Who taught Van Gogh to paint?

Vincent van Gogh had already made drawings and watercolors when it was his cousin-in-law Anton Mauve in The Hague in 1881 who taught Van Gogh to paint with oils.

His first painting of his 10 year career was 'Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs’. When Mauve died in 1888, Vincent painted Pink Peach Trees, signed with Souvenir de Mauve.

Today 140 years ago, between 1 and 3 December 1881,

Vincent van Gogh wrote to Theo from The Hague:

"I spoke to Mauve and said, would you approve if I were to come and trouble you for a good month or so – then when that time is up I’ll be past the first petty vexations of painting and will go back to Het Heike. Well, Mauve immediately installed me in front of a still life consisting of a couple of old clogs and other objects, and so I could set to work.”

Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs
The Hague 1881
Oil on paper on panel
34 x 55 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

You may also like to read:

• How were Van Gogh and Mauve related?

Van Gogh's 'Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs'

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