Provenance

The provenance - the paper trail - of "Cottage with sticks" isn't fully explored yet.

After some research it's the following provenance which, with my present knowledge, might come closest to reality. This provenance is partly based on facts and partly on assumptions. It's just to show the trail I'm working at.

September 13,14 (15), 1883
"Cottage with sticks" is painted as 'the first study' in Drenthe. The painting is made in the area called Stuifzand or Zwartschaap near the town of Hoogeveen.

September 24, 1883
Vincent sends 3 studies from Hoogeveen to Theo in Paris, including "Cottage with sticks", which is the smallest.
Theo returns "Cottage with sticks" to Hoogeveen.

December 5, 1883
Vincent leaves Drenthe. In Hoogeveen he picks up his studies and other stuff (including "Cottage with sticks") and returns by train to his parents house in Nuenen.

November 1885
Vincent leaves Nuenen for Belgium and France. "Cottage with sticks" stays together with the rest of his work with his mother in Nuenen.

April 1886
Vincents mother moves to the city of Breda. "Cottages with sticks" ends up in a carpenters store (Mr. Schrauwen) together with the other works.

August 1902
"Cottage with sticks" is being sold, together with the other work, to Mr. Jan Couvreur.

1902
"Cottage with sticks" is bought together with many other works by Mr. C. Mouwen jr. & Mr. van Bakel.
(The story Schrauwen - Couvreur - Mouwen & van Bakel is well-known and published many times).

ca. 1903
"Cottage with sticks" surfaces at the Oldenzeel Art Gallery in Rotterdam for sale. At this gallery many early van Goghs surfaced, among them the Drenthe paintings "Peasant burning weeds", "Peat boat with two figures" and "Landscape with church at nightfall".


ca. 1903
"Cottage with sticks" is bought by a very wealthy family residing in the city named Culemborg (formerly known as Kuilenburg, Kulenburg etc).
The family name is Canter Cremers / van Hoytema.
Since 1865 there was a daily service by boat between Culemborg and Rotterdam.

ca. 1903
The new owner gives "Cottage with sticks" as a present to two employees of his, his coachman and a housekeeper.

For privacy reasons the names and the rest of the story is not published.

The investigation

To allow visitors to follow the research regarding the provenance a little, I've made parts of the results available here. The separate pieces of information - the results of the investigation - are presented without the purpose of drawing any conclusions yet. Because of this it might seem a bit incoherent at times.

The results are presented in a separate screen for ease of printing.
From now on (Februari 2004) you can expect regular updates here.

Click here for the results.

Cottage with sticks & Vincent van Gogh - by Carl & Ans 2003-2005.

The Kuilenburgse boat
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