Five stars and double digits for Van Gogh Village Museum
The first three months after opening the renovated Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen have been successful. With an average of 4,500 visitors per month, the museum is scoring well above prognosis. In addition to the increased number of visitors, the appreciation for the new museum also appears to be high. Current surveys show that visitors rate the museum with a 9+. On Google, visitors even give the museum five stars.
In the appreciation survey currently being conducted, two-thirds of visitors indicate that Van Gogh Village Nuenen succeeds in showing the story behind the master, making one look at his works with renewed interest. Vincents Lichtlab, which is a special feature in the museum, thus seems to have succeeded in its purpose.
The plan to renovate and enlarge the museum took into account the growing interest in the life of Van Gogh at home and abroad. Given the current visitor figures, the museum appears to have made a golden move. With this number of visitors, the museum scores twice as high as in the same period in 2022. Director Simone van der Heiden saw in the first weeks especially many residents from the immediate area visiting. "The last few weeks, it's mostly vacationers who know how to find the new museum. And they come from the region as well as from abroad," said Simone van der Heiden.
Over 90% of museum visitors go into the village after a visit to see the Van Gogh Monuments, walk the walking route or visit the center. Van der Heiden is pleased with this because it directly benefits the hospitality industry and middle class.
Potato Eaters Cottage
The appreciation survey that will be completed in mid-September shows especially that the public is very enthusiastic about the new film Becoming Vincent and the reconstruction of the potato eater's cottage. Over a third of the visitors indicated that they found the potato eater's house in the museum interesting because they could take a seat in it themselves. This reconstruction was placed in the museum thanks to cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam and ASML. Previously, the cottage was part of an exhibition on Vincent's Brabant years at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
