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, 2014, p. 169-185