LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vincent Van Gogh: Drawings
built 286 days ago
In January, 1879 Vincent began his duties preaching to the coal miners and their families in the mining village of Wasmes. Vincent felt a strong emotional attachment to the miners. He sympathized with their dreadful working conditions and did his best, as their spiritual leader, to ease the burden of their lives. Unfortunately, this altruistic desire would reach somewhat fanatical proportions when Vincent began to give away most of his food and clothing to the poverty-stricken people under his care. Despite Vincent's noble intentions, representatives of the Church strongly disapproved of Van Gogh's asceticism and dismissed him from his post in July. Refusing to leave the area, Van Gogh moved to an adjacent village, Cuesmes, and remained there in abject poverty.
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"Unfortunately this is the case with Mr. Van Gogh. Therefore, the probationary period -- some months -- having expired, it has been necessary to abandon the idea of retaining him any longer." [quoted in Auden, p. 66]
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January 18: Opening of the 7th annual exhibition of Les XX, Brussel, running through February 23; Van Gogh contributes 6 paintings, one of them is sold to Anna Boch. At the dinner, Henry de Groux insults Van Gogh's paintings; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec demands satisfaction, and Paul Signac declares that he would continue, if Lautrec should be surrendered.[58]
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Though his parents weren't wealthy, they sent Vincent to nearby boarding schools starting at the age of 11 because they felt the Zundert school was inadequate. When he was 15 he left school for some reason in the middle of the term and returned home.
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