1. Theo travelled to the Netherlands with his friend Andries Bonger, who also lived and worked in Paris. They shared a great interest in art and literature. They set out on Saturday, 26 July, going first to Lille, where they went to the Musée Wicart (now the Palais de Beaux-Arts) on Sunday, 27 July. The same day they went on to Ghent. They also visited Antwerp before going to Nuenen. Taking into account the proposed visits to museums and the travelling times involved, Wednesday, 29 July would seem to be the most likely date for their arrival; this assumption is reinforced by the fact that, according to the present letter, they arrived during the day, before 3.00 p.m. Andries was also reckoning to leave for Amsterdam on the Thursday evening or Friday morning. Theo followed him on 7 August to visit Andries and his parents; on Wednesday, 12 August they were back at work in Paris; they probably returned on Sunday, 9 August. (FR b1818 and b1819).
On 14 September 1919 Andries Bonger wrote to Karel Joan Lodewijk Alberdingk Thijm (the writer Lodewijk van Deyssel): ‘We hardly know Brabant at all. I visited Vincent van Gogh there in ’85 when he was living in Nuenen. I have lovely memories of our evening strolls among the wheatfields and our visits to the homes of the weavers’ (FR b1443).
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