''Cottages'' is a subject of paintings created by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, 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 ...

from 1883 and 1885. This is related to the Peasant Character Studies that Van Gogh worked on during the same time period.

Background

Inspired by the work 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 Realism ...

and others working in the 'peasant' genre, Van Gogh became interested in representing peasant life in his art. To depict the essence and spirit of their life, he for a time lived as they lived, he was in the fields as they were, enduring the weather for long hours as they were. To do so was not something taught in art schools, he wrote, a reflection of his frustrated by traditionalists who focused on technique more than the essence of the subject matter. So thoroughly was he engaged in living the peasant lifestyle that his appearance and manner of speech began to change. This alienated some of his friends and family, but was a cost, he believed, necessary for his artistic development.

Drenthe

Van Gogh visited 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 Nov ...

for three months, staying in Nieuw-Amsterdam,. While there, he explored the countryside still untouched by progress found in larger towns and cities. ''Cottages'' (F17) is a study of farm cottages and an outbuilding that Van Gogh found on one of his treks. The dark cottage is set against the evening sky. Here he was greatly impressed by the

working poor The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line due to low-income jobs and low familial household income. These are people who spend at least 27 weeks in a year working or looking for employment, but remain und ...

, but unable to find models for his character studies.

Nuenen

In 1882, Van Gogh's father became pastor 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 is ...

and the family lived at the vicarage at Nuenen, 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 the we ...

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 ...

. Having been in Drenthe for several months, Van Gogh came to live with his parents in December 1883 and stayed there until May 1885. During the winter in Nuenen Van Gogh worked on character studies of the local peasants. There was little to be done in the fields and Van Gogh was able to make connections to people through his father, a town minister. Van Gogh's character studies culminated in his famous painting ''

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 Kröller ...

''. ''The Cottage'' (F83) was a home that the De Groot family, immortalized in ''The Potato Eaters'' shared with another family. The cottage has double front doors, a split chimney and quarters for two families. Seen in the evening light, the cottage seems peaceful. Van Gogh called the peasant homes "human nests". ''Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage'' (F142) was one of the paintings that Van Gogh left behind when he went to Antwerp in 1885 and it went to his mother Anna Carbentus van Gogh. Vincent van Gogh - The cottage - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Cottage'', 1885,

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 on ...

, Amsterdam (F83) Vincent van Gogh - Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging.jpg, ''Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging'', 1885, Private collection (F89) Vincent van Gogh - Farmhouse in Nuenen - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Cottage and Woman with Goat'', 1885,

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

, Frankfort, Germany (F90) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus.jpeg, ''Cottage with Trees'' also ''Cottage'', June 1885, Private collection (F91) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus mit Bäumen1.jpeg, ''Cottage with Trees'', 1885, Private collection (F92) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus mit Bäumen2.jpeg, ''Cottage with Trees'', 1885, Private collection (F92a) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus mit Bäumen.jpeg, ''Cottage with Trees'', 1885, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne (F93) File:Van Gogh - Cabaña con campesino regresando a casa.jpg, ''Cottage with Peasant Coming Home'', 1885,

Museo Soumaya The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City and a non-profit cultural institution with two museum buildings in Mexico City — Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre-H ...

, Mexico City (F170) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus mit umgrabender Bäuerin.jpeg, ''Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage'', 1885,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

(F142) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus mit zwei Bäumen und Bäuerin.jpeg, ''Cottage with Trees and Peasant Woman'', 1885, Private collection (F187) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus mit gebückter Bäuerin in blauem Kleid.jpeg, ''Cottage with Decrepit barn and Stooping Woman'', 1885, Private collection (F1669) File:Van Gogh - Bauernhaus1.jpeg, ''Cottage'', June–July 1885, Private collection (No F number, JH Add. 23) Vincent van Gogh Rural village at night 1884.jpg, ''Rural village at night'', Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

References

External links

{{Vincent van Gogh Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1883 paintings 1885 paintings

Background

Drenthe

Nuenen

See also

References

External links