Impressions of BrabantSarah Marshall explores Van Gogh’s early years in Holland

A peasant painting should smell of bacon, smoke and potato steam, Van Gogh once wrote in one of the many letters to his

brother Theo. It’s a challenge he cer-tainly fulfilled with The Potato Eat-ers, a dark, atmospheric depiction of family life, which the artist consid-ered to be his greatest work.

The painting now hangs in Am-sterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, but to really understand its context, I visit the southern province of Brabant, where the eccentric artist grew up and formulated many of his ideas.

The Vincent Van Gogh Huis, an excellent multimedia museum, now stands on the site of Van Gogh’s birthplace in Zundert and gives a detailed insight into his difficult fam-ily life using extracts from the 800 letters written to Theo, his “only genuine friend”.

Museum director Ron Dirven takes me to the Protestant church where Vincent’s father was a pastor, point-ing out a gravestone on the way.

“That belongs to Vincent’s older brother,” he says. “He was born, and died the same day, exactly a year be-fore Vincent. Imagine, he would visit this grave on his birthday every year.”

On a winter morning, the weather is almost as sombre as Vincent’s family history. We drive past open stretches of frost-dusted farmland and bare, wiry pollarded trees where Vincent would walk for miles.

When, in 1888, his friend Gaugin challenged him to make a painting from memory, it was the gardens of Etten-Leur that sprang to mind. Here, aged 28, he decided to become a paint-

er. The Van Gogh Church where his fa-ther preached exhibits some sketches.

Van Gogh made 2000 paintings and drawings in his brief 10-year ca-reer, and 25 per cent were created during his time in Nuenen, where The Potato Eaters was set.

Local guide Frances, from the Vin-centre in Nuenen, drives me to the nearby watermill which was the sub-ject for Water Mill at Gennep, one of 11 original works on display at the Noord-brabants Museum in Den Bosch.

Residents of Nuenen are now extremely proud of their artistic former resident. At the time his

work was considered of little worth: sketches exchanged as payment for debts were used as firewood or past-ed to walls as insulation.

During his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh only ever sold one painting for the measly equivalent of eight euros; yet 125 years later, some of his works are worth tens of millions. But against all odds, Vincent kept going. The smell of money, it seems, was less compelling than bacon, smoke and potatoes.Visit stenaline.co.uk for rail-and-sail package from UK to Hook of Holland (£49pp one way). Info: holland.com

FERRY FORTNIGHT

With more than 75 ferry routes linking the UK to a variety of European

holiday destinations, there’s a lot to shout about during this year’s National Ferry Fortnight.

From now until 15 March, holi-daymakers are encouraged to take advantage of the ease, value and flexibility of ferry travel, and book their next break by sea.

Families in particular can benefit from a stress-free experi-ence: with no luggage restrictions, long airport security queues or cramped seating, a journey by ferry can actually be enjoyable. Other advantages include the free-dom to bring a car, bike and even pet dogs along for the ride.

A new generation of ferries also offers greater comfort, with on-board facilities that include fine dining in the restaurants, spas, kids clubs and cinema screens showing recent blockbusters.

More than 39 million passengers travelled by ferry last year, an increase of 2.6 per cent, and num-bers look set to rise. “Consumers are now very savvy about getting the best value and minimising hassle when they travel,” says Bill Gibbons, director of industry body Discover Ferries.

Following this year’s Ferry Free-dom theme, our supplement looks at the breadth of destinations ac-cessible by ferry, highlighting some of the best holiday options for 2015.

For more information, visit discoverferries.com

Welcome to Ferry Fortnight

The Potato Eaters, Van Gogh’s first attempt at a masterpiece

ii