Vincent van Gogh: Artist and Reader

Vincent van Gogh was a painter but also an extremely learned intellectual, beyond the stereotypes that have always conditioned his myth. In fact, the tragic existential dimension of the character is too often emphasized at the expense of a proper understanding of the true creative greatness of the Dutch genius.
To understand the complexity of his personality, MUDEC presents a Vincent van Gogh who is less of an outsider and more surprisingly up-to-date on the cultural debate of his time: an avid reader and collector of prints, as well as a keen observer of the most current artistic trends. This is thanks to the collaboration with the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, which has an extraordinary collection of paintings and drawings by the Dutch painter second only to that of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: about 40 of the works on display come from the Dutch museum.
Two major themes are addressed in the exhibition: on the one hand, that of van Gogh’s passionate interest in books, and on the other, his fascination with Japan fueled by his love of Japanese prints, which he collected in large numbers.