Van Gogh Museum Holds World’s Prime Collection of His Art

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, hold the world’s largest collection of art work by artist Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890).

Van Gogh as Prolific Painter

Even though Van Gogh was only active as a painter for a decade, today he is one of the most famous artists. In that decade that Van Gogh was a painter, i.e. 1880-1890, he was an extra-ordinarily prolific artist. As well, he rapidly developed from novice to master artist.

Of the works Van Gogh created, 860 paintings, almost 1200 works on paper have been preserved. The vast majority, i.e. 201 paintings and 437 drawings, sketches and watercolors and 31 prints, can be found in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Almond Branches in Bloom, San Remy, c… Vincent van Gogh Buy From Art.com

“Drawing is the root of everything” ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Most of the drawings and prints are not on permanent display for preservation reasons: they are too sensitive to light and too valuable to be deteriorating. Special exhibitions to see those rare works are however organized from time to time, like in 2007, to celebrate the publication of new catalogs of Van Gogh’s drawings.

Van Gogh Museum Charter

It is the charter of the Van Gogh Museum to offer an elaborate overview of the art by Vincent Van Gogh. The Van Gogh Museum is also able to place Vincent’s art in historic and artistic perspective, as the art museum holds an extensive collection of artwork by other 19th century painters and sculptures.

Specifically, the museum presents a broad range of paintings, graphic art and sculpture form the period 1840-1920, including displays of Realism, Impressionism, and Post-impressionism, Salon and Symbolist Art. Many of these works were made by artists who Van Gogh admired, including progressive painters like Paul Gauguin and Georges Seurat, but also traditional painters like Ary Scheffer. The collection is still growing and many additional works of art have been purchased, donated or loaned to the museum in recent years.

Given that the Van Gogh museum hold the largest collection of his works, it is a very popular art destination. In 2008, the Van Gogh museum had almost 1.5 million visitors.

Dedication to Research of Van Gogh, his Art, his Time

Part of the top floor of the museum is dedicated to Van Gogh research. There are reference materials in its library that can not be found elsewhere. There are over 24,000 books on Van Gogh and other 19th-century artists.

The Evolution of the Van Gogh Museum’s Collection

During his career, Vincent Van Gogh had to rely on his brother, Theo, for financial support. Theo was an art dealer who valued Vincent’s work. Therefore, upon Van Gogh’s death in 1980, Theo owned most of Vincent’s work. Theo died just half a year later, so that his wife, Johanna Van Gogh and subsequently, her son Vincent Willem van Gogh, obtained stewardship of the collection. Johanna is the person who invested significant time to put together the Van Gogh letters for publication.*

Van Gogh’s Chair Vincent Van Gogh

In 1962, all works then owned by the Van Gogh family were bought by the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation. with the funds of the Dutch government supplied the funds for the art acquisition and for the design and construction of the museum building. The museum itself is a work of art in its own right and is designed by architect / designer Gerrit Rietveld. The museum first opened in 1973.

Other Museums Holding Van Gogh Art Collections

Other good collections of Vincent Van Gogh art can be found in two other European museums. The first is the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands. This wonderful museum set in a forest holds a large collection of excellent works of art by Van Gogh. The third-best location to see a good collection of Van Gogh’s artwork would be the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France. The remainder of Van Gogh’s art is spread over many museums and private collections held in The Netherlands, US, Japan and elsewhere.

Footnote

* Vincent van Gogh was a great and continuous letter writer, writing mostly to his beloved brother, Theo. In over 800 letters, he set out his thoughts and ideas. He discussed his views on the art of his contemporaries, such as Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. The vast majority of these letters are being kept in the Van Gogh Museum. Collectively they form an unusually detailed source of insights and factual information about the work and life of Vincent Van Gogh.

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