Frequently Asked Questions
Questions
Practical information
When is the museum open?
What exhibitions are currently on view?
Can I purchase a ticket in advance?
Are guided tours allowed in the museum?
Is there an audio tour, and in what languages?
I'm looking for press material and photographs, where can I get them?
I'm looking for Van Gogh Museum products, where can I find them?
Content
I'm looking for information on Van Gogh (or another 19th-century artist), where should I start?
What disease did Van Gogh really suffer from, and why did he cut off a piece of his left ear?
How was the Van Gogh Museum collection formed?
Why does the museum organize exhibitions about artists who have nothing to do with Van Gogh?
Is there a book on Van Gogh's letters, and are they still being researched today?
Answers:
When is the museum open?
The Van Gogh Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closed 1 January). From 27 February 2004 it will also be open every Friday evening until 10.
What exhibitions are currently on view?
For an overview of all current exhibitions click here .
Can I purchase a ticket in advance?
You can purchase a ticket from the museum cash desk at any time and it will remain valid until the end of the year. Moreover, you can also purchase your entrance ticket via the online ticket sale at this website. Tickets cannot be purchased by phone or mail.
Are guided tours allowed in the museum?
It is possible to have a guided tour of the museum, but in the summer months (June, July, and August) and on holidays (Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Christmas) they are not allowed in the permanent collection. Guided tours are permitted in the exhibitions throughout the entire year. To arrange for a guided tour, contact Arttra: tel.: +31 20 625 9303; or fax: +31 20 620 8947.
Is there an audio tour, and in what languages?
An audio tour is available in Dutch, French, Japanese, Spanish, English, German, Italian, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese.
I'm looking for press material and photographs, where can I get them?
Recent press releases and an archive are available in the press section. For all other public relations questions and photographic material, email to pressoffice@vangoghmuseum.nl
I'm looking for Van Gogh Museum products, where can I find them?
For publications, posters and other museum products visit the official Van Gogh Museum Online Shop. Here you can order items directly, to be shipped worldwide. Should you have specific questions regarding any of these products, send an email to admin@vangoghmuseumshop.com or write to 't Lanthuys BV, Online Shop, POB 75605, 1070 AP Amsterdam.
I'm looking for information on Van Gogh (or another 19th-century artist), where should I start?
The website offers lots of information on Van Gogh and other 19th-century artists ? just click on Permanent Collection or Van Gogh's life and times. There is also a study room on the second floor of the museum. Here you can find information on Van Gogh and 19th-century art via books and computers (with access to the website).
For more in-depth research you can also visit the museum's library and documentation center, open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Click here for more about the library.
Many other Dutch museums can also provide information on 19th-century art.
What disease did Van Gogh really suffer from, and why did he cut off a piece of his ear?
There has been much speculation about Van Gogh's illness. In his own time, doctors believed he had a form of epilepsy. However, he also seems to have suffered from consciousness disorders; he was depressed and suicidal, and even showed symptoms of psychosis. There were clearly defined bad periods ? his ?attacks,? which varied from a few days to several weeks ? but there were also times when he was able to concentrate fully and calmly on his work.
None of these symptoms can be blamed purely on epilepsy. In a report published in 1990, neurologist Piet Voskuil suggested that Van Gogh probably suffered from a ?biological-psychiatric functional disorder,? whereby both cognitive factors such as stress (due to loneliness and undervaluation) and an hereditary disposition also played a role. His alcohol consumption also contributed to his troubles: thujone, found in the poisonous but then-popular drink absinthe, has been shown to have an influence on the brain's epileptic activity. And such activity ? as research has demonstrated ? can often lead to psychiatric dysfunction. In short, Van Gogh had a complex of syndromes, whereby it remains difficult to clarify cause and effect.
The ear incident
At the moment Van Gogh cut off a piece of his left ear, he was experiencing one of his ?bad? periods: he was unable to sleep and suffered from hallucinations. His self-mutilation has often been described as an act of rage or desperation brought on by Gauguin's threatened departure. The most likely cause, however, was undoubtedly an approaching bout of illness. Few facts are known about the incident itself: only a brief mention in the local newspaper and Gauguin's own, much later and rather biased description have survived. Van Gogh himself makes little mention of it in his letters. He could remember almost nothing of what had happened, he claimed, and, perhaps as a way of reassuring them, reported the incident to his family as ?simply an artist's fit? (letter to Theo, 7 January 1889). He also wrote that he very much regretted having caused Gauguin so much trouble, albeit unwittingly. (For more on the events of December 1888, see www.vangoghgauguin.com.)
How was the Van Gogh Museum collection formed?
For a concise description of the origins of the collection, see History of the collection. More detailed information is provided in the Museum Guide, available in the museum and at the Online Shop.
Why does the museum organize exhibitions about artists who have nothing to do with Van Gogh?
The Van Gogh Museum is not only the repository of the largest collection in the world of works by this famous Dutch artist. Its orientation is much broader: it is a museum of the 19th century, where all aspects of 19th-century art and culture can be explored. This is why we organize exhibitions not only about Van Gogh, his friends and role-models, but also about artists who have little or nothing to do with Van Gogh. These exhibitions provide a good overview of the various styles and movements that were so characteristic of Van Gogh's century.
Is there a book on Van Gogh's letters, and are they still being researched today?
For English readers there is The complete letters of Vincent van Gogh of 1991 (3 vols.) and anthologies by, among others, Mark Roskill and Ronald de Leeuw. There are also complete and abridged editions in a variety of languages. Many of these books are available in the museum and at the Online Shop.
For several years now, the Van Gogh Museum, in cooperation with the Constantijn Huygens Institute in The Hague, has been working on a new, scholarly edition of the letters, edited by Leo Jansen and Hans Luijten. They have studied all the letters in detail and provided them with extensive annotations. The research for this new (English-language) edition will be completed within the next few years; the publication itself will probably become available in 2008-09.