Gordina stays home
Fantastic news: Van Gogh’s Gordina is staying home! Thanks to the support of more than 3,000 donors, this masterpiece will now shine forever in Brabant. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed. Together, we made this happen, and in doing so, we’ve preserved a piece of history for the future. Will you come admire Gordina soon? Her gaze offers a powerful glimpse into the history of Brabant, full of hard work and perseverance.
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The largest acquisition ever
Van Gogh’s Gordina will remain in Brabant.
Thanks to the generous support of foundations, individuals, and businesses, we were able to acquire this masterpiece from a British collector for €8.6 million. It is the largest acquisition in the history of Het Noordbrabants Museum.
Gordina will become the radiant centrepiece of our Van Gogh collection, which will receive its own dedicated wing in 2026. But first, she will go on tour throughout Brabant, ensuring that this beautiful piece of history remains accessible to everyone.
With heartfelt thanks to the National Museum Acquisition Fund, the Mondriaan Fund, Stichting Ambacht en Cultuur, the Rembrandt Association, the VriendenLoterij, individual and corporate donors, various public and private funds, legacies, the Province of North Brabant, and several municipalities in Brabant.
"We are deeply grateful to all the people and organisations who contributed. Together, we are making art history today: Van Gogh’s Gordina has returned home, forever!"
— Jacqueline Grandjean, museum director at Het Noordbrabants Museum
About the painting
Vincent van Gogh painted Head of a Woman in March-April 1885. He was practicing painting to eventually create an intricate composition such as The Potato-Eaters. That work is considered the absolute highlight of Van Gogh's Brabant period, before he left for Paris.
Helewise Berger, curator of 19th- and 20th-century art at the museum: "Although Van Gogh painted in earth tones, there are many colors to be discovered. This makes the painting exceptional and attractive: a key piece in his oeuvre and thus in the collection of Het Noordbrabants Museum."
Photo Jan-Kees Steenman
Who is Van Gogh's Gordina?
Gordina de Groot, better known as Sien, was a farmer's daughter from Nuenen. She is one of the five people at the table in the world-famous masterpiece The Potato-Eaters. Gordina was a model for Van Gogh often. They had a close relationship. When she turned out to be pregnant as an unmarried woman, Van Gogh was even unfairly seen as a future father. Of all the people who modeled for him, we know with certainty the name of only one: Gordina de Groot.
Its strong relationship to the masterpiece from his Brabant days makes it an important painting for the museum. Van Gogh managed to capture Gordina's expression well and intimately. Her worried look betrays the hard working-class life. Van Gogh captured Gordina effectively, in alternating broad and fine brushstrokes. Gordina therefore forms the face of Brabant peasant life and Van Gogh's Nuenen period.
Vincent van Gogh, Kop van een vrouw (Gordina de Groot), maart-april 1885. Particuliere collectie
