It’s not a pretty sight. The building where Vincent van Gogh once lived and painted is boarded up. The roof needs fixing and the red paint on the exterior is peeling off. The house is located in Petit Wasmes, Belgium. It’s in the Borniage region of the country and while it might not be much to look at, it’s where the famous Dutch artist decided that painting was his life’s calling.
The local authorities in Petit Wasmes have made a deal with the house’s owner. The town will rent the home for 27 years. It will be turned into a museum, but could also become a guest-house. One of the reasons for the deal is so the house can be repaired in time for the European Capital of Culture in 2015 at nearby Mons.
The Mons Museum of Fine Arts is planning to hold an exhibit that will cover the time that van Gogh lived in the area. There is also a documentary in the works that talks about the work van Gogh did as a preacher in the mining communities. The house is sure to be featured in that documentary.
No one is currently living the home right now. Gregory Dufert said that there is no much more than four walls and part of a roof. The hope is to completely restore the house so it looks like it did when Van Gogh called it home. Dufert, who is a spokesman for the Municipality of Colfontaine, said that the region is very poor and it is really rather amazing to think that Vincent van Gogh lived there.
An expert on van Gogh, Teio Meedendorp, said that van Gogh was thought quite highly of in the Borinage region because he was concerned about the troubles and needs of the community. He even went so far as to try to endure many of the same difficulties that the minors did. He would eventually be discharged from his job as a preacher. It was then that he decided to follow his artistic side.
