Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour. New exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum presents Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour, a new exhibition that will open on 13 February 2026. Using Vincent van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers (1889) as a point of departure, the exhibition shows how the colour became a powerful means of expressing emotions, ideas and ideals – from warmth and energy to modernity, rebellion and spirituality – in the period around 1900.
Cuno Amiet (1868 - 1961), The Yellow Hill, 1903, 1903, tempera on canvas, 98.0 x 72.0 cm, Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Dübi-Müller-Stiftung. Foto: ©Kunstmuseum Solothurn/David Aebi
Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1889, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Van Gogh was fascinated by the intense light of the South of France. In Arles, he found the colour he sought. He wrote to his brother Theo: ‘Sunshine, a light which, for want of a better word I can only call yellow – pale sulphur yellow, pale lemon, gold. How beautiful yellow is!’ Thanks to the discovery of new pigments, Van Gogh and his contemporaries were able to use yellow with unprecedented intensity. It was as if their paintings glowed.
Contemporaries of Van Gogh
Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour brings together some fifty artworks and objects dating from approximately 1850 to 1915. In addition to work by Van Gogh, the exhibition presents works by more than fifteen other artists and kindred spirits, including Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, Édouard Manet and William Turner. Drawing on a range of themes, Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour reveals the significance of yellow to artists. Traditionally the colour of the sun, yellow has also carried a range of meanings beyond the visible reality. For Kandinsky, yellow has a musical, energetic and almost intrusive character; for Af Klint, the colour signifies inner growth.
Wassily Kandinsky, Large Study, 1914, oil on canvas, 101 × 79.3 cm. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Literature and fashion
Yellow also had distinct significance around the turn of the century outside of painting. In literature and fashion, it became a symbol of modernity and independence, while also provoking controversy. This is evident in the striking yellow book covers of the avant-garde periodical The Yellow Book, designed by Aubrey Beardsley.
Ramon Casas, Decadent Young Woman (After the Dance), 1899, Oil on canvas, 46 × 56 cm, Museo de Monserrat, Barcelona, donation Josep Sala Ardiz, 1980
Olafur Eliasson
Contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson (1967) created a light installation especially for Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour. He states: ‘I see red, I see blue, but I feel yellow,’ describing an experience of colour that invites viewers to look beyond the reality and the visible world.
Olafur Eliasson, installation in the exhibition Yellow. Beyond Van Goghs Colour at the Van Gogh Museum. Photo: Michael Floor
Collaborations
The Van Gogh Museum collaborated with a range of remarkable partners to create a truly special experience. These include students from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, who composed contemporary pieces inspired by works in the exhibition; olfactory experts at Robertet in Grasse developed three scents that enrich the experience of the colour yellow, including Summer Sun – a solar burst of citrus. The exhibition was designed by design agency Raw Color.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by a lively and richly illustrated publication that addresses a wide range of themes associated with the colour yellow. The bright yellow book is presented in a slipcase containing six individual decorative cards.
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