Feature: Real Van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy

THE Real Van Gogh, the latest blockbuster Royal Academy exhibition, focuses on the artist’s remarkable correspondence. 
More than 35 original letters are on display, together with 65 paintings and 30 drawings that express the themes within the correspondence.
The sketches in the letters that the artist included to show a work in progress or a completed work are fascinating. Many of these sketches are shown alongside the paintings or drawings on which they are based.
The show has been curated by Ann Dumas of the RA, in collaboration with Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten and Nienke Bakker of the Amsterdam museum, whose collection of the complete correspondence – Vincent van Gogh – The Letters: The Complete Illustrated and Annotated Edition – was published in the autumn by Thames and Hudson.
Highlights of the exhibition include Still-life around a Plate of Onions (early1889) from the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo – reproduced here; Self-portrait as an Artist (1888) and The Yellow House (1888) from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; and notably Vincent’s Chair with His Pipe (1888) from the National Gallery, London, shown with the Amsterdam museum’s Paul Gauguin’s Chair of the same year.
This first major Van Gogh exhibition in London for more than 40 years offers a unique opportunity to gain an insight into the complex mind of the artist.

• The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters, sponsored by BNY Mellon, is at The Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly until April 18, £12 with concessions available. Call 0844 209 1919 or visit www.royalacademy.org.uk