De vroege Van Gogh 1880-1885: The early Van Gogh 1880-1885

Abstract

When Vincent van Gogh decided to become an artist and taught himself how to draw and paint, he focused his attention on the people who had to work hard for their living, in humble workshops and on farmlands in all weathers. With his depictions 'of the people, for the people', Vincent strove to sincerely express his compassion for their way of life. Or, as he put it in a letter to his brother Theo: 'I say it again - work against indifference - perseverance isn't easy - but things that are easy mean little'. Over 120 works from the period 1880-1885 from the museum's extensive Van Gogh collection are on display. The emphasis is on Van Gogh's drawings. These in particular clearly show how he struggled to master the technique and to depict volume and movement in his figures. Moreover, he sought to depict 'life' itself and if necessary to draw 'inaccuracies' that were 'truer' than the 'literal truth'. --- Exhibition: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands (24.09.2016 -09.04.2017)