 He lived in Hattem for two years where, disappointed by much contemporary literature, he began to find answers in Tolstoy's "A Confession", Huysmans's "A Rebours", and the works of Baudelaire and Verlaine.Verkade moved to Paris in February 1891, where Meijer de Haan introduced him to Paul Gauguin.His stay in Paris was short but very intense.