Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has Vincent van Goghs Still life with potatoes (Paris, 1886-87), a painting that had been on loan in the museum for forty years. The Rotterdam museum announced this at a press conference on Monday morning.
Boijmans purchased the painting with the support of various funds. The museum does not want to mention the amount involved in the purchase or the name of the Dutch private lender.
The reason for the purchase, according to one press release: “The risk of a loan – especially with a celebrity like Vincent van Gogh – is that the work could be reclaimed or sold, possibly abroad. The purchase ensures that this Van Gogh will be preserved for the Netherlands Collection.”
Vincent van Gogh painted his still life in Paris after studying for a short period at the art academy in Antwerp in 1885. Compared to the dark The potato eaters (1885), which he painted shortly before in Nuenen, he worked with a full color palette. Still life with potatoes captures him in the middle of that transformation from dark to colorful works.
Tefaf
Vincent wrote to his brother Theo that he wanted to depict potatoes and their texture in such a way that they would appear as lumpy and gnarled as in real life. The beepers had to convey the feeling that they could be thrown at your head.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen now owns seven paintings by Vincent van Gogh. The museum has been closed since 2019 due to renovation. The museum will not reopen until 2030 at the earliest. Still life with potatoes can be seen in the museum depot from March 23.
Last weekend, another Van Gogh painting changed hands at the Tefaf art fair: Head of an old farmer's wife with a white hat (Nuenen, 1884). The American gallery MS Rau reportedly sold the portrait for more than 4.5 million euros to a private individual with a publicly accessible private museum outside Europe. It is currently unknown which museum it concerns.
#forty #years #loan #Boijmans #Van #Beuningen #buys #Van #Gogh #life