The Kingfisher
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, March 1884
pencil, pen and brush and ink, paint, on paper, 40.2 cm x 54.2 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
You have to know the title of this large painting to find the subject. Just above the tufted reeds, a small figure is plunging towards the water at full speed: a kingfisher. Van Gogh used pen and ink over a preliminary drawing in pencil. He added a few accents in opaque white paint for the frost-covered plants along the bank. There is also a little white on the kingfisher's wings.
Van Gogh signed this drawing and sent it to the artist Anthon van Rappard (1858-1892). Soon afterwards, he sent him the poem by Jules Breton (1827-1906) on which the scene is based.
- F-number
- F1135
- JH-number
- JH0468
- Object number
- d0775M1982
- Dimensions
- 40.2 cm x 54.2 cm
- Provenance
- With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after March 1884; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; sold by Jo van Gogh-Bonger at the exhibition Rotterdam, Rotterdamsche Kunstkring (Tentoonstelling van teekeningen van Vincent van Gogh) cat.28 (Gezicht op de pastorietuin te Nuenen) to J.J. Polak, Rotterdam, for NLG 150, February 1901; after his death on 19 February 1920 inherited by his widow S. Polak-Franco Mendes, Rotterdam; after her death on 9 January 1940 inherited by her son H. Polak, Wassenaar; after his death on 6 October 1969 inherited by his widow M.M. Polak-Leyden, Wassenaar and their son M.E. Polak, Hillegom; given on loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, 1975-82; after the death of M.M. Polak-Leyden on 21 November 1980 with her son M.E. Polak, Hillegom; sold by M.E. Polak to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, 1982, at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Amsterdam, Hermitage Amsterdam, Vincent. Het Van Gogh Museum in de Hermitage Amsterdam, 29 September 2012-25 April 2013
Vienna, Albertina, Vincent van Gogh. Gezeichnete Bilder, 4 September-7 December 2008, no. 21
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. The Drawings, 12 October-31 December 2005, no. 23
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh tekenaar. De meesterwerken, 2 July-18 September 2005, no. 23
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincent van Gogh tekeningen. Nuenen 1883-1885, 20 June-12 October 1997, no. zonder nr.
Otterlo, Kröller-Müller Museum, Vincent van Gogh. Tekeningen, 30 March-29 July 1990, no. 91
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Vincent van Gogh, 28 January-4 April 1988, no. 67
Den Bosch, Noordbrabants Museum, Van Gogh in Brabant. Schilderijen en tekeningen uit Etten en Nuenen, 2 November 1987-10 January 1988, no. 72
Ōsaka, National Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh from Dutch collections. Religion, humanity, nature, 21 February-31 March 1986, no. 7
Nagoya, Nagoya City Art Museum, Vincent van Gogh exhibition, 21 December 1985-2 February 1986, no. 40
Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo), Vincent van Gogh exhibition, 12 October-8 December 1985, no. 40
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Zonder titel [Presentatie in het museum], 20 December 1983-February 1984
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Een nieuwe keuze uit de collectie tekeningen en prenten, 5 July-28 November 1982
Glasgow, City Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890. An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, 21 February-14 March 1948, no. 118
Birmingham (England), City Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890. An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, 24 January-14 February 1948, no. 118
London, Tate Gallery, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890. An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, 10 December 1947-14 January 1948, no. 118
Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 11 October-23 November 1947, no. 131
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, Kersttentoonstelling in het Museum Boijmans, 23 December 1927-16 January 1928, no. 45
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Tentoonstelling Vincent van Gogh, 15 July-1 September 1905, no. 344bis
Rotterdam, Rotterdamsche Kunstkring, Tentoonstelling van teekeningen van Vincent van Gogh, 23 December 1900-10 February 1901, no. 28
Paris, Galerie Vollard, [Vincent van Gogh], December 1896-February 1897
Leiden, Museum De Lakenhal, Teekeningen van Vincent van Gogh, 25 April-1 May 1893
The Hague, Haagsche Kunstkring [Buitenhof], Werken van Vincent van Gogh, 16 May-6 June 1892, no. onbekend
Overbruggen, Peter van, Thielemans, Jos, Van domineeshuis tot Van Goghhuis 1764 - 2014 : 250 jaar pastorie Nuenen en haar bewoners, Nuenen, 2014, p. 169-185
Berger, Helewise, Dirven, Ron, Grandjean, Jacqueline, Atlas Van Gogh in Brabant, Zwolle, 2023, p. 91
Lloyd, Christopher, Impressionist and post-impressionist drawings, London, 2019, p. 228, 233
Peeters, Ronald, Thorissen, Emy, In de Brabantse voetsporen van Vincent van Gogh : landschap, boerenleven en thuiswevers gefotografeerd van 1865-1920, Tilburg, 2018, p. 61
Williamson, Paul, Brouwer, Ton de, Prins, Laura, Hackney, Stephen, The new potato eaters : Van Gogh in Nuenen 1883-1885, Cambridge, 2015, p. 83, 123
Uitert, Evert van, Hoyle, Michael, Crimpen, Han van, The Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, 1987, p. 403
Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh te Amsterdam : verslag van de hoofddirecteur over het jaar 1982, Amsterdam, 1983, p. 90
Vellekoop, Marije, Hendriks, Ella, Jansen, Leo, Meedendorp, Teio, Bakker, Nienke, Dijk, Maite van, Van Gogh's studio practice, Amsterdam, 2013, p. 427
Heslewood, Juliet, Van Gogh : a life in places, London, 2019, p. 72
Heugten, Sjraar van, Curiger, Bice, Clergue, Yolande, Van Gogh : colours of the north, colours of the south, Arles, 2014, p. 48-49
Heugten, Sjraar van, Curiger, Bice, Clergue, Yolande, Van Gogh : coulours du nord, coulours du sud, Arles, 2014, p. 48-49
Schröder, Klaus Albrecht, Widauer, Heinz, Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Leeman, Fred, Bailey, Martin, Van Gogh : gezeichnete Bilder, Köln, 2008, p. 162-163
Schröder, Klaus Albrecht, Widauer, Heinz, Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Leeman, Fred, Bailey, Martin, Meedendorp, Teio, Van Gogh : heartfelt lines, Köln, 2008, p. 162-163
Vellekoop, Marije, Bakker, Nienke, Dijk, Maite van, Hendriks, Ella, Van Gogh aan het werk, Amsterdam, 2013, p. 76
Kendall, Richard, Heugten, Sjraar van, Stolwijk, Chris, Van Gogh and nature, Williamstown, 2015, p. 20, 38-39, 52, 74
Heugten, Sjraar van, Greer, Joan Eileen, Gott, Ted, Van Gogh and the Seasons, Victoria, 2017, p. 18-19
Vellekoop, Marije, Bakker, Nienke, Dijk, Maite van, Geldof, Muriel, Hendriks, Ella, Reissland, Birgit, Van Gogh at work, Amsterdam, 2019, p. 76, 156
Heugten, Sjraar van, Van Gogh drawings : influences & innovations, Arles, 2015, p. 89, 91, 102, 110
Uitert, Evert van, Van Gogh in Brabant : schilderijen en tekeningen uit Etten en Nuenen, Zwolle, cop. 1987, p. 203
Heugten, Sjraar van, Vellekoop, Marije, Zwikker, Roelie, Van Gogh tekenaar : de meesterwerken, Amsterdam, 2016, p. 58-59, 62, 186
Jansen, Leo, Suijver, Renske, Blokland, Ann, Vincent, Amsterdam, 2012, p. 146-151
Frezzotti, Stefanie, Heugten, Sjraar van, Pagnotta, Francesca, Vincent van Gogh, Milaan; Rome, 1988, [unpaged]
Pey, E.B.F., Pickvance, Ronald, Wolk, J. van der, Vincent van Gogh : tekeningen, Milaan, 1990, p. 148
Heugten, Sjraar van, Vincent van Gogh drawings : volume 2 : Nuenen 1883-1885 : Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam ; Bussum, 1997, p. 90-94
Heugten, Sjraar van, Vincent van Gogh tekeningen : Nuenen 1883-1885 : Van Gogh Museum : 2, Bussum, 1997, p. 90-94
Peeters, Ronald, Thorissen, Emy, Wandering through Vincent van Gogh's Brabant : landscape, farming life artisan weavers photographed 1865-1920, Tilburg, 2018, p. 61