Edvard Munch
You know that we love the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, right? Now in the museum (and partly online!) you can visit the Here to Stay: A decade of remarkable acquisitions and their stories exhibition. There aren't only van Gogh masterpieces; the museum has a vast collection of artworks created by other artists.
Aside from the artworks themselves, the stories behind the acquisitions play a central role in the exhibition. Furthermore, a varied group of people, from storage facility staff to Amsterdam residents, introduce their personal stories accompanying their favorite acquisitions from the past decade. We hope you will find it interesting. Today we present the story written by the Curator Maite van Dijk about Felix Auerbach by Edvard Munch. : )
"A painting often has an entire history before it enters the museum. The life story of this artwork really struck me. It’s a portrait of Felix Auerbach, a Jewish professor, who took his own life along with his wife in 1933 after Hitler came to power. His niece inherited the painting and in 1938 managed to escape, with all her belongings, to New York. After her death her son inherited and sold the work, which came to the Van Gogh Museum through a private owner. Recently, the son visited from Israel to stand eye to eye with Felix Auerbach. His mother had been pregnant with him the last time she saw her Uncle Felix in 1933, so for him this completed the circle."
P.S. We asked the Van Gogh Museum Staff about their favorite artworks. Here's what we learned! <3