Vincent van Gogh is known all over the world. Did you know that in 1883, Van Gogh lived in Drenthe for three months? On the recommendation of artist friends, Van Gogh came to Drenthe. He was inspired by the original landscape and peat workers of Drenthe. This was a short, but important period in his life. It was here that he developed his passion for painting.
This letter sketch is one o…
Vincent van Gogh is known all over the world. Did you know that in 1883, Van Gogh lived in Drenthe for three months? On the recommendation of artist friends, Van Gogh came to Drenthe. He was inspired by the original landscape and peat workers of Drenthe. This was a short, but important period in his life. It was here that he developed his passion for painting.
This letter sketch is one of the first images Vincent van Gogh made when he arrived in Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord. This sketch is from a page with numerous sketches. It is quite possible this peat hut stood in the vicinity of this street, Drijverspad. A peat hut is little more than a hut built partly of stone, wood, metal plates, but sometimes peat too. About six labourers often lived there while engaged in peat extraction as peat workers, or helping to dig the canal, for example. The peat huts here were built on behalf of the Drentsche Kanaal Maatschappij. We read this in the Drentsche Kanaal-Maatschappij's annual report:
‘The digging of peat has provided work to 116 labourers. To house these peat diggers and other workers, 31 huts were built, which were occupied by 142 people on 31 July 26.’
What's more, the name Nieuw-Amsterdam was not very common in Van Gogh's time. This area was known as Bumaveen at that time. The director of the Drentsche Kanaal-Maatschappij, Anne Willem van Holthe tot Echten Esquire, had a big say in this. He named this place after his wife, Maria Louisa Hora Buma.
