When Van Gogh Lived in London

Before Vincent van Gogh became the tortured genius we now revere, before the sunflowers and the starry nights, before the ear incident that continues to intrigue and perplex, he was just a young man trying to find his way in London. Yes, the city of Big Ben, endless drizzle, and damp lodgings was once home to the Dutch master. And, unsurprisingly, it didn’t go particularly well for him.

Vincent’s London Sojourn

In 1873, at the age of 20, Van Gogh arrived in London to work as an art dealer at the prestigious Goupil & Cie, an international firm with an office on Southampton Street in Covent Garden. Back then, he wasn’t the brooding, paint-streaked eccentric we imagine. He was an earnest, somewhat awkward young man with a head full of ideals and an unshakable intensity that would soon make him a terrible art dealer.

London, at first, delighted him. He adored Dickens, revelled in the city’s energy, and took long, moody walks through its streets. He lived at 87 Hackford Road in Stockwell, then an up-and-coming suburb, in the home of Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie. And this is where things started to unravel.

Unrequited Love and the Beginning of the Downward Spiral

As with many of Van Gogh’s personal disasters, a woman was involved. Young Vincent became infatuated with Eugenie, who was, unfortunately, already engaged to someone else. When she inevitably rejected him, he responded in the classic Van Gogh way: with extreme emotional turmoil and dramatic career decisions. He renounced the materialistic world of art dealing and began his long, slow descent into poverty and artistic genius.

His work at Goupil & Cie deteriorated rapidly. Instead of selling art, he would lecture potential buyers on the moral failings of contemporary artists, which—shockingly—did not help sales. By 1875, he was sacked.

The Miserable Years

Vincent then dabbled with the idea of becoming a clergyman, moving to a squalid bedsit at Ivy Cottage in Kensington New Road, where he embraced a life of extreme austerity. He read the Bible obsessively, lived in self-imposed poverty, and gave away most of his possessions. His family grew deeply concerned. To be fair, London in the 1870s wasn’t exactly designed to lift one’s spirits. Industrial smog, overcrowding, and the occasional cholera outbreak weren’t great for mental health.

A Foreshadowing of the Artist to Come

Although Van Gogh wasn’t painting at the time, his London experience shaped his artistic sensibilities. He was deeply moved by the plight of the working class, an empathy that would later emerge in his early drawings of miners and weavers. He visited museums obsessively, admiring the works of Rembrandt and Rubens, and was particularly influenced by British illustrators like Gustave Doré, whose stark depictions of urban life seemed to mirror his own growing despondency.

Exit Van Gogh, Enter Madness

By 1876, he left London, moving to Ramsgate for a brief, unsuccessful stint as a teacher before eventually returning to the Netherlands. The experience of rejection, isolation, and existential crisis in London may not have given the world any paintings, but it undoubtedly contributed to the tortured artist mythology that followed him for the rest of his short, brilliant life.

So, the next time you’re wandering through Covent Garden or catching the Northern Line to Stockwell, spare a thought for young Vincent. He was here once, heartbroken and penniless, just another lost soul in the great, grey sprawl of London.

The Van Gogh House

Today, Van Gogh’s former residence at 87 Hackford Road is known as the Van Gogh House. The building has been carefully preserved and restored, allowing visitors to step into the very space where the young artist lived. The house now serves as a cultural space, hosting exhibitions, workshops, and residencies that reflect Van Gogh’s artistic spirit. Walking through its rooms, one can almost imagine the young Vincent, dreaming, despairing, and unknowingly edging towards his destiny.

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