Style

The style in which "Cottage with sticks" is painted, might be called striking.
Especially when considering the period the work is painted in, the late nineteenth century.
The then usual style of painting was realistic,detailed and with bright colours, often like the style of the "Hague school".

Because of the lack of formal training, Vincent was mainly autodidact, he soon developed his own style.
The fact that this style wasn't appreciated is proven by the unsaleability of his work and the story of the "Breda crates".

When the style of "Cottage with sticks" differs from the style in which Vincent van Gogh painted in Drenthe, a conceivable argument is obtained why "Cottage with sticks" can not be the "First study".

The question can be formulated as:
Does the style of "Cottage with sticks" show resemblance with the style of Vincent van Gogh during his (short) stay in Drenthe?"


In the book "De Drentse tijd van Vincent van Gogh", the authors answer this question:

"Not only the choice of subjects of the work made in Drenthe, also the way he depicts his subjects show a (gradual) turnabout. The work made in The Hague nearly always shows the free style of painting as known from the "The Hague School", while in Drenthe he abandoned this style completely in his painted studies.
This can be seen best in the two painted studies of cottages (F17/JH395 and F22/JH421) and to a lesser extent in "Farmhouses among trees" (F18/JH397), where the clouds stand out against a blue sky.
The cottages rise like dark shadows from the also dark earth, the sky above ashen and flat. One of the last painted studies in The Hague "Farmhouse in Loosduinen near The Hague" (F16/JH391) shows a pre-announcement of this aspect.
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Once in Drenthe and enjoying fully what he sees, there is a clear turnabout in the style of painting. It is no longer the technique of contempararies, but Van Gogh finds a very own tone. The in oil painted works are set up compact, the cottages seem to rise from the dark soil, the skies are mostly grey. Not for nothing he compares in his letters to Theo when he tries to explain the world he is in, that what he sees with work of Jules Dupré.
In his second letter from Hoogeveen he writes about visiting some cottages: 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.
In the there painted studie Van Gogh has, just like his much praised lead, not much eye for detail. This in contradiction to his drawings and aquarels. In these important details stand out: The division of windows, the lumber in fronts, the roofing material. There is regarding this a lot of dissimilarity between the painted and the drawn and in aquarel-painted works.
This dissimilarity can partly be explained by Vincent mastering the working in oil-paint in 1883 unsufficiently, while he has developed his drawing talent already much more in The Hague and Etten.
On the other side one shouldn't underestimate the influence of his predecessors regarding the style of his painted studies. The cottages depicted in the painting of Dupré, "Evening" show a strong resemblance with the version of Van Gogh.



Also the Van Gogh Museum finds Vincent's style in Drenthe striking, they write in the book "Vincent van Gogh Schilderijen" when discussing the painting "Cottages", JH395, the following:

Just like in the other two works from Drenthe, Van Gogh wanted to practise himself in the proper tuning of a dark foreground against a lighter sky."

And in the description of the painting materials we read:

"Characteristic for his drive to learn and ambition was to practise a lot in the same subject (heads, still lifes) through which he tried to obtain routine in the technique."

From above text fragments it can be concluded that it is not only possible, but even probable that the lost 'first study' consists (or consisted) of a dark foreground against a lighter sky.

What do we see in "Cottage with sticks"?..........

Right, a dark foreground against a lighter sky.

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

Of course the intended style is the one common in the Netherlands those days. The rise of the impressionism in Paris wasn't known in the Netherlands yet.

Cottages
F17/JH395

Farm with stacks of peat
F22/JH421

Farmhouses among trees
F18/JH397

Farm in Loosduinen near The Hague
F16/JH391

J. Dupré - "Evening"
(1875-1880)

The authors reference here the only two known paintings of cottages, "Cottages" and "Farm with stacks of peat".
They point at striking resemblances with the work of Dupré.
In my opinion "Cottage with sticks" has much more resemblances with the painting "Evening" of Dupré.

Cottage with sticks

With the other two works the authors refer to those Drenthe works in the possession of the Van Gogh Museum, namely "Two women in the moor”, JH409 and “Farm with stacks of peat", JH421