Vincent van Gogh

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
Podcastspodcast

Art theft: are museums safe under lockdown?

Plus, Laura Cumming on Breugel. Produced in association with Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. , with guest speaker Martin Bailey. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

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

How Van Gogh’s handwritten texts were tragically chopped up

The artist copied poems and hymns into an album that belonged to his London landlady; our investigations reveal that, around 100 years later, an unknown perpetrator cut the pages into pieces in order to make a quick buck

Birthday heist: Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum on anniversary of artist's birth

The Singer Laren museum in the Netherlands is currently on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic

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

Dickinson sells €15m Van Gogh painting at Tefaf Maastricht—the highest value reported sale so far at the Dutch fair

Peasant Woman in front of a Farmhouse, once sold in a farmyard auction for £4, sold to a private collector

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

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers caught up in Tokyo coronavirus quarantine

Japanese government instructs national art museums to close for two weeks — shutting the door on London’s National Gallery travelling show, on the eve of opening

British Museum shows its only Van Gogh portrait for the first time

The etched portrait of Dr Gachet, who tended to the artist after he shot himself, was donated by the doctor's son

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

Not a fake: Van Gogh self-portrait is his only work painted while suffering psychosis, experts say

The newly attributed work is quite unlike Van Gogh’s other 35 self-portraits and reveals an intriguing insight into his mutilated ear

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

a blog by Martin Bailey

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

Van Gogh's Sunflowers will leave London for over a year as Australian show is added to loan tour

Masterpiece from London's National Gallery is headed for Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia

Two Dutch museums join forces to buy rare, $3m Van Gogh painting at Sotheby's New York

Work acquired by Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Drents Museum in Assen is one of few to survive from the artist's visit to Drenthe