Van Gogh at Work

Fig. 1 Vincent van Gogh Self portrait as a painter
1887-1888, Paris, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of its opening, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is currently showing “Van Gogh at Work.” The exhibit traces a 10-year-period of Van Gogh’s growth as an artist through a collection of 200 items, including 150 paintings, sketches, sketchbooks, letters, paints and palettes. The exhibit is a compilation of an eight-year-long research project and presents in detail Van Gogh’s painting methods and actual drawing techniques.

“Self Portrait as a Painter” (Fig. 1) is often noted for its depiction of an artist fervently at work with attention focusing on Van Gogh’s facial expression. This exhibit examines Van Gogh’s art supplies. In the painting, the artist stands before an outdoor easel, holding a palette with paintbrushes in his hand. There are a total of seven flat and round brushes, the flat suited for painting surfaces and the round for filling in details. A study of the paints by the containers on the palette revealed that the orange was cadmium orange, and the deep blue to the left was a mix of cobalt blue and white lead.

Fig. 2 Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers,1889, Arles
Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

The second and third floors of the museum display photos and videos that explain the scientific investigations. To save money, Van Gogh often painted new works on top of canvasses of previously completed pieces. The Van Gogh Museum used X-ray photography to uncover earlier paintings on canvasses thought to have been recycled. There are also microscopes through which visitors can view samples of extracted paints to see the layering as well as three-dimensional replicas of portions of paintings that allow one to touch and feel the protrusion of such layers.

Fig. 3 Vincent van Gogh’s Pallete from Auvers Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Photography: Erik and Petra Hesmerg

Until August, two versions of “Sunflowers,” one owned by the Van Gogh Museum (Fig. 2) and the other from the National Gallery, London will be displayed on both sides of “Portrait of Augustine Roulin“ in a reincarnation of the “triptych” from Van Gogh’s sketchbook. From September, the museum will show all three versions of “Bedroom in Arles,” (the Van Gogh Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Musée d’Orsay). Also on display will be Van Gogh’s only remaining palette (Fig. 3) and three out of the four existing sketchbooks of the artist. This is a rare exhibit that fans of Van Gogh will not want to miss.


Van Gogh at Work. Through January 12, 2014.

Van Gogh Museum

Paulus Potterstraat 7
1071 CX Amsterdam
The Netherlands
+31 20 570 5200
http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl

Opening times:

May 1 – Sept 1, 2013 / Dec 27, 2013 – Jan 5, 2014: 9:00-18:00 （Fridays until 22:00）
Sept 2 － Dec 26, 2013 / Jan 6 - Jan 12, 2014: 10:00-17:00 （Fridays until 22:00）