Petit Wasmes

Petiti Wasmes was a town in Belgium.

Vincent van Gogh worked as a missionary in Petit Wasmes in the late 19th century after failing his entrance exams to study theology in Amsterdam. He sketched a number farmers and coal miners who he saw every day. Vincent lived in virtual squalor, and first showed the symptoms of depression which would trouble him for the rest of his life. (PROSE: Vincent van Gogh)