Moeierboom - Etten-Leur

In the summer of 1881, Vincent's cousin Kee Vos stayed at the rectory. Vincent fell passionately in love with her, but when he confessed his love to Kee, she replied firmly: No, never, never!

Fuelled by the romantic literature he read, Vincent did not give up. He continued to bombard her, much to the annoyance and shame of his family, with his declarations of love. But it proved in vain; her mind was made up.

At the Moeierboom on the Market Square, you will find an audio column, where Vincent talks about his feelings for Kee Vos. The Moeierboom was planted around 1675 and is one of the most exceptional trees in the Netherlands.

Vincent van Gogh recounts:
‘On Christmas I had quite a violent scene with Pa and it ran so high that Pa said ‘t was better I should just leave t'house. It was said so firmly that I actually left the same day. It was actually because I didn't go to church and also said that if going to church was something forced & I had to go to church, I would certainly never go there again out of politeness, as I had been doing quite regularly all the time I was in Etten. But well, there is actually much more to it than that.’

Vincent felt misunderstood by his parents. His modern views led to quarrels with his father. At the end of 1881, tensions in the rectory ran so high that Vincent was asked to leave the house. The immediate cause was that Vincent informed his father that he wanted nothing more to do with his faith and refused to come to church for Christmas. Enraged, he left for The Hague, where a few weeks earlier he had taken painting lessons with the famous painter Anton Mauve, a cousin by marriage of Vincent's mother.