Van Gogh and the Stars

Exhibition Catalogue Van Gogh and the Stars, presented at the Vincent van Gogh Foundation in Arles (1 June - 8 September 2024).

The catalogue delves into the nineteenth-century enthusiasm for astronomy, explored by the artists and scholars of the time.

It highlights the erudition and research that Vincent van Gogh carried out throughout his life, driven by his inner vision, his torments, his acute sense of observation, but also by his environment. The singular literary and scientific climate that developed in the second half of the 19th century is also presented, notably through the research that fascinated the period, as well as the work of the great scientific illustrators such as Étienne Léopold Trouvelot and Lord Rosse.

Through a variety of approaches - scientific, historical and poetic - the works of past and present artists shed new light on Van Gogh's work, highlighting its legacy and unshakeable strength.

The catalogue includes works by over seventy artists: Edvard Munch, Robert Delaunay, Kasimir Malevitch, Georgia O'Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, Gustave Doré, Vassily Kandinsky, and Jean-François Millet, illustrating the shared fascination with the cosmos during this artistic and intellectual period.