Years of research have led to surprising new insights in Van Gogh’s way of working. Based on a selection of his drawings, attention is paid to Van Gogh’s stylistic development, use of materials, technique and experimentation and consequently the place that these works occupy in his oeuvre. The exhibition features works spanning Van Gogh’s entire career as an artist, which began in the Netherlands and ended in France. However, the emphasis lies on the works he executed during the last few years of his life (1888-1890). In addition special attention will be paid to several early drawings that have been added to the museum collection in recent years.

New acquisition The recently purchased work Woman on her deathbed will be presented for the first time in the Van Gogh’s drawings: new insights presentation. This scene was rendered after a painting purchased in 1880 by the Brussels-based Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Belgium. Van Gogh stayed briefly in the Belgian capital in 1880-1881. The panel, believed at the time to have been the work of Rembrandt, has since been attributed to the school of Jan Lievens. It isn’t known whether Van Gogh worked directly from the painting or from a reproduction (as was his usual practice). The drawing was acquired for the collection in 2007 and forms a welcome addition to the group of early works by Van Gogh held by the museum.

Collection catalogue Vincent van Gogh, Drawings 4. Arles, Saint-Rémy &
Auvers-sur-Oise, 1888-1890
This is the fourth and final volume of the collection catalogue of Vincent van Gogh’s drawings in the Van Gogh Museum’s collection which will be published in September 2007. The book’s narrative descriptions are the product of years of research and comprise a detailed discussion of the art work, technical details and documents about the provenance, literature and exhibitions. 624 pages, 440 colour illustrations. Available in English and Dutch. Authors: Marije Vellekoop and Roelie Zwikker with the assistance of Monique Hageman. ISBN 978 90 400 8386 0. Price: € 99,95 (in two volumes, bound with dust jacket). Van Gogh Museum / Waanders Publishers. Co-edition partner and international distribution: Lund Humphries, Hampshire, United Kingdom.