Colours of Van Gogh Village

— Earth Paint, Nuenen

Atelier NL created a palette of 270 vibrant colours based on the earth around the town of Nuenen, where Van Gogh lived and worked. This small town just east of Eindhoven is where the artist painted a quarter of his work. Based on a wide variety of soils dug by hand, Atelier NL created a series of earthen paints made directly from the land that inspired the artist himself.  Atelier NL's vibrant soil samples and paints were part of the Vincent Affair, a major 2015 exhibit in Neunen that showcased various artists' and designers' perspectives related to Van Gogh. Atelier NL's collection was on display in the Nune Ville house, formerly the home of Margot Begemman, the love of Van Gogh's life. For hundreds of years painters have been inspired by the Dutch landscape with its rich colors and luminous skies. In addition to creating earth paints, Atelier NL provides workshops that teach others how to pull color directly from the land - just like Van Gogh did in his time.

Discovering how the different shades of soil can be made into paints, this project pays homage to an age-old method. Drawing inspiration from a fascination with the everyday and emphasizing the surroundings to render them precisely as they are, these paints are a way of seeing the things they share with Van Gogh.