"Blanchisserie à Scheveningen" Bleachery at Scheveningen (recto); "Femme de Scheveningen" Woman from Scheveningen (verso)

Vincent van Gogh

1882

Watercolor heightened with white gouache, Gouache

J. Paul Getty Museum

A village scene depicts people working in a field with laundry spread out to dry under a cloudy sky. Buildings and a church tower form the background. "I also did a bleaching ground at Scheveningen right on the spot, washed in at one sitting, almost without preparation, on a piece of very coarse Torchon [paper]," Vincent van Gogh wrote on 26 July 1882. Displaying his early accomplishment after only six months of working in and around The Hague, the recto and verso of this drawing together offer a fascinating glimpse into van Gogh's working process. He probably began by drawing the Scheveningen woman on the verso. Possibly dissatisfied with its murky effect, he may also have cut down the sheet to its current dimensions. Recycling the high-quality Torchon paper, he turned the sheet