Flying Fox
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, October-November 1884
oil on canvas, 41.5 cm x 79.0 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
This is a type of tropical bat – an unusual subject for an artist. The one painted by Van Gogh was stuffed and mounted. Just look at its stiff, unnatural pose.
Van Gogh knew a man in Eindhoven (NL), Antoon Hermans, with a collection of more than 300 mounted exotic animals. This bat may have come from that collection. Van Gogh wanted to depict the translucent wings clearly, so he placed a light source behind them.
- F-number
- F0177a
- JH-number
- JH1192
- Object number
- s0136V1973
- Dimensions
- 41.5 cm x 79.0 cm, 60 cm x 97.5 cm, 8.0 cm
- Provenance
- Probably left by the artist with his mother, A.C. van Gogh-Carbentus, Nuenen/Breda, sometime between November 1885 and February 1886; given in safekeeping to Janus Schrauwen, Breda, April 1888; left with Janus Schrauwen by A.C. van Gogh-Carbentus after her move to Leiden, 1889; sold by Janus Schrauwen to Jan C. Couvreur, 14 August 1902; sold by Jan C. Couvreur to Kees Mouwen Jr and Willem van Bakel, Breda, 1902-03; given on consignment by Kees Mouwen Jr and Willem van Bakel to Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Rotterdam; 1904 sold by Kunstzalen Oldenzeel to A.F. Philips, Eindhoven, probably at their exhibition (Tentoonstelling van werken door Vincent van Gogh), cat. 36 (Vleermuis (vampier)); after his death on 7 October 1951 inherited by his widow A.H.E.M. Philips-de Jongh, Eindhoven; after her death on 7 March 1970 bequeathed to her inheritance; sold by the inheritance to the Theo van Gogh Foundation, Laren and transferred to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Tokyo, Sompo Museum of Art, Van Gogh and Still Life: From Tradition to Innovation, 17 October 2023-21 January 2024, no. 5
Arles, Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, Vincent van Gogh: vitesse & aplomb, 2 March-30 June 2019
Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Beauté animale, 21 March-16 July 2012
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Tierschau. Wie unser Bild vom Tier entstand, 16 March-5 August 2007
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Carnegie Museum of Art, Fierce Friends. Artists & Animals in the Industrial Era 1750-1900, 25 March-27 August 2006, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Beestachtig mooi. Kijken naar dieren 1750-1900, 5 October 2005-5 February 2006, no. zonder nr.
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Carnegie Museum of Art, Light! The Industrial Age, 1750-1900: Art & Science, Technology & Society, 1750-1900, 7 April-29 July 2001, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Licht! Het industriële tijdperk 1750-1900. Kunst en wetenschap, technologie & samenleving, 20 October 2000-11 February 2001, no. zonder nr.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 17 January-16 May 1999, no. 19
Washington, National Gallery of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 4 October 1998-3 January 1999, no. 19
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, De schilders van Tachtig. Nederlandse schilderkunst 1880-1895, 1 March-26 May 1991, no. 39
Glasgow, Burrell Collection, The Age of Van Gogh. Dutch Painting 1880-1895, 10 November 1990-10 February 1991, no. 24
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Zonder titel [Presentatie in het museum], 20 December 1983-February 1984
Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts (Bordeaux), Nature morte de Brueghel à Soutine, 5 May-1 September 1978, no. 165
Rotterdam, Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Tentoonstelling van werken door Vincent van Gogh, 10 November-18 December 1904, no. 36
Bergsma, Rieta, Bionda, Richard W.A., Blotkamp, Carel, Endt, Enno, Smoorenburg, Sanne van, age of Van Gogh : dutch painting 1880-1895, 1990, p. 133-134