Van Gogh Monument, Eindhoven

In December 1929, a special committee was formed in Amsterdam aimed at commemorating the 40th anniversary of Vincent van Gogh's death with a permanent monument. Among those who took the initiative were the architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and the painter Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (aka Piet Mondrian). In 1930, it was decided that Nuenen was the best place to install the monument.

The municipality of Nuenen, which was also offered to contribute, after some deliberation allocated to the project 50 guilders. Commissioned to make the statue was Hildo Krop, a talented Dutch sculptor and decorative artist.

The monument was unveiled on Saturday 30 July 1932. Hendrik Wiegersma from Deurne, a member of the founding committee, wrote a speech for the event and read it out during the ceremony. He then offered it for sale for 100 guilders, for the benefit of the poor. In the end, however, he got only 12.5 guilders for it.

The monument represents a plain, dark, round millstone, made from a Bavarian erratic boulder, upon which stands a basalt block, delivered from the south of France, with a radiant, hand-sized, golden sun carved in the upper part. The monument symbolizes the dark Nuenen period in the artist's life, a stark contrast to the bright period that he had in France. On the rim of the millstone is the inscription: "Vincent van Gogh worked in this village, December 1883 to November 1885".

This is the very first monument in the Netherlands dedicated to Van Gogh.