For the Van Gogh Museum, we designed the scenography for The Potato Eaters, an exhibition entirely centered on Van Gogh’s iconic masterpiece. The design places the painting within its artistic and social context, highlighting the ideas, doubts, and debates of its time. This was our fourth collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, following Van Gogh at Work (2013), On the Verge of Insanity (2016), and Van Gogh and the Sunflowers (2019).
The exhibition takes visitors inside Van Gogh’s mind. How does he work? What is he trying to achieve? And does he succeed?
The first part of the exhibition route is arranged chronologically, with paintings, sketches, and letters by Van Gogh and his contemporaries. The tall museum space is visually lowered through colour blocks and low walls, creating a more intimate perspective. Farmers’ tables and chairs act as scenographic elements, referring to the modest rural life Van Gogh sought to depict. Small multimedia interventions enrich the narrative, such as a digital letter application and a projection showing Van Gogh’s correspondence with Anton van Rappard as a contemporary chat conversation.
In the second part, the focus shifts to experience and education. We reconstructed the hut from The Potato Eaters at full scale, based on historical sources and comparable rural dwellings. Visitors can literally step inside the painting, sit at the table of the De Groot–Van Rooij family, and engage in drawing, experimentation, or workshops to create their own version of the work. This playful, participatory approach was very well received.
For the production, we chose a fully printed wall finish — an efficient technique that ensures a clean result, rapid installation, and perfect colour consistency.
08.10.2021 - 13.02.2022
Production: IRIS Vormgeving, IJsfontein
