Vincent van Gogh’s work influenced the painters of the De Ploeg movement. New research by Mariëtta Jansen, guest curator of the exhibition How Van Gogh Came to Groningen, reveals the story of how it happened. In the 1890s, displays of work by Van Gogh and others at the Groninger Museum had a profound impact on the local art scene, collectors, and most of all, the painters of De Ploeg. The book Hoe Van Gogh naar Groningen kwam (How Van Gogh Came to Groningen) tells the tale. It comes out on 30 November, as the eponymous show opens.
The source: an 1896 exhibition
The book and the exhibition developed out of Jansen’s research. Working as the museum’s De Ploeg curator, she became curious about Van Gogh’s obvious influence on De Ploeg. How did it come about? Could it be traced back to events in Groningen? Through her investigations, Jansen uncovered a fascinating story of influences and insights stretching far beyond the iconic painter’s history. “The 1896 exhibition was the source,” said Jansen, the guest curator of the new show. “It was a stone in the water. We can’t see the stone, but we can see the ripples it caused. In the new show we try to reconstruct that lost stone.”
Ground-breaking art
It’s a unique tale within a tale: an 1896 Vincent van Gogh exhibition at the Groninger Museum becomes the subject of a 2024 Van Gogh show at the same institution. The story begins 128 years ago, when the organisers of the first exhibition, all students at the university, met. Scientific discovery and urban growth were flourishing in tandem in Groningen. The group – including Johan Huizinga, who later became a famous cultural historian – felt free to experiment and bring ground-breaking art to the city.
Van Gogh wasn’t the only artist whose work the students exhibited. Between 1895 and 1897, they also staged shows featuring contemporary artists such as Theo van Hoytema, Johan Thorn Prikker, and Jan Toorop. Toorop came to Groningen for the occasion and dined with students and professors. In his wake, the art educator H.P. Bremmer arrived from The Hague. Prominent local citizens took lessons from Bremmer at the psychology professor Gerard Heymans’ house and began collecting art, including work by Van Gogh.
Franciscus Hermanus Bach, an instructor at the Minerva Art Academy who had designed tile pictures for the new railway station in the year of the Van Gogh exhibition, saw the show and praised it in a letter to the editor. “That was a great lead,” Jansen said. "He undoubtedly would have passed on his knowledge of Van Gogh to the De Ploeg painters.”
Hoe Van Gogh naar Groningen kwam, published by Wbooks and edited by Anneke de Vries, Belle de Rode and Mariëtta Jansen, goes on sale 30 November 2024 at the Groninger Museum shop and bookstores in the Netherlands. The book also includes all texts in English.
Note the editor, not for publication
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