Van Gogh lovers, grab your diaries and be ready to take note of these exhibitions coming up in the new year. These shows have so far received little publicity and a few more may yet emerge, but so far the Netherlands and Japan appear to be the hot spots.
Nagoya, Japan, January
Van Gogh’s Self-portrait as a Painter (December 1887-February 1888)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
This year the Van Gogh Museum has been touring part of its collection to Osaka and Tokyo, and in January it will make its last stop at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (3 January–23 March 2026) in Nagoya. Entitled Van Gogh’s Home: The Van Gogh Museum, the show focusses on how the works owned by the artist’s family were kept together and then donated for the opening of the Amsterdam museum in 1973. On display in Nagoya will be 24 Van Gogh paintings and five drawings, along with works by his contemporaries.
Amsterdam, Netherlands, February
Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Reaper (September 1889)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Yellow: More than Van Gogh’s Favourite Colour (13 February-17 May 2026) will, of course, revolve around the artist’s Sunflowers (January 1889). But it will also bring together around ten Van Gogh paintings, plus many by other artists—showing how the colour yellow has proved an inspiration.
Fukushima, Japan, February
Van Gogh’s Self-portrait (April-June 1887)
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Japanese Van Gogh enthusiasts will have a bumper year in 2026, with a touring exhibition from the other great Dutch collection, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. The Grand Van Gogh Exhibition includes 37 Van Gogh paintings, plus 20 drawings. It is now at its opening venue, Kobe City Museum (until 1 February 2026), and will then tour to the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art (21 February-10 May 2026) and Tokyo’s Ueno Royal Museum (29 May-12 August 2026).
Otterlo, the Netherlands, September
Van Gogh’s Four Sunflowers Gone to Seed (October 1887)
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Although the Kröller-Müller Museum holds the world’s second largest collection of Van Goghs (after the Amsterdam museum), they have not all been shown together since 1984—because many are often out on loan. Right now, for example, nearly half the 88 paintings are touring Japan (see above), with a few other individual works lent elsewhere to other exhibitions. All Van Goghs is the working title of the presentation (15 September 2026-3 January 2027) that will reunite the works in their entirety.
Den Bosch, Netherlands, October
Among the artists of the early 20th century most inspired by Van Gogh was the painter Jan Sluijters (1881-1957). Born in Den Bosch, the city’s Noordbrabants Museum is planning a show examining the Dutch master’s influence on him. The exhibition’s working title is Jan and Vincent: About Light (18 October 2026-21 February 2027).
Running exhibitions
A number of Van Gogh exhibitions which are already open will continue into the early part of next year. Most important is Van Gogh and the Roulins: Together Again at Last at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (until 11 January 2026). It reassembles 14 of the 23 portraits of “the postman” and his family.
Also at the Van Gogh Museum is a fascinating smaller exhibition, Captivated by Vincent: The Intimate Friendship of Jo van Gogh-Bonger and Isaac Israëls (until 25 January 2026). It reveals the story of the affair between the widow of Vincent’s brother Theo and the artist Isaac Israëls. On display are some of the paintings by Israëls with Van Gogh paintings depicted in the background.
Another focussed exhibition is Van Gogh and the Potato at the Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch (until 1 February 2026).
In Provence, the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles will soon be opening To Vincent: A Winter’s Tale (30 November-21 April 2026). The exhibition includes works by 21 contemporary artists (including Anselm Kiefer and Wolfgang Tillmans) who have responded to themes represented in Van Gogh’s letters. Their contributions will be presented alongside two Van Gogh paintings: Sunflowers gone to Seed, August-September 1887, and Head of a Woman, December 1885, both on loan from the Van Gogh Museum.
Other Van Gogh News
David Hockney’s Gauguin’s Chair and Vincent’s Chair, 4 July 2025
© David Hockney
One of David Hockney’s latest paintings, Gauguin’s Chair and Vincent’s Chair, 4 July 2025 was only completed in the summer. Inspired by Van Gogh’s pictures of his own empty chair and that of his colleague Paul Gauguin, it is the star attraction in his show at London’s Annely Juda Fine Art. The exhibition, Some Very, Very, Very New Paintings Not Yet Shown in Paris will run from 7 November to 28 February 2026.
Martin Bailey is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper. He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery, Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain.
Martin Bailey’s recent Van Gogh books
Martin has written a number of bestselling books on Van Gogh’s years in France: The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, UK and US), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln 2016, UK and US), Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, UK and US) and Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln 2021, UK and US). The Sunflowers are Mine (2024, UK and US) and Van Gogh’s Finale (2024, UK and US) are also now available in a more compact paperback format.
His other recent books include Living with Vincent van Gogh: The Homes & Landscapes that shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, UK and US), which provides an overview of the artist’s life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, UK and US). My Friend Van Gogh/Emile Bernard provides the first English translation of Bernard’s writings on Van Gogh (David Zwirner Books 2023, UKand US).
To contact Martin Bailey, please email [email protected]
Please note that he does not undertake authentications.
Explore all of Martin’s adventures with Van Gogh here
