Van Gogh and Hard Times

Abstract

Abstract:Van Gogh developed a penchant for British literature while in London in his early twenties. He revered Charles Dickens and was sympathetically drawn to Hard Times, among other titles. The theme of industrialism, central to the novel, also features prominently in the newly fledged artist's works. The impact of modern industry on the environment and human existence was his overriding concern in his Belgian period when he lived in the Borinage, a coal-mining and industrial region, in 1878–80. This article explores (dis) similarities between the two artists' visions of industrial society, as represented in Hard Times and the painter's Borinage-related production. A comparative study of their industrial text and image illuminates their shared artistic responses to the pivotal public agendas of their era, pinpointing common ground in their perceptions and appraisals of the new capitalist civilization of nineteenth-century Europe.