Three Important Women in Vincent van Gogh’s Life
‘Behind every great man is a great woman’, this well-known proverb certainly also applies to Vincent van Gogh.
"I never wanted to be a museum director. It took me a long time to figure out that I wanted to be involved in art history at all. I found my career path thanks to my ‘holy trinity’, three men born in 1923: my father, my professor and the curator of paintings at the British Royal Collection. All three taught me wisely and always made me feel I could achieve anything I wanted so long as I applied myself.
Fear of failure is the worst reason not to go after something. You will learn much more from your failures – if it comes to that – than your successes. Surround yourself with people who believe in you, dream big and take the risk. If you want to deviate from the beaten track, it is crucial to surround yourself with people who believe in you. I ended up in this position, for which my primary responsibility is to safeguard Van Gogh’s art for the future. But also to make sure it resonates today. I look forward to the day that nobody will remark that I am a female museum director; simply that I am a museum director."
Emilie Gordenker, Directeur Van Gogh Museum.