Zweeloo

Vincent van Gogh is world famous. But not many people know that he also stayed in Drenthe. For three months, in the southeast of the province. Five paintings, about fifteen drawings and a series of beautiful letters to his brother Theo have been preserved from his Drenthe period. One of the places that inspired him was Zweeloo.

On 11 September 2023, it will be 140 years since Van Gogh arrived in Hoogeveen and stayed for three weeks. He didn't have a penny to spend, his relationship had ended and life seemed cheaper there than in The Hague.

From Hoogeveen he went out to explore the area and make studies. In Drenthe, Vincent saw not only the beauty of the peat landscape of Drenthe, but also the ordinary people and the hard life of the farm workers. In October 1883, Van Gogh arrived at Logement Scholte in New Amsterdam. He would stay here for two months. One day he made a trip to Zweeloo, where he sketched the church and drew the apple orchard.

Vincent made several drawings during his day trip. For example, he sketched an apple orchard that Liebermann had once captured on canvas, and he drew a spinster. He drew the church and wrote the following about it to his brother: "I passed an old church, just exactly L'eglise de Greville from the painting by Millet v. d. Luxembourg. Here, instead of the peasant with the spade in that painting, came a shepherd with a flock of sheep along the hedge."

Vincent's time in Drenthe was of great importance for the further course of his career. It was here that he made the choice to become a painter. In the letters to his brother Theo he described in beautiful language his feelings, his love for the landscape but also his loneliness.

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