In the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh in the Borinage

Mons, WAL, Belgium; Colfontaine, WAL, Belgium
Est. 11.2km / 3 hrs 43 mins

Van Gogh, a name known and recognised worldwide.An artist whose works continue to attract much attention.Yet, the man today seen as one of the greatest artists in history didn’t lead a golden life.He was born in Groot-Zundert (Netherlands) on 30 March 1853 in a well-to-do family where art featured prominently.He began his professional life in the arts but as a supporting vocation, so he pursued a career as an evangelist.Thus he would spend two years in the Borinage (a mining area around Mons). He would have moving encounters with the minors.During his stay in the Borinage, he wrote many letters to his brother Théo which were almost all decorated with a drawing. He drew more and more, getting better and better.Continuing his vocation as an evangelist, he turned to art: drawing and painting.His time spent in the Borinage was crucial: an artist was born. He went into art and came to our home to go into religion.He threw himself into painting of a tormented and highly colourful nature.Unwell, deprived of success and almost totally destitute, he eventually killed himself in 1890, having sold only one painting in his lifetime (to Anna Boch).He is buried at the cemetery of Auvers-sur-Oise beside his brother Théo who was brought near Vincent in 1914. United in life, the two brothers are also united for eternity.The legend of Van Gogh has been moving forward since then and the artist shines across the world.

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