Making Van Gogh

Everyone knows the story of Vincent van Gogh’s life, the quintessential tragedy of unrecognized genius. But how was his genius brought to light? The artist’s posthumous rise from a blighted nobody to a national hero took merely 15 years. In this exhibition, featuring 50 of Van Gogh’s key works, the Städel Museum looks at how Germans in the 20th century—gallery owners, curators, private collectors, and art critics—helped establish Van Gogh as “the father of modern art.” —E.C.