Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum is dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The museum’s collection is the most extensive collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world.

A Virtual Tour of the Van Gogh Museum

• “Self-Portrait as a Painter” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Self Portrait with Felt Hat” by Vincent van Gogh
• The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) by Vincent van Gogh
• “Wheatfield with Crows” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Bedroom in Arles” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Great Peacock Moth” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Fishing Boats at Saintes-Maries” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Portrait of Vincent van Gogh” by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
• “Gauguin’s Chair” by Vincent van Gogh – Van Gogh Museum
• “Almond Blossoms” by Vincent van Gogh
• “The Yellow House” by Vincent van Gogh
• “Portrait of Camille Roulin” by Vincent van Gogh

 Highlights of the Van Gogh Museum

“Self-Portrait as a Painter” by Vincent van Gogh

“Self-Portrait as a Painter” by Vincent van Gogh is one of the dozens of self-portraits that Van Gogh painted. His self-portraits are an essential part of his body of work as a painter.

Van Gogh painted over 30 self-portraits placing him among the most prolific self portraitists of all time. Van Gogh used portrait painting as a method of introspection and a way of developing his skills as an artist.

“Self Portrait with Felt Hat” by Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh painted this self-portrait in the winter of 1887, after living in Paris for nearly two years.

During his time in Paris, he devoted himself to studying the dotted Pointillist technique, and he taught himself to apply it in his unique way.

In this self-portrait, he used brush strokes running in orchestrated directions to create a self-portrait with a halo-like circle round his head.

This variation of Pointillist and the effect it produced was Van Gogh’s unique contribution to a new style of painting.

The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) by Vincent van Gogh

Rembrandt’s paintings have influenced many successive painters. Including Van Gogh, who also painted a picture called “The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt),” based on a print of the Rembrandt image.

Van Gogh depiction left out the central figure of Christ with his arm raised he focused on the human suffering and identified with Lazarus in the tomb. Lazarus, in the Van Gogh painting below, has a red beard, just like Van Gogh.

“Wheatfield with Crows” by Vincent van Gogh

“Wheatfield with Crows” by Vincent van Gogh depicts a dramatic, cloudy sky filled with crows over a windswept wheat field.

The sense of isolation in the painting is heightened by the path, in contrasting colors of red and green, leading nowhere. Also, the flight path and direction of the crows are uncertain, adding to the uneasy.

Van Gogh painted this windblown wheat field in July 1890, during the last few weeks of his life. Many have claimed it as his final painting and perhaps one of his greatest works.

“Bedroom in Arles” by Vincent van Gogh

“Bedroom in Arles” by Vincent van Gogh describes three similar paintings by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter created between 1888 – 1889.

Van Gogh’s title for this composition was simply “The Bedroom.” There are three versions, easily distinguishable from one another by the pictures on the wall to the right.

The bedroom was not rectangular but trapezoid, so no wall was at a right angle to any other wall. This reality may have contributed to its energy and instability, which is heightened by the prominent receding perspective.

“Great Peacock Moth” by Vincent van Gogh

“Great Peacock Moth” by Vincent van Gogh is part of a series of paintings made between 1889 and 1890 of at least four paintings of butterflies and one of a moth.

Van Gogh was fascinated by the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly, which was symbolic of Van Gogh’s belief in people’s capability for transformation.

Van Gogh preferred the color of the butterflies and found the moths generally duller in color, but the great peacock moth caught his attention.

“Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries” by Vincent van Gogh

“Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries” was painted in June 1888, when Van Gogh went to the fishing village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Van Gogh took a week-long trip to recover from his health problems and to paint and draw the seaside.

Van Gogh preferred to have painted on the beach, but the fishermen left early every day, so he had to draw quickly, and later, he painted in his room.

“Fishing Boats at Saintes-Maries” by Vincent van Gogh

“Fishing Boats at Saintes-Maries” by Vincent van Gogh was another seascape in which he sought to capture light’s effect on the sea.

He wrote: “The Mediterranean Sea is a mackerel color: in other words, changeable – you do not always know whether it is green or purple, you do not always know if it is blue, as the next moment the ever-changing sheen has assumed a pink or a gray tint.”

The painting depicts fishing boats returning to the village.  Van Gogh applied these colors with a palette knife, neatly capturing the effect of the light through the waves.

In addition to the blue and white that he brushed onto the canvas with bold strokes, he used green and yellow for the waves.

To emphasize contrast to the color green in the painting, Van Gogh signed his name in large bright red letters.

“Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin” by Vincent van Gogh

“Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin” by Vincent van Gogh depicts a woman smoking a cigarette while having a glass of beer. Agostina Segatori was the owner of the Café du Tambourin, and she knew Van Gogh.

Agostina Segatori is wearing a fashionable hat, and her jacket is a different design than her dress, which was the fashion of that time. 

Her parasol sits on one of the seats next to her, and she is having her second glass of beer, as evidenced by two saucers under the mug of beer. Her clothing, make-up, hairstyle, her cigarette and drink all mark her as a modern woman.

“Portrait of Vincent van Gogh” by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

“Portrait of Vincent van Gogh” by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is an 1887 chalk pastel on cardboard depicting the then-unknown Dutch artist who had recently arrived in Paris. Van Gogh is shown leaning forwards at a table in a bar, with a glass of absinthe, as if in conversation. 

This colorful Impressionist work of blues, oranges, and yellows, shows Van Gogh during the time he was living with his brother, Theo.

Toulouse-Lautrec met Vincent van Gogh when they were both taking lessons at the Atelier or open studio of Fernand Cormon in Paris from 1886 to 1887.

Van Gogh studied at Fernand Cormon’s atelier studio in 1886, where he was introduced to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.  They frequently met at Julien “Père” Tanguy’s paint shop, which is where Paul Cézanne’s paintings were displayed.

“Gauguin’s Chair” by Vincent van Gogh

“Gauguin’s Chair” by Vincent van Gogh is one of a pair of chair paintings. The other chair was Vincent’s chair with his pipe, and they were to be hung together, with one chair turned to the right, the other to the left facing each other.

Van Gogh’s chair is functional and straightforward; Gauguin’s is an elegant and finely carved armchair. The paintings of the chairs can be viewed as surrogate portraits, representing the personalities and artistic outlooks of the two artists.

Van Gogh’s chair, on which he placed his pipe and tobacco, is shown in bright daylight. Gauguin’s, with two novels on its seat, was painted at night and is illuminated by a candle and gaslight.

“Almond Blossoms” by Vincent van Gogh

“Almond Blossoms” by Vincent van Gogh is a composition that is unlike any other in Van Gogh’s paintings. The branches of the almond tree seem to float against the blue sky and fill the composition.

This cropped view of the almond branches with dark lines outlines brings to mind the whole almond tree. Van Gogh, much admired this quality in Japanese floral studies in which they depict a portion of the flowering in space, seemed to represent the whole.

Van Gogh used the term Japonaiserie to express this influence. He had collected hundreds of Japanese prints, and Van Gogh integrated some of the technical aspects of ukiyo-e into his work.

This painting’s bright color is reflective of the pictures he made in Arles and the transformational influence that Van Gogh had on the still life genre. These works reflect the impact of Impressionism and Japanese woodcuts.

“The Yellow House” by Vincent van Gogh

“The Yellow House” by Vincent van Gogh depicts the building and surroundings where Van Gogh rented four rooms in May 1888. 

Van Gogh rented two large rooms on the ground floor, one which served as his workshop and the other as the kitchen.

He also occupied two smaller rooms on the first floor, which acted as bedrooms facing Place Lamartine.

The window on the first floor near the corner with both shutters open is that of Van Gogh’s guest room, where Paul Gauguin lived for nine weeks from late October 1888.

“Portrait of Camille Roulin” by Vincent van Gogh

“Portrait of Camille Roulin” by Vincent van Gogh is a portrait of the youngest son of the postman Joseph Roulin, a friend of Van Gogh’s. When his portrait was painted, Camille was eleven years of age.

The Roulin Family all had their portraits painted by Vincent van Gogh in Arles between 1888 and 1889. The family consisted of Joseph, his wife Augustine, and their three children: Armand, Camille, and Marcelle.

Although Van Gogh loved to paint portraits, it was difficult for financial reasons for him to find models. So, finding an entire family that agreed to sit for multiple paintings was a bonus.

Joseph Roulin became a good and supportive friend to Van Gogh during his stay in Arles. Van Gogh truly admired Joseph and went to great lengths to capture his character.