Rarely seen landscape by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) made the watercolour during his stay in Drenthe. The colourful watercolour has been in a Canadian family collection for more than 40 years and has never been exhibited in all that time. Landscape with a Farm (1883) can be admired at the Drents Museum in Assen from 11 September 2023 to 7 January 2024.

Over the past eight years, the Drents Museum has conducted extensive research into Vincent van Gogh's Drenthe period. In addition to sixteen watercolours and drawings, only six paintings from this period are known today. The current whereabouts of some works cannot be traced. The exhibition Travelling with Vincent features sixteen Drenthe Van Goghs from museums and private collections from all over the world. It is unique for the museum to present so many works from that era together. Also on display are paintings, watercolours and drawings made by Van Gogh prior to and following the Drenthe period.

A new landscape

For the relatively unknown watercolour Landscape with a farm, Vincent van Gogh used a phenomenal colour palette. The work foreshadows the later rich colouring for which Van Gogh is known. As far as we know, this watercolour has not been shown in a museum presentation before.

Inspiration and experimentation

Van Gogh's time spent in Drenthe was important in his development as an artist. The Drenthe landscape offered him plenty of inspiration to experiment. The exhibition and publication of the same name Op reis met Vincent (Travelling with Vincent) focuses on the technique and splendour of colour in works such as Peasant burning weeds and Landscape with a farm. Besides more than 20 Van Goghs, works by sources of inspiration and contemporaries are also on display..