Vincent van Gogh was brought here by his work for a firm of art dealers when he was twenty. He lived at 87 Hackford Road as a lodger. He worked in Covent Garden and enjoyed weekend walks out to the country, for instance across the fields to admire the paintings in the Dulwich Picture Gallery. He was a good linguist and a keen letter-writer, and we have insights into his life through his letters to his younger brother Theo and others.“Things are going well for me here, I have a wonderful home and it’s a great pleasure for me to observe London and the English way of life and the English themselves, and I also have nature and art and poetry, and if that isn’t enough,what is?”
Sadly, unrequited love for the landlady's daughter made things difficult, and despite being cheered up by a visit from his sister Anna in 1874, they both had to leave Hackford Road.
Vincent's time in Victorian London - and ongoing exposure to politics, Dickens, Shakespeare, love, disappointment, poetry, and art - all helped shape the painter he became. This formative period in his life is dramatised in the play Vincent in Brixton, written by Nicholas Wright in 2002.
We hope that Van Gogh Walk inspires people to enjoy nature, walking, art, books, good company and interesting ideas - all of which van Gogh enjoyed when he lived here.
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| Vincent aged 19 |
- Visit some of the London art galleries which display some of van Gogh's work, including the National Gallery and the Courtauld Gallery, both around three miles from Van Gogh Walk;
- Read the letters van Gogh wrote to his brother and friends while he was in London;
- Explore the Oval History website for more information about the history of Hackford Road and other neighbouring streets
- Watch the video below for Kristine Groenhart's insight into his time in London. See places, buildings and paintings you can still visit which inspired the young Vincent.
