Large Van Gogh exhibition in Brabant

Vincent's Inner Circle

From September 21, 2019 to January 12, 2020, Het Noordbrabants Museum will host a unique Van Gogh exhibition: Van Gogh's Inner Circle. This exhibition offers an overview of the people who played an important role in Van Gogh's life and work. His complex relationships with family, friends and fellow artists, students and models from Brabant to southern France were usually strong and long-lasting, but sometimes ended in estrangement. The exhibition is composed of famous works from home and abroad. Some of them have never before been seen in the Netherlands and have never before been combined in one exhibition. The exhibition includes portraits and other works by Van Gogh and his fellow artists, such as Gauguin and Signac.

Friendship Roulin family
One of the works that will be shown is the portrait of Augustine Roulin, the wife of Joseph Roulin, who worked as a postal clerk at the Arles train station. Van Gogh often came there to send paintings to his brother Theo in Holland. They became close friends. In a letter to Theo, he characterizes him as "a man not bitter, not gloomy, not perfect, not happy, nor always impeccably honest. During Van Gogh's crisis, when he had cut his ear in a fit of insanity, Roulin proved to be a "close friend"; he kept Theo informed of Vincent's condition through letters. And even after Vincent was admitted to the asylum in Saint-Rémy, Roulin continued to correspond with him.

'La Berceuse' comes to Brabant
Vincent was always looking for models. When given the opportunity to also paint Joseph's wife Augustine and their three children, he seized the opportunity with both hands. In all, he produced as many as twenty portraits of the Roulin family. One of the showpieces during the exhibition at Het Noordbrabants Museum is La Berceuse, portrait of Madame Roulin (December 1888 - January 1889). Berceuse means cradle or lullaby. The cord in her hand allows her to rock her baby's cradle. Van Gogh had a special intention with this portrait. He was not so much concerned with the likeness of Mrs. Roulin as with the mood of the painting. Augustine symbolizes motherhood. The title and the colors, like the musical notes in a lullaby, were meant to evoke a feeling of comfort and warmth in the people who see the painting. The dark background is dotted with dahlias, which are represented in a simplified way. Van Gogh painted this portrait in the first months of 1889. During this period he frequently applied a floral motif as a background, but after that it does not appear in his oeuvre. 'La Berceuse' is on loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum.

At the exhibition at Het Noordbrabants Museum, the paintings are complemented by drawings, letters, photographs and poetry for even more insight into his relationships. A surprising new look at one of the world's greatest artists.

Het Noordbrabants Museumis the place to discover the wealth of Brabant's art, culture and history. Valuable knowledge and the cultural heritage of Brabant is preserved and exhibited here, where education, artistic quality and emotion are the main starting points for presentations and activities.

Largest museum in the south
The modern addition of the Stedelijk Museum to the historic building at Het Noordbrabants Museum created the Museum Quarter: the largest museum in the South.