"Paul Cezanne is famed for the tilted apples in his still lifes, Paul Gauguin chose mangoes to conjure up exotic Polynesia, but Van Gogh was content with the humble potato. His works form the centrepiece of a display on Van Gogh and the Potato, which opens tomorrow (11 October) and runs until 1 February 2026 at the Noordbrabants Museum in the southern Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch)."
"The focussed, small exhibition includes Still life with Potatoes (autumn 1886), which depicts what have just been identified as "rat's backs". This variety, known in French as "la ratte", may have got its name because its curved shape and speckled skin is disturbingly similar to that of a rat. In the Netherlands they are called "muizen" (mice). But despite its unsavoury names, it is much sought after for its nutty flavour and smooth texture."
"Although it was long thought that Still life with Potatoes was painted in 1885 in Nuenen, the village where Vincent's parents lived, curators at Rotterdam's Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum now believe that it was done a year later in Paris. The depicted earthenware casserole is French and a Paris company's stamp has been found on the reverse of the canvas."
"The Van Gogh print is a made after his early Nuenen masterpiece, The Potato Eaters (April-May 1885). This painting (at Amsterdam's ) and preliminary oil study (at Otterlo's ) could not be borrowed. What the display does have is an important study for one of the figures in the The Potato Eaters, that of . In an ambitious acquisition for a regional museum, the Noordbrabants successfully raised €8.6m to buy the painting last year."
An exhibition at the Noordbrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch runs from 11 October to 1 February 2026 and centers on Van Gogh's potato-themed works. The show includes five Van Gogh paintings, two drawings and a print tied to the potato motif, and features Still life with Potatoes (autumn 1886) alongside Van Gogh's Head of a Woman (Gordina de Groot). Curators have re-dated Still life with Potatoes to Paris 1886 based on a French earthenware casserole and a Paris company stamp found on the canvas reverse. The museum raised €8.6m to acquire an important study related to The Potato Eaters.
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