During his stay in Nuenen, Vincent regularly went out and painted in the surrounding area with his Eindhoven friend Antoon Kerssemakers. On his long walks in the area, Vincent saw several wind and water mills. It has been established that in August 1885 he depicted the mill De Vogelenzang in Lieshout (Municipality of Laarbeek) twice as a black-and-white drawing with sheaves of wheat in the foreground.
As early as 1912, Kerssemakers told the Amsterdammer: "We made painting excursions in Nuenen several times. Among others to that old medieval chapel, which stood there in the middle of the field, and to that beautiful old windmill under Lieshout, where I later saw such a sturdy study with those square sheep at the bottom of the mill.
The painting has not survived. Vincent himself also mentions having painted an evening scene of this mill. 'The last thing I made is a rather large thing of an old mill on the bare heath. a dark silhouette against an evening sky,' he writes in mid-November 1885. This old mill will be the structure in Lieshout, which dates back as far as 1819. The mill stands on the north side of the village of Lieshout, above Nuenen. About 7 kilometers from Vincent's studio, it is quite a walk for the painter and his friend. The bell mill contains parts of the former standerd mill on that spot, which blew over in 1816. The windmill is also believed to appear on a few drawings, including Wheat Sheaves and a mill from August 1885.
Finally, in 1974, the municipality of Lieshout became the owner and the mill was restored so that grain could be ground again.
Visiting hours: on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and by appointment.
