THE POTATO EATERS SERIES FTROM 1885 SHOWS BLACKS.
MY RESEARCH, EVEN TRAVELLING TO NUENEN SHOWS, that Van Gogh did not have Black models as I suspected. The De Groot family were whites. But he had some reason to turn them into Blacks. This was also noted by a friend who wrote about the 'Hottentot faces.' He also seems inspired by a line in The Mine by Emile Zola, which talks about 'a black race coming out of the earth.' This is further of interest to me as it seems that around 1880 al portraits needed to be whitened, and brown and black Europeans were forced to marry whites. Next I notice that Johanna Bonger, the wife of Vincents brother Theo, looks very Indonesian and very dark of complexion. As does her brother Andries who helped her taking care of the Van Gogh Collection her son had inherited from his uncle. I think its exiting that Van Goghs fame was cemented by this Indonesian/Dutch lady who was not a art specialist. I'm still looking for confirmation that she was really from Indonesian origins.
The Potato eaters (1885)
Johanna Bonger van Gogh: Vincent's sister-in-law
Vincent van Gogh
Head of a peasent woman
Head of a peasent woman
Young peasant man
A peasent woman
Cousen Kee
Johanna Bonger with her sister and son
Head of a peasent woman
Portrait by Van Gogh
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