Vincent van Gogh’s Head of a Woman (Gordina de Groot) has been picked up by the Noordbrabants Museum in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.
According to the Art Newspaper, the museum bought the 1885 painting from London-based art dealer and collector Daniel Katz, who has been revealed as the buyer for the work when it appeared at Christie’s auction last year. The Noordbrabants Museum reportedly paid €8.6 million ($9.34 million) for the portrait of the peasant woman, making it among the most expensive van Gogh pictures ever bought by an institution.
Katz bought the work at Christie’s 20th/21st century evening sale in London back in February of last year. At the time, the work had an estimate of £1 million–£2 million ($1.3 million–$2.6 million). Prior to the sale the picture had been in the same family collection for 120 years.
The Noordbrabants was among the bidders that evening, but had to drop out when things got serious, leaving Katz with the final prize for 4.8 million and change (around $6.3 million).
Katz, who is also a dealer, bought the work for his private collection. A few months later, he acquired the original frame which had been replaced for the evening sale. That summer the Noordbrabants director Jacqueline Grandjean and its curator, Helewise Berger, approached Katz asking if he would consider parting with his freshly bought van Gogh. He passed, but agreed to a loan. The picture went on view at the Noordbrabants in January.
The museum continued to try to acquire the work, even starting a fundraising campaign to pay for what they nicknamed “the Mona Lisa of Brabant.”
The Noordbrabants Museum has acquired five van Goghs since 2016 and currently has six more on loan. Securing de Groot’s portrait is just one piece of a plan to seriously expand its holdings of van Gogh’s work, which includes the opening of a separate Van Gogh Wing at the museum, due to open in 2026.
