Tea towels that became Van Gogh originals

Many kitchens have a Van Gogh tea towel. Rarer, however, are the tea towels that the artist himself painted on. Van Gogh was often short of money and materials. At times the painter ran out of canvas and used anything he could put his hands on. Sometimes he painted over existing works, sometimes he used paper or even cloth.

Louis van Tilborgh, of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, has looked at works by the artist that are not painted on canvas. An examination of pictures from Van Gogh's time at a mental asylum in Provence shows that the artist used a table cloth or tea towel for two paintings: The Large Plane Trees and Wheatfields in a Mountainous Landscape. The Art Newspaper says that a small red pattern is visible where the paint is thin and the cloth possibly came from the mental asylum kitchens.

Van Gogh only used materials such as tea towels when necessary. His brother, Theo, usually sent him supplies of canvas. However, letters show that Theo was three weeks late in sending canvas at this time.

In May 1890 Van Gogh moved from Provence to a small village about 30km from Paris. He produced a painting every day at this time but he quickly ran out of canvas again. He started working on tea towels with a red border - perhaps from the kitchen of the Auberge Ravoux, where he was staying. Two months later he shot himself and died leaving more than 900 paintings. He only sold one painting in his life-time.

There are three existing works on tea towels from Van Gogh's stay at the Auberge Ravoux. One is a still-life painting of flowers in a vase. It sold at auction in 2000 for $4.2m.

As well as using tea towels the artist also painted over some of his works. A lost Van Gogh from June 1889 called Wild Vegetation was discovered this month. It was found during an x-ray of The Ravine, which Van Gogh painted four months later.

Lesson Plan

Write the name Van Gogh on the board. Ask students: What do you know about his life? Brainstorm key facts - use internet resources if possible - 7 mins

Print off six well-known paintings by Van Gogh. Stick the pictures on the board "face down" so the class can't see them. In groups students write down things that might be in the paintings eg sunflowers, chair, etc. Ask different students to come up, turn over the paintings one by one and pass them round. Students see if they guessed correctly some items in the paintings. The group with the most items on their list wins. - 10 mins

Using the pictures from the previous stage, pre-teach: a border, canvas (uncountable), a still-life, an original, rare, a vase, visible, a work. Also cover: to run out of something, to be short of something. - 6 mins

Write these sentences on the board. Check unknown words. Students guess the answers in pairs with yes (Y), no (N) or not sure (?). Students read the article to check predictions. Explain that Ravoux is the name of a small hotel. Van Gogh ... - 12 mins

1. sometimes painted on tea towels or tablecloths.
2. was often poor and had no money for artist's materials.
3. had a brother called Theo who was in a mental asylum.
4. sometimes received supplies of canvas from Theo.
5. shot Theo after an argument.
6. only painted 40 pictures in his lifetime.
7. only sold one painting in his lifetime.
8. sometimes painted over his earlier works.

Feedback Students identify where they found the information.

Find further Van Gogh paintings. Divide the class into groups. Give a different painting to each group with brief notes on its title, the museum it was in, what it shows, when and where it was painted. - 20 mins

As a class, show a copy of The Yellow House and elicit the following text: "This painting is entitled The Yellow House. It's in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. The picture shows a number of yellow buildings, a restaurant and a street scene with a brilliant blue sky. It was painted by Van Gogh in 1888 when he was living in Arles."

In groups students write short text about their paintings plus comments on what they like/dislike about it.