Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam acquires rare painting that inspired Vincent van Gogh

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has acquired a painting by French artist Virginie Demont-Breton, a work that inspired Vincent van Gogh and influenced one of his own interpretations, the museum said.

The painting, L'homme est en mer, was created between 1887 and 1889. It depicts a fisherwoman sitting by a hearth with her sleeping baby on her lap, staring into the flames while her husband is at sea.

Van Gogh first encountered the work in 1889 through a French magazine during his stay in Saint-Rémy, where he produced a series of reinterpretations of artworks that inspired him. The van Gogh version remains in a private collection and is not part of the museum’s holdings.

The Van Gogh Museum purchased Demont-Breton’s painting through Gallery 19C during the early access period of the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht, which runs Saturday through Thursday. The museum did not disclose the purchase price. This acquisition marks the first time a Demont-Breton painting will be displayed in a public collection in the Netherlands.

“We have searched for this painting for a long time, and we are thrilled to add it to the collection,” said Emilie Gordenker, director of the Van Gogh Museum. “It is also wonderful that this important female artist is now represented in a Dutch museum.”