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 Composition
When Vincent wrote in his letter of September 15, 1883 to his brother Theo about 'the first
study' he had painted in Drenthe, he enclosed a sketch of the painting with the letter.
With his own words:
"I am enclosing a sketch of my first painted study from this neighbourhood, a cottage
on the heath. A cottage made entirely of only turfs and sticks."
Unfortunately this sketch is never found.
This sketch would reveal another indication whether the painting "Cottage with sticks" is
Vincent's 'first study' or would have given proof that it is not.
Because the sketch has disappeared no one can be sure about the composition of 'the first study'
untill the sketch or the painting itself gets found.
Trying to find out whether the composition of "Cottage with sticks" could be by van Gogh is
best done by comparision with other work.
As the composition of a painting is closely related to the subjects painted we will also
take a look in this section whether the subject painted had Vincent's interest.
(Whether the subjects itself - the cottage, the plain, the figures and the weather conditions - could be
present in Drenthe in September 1883 is dealt with in the section Subject matter).
Although the sketch of 'the first study' is lost, there is a minor clue which might
reveal something about the composition.
In the above mentioned letter Vincent writes enthusiastically about what he had seen the
first days in Drenthe. As he did more often he used a well-known painting as a reference
to give his brother a better idea of what he had seen. In this case he continues:
"I can't convey the way they look outside in the dusk or just after sunset better than by
reminding you of a certain painting by Jules Dupré, which I believe belongs to Mesdag and shows
two cottages, their moss-covered roofs standing out surprisingly deep in tone against a misty,
hazy evening sky. That is here."
Vincent had seen this painting of J. Dupré, "Evening", more than a year before.
In the book "De Drentse tijd van Vincent van Gogh", the authors write:
In July (1882) Vincent visits the Exhibition of paintings from private collections, which is
held from June 15 till July 16. "The other day I saw an exhibition of French art from the collections
Mesdag, Post etc. There are many beautiful things there from Dupré, Corot, Daubigny, Diaz,
Courbet, Breton, Jacque, etc."
He continues with a description of some works.
In Drenthe he comes back on two paintings, he had seen at the exhibition,
not only to make clear to his brother what he had seen, but also these
paintings have forced him to paint an analog subject. It concerns two works of Jules Dupré:
"Evening", which depicts two farms against an evening sky and "Autumn", depicting a group of
irregular formed trees with a very small figure between the trees.
I'm not a composition expert so it's up to someone else to analyse the composition thoroughly.
When comparing "Cottage with sticks" with some paintings from the Drenthe period we see the following:
In my opinion the painting fits in with the others regarding the composition and mood.
It's a well known fact that Vincent's interest lay with the labourers and the poor. Their
cottages attracted Vincent the most. There are many drawings, aquarels and paintings
from van Gogh with cottages depicted, too many to be shown here.
Vincents interests are best shown by his own words, written in a letter to Theo on July 21, 1882:
Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music
inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners.
And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum."
Some people believe this interest was part of Vincent's failure to sell
paintings. The people who bought paintings, the upper class, might have seen his paintings as
a complaint against the differences between the rich and the poor.
Cottage with sticks & Vincent van Gogh - by Carl & Ans 2003-2005.
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