Detail of the window before restoration
Detail of the window after restoration
Detail of Jo’s head before restoration
Detail of Jo’s head after restoration
The Van Gogh Museum has several portraits of Jo van Gogh-Bonger (1862–1925) in its collection, including this one, painted by her second husband Johan Cohen Gosschalk (1873–1912). The portrait dates from around 1902, when the couple lived in ’t Gooi in the Netherlands.
It shows Jo at her desk, leaning slightly forward, fully absorbed in her writing. This must have been a characteristic pose for her: following the death of Jo’s first husband Theo, she was determined to promote and sell her brother-in-law Vincent’s work, and maintained an extensive correspondence with collectors, art dealers and museums in the Netherlands and abroad. In the background, at upper right, a painting can be seen that has been identified as one of the versions of Van Gogh’s Cypresses and Two Women.
Since the founding of the Van Gogh Museum, this portrait of Jo has rarely been on view, remaining in storage until renewed interest in her prompted the decision to restore it.
The Van Gogh Museum subsequently commissioned private restorer Erika Smeenk-Metz to carry out the restoration.