Van Gogh Museum: Art & Legacy in Amsterdam

Following Vincent van Gogh's death in 1890, his unsold works were inherited by his brother Theo van Gogh.

Six months after Vincent's death, his brother Theo also died, passing the entire collection of Vincent's unsold works to his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger.

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger's private collection of Vincent van Gogh's works was inherited by her son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, in 1925.

In 1962, Vincent van Gogh's collection was transferred to the state-initiated Vincent van Gogh Foundation, a crucial step towards the establishment of a dedicated museum.

In 1963, the Dutch government commissioned architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld to create the design for the new Van Gogh Museum building.

Gerrit Rietveld, the architect commissioned to design the Van Gogh Museum, passed away in 1964, a year after receiving the commission.

The original building of the Van Gogh Museum, designed by Gerrit Rietveld, was completed in 1973, coinciding with the museum's opening.

The Van Gogh Museum officially opened to the public on 2 June 1973, becoming a dedicated institution for the works of Vincent van Gogh.

In 1991, twenty paintings, including The Potato Eaters, were stolen from the museum. All were recovered from an abandoned car within 35 minutes, though three paintings sustained severe damage.

The main building of the museum underwent renovation between 1998 and 1999, carried out by Dutch architect Martien van Goor.

Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa designed and added a new exhibition wing to the museum, which was completed between 1998 and 1999.

In 2002, two valuable paintings, Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen and View of the Sea at Scheveningen, were stolen from the museum.

For three consecutive years, from 2010 to 2012, the Van Gogh Museum held the distinction of being the most visited museum throughout the Netherlands.

The museum closed for renovations in September 2012 and reopened in May 2013, following a major overhaul that had been announced in 2011.

During the museum's renovation period from September 2012 to May 2013, 75 works from the Van Gogh Museum's collection were temporarily displayed at the H'ART Museum.

On September 9, 2013, the museum unveiled "Sunset at Montmajour", a long-lost full-size Van Gogh painting, which was the first such discovery since 1928. The artwork, dated July 4, 1888, had spent years in a Norwegian attic.

The first iteration of the "Meet Vincent Van Gogh Experience," a traveling immersive exhibition, took place in Beijing in 2016, preceding its official launch by the Van Gogh Museum.

The two paintings stolen in 2002, Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen and View of the Sea at Scheveningen, were discovered in September 2016 by Italian authorities in a villa in Italy.

The "Meet Vincent Van Gogh Experience" received a 2017 THEA award in the category of "Immersive Museum Exhibit: Touring," recognizing its innovative approach to presenting Van Gogh's life and works.

In 2019, the Van Gogh Museum launched the "Meet Vincent Van Gogh Experience," a touring technology-driven immersive exhibition dedicated to Van Gogh's life and works.

Axel Rüger, who served as the museum director since 2006, left the Van Gogh Museum in 2019 to take on the role of secretary and chief executive at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

In the years after Theo's death, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger organized exhibitions of Vincent van Gogh's work, significantly contributing to his posthumous recognition in the Netherlands and abroad.

The collection of Vincent van Gogh's works was loaned to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, where it was displayed for many years before the establishment of a dedicated museum.

The Van Gogh Museum boasts the world's largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, encompassing 200 paintings, 400 drawings, and 700 letters by the artist.

Beyond Van Gogh's art, the museum's collection also features notable works by his Impressionist and Post-Impressionist contemporaries, including artists like Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, and Georges Seurat.