Louis van Tilborgh

Van Gogh and the sunflowers

Ger Luijten

Bart Cornelis

Tim Zeedijk

In this celebration of collecting, in 34 essays, renowned curators and art historians discuss the acquisition of works of art, medieval to modern, by museums in Europe and the United States - acquisitions that have made a difference, crucial acquisitions from a more distant but also the recent past. There was a time when museums might have been regarded as rather forbidding and austere centers of learning, but today they are more likely to position themselves firmly within the tourism and leisure industry with all manner of food, fun and family entertainment on offer. A high-profile museum brand often relies on a fast-changing menu of temporary exhibitions with an attractive program of activities, cleverly marketed to ever-growing numbers of visitors. Many of these changes have been positive and beneficial but they have not been without risk to the central purpose of museums as repositories for collections that are looked after, researched and displayed with knowledge and sensitivity. The permanent collection should be the heart and soul of any museum. Nurtured and developed with intelligence, a collection can be an endless source of surprise and delight as well as a focus of local and national pride. The museum in this view is a setting for sustained encounters with objects and works of art, somewhere to be visited and revisited over the course of a lifetime, a place that helps to bind communities, with collections that are cared for and shared as a reminder of the past and a source of inspiration for the present. The process of acquiring works for public collections is rarely easy in any setting. In the face of escalating prices on the art market and diminishing public funds it is all too easy for complacency and apathy to settle upon the museum community. But the task of building collections of national or local importance is never finished. It should not be about casual 'shopping' or satisfying the whims of museum directors or sponsors. It is about building a heritage that is richer, more complete and more relevant for future generations; with every successful acquisition, a museum's collection gains in strength and character. The volume is dedicated to Peter Hecht, the great champion of public art collections, who throughout his career has worked to show us why museums matter and how their collections, large or small, national or local, can make a profound difference to the lives of those who use them. We hope that it will bring people the world over to realize the importance of collecting for the public, locally, nationally and internationally, and to acknowledge and encourage the role of private individuals, associations and institutions, as well as public bodies, in this vital endeavor.

Works that Made a Difference : Essays for Peter Hecht

Collecting for the Public

Nienke Bakker

Cornelia Homburg

Claire Guitton

Tsukasa Kodera

"All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art." -Vincent van Gogh Vincent van Gogh's (1853-1890) encounter with Japanese ukiyo-e prints during his time in Paris was decisive for the direction that his art would take in the years to come. He enthusiastically assembled a collection of the prints with the idea of dealing in them, and soon was captivated by their colorful and cheerful imagery and style, which began to exert a dramatic influence on his own work. Gradually this enchanted world became his main artistic reference point. From then on, he positioned himself as an artist in the Japanese tradition in order to gain a reputation with the avant-garde of the day. This gorgeous publication offers a detailed reassessment of the impact Japanese printmaking had on Van Gogh's creative output. Featuring essays by the world's leading Van Gogh experts, this book details the ways in which the artist constructed his understanding of a Japanese aesthetic and his utopian ideal of a so-called primitive society, and incorporated these into his own vision and practice. The size, nature, and importance of Van Gogh's own collection of Japanese prints are also explored. Lavish illustrations include oil paintings and drawings by Van Gogh as well as a selection of the Japanese works that so captured his imagination.

Van Gogh and Japan

David J. Getsy

Catalogus bij de tentoonstelling van schilderijen die Van Gogh maakte van de slaapkamers in de 37 huizen waar hij gedurende zijn leven woonde.

Van Gogh's Bedrooms

Hans Luijten

Leo Jansen

Marije Vellekoop

Laura Prins

Being ill isn t a cause for joy, I nevertheless have no right to complain about it, for it seems to me that nature sees to it that illness is a means of getting us back on our feet, of healing us, rather than an absolute evil. --Vincent van Gogh to John Peter Russell, Saint-Remy-de-Provence, February 1, 1890"

Van Gogh and His Illness

On the Verge of Insanity

Dieuwertje Dekkers

Catalogus bij een tentoonstelling over het schilderij "De aardappeleters" van Van Gogh uit 1885.

Aardappeleters Van Vincent Van Gogh

Timothy J. Standring

Denver Art Museum

Simon R. Kelly

An in-depth exploration of Vincent van Gogh's unconventional path to becoming one of the world's most recognizable artists

Becoming Van Gogh

In the winter of 1886-87, during his stay in Paris, Vincent van Gogh bought 660 Japanese prints at the art gallery of Siegfried Bing. His aim was to start dealing in them, but the exhibition he organised in the cafe-restaurant Le Tambourin was a total failure. However, he was now able to study his collection at ease and in close-up, and he gradually became captivated by their colourful, cheerful and unusual imagery. When he left for Arles, he took some prints with him, but the core remained in Paris with his brother Theo. Although some prints were later given away, the collection did not disperse. This book reveals new analyses of the collection, now held in the Van Gogh Museum, given as a long-term loan from the Vincent van Gogh Foundation. The authors delve into its history, and the role the prints played in Van Gogh's creative output. The book is illustrated with over 100 striking highlights from the collection.

The Collection of Vincent Van Gogh

Japanese Prints

Louis van Tilborgh

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