The Zouave,
1888
Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Vincent van Gogh and Expressionism
Vincent van Gogh’s influence on
Expressionism explored in Van Gogh Museum exhibition. The
exhibition includes major works by such artists as Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner, Max Pechstein, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Alexej
von Jawlensky, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and
Vincent van Gogh
From 24 November 2006 to 4 March
2007 the Van Gogh Museum will present Vincent van Gogh and
Expressionism which is jointly organised with the Neue Galerie
in New York. This is the first show to highlight the impact of
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) on German and Austrian
Expressionists and comprises almost a hundred paintings, prints
and drawings from the Van Gogh Museum and the Neue Galerie in
New York, as well as loans from other major international
museums and private collections. USG People is the main sponsor
of this exhibition.
Museum directors and private
collectors in both Germany and Austria were among the first to
start buying the work of Vincent van Gogh and by 1914 there were
no less than 164 works by Van Gogh in German and Austrian
collections. The many travelling exhibitions that were organised
helped expose an entire generation of young, modern artists to
Van Gogh’s expressive works. Early purchases, such as Van Gogh’s
Poppies in the Field (1889, Kunsthalle Bremen) which led to
tumultuous debates after Bremen Museum had acquired the
painting, and Vineyards at Auvers (1890, Saint Louis Art
Museum), are featured in this exhibition.
Van Gogh’s influence is evident in
many Expressionist works as painters emulated the pure, bright
colours of his paintings in their own art. Van Gogh’s emphatic
brushwork and his contrasting colour combinations also made a
profound impression. By showing works by Van Gogh side by side,
with works by young Expressionists, the exhibition reveals the
full extent of this influence. Original letters, pre-1914
exhibition catalogues as well as an audiovisual presentation
further enrich the display. The show is divided into four
themes:
Van Gogh and Die Brücke
Die Brücke was founded in 1905 in Dresden by Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.
Exhibitions of paintings and drawings by Van Gogh in Germany in
1905 and 1908 brought this group of young artists under the
spell of the Dutchman’s work. This section features paintings
by, amongst others, Max Pechstein, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and
Erich Heckel.
Van Gogh and Der Blaue Reiter
In Munich, the artists of Der Blaue Reiter had discovered Van
Gogh’s work in Paris before viewing it in their own country. Van
Gogh was a major influence, especially on their emotional
approach of their early landscapes. Wassily Kandinsky’s Murnau
Street with Women (1908, Private collection, Courtesy of Neue
Galerie, New York) and August Macke’s Vegetable Fields (1911,
Kunstmuseum Bonn) are fine examples of this. Franz Marc drew
inspiration from Van Gogh’s technique.
Van Gogh and Vienna
Work by Van Gogh was shown in Vienna in 1903 and 1906, inspiring
local artists with his innovative technique. They also emulated
his intense, psychological approach to portraiture, as the
astonishing figures painted by Oskar Kokoschka demonstrate.
Richard Gerstl and Egon Schiele identified with Van Gogh’s
tragic personality in their many portraits and self portraits.
Schiele also painted versions of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
Schiele’s painting Autumn Sun (1914, Private collection),
showing fading sunflowers, was feared lost since the Second
World War and is one of the surprises of the show. It will be
displayed alongside Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1889, Van Gogh
Museum, Amsterdam).
Van Gogh and (self) portraiture
The final section of the exhibition focuses on Van Gogh’s
influence on Expressionist portraiture and self portraits. The
psychologically powerful self portraits by Van Gogh, which
inspired artists such as Emil Nolde, Erich Heckel and Lovis
Corinth, are presented alongside penetrating self portraits by
these Expressionist artists. Their use of pose, introspective
expression and piercing eyes, combined with intense brushwork,
clearly reveal Vincent van Gogh’s influence.
Following its debut in Amsterdam,
Vincent van Gogh and Expressionism can be seen in the Neue
Galerie, New York, from 23 March to 2 July 2007 (www.neuegalerie.org).
Expressive!
Alongside the main exhibition, Expressive! is a show for
children inspired by Vincent van Gogh, initiated as part of the
Van Gogh Museum Bus project which brings school children from
all parts of Holland to the Van Gogh Museum. Following a poster
competition three school classes have been selected to make
paintings inspired by Van Gogh. Expressive! is a Van Gogh Museum
and promoting partner Rabobank initiative.
Catalogue
A richly illustrated catalogue, Vincent van Gogh and
Expressionism accompanies the exhibition, written by guest
curator Jill Lloyd, 160 pages, 125 illustrations, available in
English, Dutch, German and French, published by Hatje Cantz
Verlag, in cooperation with Waanders Publishers and Gallimard.
Price: € 24.95 (museum edition). On sale at the museum shop, via
www.vangoghmuseumshop.com and in bookstores.
Expected: Vincent van Gogh and
Expressionism
The paintings of Vincent van Gogh became the epitome of modern,
international art during the period after his death up to the
outbreak of World War I. In no other country was Van Gogh so
admired as he was in Germany: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and other
artists of the Brücke were fascinated by Van Gogh’s powerful
brushwork and the strongly contrasting colors of his style, as
well as the dynamic aura of his glowing palette. Wassily
Kandinsky and the artists of the Blaue Reiter esteemed Van Gogh
for rejecting visible reality and penetrating to the essence of
nature. Austrian artists Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, on
the other hand, were especially impressed by the soulful
expression of Van Gogh’s art and his insightful psychological
portraits.
This publication is the first to examine the enormous influence
of Van Gogh on German and Austrian Expressionism. Masterpieces
by Van Gogh and the Expressionists will be presented, including
extremely powerful works by the painters of the Brücke, the
Blaue Reiter, and the Viennese avant-garde.
Art historian Jill Lloyd has curated numerous museum exhibitions
featuring twentieth-century art and is the author of standard
publications on German Expressionism.
Expected: 24 November 2006
160 pagina’s/125 illustrations in
full colour/2006/978 7757 1818 9/hardcover € 24.95 (museumedition)
Van Gogh Museum/Hatje Cantz Verlag
Co-editions
Waanders Publishers: Dutch
Gallimard: French
Hatje Cantz Verlag: German and English