Van Gogh Museum
Encyclopedia
The Van Gogh Museum is an art museum
in Amsterdam
, Netherlands
, featuring the works of the Dutch
painter Vincent van Gogh
and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.
. Theo died six months after Vincent, leaving the work in the possession of his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
. Selling many of Vincent's paintings with the ambition of spreading knowledge of his artwork, Johanna maintained a private collection of his works. This collection was inherited by her son Vincent Willem van Gogh in 1925, eventually loaned to the Stedelijk Museum
in Amsterdam where it displayed for many years, and was transferred to the state-initiated Vincent van Gogh Foundation in 1962.
Design for a Van Gogh Museum was commissioned by the Dutch government in 1963 to Dutch architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld
. Rietveld died a year later, and the building was not completed until 1973. An Exhibition Wing was added in 1999 by Japanese modernist Kisho Kurokawa.
The main exhibition chronicles the various phases of Van Gogh's artistic life. The permanent collection includes The Potato Eaters
, Bedroom in Arles
, The Yellow House, Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, nine of the artist's Self-Portraits
, and some of his earliest paintings dating back to 1882.
The museum also features notable paintings by Van Gogh's contemporaries in the Impressionist and post-Impressionist movements and holds extensive exhibitions on various subjects from 19th Century art history.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, featuring the works of the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.
Background
Upon Vincent's death in 1890, his work not sold fell into the possession of his brother TheoTheo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh is the name of:*Theo van Gogh , brother of the painter Vincent van Gogh*Theo van Gogh , great-grandson of the above...
. Theo died six months after Vincent, leaving the work in the possession of his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger was the wife of Theo van Gogh, art dealer, and the sister-in-law of the painter Vincent van Gogh. After the death of Vincent and her husband she worked assiduously on editing the brothers' correspondence, producing the first volume in Dutch in 1914...
. Selling many of Vincent's paintings with the ambition of spreading knowledge of his artwork, Johanna maintained a private collection of his works. This collection was inherited by her son Vincent Willem van Gogh in 1925, eventually loaned to the Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Founded in 1874, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is a museum for classic modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It has been housed on the Paulus Potterstraat, next to Museum Square Museumplein and to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam Zuid...
in Amsterdam where it displayed for many years, and was transferred to the state-initiated Vincent van Gogh Foundation in 1962.
Design for a Van Gogh Museum was commissioned by the Dutch government in 1963 to Dutch architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. One of the principal members of the Dutch artistic movement called De Stijl, Rietveld is famous for his Red and Blue Chair and for the Rietveld Schröder House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-Biography:Rietveld was born in...
. Rietveld died a year later, and the building was not completed until 1973. An Exhibition Wing was added in 1999 by Japanese modernist Kisho Kurokawa.
Main exhibition
The Potato Eaters
The Potato Eaters is a painting by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh which he painted in April 1885 while in Nuenen, Netherlands. It is housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam...
, Bedroom in Arles
Bedroom in Arles
Bedroom in Arles is the title given to each of three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.Van Gogh's own title for this composition was simply The Bedroom...
, The Yellow House, Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, nine of the artist's Self-Portraits
Self-Portraits by Vincent van Gogh
The dozens of self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh were an important part of his oeuvre as a painter. Vincent van Gogh created many self-portraits during his lifetime. Most probably, Van Gogh's self portraits are depicting the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, i.e...
, and some of his earliest paintings dating back to 1882.
The museum also features notable paintings by Van Gogh's contemporaries in the Impressionist and post-Impressionist movements and holds extensive exhibitions on various subjects from 19th Century art history.
External links
- Museum website, vangoghmuseum.nl
- Award winning site of the Van Gogh Gauguin Exhibition 2002, vangoghgauguin.com
- The Vincent van Gogh Gallery, with pictures of all his paintings and drawings, vggallery.com
- Van Gogh Museum - Official Website of the Netherlands, www.holland.com