Displaying items by tag: theo van gogh

The Van Gogh Museum has for the first time acquired a work by Edgar Degas: the "La lecture après le bain" monotype. A monotype is a print of an ink drawing made on a plate. Degas’ monotypes are rare and they were a hidden treasure, because they never left his studio during his lifetime. "La lecture après le bain" is the first black monotype in any Dutch public art collection. The Mondriaan Fund and the Rembrandt Association have made this acquisition possible.

The art of Impressionist printmaking
The Van Gogh Museum has been collecting prints for decades, following the example of Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo.

A recently opened exhibition at the Beaux-Arts Mons, in Belgium examines van Gogh's stay in the Borinage (a depressed coal mining region in southern Belgium) from 1878-1880, a pivotal time during which the artist abandoned his failed attempt at a preaching career and instead embraced drawing and painting.

In a letter written to his brother Theo, he expressed his longing to draw, and started by copying prints. Van Gogh, who felt a connection with the town's peasants and workers, began to focus on scenes from their everyday lives, themes that would continue throughout the duration of his short career.