Van Gogh Museum Honored With Licensing Award
WAY TO GOGH: More than a century after the artist Vincent Van Gogh’s death, his work continues to reel in visitors to museums, cultural institutes and tourist-heavy destinations like the immersive “Beyond Van Gogh” experience. The latter is heading to Los Angeles this summer, having already been staged in London; Brussels; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, and other cities.
Art and commerce are entwined like never before and apparently that can lead to honors. The Van Gogh Museum locked up a Licensing International Excellence Award for Best Brand — Art, Design, Museum at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Celebrating its 50th year, the Amsterdam museum is being honored for its Van Gogh-inspired brand licensing, which draws upon its archives and innovative products that are inspired by the life and work of Van Gogh. This year the museum was nominated for five Licensing International Excellence Awards.
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To earn the honor, the Van Gogh Museum knocked off other licensing finalists for the work of the late Keith Haring, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Palace Museum and the New York Botanical Garden. Coincidentally, The Met is showcasing “Van Gogh’s Cypresses,” the first exhibition to focus on the artist’s favorite trees. The exhibition is on view at the Fifth Avenue museum in New York through Aug. 27. The troubled artist died in 1890.
The Van Gogh Museum attracts a steady stream of consumers, with 366,359 visitors having passed through its doors in 2021. The Van Gogh Museum was also nominated for its collaborations with Mud Jeans, Monini, Fila and Floral Street. In honor of its 50th jubilee, the museum is offering a special collection online and in its store. A $131 kimono, $101 duvets and a $10 tin of syrupy waffles — all imprinted with Van Gogh-inspired motifs — are being offered.
In recognition of this week’s award, Marijn Veraart, the Van Gogh Museum’s head of licensing, said in a statement, “This award is for years of hard work, for our passion for the art and the brand, and the teamwork with our local agents and partners.”
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