Few people know that the Groninger Museum hosted one of the largest exhibitions of Vincent van Gogh. Six academic students from the University of Groningen organised eight sensational exhibitions in quick succession in 1896 and 1897, focusing on Jan Toorop, Johan Thorn Prikker, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec and Vincent Van Gogh, among others. Most of the 128 works by Van Gogh on display came from his sister-in-law Johanna Gogh Bonger.
The exhibition places Van Gogh at the epicentre, with the design of expanding water ripples exerting its influence on the surrounding rooms. This shows the relationship with the later painters of De Ploeg, who can be seen in the last rooms. A large number of instruments and natural history objects make the scientific developments tangible, which went hand in hand with the developments in the visual arts. They are placed amidst the paintings in the rooms.