Research on track

In the painting conservation studio of the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, restoration work has been carried out over the past three years on a remarkable masterpiece: The Poplars near Nuenen from 1885 and 1886 by Vincent van Gogh. During the restoration, the yellowed varnish layers were removed, the paint layer was stabilised, and areas of damage were repaired. The autumn landscape has once again come back to life. In this Depot presentation, you are given a glimpse both onto and beneath the paint surface of this work.

The Poplars near Nuenen was the first painting by Van Gogh to enter a public Dutch collection in 1903. When Van Gogh was working on the autumn landscape in 1885, he referred to it in a letter to his brother as a ‘symphony in yellow’. After 140 years, the painting required restoration. Discover the story of The Poplars near Nuenen in this temporary presentation, located opposite the restoration studios in the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Accompanying the presentation is a Boijmans Study (a scholarly publication), and a film about the restoration by Gerrit Schreurs.

Cover image: Vincent van Gogh, The Poplars near Nuenen, 1885 and 1886, in the Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen | photo: Aad Hoogendoorn