Two drawings of Het Steen Castle on the Scheldt in Antwerp have survived. But Vincent van Gogh clearly wrote to his brother Theo that he had painted The Steen. It must be a finished painting as Vincent showed it to art dealers.

Where is it? Missing and gone forever? Or will it pop up one day? Hopefully it ends up exhibited in a museum in that case.

Today 136 years ago, on 17 December 1885,

Vincent van Gogh wrote to Theo from Antwerp:

"My dear Theo, Today, for the first time, I feel rather dejected — I’d made a painting of Het Steen and took it round the dealers. Two of them were out, and one didn’t like it, and one lamented in a dreadful manner that literally no one had set foot in his shop in a fortnight. This isn’t very cheering, particularly when the weather’s cold and bleak, and one has already broken into one’s last 5 franc piece and is faced with a fortnight in which one sees no way ahead.”

View of Het Steen
Antwerp, 1885
Pen and ink, chalk, pencil, on paper
13.1 cm x 21.1 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

You may also like to read:
Is Het Steen another missing Van Gogh painting?Van Gogh's 'View of Het Steen'

<< previous | next >>  

Your Daily Dose of Van Gogh

What did Vincent van Gogh write on this day?

Find out in your FREE Van Gogh e-book.

Hundreds of questions answered by Van Gogh himself!

Free Van Gogh e-book
      17-12-2021 14:32     Comments ( 0 )
Comments (0)

No comments found.