Vincent van Gogh artwork

Ever since the opening of the Kröller-Müller Museum in 1938, Vincent van Gogh artworks have been on display in the heart of the building: a corridor around a small patio, now called the Van Gogh Gallery.

The art of Van Gogh occupies a special place in the collection of Helene Kröller-Müller, the founder of the Kröller-Müller Museum. Thanks to her, the museum now has the second largest Van Gogh collection in the world. Between 1908 and 1929 she purchased no fewer than 91 paintings by Vincent van Gogh and more than 180 Van Gogh drawings. The budget was virtually unlimited. Helene considered the artist ‘one of the great spirits of modern art’.

In August 1880, after unsuccessful careers as an art dealer, teacher, theology student and preacher, when he decides to concentrate on his art Van Gogh is 27 years old. The pastor’s son is convinced that he can also be of service to God as an artist. Helene, herself in search of a spiritual dimension in her life, can identify with the way in which Van Gogh also seeks this in his life: in humankind and in nature. This love and fascination for people and nature is evident in much of the art of Van Gogh. For example, Vincent often painted portraits of people he knew well: friends, neighbours and acquaintances. Hard-working fishermen and farmers also posed for him frequently. Vincent found a great creative outlet in capturing landscapes. At first he painted mainly Brabant landscapes. Only later would the great period of stunning natural beauty really begin, after Vincent moved to Arles in southern France in 1888.

The Van Gogh collection at the Kröller-Müller Museum includes one of Vincent van Gogh's most famous works: The Potato Eaters. This painting, which depicts the simple peasant life, is considered the most important work from his Nuenen period. Vincent himself saw The Potato Eaters as his first masterpiece. At the Kröller-Müller Museum you can also admire his masterpiece Terrace of a Café at Night (Place du Forum). This Vincent van Gogh artwork broke the conventional rules of a nocturnal painting. Instead of the usual black and grey tones, a multitude of colours burst forth from the canvas. Are you fascinated by Vincent's unconventional approach to painting? Then be sure to also visit the work Four Sunflowers Gone to Seed in the Van Gogh art gallery at the museum. Instead of painting colourful, fresh flowers on an idyllic background, Vincent depicts a few withered sunflowers that fill the entire canvas. Van Gogh's unconventional sunflowers are a highlight of his Paris period. With this painting, Vincent finally achieves what he has sought for so long: a reconciliation of contrasting warm and cool tones.