''Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen'' (Dutch: ''Het uitgaan van de hervormde kerk te Nuenen'') is an early painting by

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

, made in early 1884 and modified in late 1885. It is displayed at 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 opene ...

in Amsterdam.

Description

The work was painted 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, the town was a battle scene during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect i ...

, a small village in the

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called 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 t ...

district of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, a few miles northeast of

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

in Nuenen in 1882, and Van Gogh lived with his parents at the vicarage in Nuenen from December 1883 to May 1885. During this time, he made a number of paintings of the local peasants, including ''

The Potato Eaters ''The Potato Eaters'' ( nl, De Aardappeleters) is an oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh painted in April 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands. It is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The original oil sketch of the painting is at the Kröl ...

'', and also paintings of the church. The oil on canvas painting measures . It was made in January or February 1884, showing Van Gogh's father's small church, with hedge and bare trees. Van Gogh made the painting for his mother, while she was confined to her house with a broken leg. It was based on an earlier sketch; like the sketch, the painting originally included a peasant with a spade in the foreground, but it later painted out - probably in late 1885 - when Van Gogh also added the congregation, and leaves to bare trees. The congregation are in mourning clothes: Van Gogh's father had died in March 1885. It is catalogued as "F25" in

Jacob Baart de la Faille Jacob Baart de la Faille (1 June 1886, Leeuwarden – 7 August 1959, Heemstede) compiled the first ''catalogue raisonné'' of the work of Vincent van Gogh, published in 1928. The catalogue was revised and republished by an editorial committee in ...

's 1928 ''The Works of Vincent van Gogh'' and as "JH521" in

Jan Hulsker Jan Hulsker (2 October 1907, The Hague – 9 November 2002, Vancouver) was a Dutch art historian especially noted for his work on Vincent van Gogh. He studied Dutch literature in Leiden and was promoted with a thesis on the author Aart van der Lee ...

's 1978 ''The Complete Van Gogh''.

Theft and recovery

''Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen'' is held by the

in Amsterdam. It was stolen on 7 December 2002, along with Van Gogh's early painting of ''

Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather ''Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather'', also known as ''View of the Sea at Scheveningen'' (Dutch: ''Zeegezicht bij Scheveningen''), is an early oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, painted at Scheveningen near The Hague in August 1882. It is he ...

'', and remained missing for over 13 years until it was recovered by the Italian

Guardia di Finanza The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...

Castellammare di Stabia Castellammare di Stabia (; nap, Castiellammare 'e Stabbia) is a '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania region, in southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento. History ...

near Naples in January 2016, without its original frame. Its recovery was not announced until September 2016, and it was subsequently returned to the museum and went back on display in March 2017.

References

''Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen''
Van Gogh Museum
''Van Gogh and the Art of Living: The Gospel According to Vincent van Gogh''
Anton Wessels, p. 112
Stolen Van Goghs back on display after years in criminal underworld
BBC News, 21 March 2017

External links

* {{Authority control Paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1882 paintings Churches in art Stolen works of art Recovered works of art Collections of the Van Gogh Museum ksh:Kerch va Nuenen

Description

Theft and recovery

See also

References

External links