Van Gogh house - Wasmes

221 Rue Wilson in Colfontaine “J’ai loué une petite maison où j’aimerais bien habiter tout à fait seul mais, pour l’instant, comme Pa trouve préférable, et moi-même aussi, que je loge chez Denis, elle ne me sert que d’atelier ou de cabinet de travail.” (translation in English: "I rented a small house in which I would really like to live absolutely alone but, for the moment, since Pa thought it preferable, and I did as well, that I stay with Denis, I only use it as a studio and as a place of work." (Vincent Van Gogh, writing to his brother Théo, letter dated 4 March 1879) It was in March 1879 that Vincent Van Gogh first refers to the house at 81 Rue du Petit Wasmes, which today is Rue Wilson in Colfontaine. Upon his arrival in the Borinage area a few months earlier, in December 1878, the evangelist Benjamin Vanderhaegen quickly found this house for him. The house belonged to a baker by the name of Jean-Baptiste Denis and was to play an extremely significant role in the artist's career. It was there that he experienced his "companionship" with miners. He made coal-mining the subject of his first attempts at sketches. It was also in his house that he wrote letters to his brother that were to, like his reading, orientate his life towards an extraordinary artistic destiny. These precious things which allow us to piece together the character of Van Gogh and which are part of history, in conjunction with the fact that the places referred to are still in existence, serve to add to our duty to preserve the house which belonged to Denis, which remains one of the few things that bear witness to the presence of Van Gogh in the Borinage area, and in particular at Wasmes (now Colfontaine). Public-interest heritage In general, what remains for us today of Van Gogh, apart of course from his oeuvre, are traces of his career in the form of buildings – the house where he was born in Groot Zundert, the vicarage in Nuenen, the house in Cuesmes, the hospital in Saint-Rémy and the inn at Auvers-sur-Oise. The house at Colfontaine has now just completed this "pilgrimage way". To complete your tour, feel free to book a visit of the Van Gogh House in Cuesmes and the Marcasse site, two iconic locations of Van Gogh's time in the Borinage. The Van Gogh House in Cuesmes is also accessible with the Van Gogh Pass, available for purchase at visitMons or directly on site. For more information about the artist’s time in the region, visit our Van Gogh in the Borinage website. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. By appointment only: +32 (0)492 76 03 03.