Curators’ Introduction to Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their exhibition on Van Gogh.

Christopher Riopelle and Cornelia Homburg led us around the show explaining the themes including lovers, gardens and architype portraits, and the choices they had made when hanging it. They emphasised how they wanted to put the art rather than Van Gogh’s life at the centre of the narrative.

They talked at length about the Yellow House and how he decorated it and how it became a place to show art in a new way. The best fact I learned was that Arles is full of Roman artefacts and yet Van Gogh doesn’t paint them.

There was an excellent Q&A session at the end with some intelligent questions and illuminating answers.

I have since been to the amazing show and he talk had been very useful in setting the scene and in pointing out the works on loan which are rarely on show.

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