A Bigger Home for Van Gogh’s Vision

The shimmering blue irises, lonely beached fishing boats at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the “Yellow House” and other achievements of Vincent Van Gogh’s vibrant and unique genius have come back from Los Angeles to a bigger, better home.

The Van Gogh Museum, literally unable to contain the crowds eager to view the works of the self-taught Dutchman who arguably is the world’s most popular painter, reopened this summer after a 10-month, $34-million expansion and modernization.

The boxy, no-frills original building has been given an internal redesign and new lighting and climate-control systems, plus basic creature comforts such as more bathrooms and a bigger cafeteria, lobby, cloakroom and gift shop.

Behind it, a new annex--brainchild of avant-garde Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa and quickly dubbed “the oyster” by irreverent Amsterdamers--now rises in flame-blasted Canadian granite and silver-gray aluminum and titanium.

The new building, shaped like an ellipse with the side nearest the old museum sliced off, gives the Van Gogh an additional 23,000 square feet of exhibition space. Computer-operated shutters open and close the titanium roof to let in precise amounts of sunlight.

Kurokawa’s three-floored creation now houses a retrospective of the architect’s career, along with another temporary exhibit devoted to Theo Van Gogh, the painter’s brother.

As a Paris-based art dealer, connoisseur and source of financial and moral support, Theo helped Vincent, who was four years older, discover and develop his highly personal style. Shrewd enough to make money dealing in the mannered academic pictures that were in demand by the late 19th century bourgeoisie, Theo was also enough of a visionary and aesthete to admire and assist innovators such as Manet, Pissaro, Monet, Degas, Gauguin--and, of course, his brother.

“There are no limits in art, so everyone can do as they like,” Theo Van Gogh once observed. To Vincent, he proffered these words of advice and encouragement: “You must make sure to become known without being too pushy; this will happen by itself, through your beautiful work.”

He did more than talk: It was thanks to money from Theo that Vincent had canvas and paint to work with.

In one of Vincent’s self-portraits, he wears a gray felt hat that belonged to his younger brother. When, in 1890, Theo and his wife, Jo, had a son and decided to name him Vincent Willem, the artist presented them with one of his most dazzling paintings: his depiction of an almond tree in brilliant bloom.

“Without Theo, there wouldn’t have been a Vincent, or for sure, he wouldn’t have been the same,” said Heidi Vandamme, spokeswoman for the Van Gogh Museum. The younger Van Gogh collapsed and died six months after Vincent committed suicide.

Annex Offers Greater Capacity, Flexibility

The special exhibition composed of paintings Theo bought and sold or owned himself ends Sept. 5; starting Sept. 24, the museum will feature an exhibit devoted to Dr. Paul Gachet, the French physician who treated Vincent in the final months at Auvers-sur-Oise before he shot himself in the chest. An art collector and amateur painter himself, Gachet is suspected by some of having forged canvases now attributed to his celebrated patient.

Officials at the Van Gogh Museum say the addition will allow them to put on more of these temporary exhibits without relegating some of Van Gogh’s own paintings to storage for want of space, as was the practice before. But the Van Gogh’s unrivaled treasure remains its permanent collection: more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 letters by Vincent himself.

“This is the only place in the world where you can see so many Van Goghs,” Vandamme said. “If you want to learn about Van Gogh, this is the place to come.”

For the museum, it became almost too much of a good thing. When it first opened in 1973, the museum was designed to receive around 60,000 people a year. But the throngs wanting to glimpse the works of the artist who has come to personify the suffering, neglected genius surged--to about 1 million visitors annually.

The museum closed for expansion and refurbishing last Sept. 1. As construction went on, 70 of its canvases were flown to the United States and shown in enormously popular shows at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

At LACMA alone, about 821,000 people lined up to see an exhibition that became such a hot cultural event that museum officials extended it by a month and a half, for a total run of 17 weeks, and kept it open round-the-clock for the final weekend.

“Van Gogh’s Van Goghs,” as the touring paintings were known, were airlifted back to Amsterdam from Los Angeles in May amid conditions of great secrecy. On June 24, with all the paintings back on the walls, the new and improved Van Gogh reopened.

Attendance 40% Over Last Summer’s Already

Public interest has never been greater. Since reopening, Vandamme said, attendance at the Van Gogh is about 40% over what it was last summer. Museum hours have been extended by an hour, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., to try to accommodate demand.

To make the permanent collection more visitor-friendly, it has been rearranged and spread out somewhat. On the second floor of the museum’s original building, anyone curious to know more about Van Gogh’s life and work can consult one of 10 computers connected to the museum’s Web site (https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl), as well as a collection of reference books.

“I like the way it’s set up,” was the verdict of one American visitor, Joshua Nazar, 20, a student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “On the first floor, there are things dealing with him; on the second floor, there’s his work; and on the third floor, there are things he inspired.”

Half of the remodeling and expansion costs were paid by Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Ltd. of Japan. Van Gogh, who was influenced by Japanese art, is highly popular in that country.

Yasuda also figures in one of the numerous controversies about the provenance of works attributed to Van Gogh. In 1987, in what was then a record sale for a work of art, Yasuda paid nearly $40 million for a painting of sunflowers signed by Van Gogh. Since then, some critics have contended that the Japanese purchased a forgery.

Between the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum, a celebrated Amsterdam gallery housing the works of Rembrandt and other Dutch masters, another gift shop has been opened selling items related to the two museums.

“That’s for people who don’t want to stand in line at the Van Gogh just to buy a postcard or something else,” Vandamme said.