Two weeks ago Vincent van Gogh died 118-years ago.. What happened after his death?
What happened to the letters he wrote? What about his paintings? How did Van Gogh get famous all over the world? And what is Vincent’s influence on modern art?
Episode 1: First Exhibitions
During his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh didn’t get any recognition for his talent; he sold only one painting during his entire life. Although his brother Theo was a hard working art dealer in Paris, he didn’t manage to sell his brothers paintings to the French public.
Shortly after his death in 1890, his works became part of art exhibitions in Europe. Since then, his fame has developed to high levels.
Van Gogh’s fame began to spread a little in France and Belgium during 1890, and in the years after his death in the Netherlands and Germany. Thanks to the exhibitions of his work that became larger and more popular through the years.
Theo van Gogh and his befriended artist Bernard arranged the first retrospective show of Vincent’s work in august 1890. This small exhibition was shown in Theo’s apartment in Montmartre, Paris. Theo received many guests during this exhibition; most visitors were impressed by Vincent’s work. Theo described their enthusiasm in a letter to his mother:
“What he [Durand-Ruel] saw he found very artistic and very remarkable, but he is still hesitating about an exhibition in his gallery as he is afraid that it will start a controversy, particularly amongst the artists and literary people, whether he is either a great artist or not and that the general public, which is unable to understand this, may take sides against him and Durand-Ruel."
Artists' admiration
Vincent’s innovative style was still considered as controversial, but befriended artists started to admire his work, as described by Theo in the letter to his mother:
"Proofs of friendship and admiration of his talent and character are still coming in. Pissarro is in town and he saw the latest paintings and was full of admiration; he immediately wanted to make an exchange against a painting that pleased him."
"Bernard had said to Dries [Bonger] when they went to Paris after the funeral, that he absolutely regarded Vincent as a master."
After Theo passed away in 1891, his wife Jo van Gogh-Bonger made it her life’s work to preserve Van Gogh’s collection and the correspondence between the two brothers. Jo was a great believer in Vincent’s talent and as from 1892 she put all her effort in arranging exhibitions of his paintings.
The first major exhibition was shown in 1892 in the The Hague art community, arranged by Jo herself. Jo told about this show in her memoirs:
"Nearest to my heart is the exhibition of Vincent's works which will be held in the Panorama Gallery in December. I spoke with Van Kesteren myself, and Jan Veth and Holst will arrange it; this is again something to look forward to...."
In 1893, Julien Leclercq brought together an exhibition of Impressionists paintings, featuring Van Gogh, Gauguin and other "modernists". The show toured through Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany.
In 1895 and in 1896 Ambroise Vollard showed Van Gogh retrospectives in his galleries Rue Lafitte. In the mean time, other minor dealers in Paris had works by Van Gogh on display continuously. In 1901, Leclercq arranged a Van Gogh exhibition at the Galeries Bernheim Jeune in Paris.
During the last months of 1901, running through January 1902, Paul Cassirer organized the first van Gogh exhibition in Berlin, Germany. By doing so, Cassirer established a market for Van Gogh’s paintings. With the assistance of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Cassirer controlled the market prices.
The first major exhibition
Jo managed to arrange a major exhibition at the Stedelijk Musem (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in 1905. Vincent van Gogh was still looked upon as a weird man, not as the genius he is considered to be nowadays.
The show received a lot of resistance, but the first big show had taken place now and it did receive a lot of publicity. Jo wrote about this show:
"During the summer of 1905 there was a great exhibition of Vincent's work in the Stedelijk (Municipal) Museum at Amsterdam; my mother was able to hire its galleries for this purpose. In two months there were two thousand visitors."
"At the time the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam declined a loan of any picture by Vincent; it only would expose two drawings if they were offered as a gift."
Jo also contributed important loans to a London exhibition in 1910, as well as to the Sonderbund exhibition of 1912 in Cologne.
Vincent Willem van Gogh remembered:
"In 1910 Vincent's paintings were shown for the first time in London at the Post-Impressionist Exhibition, and many people still laughed at them."
Between his death and the beginning of the first World War in 1914, Van Gogh’s paintings became a symbol for international modern art. During this period, his work was most popular in Germany and Austria; art collectors and museum directors started to buy his work.
In 1914 a display concentrating on Van Gogh's drawings was arranged in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Preserving the collection
Vincent’s sister-in-law wanted to remain independent, she sold some of Vincent’s paintings, but she thought it very important to keep a large amount of paintings in the family collection. This collection contained several key works from each phase of the artist's career, together with some less well-known paintings.
Jo van Gogh Bonger died in 1925 and left al the paintings to her son Vincent Willem van Gogh. Vincent Willem took over his mothers work, and took care of the important collection.
In 1928, Paul Cassirer opened a large retrospective of Van Gogh paintings, from which two were removed just before the opening, as their authenticity had been questioned. By this time, Vincent van Gogh had become an important painter, art collectors were willing to pay for his works and even some forgeries entered the market.
Vincent Willem made an effort to spread the word about Van Gogh’s work. He traveled around the world to show the paintings to a large public, with success.
In 1960, Vincent Willem started the Vincent van Gogh foundation. This foundation signed an agreement with the Dutch government; the Van Gogh family handed over 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, 400 drawings and all Vincent’s letters in exchange for 15 million guilders. This collection formed the foundation for the Van Gogh Museum that was opened in 1973 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
By that time, Vincent van Gogh had become a true myth. Thanks to his tragic life story, his innovative style, his influence on modern art and of course, the huge amounts of money people became willing to pay for his works.
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