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Arts Intel Report

Van Gogh's Home

Vincent van Gogh, The Bedroom, 1889.

July 5 – Aug 31, 2025
1-82 Chausuyamacho, Tennoji Ward, Osaka, 543-0063, Japan

They say home is where the heart is, but for Vincent van Gogh, home wasn’t in Arles—it was with his brother and closest confidant, Theo. Van Gogh committed suicide in July 1890, and just six months later Theo, grieving and weak, died of late-stage neurosyphilis. It was Theo’s wife, Jo, who dedicated herself to making the public aware of her brother-in-law’s genius; she lent works to exhibitions, published his letters, and managed the vast collection. The paintings eventually passed to her son, Vincent Willem, who founded the Van Gogh Museum, in Amsterdam. This exhibition, which includes 30 paintings and four letters, explores how the artist’s legacy was preserved and passed down by his family. “I have hopes, brother,” Van Gogh wrote to Theo in 1882, “that in a few years, and even now already, you’ll gradually see things by me that will give you some recompense for your sacrifices.” —Elena Clavarino

Photo: The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection