We were waiting for our Uber cab to arrive after having reached Eindhoven from Amsterdam. That’s when two young guys approached us. Hi Sir can I have a light? As I obliged he asked whether we too were from India. I nodded and mentioned that we were on a holiday. Oh ok he said and then his next question made me smile. Holidays but why Eindhoven? He probably was certain in his mind that not many tourists visit the Philips city. We are here to visit the Van Gogh Village & Museum in Nuenen and spend a week staying with our brother, his lovely wife and their incredibly talented four year old daughter Kurchi. Our lady Van Gogh in the making.
Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
The first time we visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam couple of years back, we fell in love with this amazing Dutch painter. The experience was so enlightening, exciting and memorable.
In a very short span of life Vincent had stayed and lived in many places in Netherlands. So we decided then to follow his foot trails in Brabant over our next few years to get to understand more on his life and his creations. Today was the first day in this journey to discover more. With this trip to Van Gogh Village & Museum in Nuenen.
How to reach Nuenen
The best way to reach Nuenen from Eindhoven is to avail Bravo buses 322 or 6 from Eindhoven Centraal Bus station to Nuenen Centrum. The journey takes around 20 mins. Do check the NS website or the App for bus timings or else you might have to wait a while like we did and wasted close to 40 mins.
From there you can change into this cute Bravo bus 260 which will take you to the village and museum. It’s the first stop after you board. Or you can take a pleasure walk of 800 m or so and reach the museum. We took the bus while going and then walked a bit. And while coming back we walked the whole distance.
Van Gogh Village
A note of Thanks
Before we take you around the village and museum, we at Travelwisesr wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to Simone van der Heiden, Directeur Van Gogh Village Nuenen for extending press privileges for our visit including a guide to take us around the village and museum.
And then the warm reception extended by her colleague Tamara Earnst from Visit Brabant welcoming us to the museum and making us feel completely at home.
And again no words are just enough to thank our guide for the day Annette Bevelsborg of Van Gogh Village Nuenen. She is such a sweet person and it was so nice interacting with her while she took us around to all the landmarks. And as we walked we never felt that we were meeting her for the first time. Our sincere apologies to her as due to our delay in reaching she had to come back from home for us after having left for the day.
Vincent van Gogh & Nuenen
Vincent van Gogh was born in Zundert, a Dutch city an hour away from Nuenen. When he was 30 years old, after having stayed and lived in many cities prior to that, he was staying in The Hague with practically no money and living with a prostitute and her child. His father Theodorus van Gogh did not approve of this relationship nor did his younger brother Theo van Gogh, who otherwise always supported him. So his father sent him some money to leave the city and come over to Nuenen.
That’s when he arrived and spent almost two years of his life from 1883 to 1885 living here. This period was certainly one of the most productive of his short life. He made over 195 paintings including his famous Potato Eaters, 133 drawings and 19 sketches during this time.
This is the house where the father of Vincent was stationed, as a vicar of the Protestant Church in Nuenen. Although Vincent loved his father very much they had different ideas about the religion. His father was a Protestant, but Vincent didn’t want to follow that. He had his own ideas about how to live his life.
Hence due to the differences and the fact that he was not earning money his father didn’t want him to stay in their house and instead allotted him a room behind the house. He borrowed a chair, a table and a bed from his father and made it his studio. And stayed here for six months. Come let’s visit all the Van Gogh Village landmarks first before we are back to the museum.
Van Gogh Village Nuenen Landmarks
This home has always been a Vicar house where the Pastor of Protestant Church has lived since the time it was built in the year 1764. This is where the Van Gogh’s lived then. The current Vicar is a woman and the property private and so is the garden we will see behind.
The home
Vincent’s mother
The paintings and drawings that he made when staying in this house depicted the views that he saw from the garden. The painting on the left has the Catholic Church of Nuenen which he could see and the drawing in the middle the backyard of the house.
Our walk through the village
Stop by to hear the recorded version of the letter Vincent wrote to his brother Theo describing his relationship with his father when staying here. The filthy language he uses would give you a feel of exactly how extreme the friction was between them.
Beautiful Nuenen
‘Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church’
This was the Protestant Church where Vincent van Gogh’s father Theodorus served as the Pastor. It’s now known as Van Gogh Church. And this is how it looked during those days.
Vincent had painted the church in 1884 for his mother when she was bedridden and couldn’t visit in person. He wanted to take the church to her. And he stood right at this spot. He repainted it again after his father’s demise in 1885 making it an autumn painting instead of a winter one adding in churchgoers in mourning this time. The painting was stolen once but recovered later from Naples in Italy. And it is now in Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
Neunen Town Hall
First Van Gogh Painting Exhibition spot
Not many in the city of Nuenen knew about Vincent and his paintings because he wasn’t a very loved person when he stayed here. First he was an introvert person who didn’t mix with people around and he was quite grumpy as well. In the year 1965 an exhibition was arranged for the first time by a man named Tom to make the residents of the city aware of Vincent and his famous paintings.
Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was approached to loan his paintings and drawings for few days. The museum agreed and they were transported here in a van without even proper packaging to keep them safe from damage. For security the museum of course sent two officers for day and one officer for night who would have the keys of the premise to protect the valuable paintings.
The Weaver House
One of the paintings that Vincent had done was of this Weaver House where two families lived during those days which also housed the weaver loom. This place located in Papenvoort 3, Nuenen is now a B&B hotel.
We walk further
Helper of the Church Home
The helper of the Catholic Church had helped Vincent find alternate accommodation in Clement’s Church to move out of his father’s home. He set up the next studio there and that’s where he painted his famous ‘Potato Eaters’. And this is the painting he made of the house.
Linden Tree spot
Linden trees were often placed in the center of town and under them they spoke about justice, made announcements, had year markets and people met here. This one is 400 years old. It used to be much bigger than what it is now.
The tree fell ill and so there was a ceremony held to cut off the top. The residents felt that the soul of the tree was falling off. They were not sure that the tree would survive and hence they planted another Linde which is 25 years old now.
When this tree was planted in the year 2000 they also made a plaque each in stone with names of 275 children who were born that year in Nuenen. Such a wonderful gesture.
Nuenen Central Park
Otherwise called the Het Park it is a regular scene of public gatherings with an oasis of greenery, benches, a lovely pond, a bridge and a pretty fountain. In 1984 a statue of Vincent van Gogh was erected to mark the the centenary of his stay in the town.
The Potato Eaters Spot
Vincent made one of his most famous paintings the ‘Potato Eaters’ when he was staying in Nuenen. And this spot was built with that memory in mind. Come experience with us.
Heilige Clemenskerk Church
Salon Nune Ville
This was the family home of Margot Begemann, the woman with whom Vincent had a dramatic love affair.
And we are back to the Museum
The current museum building used to be the second City Hall of Nuenen, a hospital, a school and a Chinese restaurant before it was made into a museum in 2010.
Last year in 2023 the building next to it which used to be farmer’s home was acquired and that’s where the current museum is located. The old building houses the Museum Shop, a coffee cafe & Visit Brabant office with a park behind to sit out and enjoy the sun during summers.
Van Gogh Museum Nuenen
The Van Gogh Museum in Nuenen focuses on the life of this amazing painter. However there are no original Van Gogh paintings here but those made by his artist friends, contemporaries and followers who were inspired by him. Come let’s enjoy the journey.
How Vincent felt about his Potato Eaters
‘When I think of my own work is that the painting of farmers eating potatoes, which I did in Nuenen, is the best thing I have done after all’ – Letter no. 574, Late October 1887, to Willemien Van Gogh
The Temporary Expo
The Sunflower collection
And more
Museum shop
Shop till you drop with an amazing range of Van Gogh mementos and takeaways. And then relax a while with your favorite cup of coffee.
Van Gogh Village & Museum Nuenen. It will steal your heart away if you love nature, history, art and are a Vincent van Gogh admirer. Experience it to believe it. Plan a visit to Nuenen in North Brabant next time you are holidaying in Netherlands. And believe us it’s an amazing experience.
If you loved Van Gogh Village & Museum, PIN it for planning & forward for friends!
