Van Gogh Museum

Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam houses the world’s largest Vincent van Gogh collection: paintings, drawings, letters and more.

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A room with a view… in this case, it’s from Vincent’s room in the psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy. Perhaps not the most obvious place for inspiration, but Van Gogh still managed to turn it into something beautiful.

From his window, he painted the same view multiple times: sunny, rainy, with wheat being harvested, or left empty.

And there’s one detail that keeps coming back: the wall around the field. Did you notice it too? 👀

1 ‘Wheat Field with Reaper and Sun’, 1889 © Kröller-Müller Museum
2 ‘Enclosed Wheat Field with Rising Sun’, 1889 © Kröller-Müller Museum
3 ‘Landscape at Saint-Rémy (Enclosed Field with Peasant)’, 1889 © The Indianapolis Museum of Art
4 ‘Rain’, 1889 © Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Women and children appear again and again in Vincent’s works. During his time in Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent repeatedly painted and drew them, perhaps reflecting a quiet longing.
At the time, he felt more alone than ever. Theo had just become a father, and life seemed to be moving forward with less room for him.

‘For me life might well remain solitary,’ he wrote to his mother. Painting became his way of holding on.

1 ‘Two Girls’, 1890 © Private collection
2 ‘Child with Orange’, 1890 © Private collection
3 ‘Young Man with Cornflower’, 1890 © Private collection

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A quiet garden, a few fluttering butterflies… and a big turning point for Van Gogh in Paris 🦋

Painted in 1887, this close-up view is seen from above – like he sat on a park bench and painted what was right at his feet. It shows a new way of looking: focusing on small details, light, colour, and movement, inspired by Impressionism.
The butterflies add a gentle touch, and may even be a metaphor for how fragile life can be.

Can you spot all 6 butterflies? 👀

‘Coin de jardin avec papillons’, 1887 © Private collection

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Van Gogh’s birds 🐦
Sometimes painted with just a few swift strokes, other times rendered with great care: birds often appear in Van Gogh’s drawings and paintings. Because he worked so much outdoors, Vincent was constantly surrounded by them: fluttering above fields, perched on trees, or darting across the sky. They weren’t just background details, but lively subjects he loved to ‘catch’ on paper or canvas.

Which one do you like most?
1 detail of ‘Kingfisher by the Waterside’, 1887 © Van Gogh Museum
2 detail of 'The Reaper (after Millet)’, 1889 © Van Gogh Museum
3 ‘Barn Owl Viewed from the Front’, 1887 © Van Gogh Museum
4 detail of ‘Wheatfield with Partridge’, 1887 © Van Gogh Museum

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Vincent wrote to his brother Theo: ‘the Trinquetaille bridge with all its steps is a canvas done on a grey morning, the stones, the asphalt, the cobblestones are grey, the sky a pale blue, the small figures colourful […]’
Vincent captured one of those grey mornings perfectly in this painting, don’t you think? ☁️

🖌️ ‘The Iron Bridge at Trinquetaille’, 1888 © Private collection
✏️ Detail of Van Gogh’s letter to Theo, 1888

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Van Gogh’s final self-portraits, painted in 1889, offer a rare glimpse into a pivotal moment in his life.

Created during his stay at the psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy, these works move beyond likeness. They reflect a period of illness, recovery, and deep self-observation. Each portrait reveals subtle shifts in mood, technique, and self-perception.

What do you notice as you move from one to the next?

1 ‘Self-Portrait’, 1889 © Nasjonalmuseet
2 ‘Portrait of the Artist’, 1889 © Musée d'Orsay
3 ‘Self-Portrait’, 1889 © National Gallery of Art

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‘You can see that some hard work has been done.’ Vincent van Gogh, Arles, 1888.
Gardens, wheatfields, boats, portraits, listed one after another in a letter to Theo. This reveals not only quantity, but a period of intense productivity. Vincent worked rapidly, often finishing a painting in a single day, while experimenting with colour, light, and brushwork.

Which is your favourite?
1 ‘Garden at Arles’, 1888 © Kunstmuseum Den Haag
2 ‘Wheatfields’, 1888 © P. and N. de Boer Foundation
3 ‘Seascape at Saintes-Maries’, 1888 © Pushkin Museum
4 ‘Seated Zouave’, 1888 © Private collection

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Two chairs. Two artists.
Van Gogh turned personalities into objects. He painted himself and Gauguin without showing either of them in person.

Can you tell who is who?

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Theo’s support gave Vincent the chance to become an artist. While Vincent struggled to find his place in life, Theo believed in him, emotionally and financially. His encouragement and support allowed Vincent to fully focus on learning to draw and paint, long before anyone else recognised his talent.

‘I hope to do as much as I can to help you,’ Theo wrote to his brother.
#vangogh #vangoghmuseum #brothers

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Provence seen through Dutch eyes 👀 What do we mean by that?

Well, in ‘The Drawbridge’ (1888), Van Gogh paints a quiet canal near Arles. But when you look at it more closely, you’ll spot a distinctly Dutch drawbridge.

There might be a reason for that. Van Gogh had just left the chaos of Paris behind, searching for calm, light and inspiration in the South of France. And yet, this familiar type of bridge must have reminded him of home. So much so that he painted it not once, but about four times. This painting belongs to that series.

🖼️ © Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud

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What do these four paintings have in common? 👀
At first glance, perhaps just the flowers.

Van Gogh painted them in May 1890, just before leaving Saint-Rémy. He conceived them not as separate works, but as a set: two paintings of irises and two of roses.
The arrangements are similar: they all feature complementary colours, and share a search for balance and harmony. So they are more connected than it initially seems.

1 ‘Irises’, 1890 © Van Gogh Museum
2 ‘Roses’, 1890 © National Gallery of Art
3 ‘Roses’, 1890 © The Met
4 ‘Irises’, 1890 © The Met

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3 times Agostina Segatori, café owner, artist’s model, and, for a brief time, Vincent van Gogh’s partner.

Vincent painted her in Paris in 1887, during a pivotal moment in his life and work. He was experimenting with brighter colours and new styles, influenced by Impressionism and Japanese prints. All three capture a completely different mood.

Which portrait do you prefer?
1 © Musée d’Orsay
2–3 © Van Gogh Museum

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What do these works have in common? 👀

They’re two years apart, but share the same canvas. In 1885, Van Gogh painted a dark peasant study. In 1887 in Paris, he flipped it over and painted a vivid self-portrait, reusing the canvas and taking himself as a model. Van Gogh often reused canvases to save money. Smart, right?

1 ‘Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler)’, 1887 © The Met
2 ‘The Potato Peeler (reverse: Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat)’, 1885 © The Met

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At first glance, it’s just a carafe and some lemons… right?

But the carafe in this painting is made out of glass, which makes it anything but simple to paint. You’re not just painting the object, you’re capturing reflections, distortions and everything seen through it at once. Like the reflections of the wallpaper… did you notice those?

🖼️ ‘Carafe and Dish with Citrus Fruit’, 1887 © Van Gogh Museum

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Parlez-vous français? 🇫🇷 Vincent was a Dutch artist, but he wrote about a third of his letters in French. At the time, French was the most important international language and children of the middle classes were expected to learn the language. Van Gogh could speak French from an early age, yet it was only after he moved to Paris, in 1886, that he completely switched to writing in French. ‘If you’ll let me write to you in French’, he writes to his sister Willemien, ‘that will really make my letter easier for me’.

Vincent came to see France as his second home. He wanted to make a name for himself as an artist there. Vincent usually ended his letters to his brother with ‘tout à toi, Vincent’ (ever yours, Vincent).

🖼️ 'The Blute-Fin Windmill', 1886 © Glasgow Museum

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Maybe we spend more time hoping things will get better, while waiting, overthinking, and scrolling.
But according to Van Gogh, hoping for better times isn’t just a feeling, it’s a doing.
What do you think?

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Need a hand? Well, there are plenty in these drawings made by Van Gogh. Not because it was easy, but because it wasn’t.

Van Gogh practised relentlessly, repeating hands, faces and figures again and again. He believed drawing was ‘the root of everything’, using it to train his eye and sharpen his skills.
So every line here shows us practice, persistence and progress. 💪

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Shoes were an unusual subject to paint in Van Gogh’s time. 👞 Most artists painted elegant still lifes, often symbolising wealth. But Vincent was drawn to these objects that ‘bore the scars of life’. He even bought old work shoes at flea markets, walked through the mud in them, and only then considered them worthy of painting.

What do you see in this still life? Some see a disguised self-portrait. Others, a symbol of Van Gogh’s long journeys. Or perhaps he simply loved capturing their worn beauty.

🖼️ ‘A Pair of Shoes’, 1887 © Baltimore Museum of Art

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What a sunset this must have been. Van Gogh painted this while staying at the psychiatric clinic in Saint-Rémy, working in the garden when he wasn’t allowed off the grounds.
But the colours do more than simply depict a view. Vincent wrote that the red ochre, muted greens and dark outlines were meant to evoke the anxiety his fellow patients experienced: what he called ‘seeing red’.

🖼️ ‘Garden of the Asylum’, 1889 © Van Gogh Museum

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A somewhat arrogant-looking man… and an unusually green background.
A bold choice? Maybe. Or maybe not….

Around the time that he painted this work, Van Gogh had gas lighting installed in his studio so he and fellow artist Gauguin could work after dark. Gaslight gives off a yellow-green glow, subtly shifting the colours Vincent saw… and painted.

🖼️ ‘Portrait of Joseph-Michel Ginoux’, 1888 © Kröller-Müller Museum