The now world-famous Spring Garden, the parsonage garden in Nuenen in the spring (1884) by Vincent van Gogh is back in the Groninger Museum for the first time since the theft. The artwork was stolen four years ago and was recovered last year. It can now finally be seen by the public in the new exhibition Groninger Museum 150 years – Behind the Scenes.
Damage still visible
Investigation shows that there was damage as a result of the theft. Restorer Marjan de Visser notes that this mainly concerns the old varnish. There are a few scratches through all the layers, and in one place you can even see the linen in the primer. The research also shows new discoveries. It was most likely painted by Van Gogh on linen nailed to a frame. At an even later stage it was pasted onto a panel. Van Gogh originally started the work as a Winter Garden in 1883, but it eventually became a Spring Garden in 1884.
Behind the Scenes shows the front and back of the Spring Garden. Visitors can view the work in the museum in the condition it was returned to after the theft, with the scratches on the work still visible.
Bag also a museum piece
In 2020, the Lentetuin was stolen from Museum Singer Laren, which at the time had it on loan from the Groninger Museum. To great delight, thanks to the efforts of art detective Arthur Brand, the work of art resurfaced in 2023 – in an IKEA bag. The unique copy in which the work was returned has now also become a museum piece and can be seen in the exhibition.
Barbara Stok depicts the journey of the Spring Garden
Comic strip maker Barbara Stok tells the complete story of the Spring Garden in a gigantic comic strip that will hang in the museum, next to Van Gogh’s work. Stok depicts the painting’s journey on the walls of the museum; from the studio in Nuenen to return after the theft to the final presentation in the Groninger Museum.
Top pieces from the collection in new exhibition
In Groninger Museum 150 years – Behind the Scenes, visitors get a look behind the scenes of the museum. How are works of art preserved and how do you present them in a museum? And what is the difference between a caption for a work written by a child, a famous Dutch person like Leo Blokhuis or Chat GPT? In addition to the Van Gogh, there are many more masterpieces from the museum’s collection on display, including works by Anton Corbijn, Iris van Herpen, Jeff Koons, Alessandro Mendini, Odilon Redon, and Peter Paul Rubens.
Behind the Scenes can be seen from March 29, 2024 to June 1, 2025.
150 years of the Groninger Museum
Behind the Scenes was set up on the occasion of the celebration of 150 years of the Groninger Museum. The museum was founded more than a century and a half ago in a room of the Groningen provincial government building. At that time this was still a small collection with all kinds of ‘rarities’. In 1894, the Groninger Museum of Provincial Antiquities really opened its doors on the Praediniussingel.
Since 1994, the Groninger Museum has called the building designed by Alessandro Mendini its home. It is no longer a small room, the collection now consists of more than 60,000 pieces and more than 200,000 people visit the museum every year.
