The House of The Potato Eaters

During his visit to Nuenen, Van Rappard painted various study heads of farmers and labourers. This encouraged Vincent to further hone his skills in figure painting. Believing he needed to practise extensively to become a painter of peasants, he resolved to paint at least 30 heads. Driven as he was, he revised his target to 50. Forty-seven head studies from the period between late October and late May have survived.

Vincent has put his plan to take figure-drawing lessons outside Nuenen on hold for the time being. Throughout the winter, he practises his head studies, focusing not only on anatomy but also on colour, brushwork and light-and-shade effects. Ever since the start of his artistic career, Vincent had hoped to produce a painting featuring multiple figures – a complex undertaking. In preparation for this, he also studied hands and arms. In early April 1885, his wish to create a figure piece took shape. He opted for a depiction of ‘farmers gathered round a dish of potatoes in the evening’. He produced numerous preliminary studies and, based on these, put together a composition in his studio. For *The Potato Eaters*, he produced a large study in April 1885, from which he made a lithograph. The final version of the painting followed in April–May.

He produced the many preparatory studies on the spot in the farmhouse. As Vincent had previously described, he had ‘gone from house to house among the people’, in the process ‘discovering new models’. On one of those expeditions, he must have entered the home of the De Groot-van Rooij family. This ‘hut’, as Vincent often referred to the simple farmhouses, and its inhabitants form the setting and the subjects of *The Potato Eaters*. The painter was a frequent visitor to the family’s home. They lived at what is now Gerwenseweg 4, on the northern edge of Nuenen, to the east of De Roosdonck mill. The modest ‘hut’ consists of three small, adjoining houses. Although the painting *La chaumière*, or *The Hut*, has been linked to the De Groot-van Rooij family’s home, this seems unlikely.

Seven people live in the terraced house belonging to the De Groot-van Rooij family. The widow Cornelia de Groot lives there with her children Hendrik, Peter and Gordina (Sien), as well as Cornelia’s sister Mieke and brothers Francis (Sis) and Anthonius (This). Vincent also depicted various family members in separate studies.

The farmhouse was owned by Cornelia’s father, Anthonie van Rooij, and passed into the possession of her husband, Cornelis de Groot, in 1873; he died ten years later. The house was due to be demolished in the late 1920s. Journalist Benno Stokvis photographed the interior of the cottage before it was demolished; the man in the photograph is the last surviving family member, Gijsbertus, who lived on Beekstraat at the time. Gordina’s son, Cornelis de Groot Jr., built the current dwelling – partly on the site of his parents’ demolished home. Bricks from the former house are said to have been incorporated into the rear wall. An illogical bend in the interior wall is thought to be the result of building on top of the former chimney. Parts of the door frame leading to the kitchen and the window in the dining room are also said to originate from the previous house. Descendants of the De Groot family lived there until 1954. The house was damaged during the Second World War, after which it was repaired. According to the foundations that still remain, the former house is thought to have been larger.