Dordrecht, Netherlands January-April 1877

After a Christmas visit with his parents, Vincent decided to move to Dordrecht and briefly took a job at a bookstore, going into yet another family business, bookselling. He quickly became bored and once again was abrupt with customers, as he’d been during his last years with Goupils. He was now obsessed with going into the ministry, and one of his sisters referred to him as being “groggy with piety”. In his letters from here, he made mention of “The Great Church”, the construction of which was begun in 1182. The Tower was intended to be a great deal higher, but unlike other church towers which were not as high as intended due to budget constraints, this one had to be curtailed due to the wet and spongy ground which would not support its intended height.
Dordrecht is the oldest city in the Netherlands, and numerous painters hailed from or lived there, not the least of whom (besides Vincent) was Rembrandt van Rijn.

Mills in the Neighbourhood of Dordrecht -- April 1877

London, England April-December 1876

                                         (Ramsgate April-July/Isleworth July-December 1876)
Ramsgate April - July 1876

After a brief visit with his parents in the Netherlands, Vincent returned to London when he received a job offer as assistant teacher at a boarding school in Ramsgate. He had enjoyed his previous time in London and looked forward to going back. He often frequented art galleries, and his artist’s eye began emerging in his descriptions of his surroundings in his letters to Theo, in which he also began including sketches.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   View of Royal Road Ramsgate (drawing)-May 1876

                                                                                                    Isleworth July-December 1876

During this time in England, he worked in two different schools, the second one as assistant preacher in a parochial school in Isleworth.
His interest in religion was growing, and he preached his first sermon at Isleworth in October 1876. Although no one could question Vincent’s sincerity in his religiosity, like his father, he was found wanting in his ability to reach and retain his audience, yet still he aspired to “a position in connection with the church” according to his letters and the resume he sent to Theo.

                                  Churches at Petersham and Turnham Green - November 1876

Paris, France May 1875-March 1876

By 1875, there was strain in the relationship between Vincent and his London employers, and in May 1875 his father conferred with his uncles “Cent” and “Cor” and arranged for Vincent to be transferred with the company to the Paris branch of Goupil’s. Although as an art dealer he had met with relative success, he was becoming bored by art that generally didn’t appeal to his own personal taste. His lack of interpersonal skills and ineptitude as a salesman were combining to cause friction in the workplace.Vincent’s interests were moving increasingly toward religion, as evidenced by the content of his letters to Theo, which had begun taking on somewhat religious overtones, with a bent toward religious fanaticism.

Sketch of Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament (drawing) - 24 July 1875
Drawn on a corner of business stationery, Vincent was drawing from memory places of London while now in Paris.

London, England (Brixton) May 1873-May 1875

In May 1873, 20-year-old Vincent was promoted and transferred to the London branch of Goupil's. To get to work every day, he walked across Westminster Bridge and past the House of Parliament to the Art Gallery near the Strand. While living here, he visited Paris for the first time. He came to appreciate certain British artists and illustrators and developed a fondness for the writings of Charles Dickens.
Vincent’s sister Anna moved to London in 1874, and they both rented quarters in the same boarding house. They went on long walks together and explored London. Vincent soon had the first in a lifelong series of romantic misadventures and entanglements when he became enamoured of his landlady's daughter, Eugenie, who, alas, was secretly engaged to another. He behaved in what would become his trademark manner, refusing to take “no” for an answer, and his persistence caused things to be increasingly dicey with his and Anna’s landladies, whereupon they were asked to leave.

Old Woman Asleep (drawing) 1873

Hague, the Netherlands 1869 (July 30) – June 1873

2.

In 1869, Vincent moved to The Hague, or Den Haag, the capital of the Netherlands, to work as a clerk for Goupils and Company art dealers, for his Uncles "Cent" (Vincent) and “Cor” (Cornelius). There is a square in the town called Plaats at the end of the row of trees, which is where the art store is. It was while he was here, in 1872, that he began writing to his younger brother Theo, a correspondence that would one day become one of the most celebrated in the world, giving us valuable insight into his complex views and musings. 

Country Lane (drawing) Autumn 1872 - Spring 1873

Zundert, the Netherlands (birthplace) 1853-1869

1.

Vincent was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot Zundert in the North Brabant region of the Netherlands. He was the oldest living son of Theodorus van Gogh, a clergyman in the reformed Dutch church, and Anna Cornelia Carbentus, the daughter of a bookseller. Vincent was born exactly one year to the day after Theodorus and Anna’s first child was stillborn. That child was also named Vincent Willem van Gogh. The rest of the family included brothers Theo and Cornelius and sisters Anna, Willemien and Elizabeth. Vincent’s early formal schooling ended when he was 15, and he lived in Zundert with his family until he was 16.   


The Goat Herd (drawing) 9 October 1862