In the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh in Drenthe
It’s all made easy for you, as there are three interconnected, signposted cycling routes, each 50 kilometers long. To support you, a fantastic 160-page guide has been published. Through his letters to his brother Theo, he takes you along on his journey through Drenthe, sharing what he sees and experiences. It is no coincidence that the three routes, which take you past the locations where he painted and stayed, have been chosen as the “Cycling Route of the Year 2024.” He writes to his brother: The country is superb, superb, everything calls out to you: paint! So real and so varied. Of course, much has changed, but fortunately there is still enough recognizable from Vincent’s time. The three routes have been named Vincent’s Arrival, Vincent’s Day Trip, and Vincent’s Inspiration. We set off and head into the countryside of Drenthe.
Vincent’s Arrival
After a train journey from The Hague, Van Gogh arrives in Hoogeveen at 9 p.m. on September 11, 1883. Now there is a Van Gogh information panel with an audio story via the QR code, and it is the starting point of the Arrival tour. Vincent had to find his own way. He found accommodation with a railway worker in Pesserstraat. After that, he stayed mainly at Logement Hartsuiker. When you cycle into Hoogeveen, you will immediately see a large portrait of our main character on the side wall of an apartment building opposite Theater De Tamboer. Follow the guide, as it points out even more striking features of the city. Once you are out of the hustle and bustle, cycle eastwards via Noordscheschut and the old peat areas of Hollandscheveld and Nieuwlande. You can also see how you can travel the route by towboat yourself. A very special experience. You will find suggestions in the guide. The return route takes you through old Drenthe via Nieuw Balinge (Mantingerzand) and Stuifzand to Hoogeveen. After three weeks, Van Gogh feels the need to venture deeper into the peat bogs and peat fields. One of these first days, I will sail the entire Hoogeveensche canal by barge through the peat bogs, right through the southeastern corner of Drenthe. On October 2, 1883, he leaves for Nieuw-Amsterdam. Halfway through his journey, he passes the village of Zwinderen. Someone who is so interested in the landscape passing by must surely have noticed a newly built farmhouse with the year 1862 (formed by the wall anchors between the upper and lower windows). After more than 160 years, the facade still reflects in the Verlengde Hoogeveense Vaart canal.
Vincent’s Day Trip
Anyone entering Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord today is automatically drawn to the old silo, which features two immense (250 m2 each) Van Gogh paintings. People are still proud that the great painter stayed here. On the west side is the watercolor “The Drawbridge” in Nieuw-Amsterdam. In front of the silo, a field of sunflowers (which we can call Van Gogh’s flower) has been planted. With some twisting and turning, we were able to project one flower onto the painting. The drawbridge spanned the Hoogeveense canal in front of Hindrik Scholte’s inn, where Van Gogh would stay until December 4, 1883. Now the white-painted house is called the “Van Gogh House” and is the starting and ending point of the Day Trip and Inspiration Tour.
There is a remarkable story attached to the portrait on the station side of the silo. We do not know what Vincent looked like in Drenthe, as there are no known photographs or (self) portraits of him from the period 1872-1886. That is why a competition was organized for the amateur painters of De Nachtwacht van Emmen to give their interpretation of what Vincent might have looked like in Drenthe. The winner was Jantje Hartman from Klazienaveen. Her work has been further developed by other artists using AI technology so that it is suitable for application on a large surface. The drawbridge and the Drenthe portrait of Vincent van Gogh are linked by a text from one of Vincent van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo in Paris. Van Gogh was very active in the southeastern corner of Drenthe. One day, he traveled by cart with innkeeper Scholte, who was going to the market in Assen. After leaving at three o’clock, he arrived in the Zweeloo area at six o’clock in the morning, where he hoped to meet other artists, but it remained just a hope. He would have to entertain himself. He writes to his brother:
I passed an old church with a shepherd and a flock of sheep along the hedge. In the background, you couldn’t see the view of the sea, only the sea of young corn, the sea of furrows instead of waves. The area around Zweeloo is currently completely covered in young corn—sometimes as far as the eye can see, the very first green I know. Above it, a sky of delicate lilac white that creates an effect—I don’t think it can be painted, but for me it is the underlying tone that one must know in order to understand the basis of other effects. Black earth, flat—endless—a clear sky of delicate lilac white. That earth sprouts young corn—with that corn it is as if molded.
By the green in the fields, he means the winter rye that is sown here in autumn or winter. Stop off on your bike ride at the little church in Zweeloo and look through the viewing panel to see how Van Gogh saw the church he painted in 1883.
Vincent’s Inspiration
We return to Nieuw-Amsterdam to begin the third loop. First, take a look at the two benches along the canal with colored mosaic stones depicting Van Gogh themes. It is impressive how they were able to create this with endless patience. The third loop takes us through the former peat extraction area: Schoonebeek, Bargerveen, Weiteveen. Van Gogh remains lyrical about the landscape he has ended up in. Drenthe is superb, but staying there depends on many things—it depends on whether you have the money for it, it depends on whether you can withstand the loneliness. The land is so beautiful that I cannot describe it to you. Let this be your motivation to travel to southeast Drenthe and enjoy the peace and quiet. The guidebook “Cycling with Van Gogh” is indispensable for this.
Van Gogh Cycling Route Guide
ISBN: 978 9083352343
Editor: Katja Staring
Price: 9.95 euros
See also:
www.vangoghdrenthe.nl
www.vangoghdrenthe.nl/fietsroutes
www.vangoghhuisdrenthe.nl
Text and images: Teus Korporaal
