Vincent van Gogh (born Groot-Zundert, 30 March 1853; died Auvers-sur-Oise, 29 July 1890) is among the most famous and influential figures in Western art. He is also one of the most documented painters who ever lived: hundreds of his letters survive, including 58 to the painter Anthon van Rappard, which is why a line like this one can be pinned to a specific week in a specific village. In 1885 he was living in Nuenen, working in sombre earth tones and finishing The Potato Eaters — the very work whose reception provoked the exchange this sentence comes from.