AMSTERDAM.- The Van Gogh Museum welcomed almost 1,450,000 visitors in 2009. This positive result is credited in part to the exhibitions Van Gogh and the colours of the night and Van Gogh’s letters: The artist speaks (which runs through 3 January 2010). The former exhibition is part of the Letters project launched in October, which attracted considerable media attention around the world. During the first two months of this year visitor numbers were down on 2008, bringing home the impact of the economic crisis on tourism. Thanks in part to the highly successful Van Gogh and the colours of the night exhibition (13 February to 7 June 2009), which atracted some 530,000 visitors, ticket sales recovered. In the summer months, too, the museum has booked good results with some peaks of around 40,000 visitors per week. The positive effects of the Letters project manifested during the final quarter of 2009, and figures once again were in line with 2008.

For comparison: in 2008 the Van Gogh Museum ended the year with approximately 1,470,000 visitors; during the previous year the museum welcomed 1,550,000 visitors.

Letters exhibition draws to a close
Van Gogh’s letters: The artist speaks will run through 3 January 2010. The exhibit features 120 original letters by Vincent van Gogh accompanied by the works he describes in his letters. These important documents are seldom shown due to their fragility and sensitivity to light. The combination of more than 340 works from the Van Gogh Museum’s own rich collection, including paintings, drawings, letters and letter sketches, presents a penetrating and comprehensive insight into Van Gogh as a letter writer and as an artist.