The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague

The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague

The 'Laakmolen' near the Hague is a watercolor by Vincent van Gogh that he made in the summer of 1882. Formerly it was thought to have dated from his Etten period 1881. Following identification of the mill, historians now place it the year following.^[1]

Description

Both Hulsker and De La Faille place the work as done at Etten around October 1881. Hulsker notes that the work is not mentioned anywhere and is difficult to place. Christie's, following Martha Op de Coul, date the watercolor as done later in summer 1882 after van Gogh had moved to The Hague.^[1]^[2] The mill is identified as the Laakmolen (52°4′4.16″N 4°19′56.98″E / 52.0678222°N 4.3324944°E / 52.0678222; 4.3324944), a well known mill on the way to Rijswijk, at that time a village near The Hague.

The location is of considerable interest because in the summer of 1872 (i.e. some ten years earlier), Vincent's brother Theo had come to visit Vincent at The Hague and together they had walked to a mill at Rijswijk (presumed to be the Laakmolen, one of just two at Rijswijk) where they drank milk together. It seems this walk held special emotional significance for Vincent, as he later referred to it several times in his letters to Theo. Biographers have suggested that at this time they made a pact together to pursue a career in art.^[3]^[4]

The watercolor sold for £2,322,500 at Christies, London, on 23 June 2015.^[1]

References and sources

References

1 2 3 "Sale 10334 Lot 14". christies.com. Christie's.
↑ Op de Coul, 1990
↑ Naifeh et al., p. 76 n. 187
↑ "Letter 11:To Theo van Gogh. London, Sunday, 20 July 1873". vangoghletters.org. Van Gogh Museum. 1r:4. How much I’d like to have you here, what pleasant days we spent together in The Hague. I still think so often of our walk on Rijswijkseweg, where we drank milk at the mill after the rain.

Sources

Op de Coul, Martha. De Laakmolen in Den Haag door Vincent van Gogh, Oud Holland - Quarterly for Dutch Art History, Volume 104, Issue 3, pages 336 – 340, 1990, DOI: 10.1163/187501790X00183
J.B. de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings, Amsterdam, 1970, no. F 844, pp. 317 & 644 (illustrated; titled 'The Windmill' and dated 'August 1881')
J. Hulsker, The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, Amsterdam, 1996, no. 59, p. 24
Naifeh, Steven and Smith, Gregory White. Van Gogh: the Life, New York: Random House, 2011, p. 76. ISBN 978-0-375-50748-9

Vincent van Gogh

General	Biography Chronology Health Death Posthumous fame Cultural depictions List of works Post-Impressionism Auberge Ravoux The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Family	Theo van Gogh Wil van Gogh Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Andries Bonger Theo van Gogh (film director) Anton Mauve Johannes Stricker

Friends	Anthon van Rappard Paul Gachet Paul Gauguin Émile Bernard John Peter Russell Eugène Boch Anna Boch Agostina Segatori

Groups of works	Self portraits Portraits Early works Lost early works Sien Peasant Character Studies Cottages Van Gogh's family in his art Montmartre Le Moulin de la Galette Asnières Seine Wheat Fields Flowering Orchards Almond Blossoms Langlois Bridge at Arles Saintes-Maries Paintings of Children Décoration for the Yellow House The Roulin Family Hospital in Arles Butterflies Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy The Enclosed Wheat Field at Saint-Rémy Trees and Undergrowth Copies by Vincent van Gogh Olive Trees Display at Les XX, 1890 Auvers size 30 canvases Auvers Double-squares and Squares Japonaiserie Sunflowers Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Netherlands) Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris) Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg

Paintings	The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague Girl in White in the Woods Lying Cow Farmhouse Among Trees Bulb Fields Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam Old Church Tower at Nuenen Cart with Black Ox Cart with Red and White Ox Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Still Life with Straw Hat The Potato Eaters Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette Poppy Flowers Wheat Field with a Lark View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic Portrait of Père Tanguy A Woman Walking in a Garden Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin Landscape with Snow La Mousmé The Night Café The Yellow House Cafe Terrace at Night Starry Night Over the Rhone Portrait of the Artist's Mother Bedroom in Arles Falling Autumn Leaves L'Arlésienne The Red Vineyard Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) Les Arènes Interior of a Restaurant in Arles A Lane near Arles View of Arles, Flowering Orchards Arles: View from the Wheat Fields Sunset at Montmajour Crab on its Back Two Crabs Irises The Starry Night Self-portrait (1889) A Meadow in the Mountains: Le Mas de Saint-Paul Enclosed Field with Peasant Green Wheat Field with Cypress Ivy Farmhouse in Provence Road with Cypress and Star At Eternity's Gate Thatched Cottages and Houses Portrait of Dr. Gachet Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers Houses at Auvers White House at Night Girl in White The Church at Auvers Daubigny's Garden Farms near Auvers Blossoming Chestnut Branches View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy Wheatfield with Crows Tree Roots

Other works	Drawings, water-colours and prints 87 Hackford Road Sorrow

Public collections	Van Gogh Museum Kröller-Müller Museum Musée d'Orsay

Portrayals	Lust for Life novel film Van Gogh (1991 film) Van Gogh (1948 film) Vincent Vincent & Theo Vincent in Brixton "Vincent and the Doctor"

Cataloguers	Jacob Baart de la Faille (1928 & 1970; F) Jan Hulsker (1978, revised 1989; JH)

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