Adventures with Van Gogh

Adventures with Van Gogh is a weekly blog by Martin Bailey, our long-standing correspondent and expert on the artist. Published every Friday, his stories will range from newsy items about this most intriguing artist to scholarly pieces based on his own meticulous investigations and discoveries. © Martin Bailey

Executed by the Nazis: the story of Vincent van Gogh’s brave great-nephew

This month the Van Gogh family pays tribute to Theodoor, the 24-year-old student who faced a firing squad in 1945

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh Museum to reopen on 1 June, but with only a tenth of its usual visitors

Closure is having a catastrophic impact on the finances of the museum, which normally gets half its income from ticket sales

a blog by Martin Bailey

The astonishing tales of how the Sunflowers survived the Second World War

To mark VE Day, we investigate the fate of Van Gogh’s masterpieces under Hitler and Churchill

a blog by Martin Bailey

Home sweet home: renting the Yellow House, the high point of Van Gogh’s life

Vincent’s sunny abode had a spare bedroom, awaiting Gauguin’s arrival

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh experienced lockdown—how did isolation impact on his art?

The artist once told his sister that isolation was “sometimes as hard to bear as exile”—but was necessary “if we want to work”

a blog by Martin Bailey

Did Van Gogh cut off his whole ear? Or only a part?

Key witnesses had different memories, so sorting out myth and reality is a challenge—but the truth would give valuable insight into the artist’s psyche

a blog by Martin Bailey

A concise guide to Van Gogh’s adult life: how the artist celebrated his birthday over the years

From family gifts of cufflinks and chocolate to his darker days in the asylum, a look at where Vincent was and what he was doing on 30 March each year

a blog by Martin Bailey

In recent decades 28 Van Goghs have been stolen in the Netherlands—but all have been recovered

Detectives are intensifying their investigation into the latest crime, at Laren’s Singer museum, which was committed this week on the artist’s birthday

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh’s trusty pipe: how the artist believed that smoking helped his art

Vincent lay in bed, puffing away and dreamily composing his pictures

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh’s theory on Degas’s success with female nudes

A three-volume set of The Letters of Edgar Degas—including ten with references to the Van Gogh brothers—is due to be published in April

a blog by Martin Bailey

Tacita Dean’s ancestors brought a Van Gogh painting to England in 1896—now she wants to track it down

The UK artist is on the hunt for the Parisian restaurant scene, now with a secretive Texan collector

a blog by Martin Bailey

Great lovers of Van Gogh: Swiss couple's private collection goes on show in Vienna

The Albertina mounts a display of the Hahnlosers' relatively unknown treasures

a blog by Martin Bailey

A Van Gogh and a Monet: you win one and lose another

The Dutchman’s newly attributed Oslo self-portrait is unveiled in an Amsterdam exhibition, while the Frenchman’s bohemian portrait suffers a downgrading

a blog by Martin Bailey

Kirk Douglas played Van Gogh in 1950s film Lust for Life: a look at the biopic and the myths it made

The Hollywood star, who died last week aged 103, became famous for his portrayal of the "tortured artist"

a blog by Martin Bailey

The €15m Van Gogh which was once sold in a farmyard auction for just £4

Now heading to Maastricht, the painting of a peasant cottage will be a highlight of the Tefaf fair

a blog by Martin Bailey

Wooing Dutch visitors and an impending birthday: the challenges facing Van Gogh Museum's new director

Emilie Gordenker, from the Mauritshuis, will move from the Golden Age to the birth of Modernism when she takes up her role next week

a blog by Martin Bailey

Nine Van Gogh 'fakes' that have emerged as the real thing

The Oslo self-portrait and other paintings have been authenticated by the artist’s museum

a blog by Martin Bailey

Is a Van Gogh self-portrait hidden in a London attic?


An intriguing letter suggests that Vincent made a very unusual sale to England

a blog by Martin Bailey

Want to buy a Van Gogh? Sotheby’s has four works with (relatively) modest estimates

Unseen for 25 years, they all come from a very private American collector

a blog by Martin Bailey

From surprising sales to emotional discoveries: the Van Gogh stories of 2019

The top exhibitions, books and auction news this year—plus the astonishing tale of the gun

a blog by Martin Bailey

Two Van Goghs sold from the recovered hoard of an Italian fraudster

One painting was hidden in a Parma cellar, leading to the discovery of the Tanzi Treasure

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Ten myths about Vincent van Gogh

Why stories—from the mutilated ear to the eventual suicide—can distort our view of the art

a blog by Martin Bailey

A good catch: The Mackerels now looks set to be authenticated as a genuine Van Gogh

The still life in Switzerland’s Reinhart collection was dismissed as a forgery

a blog by Martin Bailey

For sale: two Van Gogh paintings come up at Sotheby’s New York next week

One of the works was looted by the Nazis from Jewish collector Jacques Goudstikker, but is now being sold by his heir after restitution

a blog by Martin Bailey

Two Van Gogh exhibitions in a single week

After the Frankfurt show opens, another on still lifes comes to Potsdam—17 years after Germany’s last presentation on the artist

a blog by Martin Bailey

Van Gogh and Germany: Frankfurt mounts best show on the artist in recent years

Städel Museum tells the story of Germany's love affair with the painter, which ended in tragedy with Hitler’s rise to power

a blog by Martin Bailey

Methodical, well read and—above all—human: what we learn from the myth-busting edition of Van Gogh’s letters

A decade after the publication of Vincent's trove of correspondence, here is how the remarkable project has contributed to scholarship on his art

a blog by Martin Bailey