Van Gogh Museum - Van Gogh's studio practice

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Van Gogh's studio practice

Vincent van Gogh experimented with different materials and techniques in his drawings and paintings. The choice of carrier - canvas, panel, cardboard or paper - as well as the type of primer, pigments and inks all influence how the finished work of art finally looks. For this reason the Van Gogh Museum has been conducting exhaustive technical research into the paintings and drawings by Van Gogh in its collection for many years now.

Improved assessment of the artist in his time
The research project Van Gogh's studio practice was launched in 2005 to examine Van Gogh's way of working in greater depth and to place it in the context of his time.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Self-portrait as an artist, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

The project aims to answer questions like 'Where did the self-taught Van Gogh acquire his knowledge?'; 'Was his experimentation influenced by other artists he knew?' and 'Was he innovative or were his contemporaries engaged in comparable experiments?'
This innovative research is being carried out by a team of restorers, chemists, curators and art historians.
These web pages offer more information about the technical research into the materials used in the paintings, the research techniques used and the details that have come to light.

The Van Gogh Museum's Partner in Science is Shell.