Marcel van Eeden

The Gasworks: Van Eeden & Van Gogh

Marcel van Eeden has been inspired by Van Gogh’s Gasworks (1882), an unconventional and somewhat ominous drawing from the series of twelve cityscapes that Van Gogh made of The Hague. Especially for this exhibition, Marcel van Eeden made no less than six large charcoal drawings on canvas and a photo reportage, consisting of 27 black-and-white photographs.
The gas factory in The Hague was a logical choice for Van Eeden: the place where he was born often plays an important role in his work. He also lives around the corner from the original location of the now demolished factory.
With his drawings, Van Eeden always reconstructs places and events from before his birth. In doing so, he tries to draw near to a certain moment when he himself did not exist. In this case, the early spring day in 1882 when Van Gogh recorded the gasworks on the outskirts of The Hague on paper.
The new charcoal drawings and photographs have never before been exhibited and are only temporarily on display at the Van Gogh Museum. Moreover, photography is a new medium for Van Eeden; he previously exclusively focused on drawing. In addition to Van Eeden’s drawings and photographs, the exhibition Gasworks: Van Eeden & Van Gogh also features archival material from March 1882 compiled by himself – ranging from newspaper articles to documents about the factory.