After a surprising video on Pokémon’s YouTube channel, it is now known what we can expect from the collaboration of Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. To commemorate the Van Gogh Museum’s 50th anniversary, Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum have announced an official collaboration aimed at bringing new audiences to Vincent van Gogh’s work.
Both Vincent van Gogh’s work and Pokémon have a special connection with Japanese art and culture. Japanese prints had a profound impact on Vincent’s art and on his world view. Speaking to his brother Theo in a letter in September 1888, Vincent wrote: ‘And we wouldn’t be able to study Japanese art, it seems to me, without becoming much happier and more cheerful, and it makes us return to nature, despite our education and our work in a world of convention.’
Several of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous works from the Van Gogh Museum’s permanent collection served as inspiration for six paintings created by artists from The Pokémon Company. Examples include Pikachu shown in a work that is inspired by Self-portrait with Grey Felt Hat (1887), the Pokémon Sunflora is hidden in a variant of Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers (1889), and you can find Snorlax and Munchlax relaxing in a work inspired by The Bedroom (1888). Visitors can admire these six specially created paintings on the first floor of the Rietveld building (Rietveldgebouw).
For collectors, it’s good to know that a special Pikachu x Van Gogh Museum promo card is available to get when you complete the Pokémon Adventure. In addition exclusive Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum merchandise will be sold at the (online) shop of the Van Gogh Museum and the Pokémon Center.
From 28 September 2023 until 7 January 2024 visitors can experience the Pokemon-themed collaboration at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. A regular museum admission ticket is mandatory, which can only be purchased online. More information about this collaboration and activites can be found on the website of the Van Gogh Museum.
