Describing the evolution of his art in a letter to his younger brother, Vincent van Gogh wrote: “For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.” Fittingly, the redesigned Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam follows Van Gogh’s prescription for greatness. Unveiled to the public on Friday, November 28, the new space—conceived by architect Marcel Schemalgemijer in collaboration with graphic designer Marielle Tolenaar—focuses on Van Gogh’s complete life story, incorporating “a succession of little things,” including never-before-seen letters, sketches, and paintings.
As part of the makeover, Schemalgemijer and Tolenaar chose to replace the museum’s stark white walls with vibrant colors and magnified iterations of Van Gogh’s work. According to Marije Vellekoop, the head of collections, the goal was “to provide each gallery with a unique atmosphere that fit the works of art presented in that room, corresponding to colors in the paintings.”
To put Van Gogh’s work in context, the design team incorporated various artifacts encased in glass displays. There are nearly 1,000 surviving letters to and from the artist. Reading through them, one can begin to understand his passion, insecurity, and madness. “It had long been a wish of the museum to include the letters in the presentation of the collection,” says curator Nienke Bakker. “From now on we will permanently have two original letters on view.” In addition to viewing his letters, museumgoers can walk within inches of the artist’s only surviving palette, along with four tubes of his paint.
Previously, paintings by the artist’s contemporaries, such as Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, and Seurat, were relegated to their own wing in the museum. Now they hang alongside Van Gogh’s masterpieces, allowing viewers to see for themselves the many ways in which Van Gogh was influenced by the artists of his time.
For more information about what is on view in the reimagined space, visit vangoghmuseuml/en .
Van Gogh Museum, Paulus Potterstraat 7, Amsterdam; vangoghmuseuml/en
* *
