28 October 2026, Amsterdam – From 12 February to 20 June 2027, the Van Gogh Museum will present Eva Gonzalès: A New Perspective, the first major retrospective dedicated to the French artist Eva Gonzalès (1847–1883). Organised in collaboration with the Petit Palais in Paris, the exhibition will bring together paintings and pastels from international museums and private collections, offering an unprecedented look at her work. A contemporary of Vincent van Gogh, Gonzalès was an ambitious and successful artist who helped shape the Parisian art scene in the late nineteenth century. Despite her success during her lifetime, she largely faded from art history after her early death. This exhibition revisits her life and work, exploring her artistic development and restoring her place in the story of modern art.
Eva Gonzalès, By the Sea (Honfleur), 1881–1882, pastel on canvas, 46.3 × 37.2 cm, private collection. Photo: © 2022 Christie’s Images Limited.
Portrait of Eva Gonzalès from Édouard Manet’s photo album, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
Bringing Her Oeuvre Together
In recent years, extensive museum research has been carried out into Eva Gonzalès’s life and work in preparation for the exhibition. Artworks, letters, photographs and other historical documents have been traced and brought together from museums, private collections, archives and libraries. Together, they shed new light on her artistic development, ambitions and the recognition she enjoyed during her lifetime. The exhibition features Gonzalès’s most important and ambitious works, placing her artistic practice within the artistic and social context of her time.
Fleur Roos Rosa de Carvalho, curator at the Van Gogh Museum, reflects on her research:
“It was both exciting and inspiring to discover the life and work of an artist who was exceptionally successful in her own time, but who was barely studied in later years. It was wonderful to gradually piece together her personal story through collections around the world: to move from a footnote to telling her story. I have come to know Eva Gonzalès as a serious and sincere artist who eagerly absorbed the developments of her time while remaining true to herself.”
Eva Gonzalès, A Box at the Théâtre des Italiens, 1873–1874, oil on canvas, 97.7 × 130 cm, signed lower left on the balcony: ‘Eva Gonzalès’, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, gift of Jean Guérard, 1927. Photo: © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Patrice Schmidt.
Forging Her Own Artistic Path
Eva Gonzalès grew up in a prosperous, culturally engaged Parisian family and was determined from an early age to establish her own career as an artist. She consciously embraced modernity by aligning herself with Édouard Manet, who accepted her as his only pupil. Gonzalès moved between the avant-garde and the established art world, exhibiting at the Paris Salon. At the intersection of tradition and innovation, she developed into an independent artist in her own right.
She offered her own perspective on contemporary Parisian life, depicting her subjects at close range with great attention to fashion and modernity. She worked closely with her regular model, her sister Jeanne. Particularly in her later pastels, Gonzalès developed a freer, more direct approach to her work, allowing her distinctive artistic voice to emerge ever more clearly.
Eva Gonzalès, The Awakening, c. 1877–1878, oil on canvas, 81.1 × 100.1 cm, signed lower right: ‘Eva Gonzalès’, Kunsthalle Bremen – Der Kunstverein in Bremen. Photo: Marcus Meyer Photography.
Recognition During Her Lifetime
During her brief career, Gonzalès was a successful and highly regarded artist. Her work was acquired by the French state and prominent collectors, while hundreds of press reviews testify to the attention she received. This stands in stark contrast to her relative obscurity today. Following her early death in childbirth, Gonzalès gradually faded from view. Today, her artistic achievements are often considered primarily in relation to Édouard Manet or under the label of ‘female Impressionist’. The exhibition places her artistic practice as a whole at its centre, bringing her work and life story back into the spotlight.
The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Petit Palais in Paris, where Eva Gonzalès: The Journey of a Free-Spirited Artist will be on view from 15 September 2026 to 24 January 2027. From 12 February to 20 June 2027, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will present Eva Gonzalès: A New Perspective.
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, comprising more than 200 paintings, nearly 500 drawings and almost all of his letters. The permanent collection takes visitors on a journey through his life, revealing the ideas and ambitions behind his art and that of his contemporaries.
