Van Gogh in

Antwerp

Vincent arrived in Antwerp from Nuenen on 24 November 1885 in the hope of taking lessons at the city’s art academy and selling his work.

In a letter to Theo from 1884, Vincent had let slip that he wanted to go to Antwerp, and the idea had been on his mind ever since. He rented a second-storey room in the Belgian city from a Dutch married couple, Willem Henricus Brandel and Anna Wilhelmina Huberta.

Vincent enjoyed his first weeks in Antwerp, and he often wrote to Theo about how happy he was he had decided to move there. Vincent loved discovering the city, walking along its quays, visiting its churches and museums. He approached various art dealers, hoping to sell his work. But Antwerp failed to yield the income Vincent had anticipated and he repeatedly had to beg Theo for money to get by on.

In January 1886, Vincent enrolled in a course in drawing from classical sculpture at the art academy. There he also briefly attended a painting course taught by Charles Verlat and joined two evening life-drawing clubs.

During this time, Vincent developed various dental problems, probably due to his unhealthy lifestyle- he ate poorly, often living on bread and water and was a heavy pipe smoker. He dealt with the problem by having many “bad teeth snipped off”.

His lessons at the academy were supposed to continue until March 1886 but Vincent did not see them through. He left Antwerp on 28 February to continue his artistic development in Paris, hoping to gain a place in the artist Fernand Cormon’s studio.

Seven paintings and a number of drawings from Vincent’s Antwerp period have been preserved.