Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch: The thatched peasants’ houses in Nuenen and the surrounding area reminded van Gogh, and made him think about the Brabant of his youth. He had no eye for modern tiled roofs. He compared the moss-covered cottages to the birds’ nests he had collected and referred to them as human nests. He painted them preferably at dawn or in the evening twilight. Later on, in France, far from his birthplace, Vincent once again painted houses with thatched roofs in Souvenir of Brabant. They were clearly imprinted in his memory.
