882
Private collection (F2a) File:Dunes with Figures.jpg, ''Dunes with Figures''
1882
Private Collection (F3) File:Fisherman on the Beach.jpg, ''Fisherman on the Beach''
1882

Otterlo Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe. The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world ...

(F5) File:Vincent van Gogh - Fisherman's Wife - 1883-86.jpg, ''Fisherman's Wife on the Beach''
1882

(F6) File:Women Mending Nets in the Dunes.jpg, ''Women Mending Nets in the Dunes''
1882
Collection: François Odermatt,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(F7) File:Girl in the Street, Two Coaches in the Background, A.jpg, '' A Girl in the Street, Two Coaches in the Background''
1882
Private collection (F13) File:Edge of a Wood.jpg, ''Edge of a Wood''
1882

, Otterlo, Netherlands (F192) File:Cluster of Old Houses with the New Church in The Hague.jpg, ''Cluster of Old Houses with the New Church in The Hague''
1882
Private collection (F204) File:Iron Mill in The Hague.jpg, ''The Iron Mill in The Hague'', watercolor
1882
Private collection (F926) File:Meadows near Rijswijk.jpg, ''Meadows near Rijswijk'', watercolor
1882
Private collection (F927) File:Vincent Willem van Gogh 016.jpg, ''Rooftops, View from the Atelier'', watercolor with white
1882
Private collection (F943) File:Vincent van Gogh - Bleaching Ground at Scheveningen - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Bleaching Ground at Scheveningen'' also ''Bleaching Ground'', watercolor
1882

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

, Los Angeles (F946r) File:Vincent van Gogh - Knotwilg, 1882 (Van Gogh Museum).jpg, ''Pollard Willow'', watercolor
1882

, Amsterdam (F947) File:Vincent van Gogh - The State Lottery Office (F970).jpg, ''The State Lottery'' also ''The Poor and Money''
1882
Van Gogh Museum (F970) File:Sien Nursing Baby.jpg, '' Sien Nursing Baby'', watercolor and chalk
1882
Private collection (F1068) File:Potato Market.jpg, ''The Potato Market'', watercolor
1882
Private collection (F1091) File:Two women in a wood - VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890) 12 1-4 x 9 7-16in. (31 x 24cm).jpg, ''Two Women in the Woods''
1882
Private Collection (F1665) File:Old Man with his Head in his Hands (At Eternity's Gate).jpg, ''Annotated by the artist in ink at lower left: "

At Eternity's gate ''Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate)'' is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he made in 1890 in Saint-Rémy de Provence based on an early lithograph. The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a se ...

"'' (lithograph, 1882,

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art ( Persian: موزه هنرهای معاصر تهران), also known as TMoCA, is among the largest art museums in Tehran and Iran. It has collections of more than 3,000 items that include 19th and 20th century ...

)"At Eternity's Gate"
vggallery.com. Last Retrieved 19 October 2011. (F1662)

Resources

References

Bibliography

* Callow, Philip. ''Vincent van Gogh: A Life'', Ivan R. Dee, 1990. . * Dorn, Roland, Keyes, George S. & alt. ''Van Gogh Face to Face — The Portraits'' (exh. cat). Detroit, Boston & Philadelphia, 2000–01, Thames & Hudson, London & New York, 2000. * Erickson, Kathleen Powers. ''At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent van Gogh'', 1998. . * Gayford, Martin. "The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles". Penguin, 2006. . * Pomerans, Arnold. ''The Letters of Vincent van Gogh''. Penguin Classics, 2003. * Tralbaut, Marc Edo. ''Vincent van Gogh, le mal aimé''. Edita, Lausanne (French) & Macmillan, London 1969 (English); reissued by Macmillan, 1974 and by Alpine Fine Art Collections, 1981. . * van Heugten, Sjraar. ''Van Gogh The Master Draughtsman''. Thames and Hudson, 2005. .

Literature

*''Vincent van Gogh: Drawings'', ed. Johannes van der Wolk, Ronald Pickvance & E. B. F. Pey, Arnoldo Mondadori Arte & De Luca Edizione d'Arte 1990 (editions in various languages: (Dutch)) *''Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings'', ed. Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein etc., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York & Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2005

External links

Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh Early Works - to 1886''Van Gogh, paintings and drawings: a special loan exhibition''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on these early works (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Gogh Early Works Works by Vincent van Gogh Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1881 paintings 1882 paintings