Art News

Van Gogh Masterpiece Travels to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) - "The Sower", 1888 - Oil on canvas, 32 x 40 cm. - Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh Foundation.

BOSTON, MA.- Imitation may be the
sincerest form
of flattery, but for Vincent van Gogh, it was a means of self education
for the
artist in the 1880s, who copied numerous works by Jean-François Millet
to teach
himself how to draw and paint. The visual dialogue that ensued between
master
and student is the focus of Visiting Masterpieces, an ongoing series at
the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), which showcases great art from
museums and
private collections around the world within the context of the MFA’s
encyclopedic collection.
To inaugurate the series, the Museum
welcomes
van Gogh’s “The Sower” (1888), on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in
Amsterdam, to
Boston for juxtaposition with the work that inspired it, Millet’s The
Sower
(1850), one of the MFA’s celebrated masterpieces. The paintings,
which
have never before been seen together in Boston, will be on view from May
11 to
August 8 in the Impressionist Gallery.