New mural painting at the Marcasse coal mine in the Borinage

New Van Gogh mural at Marcasse

During the past month of June a new mural painting dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh was created at the former Marcasse coal mine in Petit-Wasmes (Belgium).

This mine was visited by Vincent in April 1879 when he was a lay preacher among the mining population of the Borinage.

I went on a very interesting excursion not long ago; the fact is, I spent 6 hours in a mine.

In one of the oldest and most dangerous mines in the area no less, called Marcasse.2 This mine has a bad name because many die in it, whether going down or coming up, or by suffocation or gas exploding, or because of water in the ground, or because of old passageways caving in and so on.3 It’s a sombre place, and at first sight everything around it has something dismal and deathly about it.

The workers there are usually people, emaciated and pale owing to fever, who look exhausted and haggard, weather-beaten and prematurely old, the women generally sallow and withered. All around the mine are poor miners’ dwellings with a couple of dead trees, completely black from the smoke, and thorn-hedges, dung-heaps and rubbish dumps, mountains of unusable coal &c. Maris would make a beautiful painting of it.

Vincent to Theo, Wasmes, April 18, 189

The work is a partnership between CPAS Colfontaine and graff artist « Anty VMS Cfk ».

It can be seen at the Marcasse coal mine upon request or durong the Van Gogh tours organized by Borigines.

Even the toilets !