Teersteg was his first boss during the four years he spent in La Haye. Vincent got on really well with him and his family. For Betsy, his four-year old daughter, Vincent made some little drawings.
Later, in the Borinage, when he decided to become a painter, he asked Teersteg to help him by sending him some “Etudes de Bargues”. He will quickly receive them, with a watercolour box offered by Teersteg.
But their relationship will deteriorate when Vincent comes back to La Haye. Teersteg, in his father’s role, will reproach him with his behaviour with Sien and turns him against Mauve. Vincent will resent feeling persecuted.
From his stay in Arles on, they seem to have made up.
With the help of Teersteg, Theo will try to spread (and sell) the Impressionnists’works, including Vincent, in La Haye, but this attempt will fail.