Before he was a famous artist – or indeed an artist at all – Vincent Van Gogh was a disgruntled art salesman, a failed suitor, and a would-be teacher. We glimpse Vincent’s life through his letters which illuminate his inner thoughts, passions and preoccupations. Focusing on a few short months from late 1875 to the middle of 1876 we find Vincent’s life at a crossroads, having lost his job at the Paris branch of respected international art dealership Goupil & Cie. The main focus of the talk is how he found himself working in a small school in Ramsgate on the Kent coast. From the rich and poetic descriptions in his letters we discover more about this unique corner of England, and how it attracted architects like A. W. N. Pugin to live there, and artists, writers and royalty to stay there and record their impressions of the place where Van Gogh found happiness albeit short-lived.