MAISON VAN GOGH

Today was a holiday (Armistice Day) and the archives where we work were closed so we played tourist and found this old house where Vincent Van Gogh lived for a few years when he worked as a minister/coal miner. He had given up his art before this move and was planning to be a full-time minister.

It is in a swampy area near Mons and is sinking slowly into the ground. We were allowed to go inside but we felt a little uneasy seeing the condition of the building... about 140 years old and listing severely to starboard. They had some interesting history written on these signs just outside of the house.

Arnold reading each and every word.

They showed a little film about Van Gogh's life in Mons. It was interesting, but hard to understand. The house is very small but they did have an original pencil drawing called "The Diggers" that he drew while living in that house.

It was here that Van Gogh became aware that his destiny was to be a painter. He wrote a letter to his brother Theo, on September 24,1880, saying: "I will pick up my pencil once again, the pencil I abandoned in a dark fit of discouragement, and I shall start drawing again."