Vincent van Gogh. Pittore colto

In collaboration with the Kröller-Müller Museum in OtterloCurated by Francesco Poli with Mariella Guzzoni and Aurora Canepari

The exhibition “Vincent van Gogh. Cultured painter “, produced by 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE and promoted by the Municipality of Milan-Cultura, and with Fondazione Deloitte as Institutional Partner, is made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, which has an extraordinary collection of paintings and drawings by the Dutch painter second only to that of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

About 40 of the works on display come from the Dutch museum, including extraordinary masterpieces such as the studies of heads and figures for The Potato Eaters, and drawings of seamstresses and gleaners from the Dutch phase; Moulin de la Galette, Self-Portrait, Interior of a Restaurant, Still Life with Statuette and Books, from the Parisian years (1886-87); Orchard Surrounded by Cypresses, View of Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer.

Through an itinerary at once chronological and thematic, the exhibition offers a novel reading of Van Gogh’s works that particularly highlights the relationship between the artist’s pictorial vision and the depth of his cultural dimension, through the development of two major themes: on the one hand that of his passionate interest in books, and on the other the fascination with Japan fueled by his love of Japanese prints, which he collected in large numbers.

A third theme of essential importance to the painter’s artistic formation was the influence on him of Jean-François Millet, a great master of art and life for Vincent. Millet’s profoundly religious view of nature is the model of reference from which he drew inspiration for his choice to become a painter. The exhibition is curated by art historian Professor Francesco Poli, Mariella Guzzoni, researcher and curator of the thread “Van Gogh: Living with Books,” which runs throughout the exhibition, and Aurora Canepari, curator in charge of the Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art in Genoa, curator of the section “Van Gogh and Japanism.”