Vive l’impressionnisme! Unseen treasures at the Van Gogh Museum

150 years since a fateful show – featuring the likes of Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot and Paul Cézanne – prompted a critic to refer for the first time to an “exhibition of the Impressionists”, Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum is inviting visitors to discover elusive but important works drawn from Dutch museums and private collections across the Netherlands.

Opening on 11 October, ‘Vive l’impressionnisme! Masterpieces from Dutch Collections’ will showcase a remarkable collection of French Impressionist masterpieces from 12 Dutch museums and private collections, brought together for the first time through a groundbreaking national collaboration. 

Visitors can expect to see notable works by artists such as Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, and Paul Cézanne, alongside a selection of delicate pastels, sculptures, drawings, and prints. Also shedding light on the significant role that individuals including art dealer Theo Van Gogh played in bringing the movement to the Netherlands, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to explore the breadth of the Impressionist movement and its impact on the country.

The exhibition will kick off with two striking paintings by Vincent Van Gogh: ‘Avenue of Poplars in Autumn’ (1884) and ‘Horse Chestnut Tree in Blossom’ (1887). In their juxtaposition, these works highlight the stylistic nuances of Van Gogh’s creations from both France and the Netherlands. Further highlights include Claude Monet’s vibrant landscapes of tulips and windmills, which will be paired with a selection of Rodin’s figurative bronze sculptures, echoing their historic exhibition together at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1889 and recontextualising sculpture within the Impressionist movement.

‘Vive l’impressionnisme!’ will also shine a spotlight on the influential women artists who shaped the movement, including Berthe Morisot, Marie Bracquemond, Eva Gonzalès, and Mary Cassatt.

Art lovers in Amsterdam with more of a penchant for the contemporary will be glad to hear that the exhibition will conclude with an installation by light artist Nick Verstand, titled ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ (2024) – a projected piece animating the iconic paintings, exploring the contemporary resonance of this enduring movement.

“It’s a privilege and an honour to create this exposition. Through masterpieces from Dutch collections the Van Gogh Museum shows the reception of Impressionism in our country. In this way we celebrate 150 years of Impressionism in our own way,” the show’s curator, Fleur Roos Rosa de Carvalho, told Euronews Culture.

‘Vive l’impressionnisme! Masterpieces from Dutch Collections’ runs from 11 October 2024 – 26 January 2025 at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.