Old Woman Sewing

Vincent van Gogh frequently sent letters to his brother Theo. In November 1881, at age 28, he wrote from the sleepy Dutch town of Etten, where he had been living with his parents for several months. Most of the letter described his romantic troubles, but he closed with this update on his art: "I’m drawing a great deal and think it’s getting better, I’m working much more with the brush than I used to. Now it’s so cold that practically all I do is draw figures inside, seamstress, basket-maker &c." We know that van Gogh produced several precise finished drawings in black chalk around this time. In this example, he brushed on subtle passages of watercolor.