The First Painting by Van Gogh in a Dutch Public Collection Undergoes Restoration at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

The collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, consists of around 151,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, decorative objects, and artifacts dating from the 13th century to the present day. The TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund supported the restoration of the painting Poplars near Nuenen (1885) by Vincent van Gogh, a key work in the museum’s collection, in 2022. Poplars near Nuenen was the first painting by Van Gogh in a Dutch public collection, having been gifted to the museum in 1903 by 26 Rotterdam friends of the arts. The painting marks the transition from Van Gogh’s darker style connected to his works created in the Netherlands to the lighter work he pursued under the influence of the Impressionists while in France. Van Gogh painted Poplars near Nuenen while working in the Netherlands and subsequently took the work with him when he moved to Paris—there are indications that he added small touches of brighter colors while active in France.

The painting has been exhibited in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s permanent collection for many years and is intended to remain on display for years to come. However, the paint layer was extremely fragile and unstable, thus the risk of further damage was very high. The painting suffered from upstanding and lifting paint and many small losses along pronounced cracks. The restoration treatment, which started in fall 2022, focuses on consolidating the loose paint and possibly removing the varnish. It also aims to stabilize the painting, preserve it for the future, and improve the work aesthetically.

During the first stage of the process, the museum pursued in-depth research in preparation of the complex conservation. In collaboration with the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) and in consultation with specialists from the Van Gogh Museum, the museum conducted extensive technical research to gain a deeper understanding of Van Gogh’s material use and techniques and to determine which treatment should be used.

The most important result from this initial research is insight into the fragile condition of the paint, shares Head of Conservation and Restoration Christel van Hees. “The painting shows strong crack formation and areas of raised paint—which can be explained in part by the fact that Van Gogh painted the work over another painting (presumably in 1884), which had not yet hardened properly.” In X-ray imagery and macro-XRF scans this underlying depiction has been made visible, depicting the Old Tower and Clemens Church in Nuenen. The former was demolished in the spring of 1885, making it possible to date the underlying depiction before this time.

Paint samples and the macro-XRF scans have also given insights into the pigments used by Van Gogh and the layer structure of the paint. “Between the two representations, a thin protein varnish was found by the State Cultural Heritage Agency research team,” shares Van Hees, “which, together with the degraded pigment zinc white, used in the air, likely contributed to the adhesion problems in the painting.” Additionally, an analysis of the pigments has shown that Van Gogh added paint strokes at a later point in time, using the more “modern” pigments cobalt and cerulean blue—which match with his later palette when under the influence of the Impressionist paintings he would see in Paris.

In 2023, the project continued with the removal of the paintings varnish layer. The sensitivity of certain pigments to moisture determines the current progress of the treatment. “Very controlled, under the microscope, very small pieces at a time, are stripped of varnish and the paint is consolidated. This will probably take until the end of 2024,” according to Van Hees. “There is regular consultation with fellow conservators from the Van Gogh Museum, the Kröller-Müller Museum, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, and the University of Amsterdam about the progress of the project. The labor-intensive process is proceeding very satisfactorily, and the painting is gaining tremendous color and clarity. With the reduction of the sealing varnish, the paint strokes also become more visible, and the painting regains its depth.”