Mons, the Belgian European Capital of Culture 2015, is hosting ‘Van Gogh in the Borinage: the Birth of an Artist’ from 24 January to 17 May at the Musée des Beaux-Arts; a museum which has been recently extended. The curator Sjraar van Heugten, who has studied some of Van Gogh’s lesser known earlier work, will be exhibiting some of his early work in conjunction with some of the artist’s later works which share a similar motif – ordinary people. Ordinary people are the people that Van Gogh encountered during his time in the Borinage, the coal mining district that surrounds Mons. The last surviving six paintings from the Borinage will be on display at the exhibition. Another attraction allows visitors the opportunity to see two modest houses where Van Gogh resided at the Cuesmes and Wasmes villages, but these will be open to the public later on in the year.

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