Van Gogh Museum

The last room, where the work from Auvers hangs in chronological order

Vincent sold almost nothing in his lifetime, his brother Theo died six months after he did, and Theo's widow Johanna spent the next thirty years making the work known. The family collection stayed intact, passed to a state foundation and became this museum in 1973, which is why the holdings are deeper here than anywhere else by a factor of several.

The hang is chronological across four floors and the effect is cumulative: the dark Dutch years, Paris and colour, Arles, and the final months compressed into a handful of rooms. It takes two hours and it is not a neutral experience.