How was it for Van Gogh to move back in with his parents in Nuenen?

Vincent van Gogh and his father had an argument over Christmas in Etten in 1881. Vincent left for The Hague to Anton Mauve and he didn’t see his parents for two years. In the meantime his parents moved into the vicarage in Nuenen and only in December 1883 Vincent moved from Drenthe to live with his parents in Nuenen.

Living with his parents didn’t feel particularly pleasant..

Today 138 years ago, on or about 15 December 1883,

Vincent van Gogh wrote to Theo from Nuenen:

“Dear brother, I feel what Pa and Ma instinctively think about me (I don’t say reasonably). There’s a similar reluctance about taking me into the house as there would be about having a large, shaggy dog in the house. He’ll come into the room with wet paws — and then, he’s so shaggy. He’ll get in everyone’s way. And he barks so loudly. In short — it’s a dirty animal. Very well — but the animal has a human history and, although it’s a dog, a human soul, and one with finer feelings at that, able to feel what people think about him, which an ordinary dog can’t do. And I, admitting that I am a sort of dog, accept them as they are.”

The Vicarage at Nuenen
Nuenen, 1885
Oil on canvas
33,2 cm x 43 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

You may also like to read:

• How were Van Gogh and Anton Mauve related?

Our hand-painted reproduction of Van Gogh's 'The Vicarage at Nuenen'

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