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The Letters Project: Research on Van Gogh's Letters

A scholarly digitization project by the Van Gogh Museum making the painter's full correspondence available online in original language and translation.

A modern research project dedicated to preserving and sharing Van Gogh's own letters for study.

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Screenshot of the Van Gogh Letters website homepage from the Huygens Institute, showing the title 'The Letters' with links to browse letters by period, correspondent, place, and sketches. A pen-and-ink sketch of a harbor scene with boats and a letter page is displayed on the left, with text about 902 annotated letters and a book edition advertisement.
The Letters Project, Van Gogh Museum / Huygens Institute, screenshot of website homepage.

About this source

What it is

This is a research and digitization project carried out by the Van Gogh Museum, publishing 902 annotated letters written by Vincent van Gogh. The project received a jury citation praising its contribution to research and public access.

Why it matters

Letters are one of the richest sources historians have for understanding Van Gogh's thoughts, relationships, and artistic ideas. This project made his entire surviving correspondence freely available worldwide, transforming how students and scholars study him.

Look closer

  • Why might making original documents freely available online change how people study history?
  • What is gained by seeing both the original letter and its translation side by side?
  • What kinds of questions might researchers ask using this archive of letters?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Vincent van Gogh on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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