The North Brabant Museum acquires Head of a Woman
The Noordbrabants Museum has once again managed to expand its steadily growing collection of works by Vincent van Gogh. The museum recently acquired a "Head of a Woman" from the vicinity of Nuenen, made in 1885. The painting was purchased through Christie's London, with funds provided by the BankGiro Lottery, individuals and companies.
Spearheading policy
Vincent van Gogh occupies an important place within the policy of The North Brabant Museum. As a provincial museum with international ambitions, the museum aims to bring together a representative overview of the Brabant oeuvre of this world-famous Brabant artist. After three smaller exhibitions in 2015 and 2017, 2019 saw the extensive exhibition Van Gogh's intimates. Friends, family, models, with loans from all over the world.
13 original Van Gogh paintings on view
In late 2016, the museum bought the watercolor 'The garden of the presbytery at Nuenen' (1885), in 2017 the painting 'Collse watermill' (1884) and in 2018 the painting 'Still life with bottles and shell' (1884). 'Head of a Woman' (1885) is the fourth acquisition of a Van Gogh in a four-year period. With the 1984 acquisition of 'Spitting Peasant Woman' (1885), the museum now owns five works by Vincent van Gogh, in addition to eight loans, bringing the number of Van Goghs on display to thirteen.
Practicing as a figure painter
The painting "Head of a Woman" is part of an important series of works produced in Nuenen, created between November 1884 and May 1885. Van Gogh wanted to become a good figure painter and produced several dozen "head studies" to that end. His progress in this field manifested itself shortly thereafter in his masterpiece "The Potato Eaters. Within the Brabant oeuvre, 'Head of a Woman' is a relatively colorful work. It is one of the few head studies with a light, colored background.
Models of the countryside
Van Gogh painted various farmers and farm workers from Nuenen and the surrounding area. With their lived-in faces, they represented hard farm life, close to nature. Van Gogh was particularly interested in models with characteristic facial features. This unknown woman with her striking appearance must have pleased Van Gogh; he captured her several times. He made the contours of her profile stand out powerfully against the light background. Playfully, his model's hair stands out behind the hat. The powerful canvas greatly enhances the collection; the museum had not yet owned a portrait.
Generous support
Such a costly acquisition is anything but self-evident for The North Brabant Museum, certainly not in the current times. Director Charles de Mooij is therefore impressed by the support the museum receives time and again from its subsidizers and sponsors: 'As with many acquisitions, this painting was acquired entirely with external funds: a large part was raised by participants of the BankGiro Lottery. The remaining amount was pledged by sponsors and individuals who have supported the museum for many years. Heartwarming!
Dorine Manson, Managing Director BankGiro Lottery: "It makes us proud that, thanks to the participants of the BankGiro Lottery, we can make this important addition to the museum's collection possible. Now that the doors of The North Brabant Museum are open again, we hope that many people will come to admire this wonderful acquisition. Especially in these times, we find it all the more important that people can come to the museum to experience art.
Expertise Van Gogh Museum
Before making the purchase, the museum asked the Van Gogh Museum's experts to examine the work. In Amsterdam, the painting was extensively examined, including by UV light, X-ray and microscope. The canvas was also analyzed, revealing that the canvas came from the same scroll as three other Nuenen works. Based on the positive findings, The Noordbrabants Museum then began negotiations with the sellers. This led to an agreement in mid-August.
Van Gogh and Brabant
The acquisition of the painting not only strengthens the collection of The North Brabant Museum, it also contributes to the further profiling of Brabant as a Van Gogh province. The province of North Brabant, through the mouth of commissioner Wil van Pinxteren (culture and other matters), has expressed its delight at the purchase.
"Wonderful that for the fourth time in four years a work by Van Gogh is returning to its native soil. In recent years, Brabant has invested heavily in a variety of Van Gogh initiatives, both through the Van Gogh Brabant project co-initiated by Het Noordbrabants Museum and through the Van Gogh Heritage Sites in Nuenen, Zundert and Etten-Leur. The development of the Van Gogh National Park is also in full swing. This represents a considerable boost to our joint approach."
