The exhibition "Van Gogh – The Souls That Resonate: Helene and Vincent" will be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park, Tokyo, from Saturday, September 18, 2021, to Sunday, December 12, 2021. This exhibition features the extraordinary collection of Helene Kröller-Müller, who, over approximately 20 years starting in 1908 when Vincent van Gogh was still being recognized, amassed about 90 paintings and over 180 drawings and prints by Van Gogh, a collection that has since become world-renowned.

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) enjoys immense popularity worldwide today. The exhibition "Van Gogh – The Souls That Resonate: Helene and Vincent" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum focuses on Helene Kröller-Müller (1869–1939), who was captivated by Van Gogh in the early 20th century and became the world's largest private collector of his works. Helene, along with her husband Anton, who amassed a fortune in iron and shipping, collected approximately 90 paintings and over 180 drawings and prints by Van Gogh during the early 20th century when the artist was still gaining recognition. She later became the first director of the Kröller-Müller Museum, which she established.

With a passion akin to religious fervor, Helene found profound spirituality in Van Gogh's art, and the artist's inner world, perceivable through his depicted subjects, became her spiritual anchor. Eager to share this inspiration with others, she began exhibiting her collection in 1913 and lent numerous works to exhibitions outside the Netherlands from the 1920s onwards.

Helene's dedication to generously sharing her high-quality collection, at a time when viewing artworks was significantly limited, played a crucial role in shaping Van Gogh's reputation. This exhibition features 28 paintings and 20 drawings by Van Gogh from the Kröller-Müller Museum, where Helene served as the first director. Visitors can trace his artistic development from his early days, through numerous drawings he repeatedly created as he aspired to become a painter, to his Paris period influenced by Neo-Impressionism as seen in "Interior of a Restaurant," and his Arles period with the dazzling contrast of yellow and blue in "The Sower."

One of the highlights of this exhibition is "Country Road in Provence by Night," which is visiting Japan for the first time in 16 years. During his time in Saint-Rémy, Van Gogh chose the cypress tree as a motif symbolizing Provence and became engrossed in painting "Cypresses," aiming to create works like his "Sunflowers." This final work is a masterpiece that can be considered the culmination of Van Gogh's stay in the South of France.

In addition to 20 works by artists such as Millet, Renoir, Seurat, Redon, and Mondrian, which shed light on Helene's interests and collecting habits, four paintings by Van Gogh, including "The Yellow House (Street)," are coming from the Van Gogh Museum's collection—centered around the works inherited by Van Gogh's brother, the art dealer Theo, and his wife Johanna (Jo). This allows visitors to appreciate them alongside the context of Van Gogh's rapidly growing popularity and critical acclaim from the early 20th century onwards.

Following the exhibition in Tokyo, a touring exhibition is also planned. It is scheduled to be held at the Fukuoka Art Museum from Thursday, December 23, 2021, to Sunday, February 13, 2022, and at the Nagoya City Art Museum from Wednesday, February 23, 2022, to Sunday, April 10, 2022.