Ettense Van Gogh bookmark discovered

Three drawings by Vincent van Gogh were recently found, made in Etten (-Leur). The drawings are interesting because they are new and were totally unknown. Something like this is still rare. Van Gogh made the drawings in the fall of 1881, at the beginning of his artistic career. Two years later, the painter sent them in a book to his friend Anthon van Rappard. After the latter died in 1892 at the age of 33, the book and bookmark remained in the possession of his family. In 2019, they sold the possessions to the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam. This considers the drawings special acquisitions.

According to Van Gogh connoisseur Martin Bailey of The Art Newspaper, Van Gogh chose a very unusual format, a vertical strip of paper. The drawings were found in a book and they were exactly the same length as the book, 28 centimeters long and 5 centimeters wide. This not only makes it look like a bookmark, there is a strong suspicion - said Teio Meedendorp, senior researcher at the Van Gogh Museum - that Van Gogh also intended it to be a bookmark.

The three drawings show a woman walking along a row of pollarded willows, a man by a fire and a seated woman. They are all motifs that Van Gogh repeated, refined and painted later in his life.

The drawings made in pencil are part of the exhibition 'Unprecedented. 10 years of extraordinary acquisitions and their stories' at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. On view through September 12.

ACTION

The Etten-Leur Tourist Information Point, in collaboration with the Vincent van Gogh Etten-Leur Foundation, has initiated a special replica of the Van Gogh bookmark. On one side there are the Van Gogh drawings and on the other side three special photos, taken by volunteer Ria Mol. The photos were taken with local models (Van Gogh volunteers) in virtually the same attire as Van Gogh's models, posing in virtually the same way. The bookmark is also almost the same size as the original. A collector's item in other words.

Visit the Van Gogh Church Etten-Leur now and receive not only a city tour for free, but also this unique bookmark!
(While supplies last and in stock).