Van Gogh’s Still-life with Coffee Pot (May 1888) and jug (Sarreguemines, late 19th century) Credit: Goulandris Collection, Athens and Jos van der Kleij-Penders (private collection) It is likely that the casserole would have been in the kitchen of the apartment that Theo shared with his brother Vincent, since Vallauris pans were in use in many French kitchens. This redating was confirmed when new technical research revealed that the canvas had been sold by the Paris-based Tasset et L’Hôte company. This made her think that the still life would have been more likely to have been done after Van Gogh’s arrival in Paris in February 1886. But Van Dongen identified the casserole as French, a popular design known as “Parisienne” and made in Vallauris, in south-east France.

Still-life with Potatoes had been thought to have been painted in around September 1885 in Nuenen, the village in the south of the Netherlands where Vincent’s parents then lived. Identifying the earthenware casserole helped redate this painting. Van Gogh’s Still-life with Potatoes (1886-87) and casserole “Parisienne” (Vallauris, late 19th century) Credit: Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam and private collection (shared ownership of painting) and Guy Mombel, France (private collection) She concludes that “Vincent always observed the material objects that he depicted in his work with great attention to their characteristics, usually depicting them in a realistic way”. Van Dongen, a curator of historical design at Rotterdam’s Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, is well placed to guide us through the objects and the art. Although we don’t normally pay attention to these items, she believes that they “help us to better understand Van Gogh’s pictures, once we reflect on the actual objects that he used”.

In Closer to Vincent: Everyday Objects in the Work of Vincent van Gogh, the title of both the book (to be published in Dutch on 30 July) and the exhibition (30 July-30 October), Van Dongen encourages us to examine minor details in Van Gogh's paintings. Her discoveries will also be presented in an exhibition at the Van Gogh House in the southern Dutch village of Zundert, the artist’s birthplace. A new book by the Dutch museum curator Alexandra van Dongen sheds fresh light on intriguing features in Van Gogh’s most iconic paintings.

Joseph roulin