Interactive Vincent van Gogh Village Museum

The Van Gogh Village Museum tells the story of Vincent van Gogh’s two-year stay in Nuenen, near the city of Eindhoven, without showing a single original Van Gogh painting. The village is completely dedicated to the painter: a bronze statue of the Potato Eaters on the village square and the names of a hotel and several restaurants refer to Vincent himself or one of his works.

The Van Gogh Village Museum

A visit to the museum starts with a film about Vincent in the Netherlands, based on his many letters. The exhibition shows his period in Nuenen by means of objects, audio fragments, letters and reproductions of his paintings. The Van Gogh Village Museum also shows the hard life of ordinary Brabant farmers in the nineteenth century. For selfie fans, there is the Potato Eaters room where visitors can sit at the table where the potato eaters sit in the painting.

Highlights of the Museum

Reproductions of Paintings
The museum displays several replicas of Van Gogh’s works. The Potato Eaters is the most famous painting he made during his stay in Nuenen. You can view this work of art in detail and get an idea of its background and meaning. The original work hangs in the Kröller Müller Museum in the village of Otterlo.

Letters by Van Gogh
Van Gogh was a passionate letter writer, and in the museum you can see copies of his correspondence with his brother Theo. These letters provide a unique insight into his inner world, his artistic vision and the circumstances in which he worked.

Drawings and Sketches
In addition to paintings, Van Gogh also made many drawings and sketches. These works show a different perspective of the artist’s creativity.

Van Gogh in Nuenen

The museum provides a detailed overview of Van Gogh’s time in Nuenen (1883-1885). You will learn about his daily life in the village, his encounters with the local population, and how this influenced the development of his artistic style.

In the two years that Van Gogh lived in Nuenen, he made 195 paintings, 313 drawings, 25 watercolours and 19 sketches. This is a quarter of his total oeuvre.

photo: reconstruction of the room where the potato eaters posed for Vincent

Interactive Exhibitions

Interactive displays illustrate Van Gogh’s influence on the art world. The interactive light lab shows how he played with colour and contrast to emphasize certain aspects of his paintings.

By letting the lamps shine fully or dim them, visitors experience the effect of lighting. It took Van Gogh many months to discover the connection between light and colour, but in the light lab visitors discover this in just a few minutes.

Reconstruction of his Studio

The museum contains a partial reconstruction of the studio where Vincent made his paintings and drawings. This gives visitors a better understanding of the working conditions in which the artist found himself.

Multimedia Presentations

Van Gogh’s works are brought to life using modern technology. There are digital presentations and projections that clarify his works.

Outdoor Museum: Van Gogh’s Nuenen

Outside the museum, you can follow walking routes along the places Vincent painted. These locations are marked and show you the surroundings that inspired him.

A map with a walking route (4 km or 10 km) of the Van Gogh walk is for sale in the museum. The route goes past the site where Vincent painted the Potato Eaters (the house has now been demolished) and the church where his father was a minister. The walk starts opposite the museum at the parsonage where his parents lived.

The Real Works of Van Gogh

Van Gogh has its own museum in Amsterdam where you can see most of his paintings. If you want to avoid the always busy Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, go to the Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch or the Kröller Müller Museum in Otterlo in the Veluwe region where a number of his paintings are on display.

Getting there

Nuenen is located 11 km north-east of Eindhoven. There is a train connection from Amsterdam Central Station via Utrecht to Eindhoven where you change to bus 404.
The distance between Amsterdam and Nuenen is 126 km via the A2.

Address: Van Gogh Village Museum, Berg 29, Nuenen
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 – 17:00, closed on Monday