In May 1884 Vincent worked on a number of paintings of mills. He painted the watermill at Kollen that he passed when walking from Nuenen to Eindhoven. The watermill at Kollen has two millwheels and was used as an oil mill and a corn mill. In Vincent’s time the mill was close to the station at Eeneind on the Geldropscheweg. When Van Gogh painted this watermill he wrote to his friend Anthon van Rappard:
“It’s the same sort of thing as the two other water mills that we visited together, but with two red roofs, and which one views square on from the front — with poplars around it. Will be magnificent in the autumn.”
The painting of the watermill can be viewed at the Noordbrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch. The other watermills that Vincent and Van Rappard visited were the Opwetten watermill and the Hooijdonk watermill in Nederwetten.
