Many people know the painting “The Potato Eaters”, but are unaware of the existence of the monument, “House of the Potato Eaters”. Thus we curated this Van Gogh 39 collection to share the story behind the life and work of Vincent with Van Gogh lovers. 

The peasant family portrayed in “The Potato Eaters” is the De Groot-van Rooij family. They lived here in Gerwenseweg 4. Vincent van Gogh sat with them in the sparsely lit room, drawing his way toward the lines that could capture the rugged and simple life in the clay of their faces. In this room, Vincent diligently tried to find his singular way to express the frugality and soberness of these people and their life. He spent hours with the De Groot-van Rooij family, sketching this moment. 

“The Potato Eaters” is undoubtedly his most ambitious painting from this period. He made numerous studies, sketched hundreds of peasant farmer portraits, and refined the painting multiple times. 

This place had been mentioned in Van Gogh’s letter during 1883-1885 and the painting is now exhibited in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, The heritage site is located in Gerwenseweg 4, 5674 SG Nuenen, in Brabant, the Netherlands.