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THE BIG INTERVIEW: VAN GOGH MUSEUM
Inset: The Museum has recently released its third style guide, in association with Skew Studio.
The Master Plan
Fresh from its 50th anniversary celebrations, and with a Licensing International Excellence Award under its belt, the Van Gogh Museum is setting its sights on new horizons and opportunities. Head of global partnerships and licensing Marijn Veraart tells Tessa Clayton about the VGM’s plans and its partnership ‘wish list’.
T
he world’s leading authority on Vincent van Gogh and home to 200 of his paintings, close to 500 of his drawings and more than 700 of his letters, the Van Gogh Museum is a leading light in the museum and heritage sector. Forging a path all its own, its licensing programme has broadened over recent years to encompass new categories and global territories, and successful partnerships with brands that share its core values – resulting in multiple awards for innovative product ranging from vegan perfume to sustainable denim. “The Museum’s licensing programme feeds into the wider mission of the VGM: to inspire a broad global audience with the life and works of Vincent van Gogh,” Right: Vincent’s Flowers, the explains head of global Museum’s 50th anniversary artwork, was the inspiration partnerships and for a new design by Be@rbrick. licensing, Marijn
Veraart. “As a single-artist museum, founded by Vincent’s family, we are the primary source for everything Van Gogh-related. We can give our partners access not only to Vincent’s works but to his thought processes, his emotions, why he painted what he did and what being creative meant to him, which makes for powerful stories.” 2023 was the Museum’s 50th anniversary year, and aside from three “beautiful” exhibitions, an outdoor celebration on 2 June and success at the annual Licensing International Excellence Awards in Vegas – where it was nominated five times and scooped the top prize in the Best Licensed Brand in the Art, Design, Museum category – the VGM enjoyed some exciting licensing collaborations, including a partnership with Pokémon [see page 45] that “went to every corner of the world”. Eco-friendly footwear company Cariuma – a brand that shares the Museum’s passion for © Van Gogh Museum
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LICENSING MUSEUM & HERITAGE BOOK 2024