Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum is a Dutch art museum located on Museum Square in Amsterdam South, dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It houses the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world. The museum opened on 2 June 1973 and has become one of the most significant cultural institutions in the Netherlands. In 2017, it recorded 2.3 million visitors, making it the most visited museum in the country and the 23rd most visited art museum globally. In 2019, the institution launched the Meet Vincent Van Gogh Experience, a technology driven immersive exhibition that tours globally.

Following Vincent van Gogh's death in 1890, his unsold works passed to his brother Theo, who died the following year. Theo's widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, managed the inheritance, returning to the Netherlands and organizing exhibitions to build Vincent's posthumous recognition, while maintaining a representative private collection. She also promoted the publication of Vincent's letters. Upon her death in 1925, the collection passed to her son, Vincent Willem van Gogh. He loaned works to various institutions, including the Stedelijk Museum, before establishing the Vincent van Gogh Foundation in 1960. On 21 July 1962, the foundation and the Dutch state signed an agreement wherein the family transferred the entire collection, including 200 paintings, 400 drawings, and all of Vincent's letters, to the state for 15 million guilders, on the condition that it be housed in a dedicated museum. The museum opened in 1973 with Emile Meijer as its first director. Originally a national museum, it is now an independent foundation, though the artworks remain part of the state collection. The institution suffered two major thefts. In 1991, twenty paintings were stolen but recovered from an abandoned car 35 minutes later, although three works were severely torn. In 2002, two paintings were stolen and remained missing until 2016, when they were recovered from a villa near Pompeii belonging to a Camorra drug trafficker; they returned to the museum in 2017. In 2013, the museum unveiled Sunset at Montmajour, a long lost Van Gogh painting discovered in a Norwegian attic, the first full size canvas by him found since 1928. By the 2020s, the museum planned a 104 million euro renovation and warned it might close unless the government increased its annual subsidy from 8.5 million to 11 million euros to help fund the work.

The museum's collection centers on the work of Vincent van Gogh, featuring over 200 paintings, more than 400 drawings, and over 700 letters by the artist. The letters, predominantly written to his brother Theo, form a major part of the holdings. The paintings are arranged chronologically, covering his artistic phases from the Netherlands (1880 to 1885), Paris (1886 to 1888), Arles (1888 to 1889), Saint-Remy-de-Provence (1889 to 1890), and Auvers-sur-Oise (1890). Beyond Van Gogh, the museum holds works by his contemporaries and artists he influenced, including Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Edvard Munch. The collection of 19th century works, initiated by Theo van Gogh, was expanded with foundation funds. The museum library contains over 23,000 titles related to Van Gogh and 19th century art. Since 1991, the Mesdag Collection in The Hague has also fallen under the museum's responsibility.

Signature works in the collection span Van Gogh's career. From his Nuenen period, notable works include The Potato Eaters and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen. Paris period works include Self Portrait with Dark Felt Hat. His Arles period is represented by The Yellow House, The Bedroom in Arles, and Sunflowers. Later works include Wheatfield with Crows, Tree Roots, and Still Life with Bible. The museum also holds the rusted Lefaucheux a broche pistol identified as the weapon Van Gogh used in his suicide.

The museum consists of two buildings situated at Paulus Potterstraat 7 on Museum Square, between the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum. The main structure, the Rietveld building, was commissioned by the Dutch government in 1963 to Gerrit Rietveld. After Rietveld died in 1964, his partners Joan van Dillen and J. van Tricht completed the design, deviating from the original facade plans by using concrete imitations of rubble stone. Construction began in 1969, and the concrete and glass structure features a rectangular floor plan with spaces arranged around a central void on a five meter grid. It is four stories high, housing the permanent collection chronologically on the first floor, contemporaries on the third floor, and restoration and minor exhibitions on the second floor. The building was renovated in 1998 and 1999 by Martien van Goor. The Kurokawa wing, designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, opened in 1999 to host major temporary exhibitions. It has an oval floor plan, is three stories high, and is accessed via an underground tunnel from the main building. A large glass entrance area to the Kurokawa wing was added in 2015. The museum offices are located at Stadhouderskade 55.

The Van Gogh Museum is located in Amsterdam South and is accessible via the Museumplein. The museum underwent a major renovation, closing in September 2012 and reopening in May 2013, during which 75 works were temporarily displayed at the H'ART Museum. Emilie Gordenker became the director on 1 February 2020, succeeding Axel Ruger, and is the first female director of the institution. Depending on the season, sunflowers are displayed outside the entrance to the museum.