Van Gogh Museum

Opened in 1973, the Van Gogh Museum houses the collection of paintings bequeathed from the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo. The paintings were transferred to the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation in 1962 by Vincent’s nephew Vincent Willem Van Gogh, on the initiative of the Dutch government, and they have been on permanent loan to the museum ever since. Located in the Museumplein in the centre of Amsterdam, between the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum, the modern glass building was designed by the Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld. It contains the world’s largest collection of works by Van Gogh, including some 200 paintings, 500 drawings, 700 letters and the artist’s own collection of Japanese prints. Highlights of the Van Gogh collection include his first large-scale painting, The Potato Eaters which was painted in 1885 and The Sunflowers, one of his most famous pieces, painted in 1889. The museum also houses a large collection of work by Van Gogh’s contemporaries, including paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin.
Two of Van Gogh’s works were stolen from the museum on the night of 6-7 December 2002: View of the Sea at Scheveningen (Zeegezicht bij Scheveningen) and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen (Het uitgaan van de hervormde kerk te Nuenen).