39adamstrand:vincentvangogh-art: Vincent’s Boarding House in Hackford Road, Brixton, London,

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vincentvangogh-art:

Vincent’s Boarding House in Hackford Road, Brixton, London, 1873

Vincent van Gogh

20 year-old Vincent van Gogh worked as an art dealer in London from May 1873 until he was let go in January 1876 (he continued to work at the firm until 1 April).

Van Gogh lived at a boarding house, which he described in a letter: “The neighborhood where I live is quite beautiful, and so quiet and intimate that you almost forget you are in London. In front of every house there is a small garden with flowers or a few trees, and many houses are built very tastefully in a sort    of Gothic style. Still, I have a good half-hour’s walk to get to the country.We have a piano in the sitting room, and there are also three Germans living here who are very fond of music, which is very pleasant.”

During his stay at the boarding house, van Gogh fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, Eugénie Loyer, but was rejected when he told her his feelings for her. Van Gogh refuses to accept Loyer’s rejection of him and is asked to leave the house in early 1875.

Van Gogh’s behavior becomes troubling to his family and he is sent to Paris for a couple of months. When he returns to London, van Gogh begins to read the Bible and writes to his brother on 8 May 1875, “I hope and believe that I’m not what many think me to be at present, we’ll see, we have to give it time… To act on the world one must die to oneself… .  Man is not placed on the earth merely to be happy; nor is he placed here merely to be honest, he is here to accomplish great things through society, to arrive at nobleness, and to outgrow the vulgarity in which the existence of almost all individuals drags on.”