“T his year is the 150th anniversary of Impressionism, so we are joining the party,” says Emilie Gordenker, director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Perhaps more than any Impressionist or Post-Impressionist artist, Vincent van Gogh highlights the enduring – and global – appeal of these pioneers in paint, a figure whose tumultuous biography and transcendental works epitomises the exhilarating arrival of the Modern age.
Celebrating that legacy has always been a family affair. The Van Gogh family has worked tirelessly to promote and protect Vincent’s artistry for well over a century, a multi-generational journey that began with the emotional and financial support of his brother Theo. Later, Theo’s widow Johanna was a key figure in the promotion of Vincent’s works, most of which had been left to her, staging exhibitions and editing and translating the artist’s letters.
Willem van Gogh, Theo and Johanna’s great-grandson grew up surrounded by the artist’s paintings of olive trees and sunflowers and his searingly candid self-portraits. Willem picks up the familial story: “My grandfather, Vincent Willem van Gogh, inherited the Van Gogh collection and his dream was to share it with the whole world. Forever.” Talking with Gordenker for Sotheby’s, Willem recalls how his grandfather would fly a painting to an exhibition overseas – one business seat for him, one for the canvas – “nicely wrapped in brown wrapping paper.”
In 1973, Willem’s grandfather founded the Van Gogh Museum together with the State of the Netherlands. “The entire collection has been owned by the Vincent van Gogh Foundation ever since,” says Willem. “There is nothing left in the family anymore, not a piece of paper ever touched by Vincent or Theo. My grandfather transferred everything to the museum!”
Every year, that extraordinary gift draws millions of visitors to the Van Gogh Museum, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Gordenker was formerly in charge of the Mauritshuis in the Hague, where she worked to make Old Masters accessible and to raise awareness of its spectacular collection throughout the world. When, in 2020, she took the helm at the Van Gogh Museum, she found herself faced with a very different subject.
“The eye-opener for me was how much we know about Van Gogh as a person – his ideas about art, his emotions, his personal life – thanks to his many wonderful letters,” she notes. “It is a huge contrast with an artist such as Vermeer, about whom we know very little. These letters and Van Gogh’s life story are a continual inspiration. They open doors to visitors who might otherwise not visit a museum and still resonate in the works of contemporary artists and writers.”
Gordenker notes that, for many, Vincent’s biography has a particular significance. “About 15 years ago, we’d never really talked about Vincent’s mental situation, his health, it wasn’t really a subject,” she says. “And we sort of started to ask the question: what was going on with him? And that led to a whole new series of revelations about how his own life story and the concerns of people today, in terms of their own mental well-being, really match. Clearly this is an issue that resonates today, and now has a place in exhibitions, such as the ground-breaking Van Gogh in Auvers, as well as a new educational programme we call ‘Open up with Vincent’.”
"These letters and Van Gogh’s life story are a continual inspiration... They still resonate in the works of contemporary artists and writers.”
This spring, Gordenker’s point is illustrated further with the museum’s exhibition Matthew Wong | Vincent van Gogh: Painting as a Last Resort. The vibrant but melancholy landscapes of Chinese-Canadian artist Matthew Wong (1984-2019) offer a timely reminder of the lessons garnered from Vincent’s canvases.
Both artists worked in a highly accessible visual language and were autodidacts influenced by the painters who had come before them, both sought solace from life’s challenges in the liveliness of the palette, and, sadly, both died tragically young. Wong delivers a bittersweet echo to the trials and tribulations – but also soaring achievements – of Van Gogh during the late 19th century. “I see myself in him,” said Wong in 2018. “The impossibility of belonging in this world.”
For Willem, one painting in the museum holds a particular place in his heart – a work that emphasises both the splendour and positivity of many of the pictures. Vincent’s painting of almond blossom from 1890 was dedicated to the birth of Willem’s grandfather. “I love it so much because it is about blossoms and blossoms are a symbol of a new beginning,” he says. “It has this turquoise background, blue for the boy. It’s one of the most beautiful paintings he ever made.” It also speaks of the constancy and strength of the bond between the Van Goghs. Gordenker explains that scholarship and research remain the guiding principles behind maintaining Van Gogh’s legacy. “Research leads to new narratives, which in turn often feed into activities such as exhibitions and educational programming,” she says of the museum’s guardianship.
Looking to the future, the museum embraces a collaborative approach. “We have a panel of young adults with a diverse background whom we call the ‘ReFramers’ that acts as a bridge between the Van Gogh Museum and a new generation of museum visitors,” says Gordenker. “This group offers us feedback and collaborates on social media posts, exhibitions, as well as special Friday evening events called ‘Vincent on Friday’. In short, Van Gogh is an artist who continues to inspire, and we expect he will far into the future.”
