Composite details of five paintings from The Postman series
  • Composite details of five paintings from The Postman series
  • The Postman Joseph Roulin, July 31–August 3, 1888. Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). Oil on canvas; 81.3 x 65.4 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Robert Treat Paine II 35.1982, F432. Photo © 2014 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
  • The Postman Joseph Roulin, February–March 1889. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 65 x 54 cm. Collection Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo 103.101, F439.
  • The Postman (Joseph-Étienne Roulin), January–February 1889. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 65.7 x 55.2 cm. The Barnes Foundation BF37, F435. Image © 2013 The Barnes Foundation.
  • Portrait of Postman Roulin, early August 1888. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 64.1 x 47.9 cm. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II 1996.25, F433. The Bridgeman Art Library.
  • Portrait of Joseph Roulin, March 1889. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 64.4 × 55.2 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William A. M. Burden, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rosenberg, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Mr. and Mrs. Armand P. Bartos, The Sidne
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Van Gogh Repetitions

Sun, 03/02/2014 to Sun, 06/01/2014
Extended through June 1! Advance reservations strongly recommended.
The Cleveland Museum of Art and The Phillips Collection have joined together to develop a ground-breaking exhibition that will present new insights into the art of Vincent van Gogh through a study of his répétitions—a term the artist used to describe a distinctive genre of works in his oeuvre. As the first exhibition to focus specifically on pairs or groups of works by Van Gogh that feature nearly identical compositions, this project seeks to make a valuable contribution to Van Gogh scholarship and to give broad audiences a new understanding of a fascinating aspect of the artist’s work. Originally inspired by the study of the close relationship between The Cleveland Museum of Art’s The Large Plane Trees and The Phillips Collection’s The Road Menders, both dating from late 1889, this exhibition seeks to explore, clarify and build on that research by bringing together other works that shed light on Van Gogh's practice of producing repetitions.

Currently, there is considerable debate even among experts over how Van Gogh produced his repetitions. It is known that he used a perspective frame to compose some paintings, a squaring technique to enlarge painted compositions and Buhot paper to transfer some drawings to lithographic stone. The exhibition curators and conservators are working closely together to investigate the various means Van Gogh employed to produce repetitions.

Ticketed Exhibition
Adult tickets for Van Gogh Repetitions are $15 each. The exhibition is free for museum members. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 216-421-7350, in person, or online. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.

Van Gogh Repetitions is co-organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and The Phillips Collection and features exceptional loans from the Musée d'Orsay.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities and is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue of the same title as well as an online catalogue supplement, Van Gogh: New Research and Perspectives, published on the museum’s website.

 

The Postman Joseph Roulin, July 31–August 3, 1888. Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). Oil on canvas; 81.3 x 65.4 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Robert Treat Paine II 35.1982, F432. Photo © 2014 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Postman Joseph Roulin, February–March 1889. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 65 x 54 cm. Collection Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo 103.101, F439.
The Postman (Joseph-Étienne Roulin), January–February 1889. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 65.7 x 55.2 cm. The Barnes Foundation BF37, F435. Image © 2013 The Barnes Foundation.
Portrait of Postman Roulin, early August 1888. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 64.1 x 47.9 cm. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II 1996.25, F433. The Bridgeman Art Library.
Portrait of Joseph Roulin, March 1889. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas; 64.4 × 55.2 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William A. M. Burden, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rosenberg, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Mr. and Mrs. Armand P. Bartos, The Sidne