Before Sunflowers: The Year Van Gogh Called Brixton Home
With Vincent in Brixton currently on stage at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, we’re diving into the real story behind the play. In 1873, a twenty-year-old Vincent van Gogh moved into a terraced house on Hackford Road. He planted sweet peas in the back garden, walked to Covent Garden every morning, fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, and described his life in Brixton as having “nature, art, and poetry — and if that isn’t enough, what is?” The house sat derelict for years. A postman cracked the mystery of its address during a postal strike. And his sketch of the house — hidden for a century — turned out to be his first known artwork. This is the full story.