Van Gogh’s letters are a great source of information and inspiration for artists, art lovers and art historians. The 800 letters provide us with a lot of historical and biographical information.
For the past fifteen years the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences have thoroughly examined Van Gogh’s letters. The results of these fifteen years of research will be presented in a unique publication.
The museum and academy will present the first complete up-to-date edition of Van Gogh’s letters in a five-volume book in three languages and an academic website, detailing the complete results of the research. Both versions will show all the works Van Gogh is referring to: paintings and drawings he was working on and other artist's works he wrote about.
The Van Gogh Museum:
"In this way the rich visual world of Van Gogh is brought to life"
The (English) website will show all the known letters to and from Van Gogh in the original version (written in Dutch and in French), including images of the authentic manuscripts. The website will be launched in October of 2009.
On the occasion of the publication of the book and website, the museum will organise the exhibition Van Gogh’s letters - The artist speaks. This show will guide the visitor through Vincent’s paintings and those of his contemporaries, offering insights into his views on art and the role of the artist.
Visitors will be able to take a closer look at some of Van Gogh's original manuscripts, containing sketches of works he was working on or had recently completed. These documents have hardly ever been on public display due to their extreme fragility and sensitivity to light.
The exhibition Van Gogh’s letters - The artist speaks will be open to the public from October 9, 2009 to January 3, 2010.
The book and website will be presented in October 2009.
Related articles you might like:
Van Gogh's Paintings
Van Gogh's Biography
