
Van Gogh Museum at 50: A brief history of Van Gogh and the art marketAmsterdam's Van Gogh Museum turns 50 in 2023. The museum attracts over two million visitors each year. Here's a brief history of Van Gogh
by The Conversation
23-03-2023 15:51
in Art and Artists
Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum turns 50 in 2023.
Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum turns 50 in 2023. The museum, dedicated to the art of one of the most famous artists in the world, attracts over two million visitors each year.
--
Yet, despite his fame today, Vincent van Gogh allegedly made only one documented sale of a painting during his lifetime. This was The Red Vineyard, produced near Arles in Provence in the autumn of 1888.
The enlightened buyer was Belgian painter Anna Boch, whose brother was a close friend of the artist. She spotted the vibrant landscape at the 1890 exhibition of the avant-garde group Les XX, of which she was a member.
ALSO READ: Record-breaking Vermeer show opens in Amsterdam
--
The price was 400 francs, the equivalent of around US$2000 (£1649) today, and would have seemed like a huge windfall to the struggling Van Gogh. If it were sold at auction today, the same painting could expect to fetch upwards of a hundred million US dollars.
Van Gogh dreamed of achieving posthumous fame and it was not long after he took his own life in July 1890 that the market for his pictures began to develop.
The Red Vineyard, the only painting Vincent van Gogh is certainly known to have sold during his lifetime. Pushkin Museum, Moscow Boch went on to buy a second painting, Peach Blossom in the Crau, in 1891. In the same year Vincent's art dealer brother Theo died of syphilis. Van Gogh had given a handful of works to the artists' colour merchant P re Tanguy in Paris, but it was Theo's widow, Jo van Gogh Bonger, who would inherit the bulk of his vast oeuvre, making her the main source of his paintings.
--
As a result, she controlled the market for Van Gogh in Paris, Berlin, London and, eventually, New York.
ALSO READ: Five things to know about Vermeer
EUROPE'S ART MARKET DISCOVERS VAN GOGH In 1901 the French poet Julien Leclercq, with Van Gogh Bonger's assistance, organised the first Van Gogh retrospective at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris. The event brought Van Gogh to the attention of the German dealer Paul Cassirer, who went on to create a market for Vincent's work in Berlin, supported by the influential art historian Julius Meier-Graefe.
By 1914 it was estimated that as many as 120 pictures by Van Gogh were in German collections and his work quickly increased in value.
Jo van Gogh-Bonger (1862-1925). Van Gogh Museum / Vincent van Gogh Foundation In Britain, meanwhile, the art dealer with the closest links to Van Gogh was Alexander Reid. In 1887 Reid worked alongside Theo at the firm of Boussod & Valadon in Paris and briefly shared an apartment with both Van Gogh brothers.
However, despite his close physical resemblance to the artist (two portraits of Reid by Van Gogh, now in Glasgow and Oklahoma, were originally catalogued as self-portraits), it was not until the early 1920s that he began to exhibit and sell his pictures to rich industrialists in Glasgow and London. Among the most significant was the Scottish collector Elizabeth Workman, the wife of a successful ship owner.
The most important early collector of Van Gogh's work was another enlightened woman, Helene Kr ller-M ller, who - although German by birth - was based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Advised by the Dutch painter and critic Henk Bremmer, she bought her first work by Van Gogh in 1908. Supported by her industrialist husband Anton (who was initially sceptical of her new-found passion), she went on to acquire no fewer than 91 paintings and over 180 works on paper.
Along with Cassirer, Bremmer helped to push up the price of Van Gogh's work. As a result, fakes began to appear in various galleries and exhibitions. The most famous forgery case was that of the dancer-turned-art dealer Otto Wacker, who was brought to trial in Berlin in 1932.
ALSO READ: Vermeer shines at once in history' Amsterdam show
VAN GOGH'S ART MARKET GOES GLOBAL As the market for Van Gogh's pictures increased, the importance of establishing the authorship of a painting or drawing became even more crucial.
In the 1980s, with the advent of the Japanese craze for Van Gogh, his work began to fetch world records at auction. In 1987 there was huge public debate around the authenticity of the Sunflowers acquired by the Yasuda Marine Insurance company in 1987 for US$39.9 million.
Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat by Vincent van Gogh (1887). Van Gogh Museum / Vincent van Gogh Foundation Three years later the Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid the record price of US$82.5 million for the Portrait of Doctor Gachet. Most recently this record was smashed in November 2022, when a Van Gogh landscape of Arles from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's collection sold for US$117 million to an anonymous bidder.
Today the Van Gogh Museum has the last word when it comes to authenticating the artist's work. The Yasuda Sunflowers are now believed to be authentic, based on the picture's provenance, which can be traced back to Jo van Gogh Bonger.
ALSO READ: Banksy unveils new Valentine's Day Mascara' artwork
A more recent discovery of a portfolio of Van Gogh drawings in 2016, however, has not yet been accepted as genuine. But what is it about Van Gogh's work that remains so compelling to prospective buyers, over 130 years after his death?
Today, as we are encouraged to focus on mental health, his work seems to have more relevance than ever. Whatever the reason, and despite the scorn that he endured during his lifetime, the market continues to be seduced - like Boch all those years ago - not only b
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
16/04/2026
Appear ASA (OSE: APR) will announce three additions to its X Platform at NAB Sho...
16/04/2026
Harmonic has announced that CentralCast, a centralized master control facility for U.S. public media, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor t...
16/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Encompass Digital Media has integrated its BA...
16/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate its Media Infrastructure capabilities at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall), bringing routing, signal processing, and orche...
16/04/2026
As preparations ramp up for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Verizon has outlined a sweeping connectivity and infrastructure initiative that will underpin broadcast ope...
16/04/2026
Advanced Image Robotics (AIR) has announced its selection for the 2026 MLS Innovation Lab. AIR will work with MLS clubs, players, and executives on automated vi...
16/04/2026
JWX has announced the acquisition of True Anthem, an AI-powered social publishin...
16/04/2026
Jomboy Media and FuboTV Inc. have launched the Jomboy Media Channel, a 24/7 channel available to FuboTV base plan subscribers. The channel, timed to the start o...
16/04/2026
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company (Booth C2820), and EVS Broadcast Equipmen...
16/04/2026
Tata Communications and Formula 1 have released Race Before the Race, the firs...
16/04/2026
DPA Microphones has released a firmware update for its N-Series Digital Wireless...
16/04/2026
Sony's Live Stage at NAB Show 2026 is the place to hear directly from the content creators, end users, and technology experts who are pushing boundaries in ...
16/04/2026
Perfect Game and Youth Prospects have announced a partnership covering broadcast...
16/04/2026
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has announced a media rights partnership with Al...
16/04/2026
Audio-Technica has announced two new mid-side (MS) stereo broadcast microphones:...
16/04/2026
PSSI Global Services has announced the acquisition of Beagle Networks, a provider of IT infrastructure and onsite technical support for media and enterprise cus...
16/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3, a free update available now from the Apple App Store. The update will be demonstrated at NAB Show ...
16/04/2026
As live sports production continues to expand across linear, digital, and in-ven...
16/04/2026
Part of an infrastructure upgrade, the recently constructed spaces accommodate n...
16/04/2026
NBC has added NEP's Supershooter 11, which only just came online in time for...
16/04/2026
At Spotify, we want your experience to feel intuitive and personal across every moment of the day. Whether you're streaming your favorite playlist while you...
16/04/2026
Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in
Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...
16/04/2026
Compact unit offers hands-on plug-in control
Softube have just announced the launch of their latest hardware unit, the Flow Studio. Housed in a compact desk...
16/04/2026
Use any VST3 plug-in on immersive audio
Fiedler Audio have just released a powerful new plug-in wrapper that brings full VST3 processing to Dolby Atmos and ...
16/04/2026
Analysis plug-in gains enhanced frequency readouts
Nugen Audio's real-time analysis plug-in has just received a significant update that introduces some ...
16/04/2026
Recording & Music Technology Show
Sound On Sound are pleased to announce a new recording and music technology exhibition taking place in London on Saturday ...
16/04/2026
SBS reveals all-star alumni team to celebrate 70 years of the Eurovision Song Co...
16/04/2026
For decades, understanding the physical world from space has required a trade-of...
16/04/2026
The integration accelerates demographic audience delivery across local markets a...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Telestream Cloud Services, including Vantage Cloud, UP, and SENTRY monitoring tools, are now optimized for OCI, powering flexible multi-cloud media orchestratio...
16/04/2026
Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company ) today announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), naming AWS as its preferre...
16/04/2026
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, today announced an ISDB-Tb capabilit...
16/04/2026
Synamedia and SoFast announce strategic go-to-market partnership to accelerate FAST, pay-TV, and VOD
At the NAB Show 2026, Synamedia and SoFast are announcing ...
16/04/2026
Showcases New, Open-Standard IP Solutions Across Its Portfolio, From Production to Playout
Imagine Communications is marking a decade of leadership in ST 2110 ...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Sportway Media Group, a world leading AI-automated sports production company and Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative sol...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
AJA Enters into Agreement to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deal will expand AJA's video ...
16/04/2026
Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder with Pre-Orders Launching April 14
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deity Microphones today announce...