AMSTERDAM.-From October 2005 to January 2006 a range of impressionist and neo-impressionist works from the Noro Foundation supplement and enhance the Van Gogh Museum's permanent collection. In the past the Dutch government has made little effort to collect impressionist or neo-impressionist art. So it is largely thanks to private collectors that a number of museums have such works in their collections. During the 19th and early 20th centuries many private collectors donated their works of art to their city or state, or housed their collections in their own museums, thereby enabling the general public to view this art. Private collectors continue to play an important role in this respect.

This autumn paintings from the Noro Foundation's private collection help to present Van Gogh in context, surrounded by his predecessors, contemporaries and successors. Among the work on display are pieces by artists such as Jongkind, Monet, Renoir, Signac and Picasso, plus People walking in a park, Paris by Vincent van Gogh, a colourful park view, painted in the autumn of 1886 when the artist was living in Paris. Recent research has produced a startling discovery: a portrait beneath the park scene.

In the catalogue accompanying this exhibition, Aukje Vergeest describes the unexpected discovery of a second painting beneath Van Gogh's park scene. 64 pages, 50 illustrations, hardback, €15. On sale in the museum shop and via www.vangoghmuseumshop.com.