Van Gogh painting heads to Rotterdam
Mar. 13, 2024
Acquisition of Van Gogh by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen announced on 11 March 2024 that it has acquired Vincent vanGogh's Still Life with Potatoes(Paris, winter 1886-87).
The painting had been on loan to the MBVB collection for over 40 years. The risk of a loan – especially with a celebrity like Vincent van Gogh – is that the work could be reclaimed or sold, possibly abroad. The purchase ensures that this Van Gogh will be preserved for the Dutch National Art Collection. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen now owns seven paintings by Vincent van Gogh.
The 'Potatoes' are a pivotal point in Vincent van Gogh's development: from the dark Brabant paintings to the splendour of colours painted in France.
This acquisition would not have been possible without the generous support of the Rembrandt Association, the Mondriaan Fund, the VriendenLoterij, private donors, companies and legacies. The museum thanks them for their decisive involvement.
Still Life with Potatoes
Vincent van Gogh painted hisStill Life with Potatoesin Paris, after he had studied at the art academy in Antwerp for a short period in 1885. Where he still painted very dark at home in Brabant – see, for example,The Potato Eaters– in France he was inspired to work with a full colour palette.Still Life with Potatoescaptures him in the middle of that transformation. The work is already less sombre in tone and is quite expressive. He wrote to his brother Theo that he wanted to depict potatoes and their texture in such a way that they would appear as bumpy and gnarled as in real life. He wanted to convey the feeling that they could be thrown at your head.