Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, founded in 1973, has the world’s largest collection of Vincent van Gogh’s works. The name of van Gogh definitely contributed to the popularity of the museum. It is one of the most visited museums in the world. Even though the museum is currently closed because of Covid, the museum site in general did a great job branding itself and offering various educational and communal resources that extends beyond a single museum visit.

Vincent van Gogh is so famous that, on the one hand, many scholars did extensive research on his works and his life. On the other hand, it brings a lot of potential audiences who don’t have much knowledge of art and art history to search for him online and want to know something about him. Because the museum collected not only his artworks but also his letters, it combines and integrates art with personal stories of the artist. On the museum site, it has an Art & Stories section that includes stories ranging from van Gogh’s personal issues like his illness and death and also his art like his Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, and self-portraits. The museum site shows dedication to the combination of visual and narrative representation. The site adopted the general structure and style of a popular media website where you can read either short or long educational articles leisurely. Viewers can easily read through information in a self-directed way, where they can expand on the part they are interested in either through magnifying the paintings and letters or through a link to related websites. At the end of each story, there is a “continue reading” session, which makes it even more like browsing social media where I tended to go on and on.

These stories are directed to different target audiences. It has a section called “Unravel Van Gogh”, which digs into the details of the paintings and research results. For example, one story magnifies the canvas enough so that we can see sand left on it, which indicates that van Gogh drew this painting at the sea. Being able to look at paintings closely mimics the museum experience and also serves as useful complementary resources both before and after museum visits.

Because of the popularity of van Gogh’s art, the museum also put emphasis on children’s education. It provides interesting and amiable resources including videos, downloadable coloring pages, family games, and children’s books that target children at different ages.

The site did a good job presenting all the useful information for the public and art history researchers. The collection page includes carefully written descriptions with, for example, references to the artist’s letters and provenance of the artwork. It also provides exhibition history and research literature related to the piece. The picture of the artwork itself can be magnified and downloaded very easily. Though these are details on the page, it makes the site feel much more accessible. Apart from that, the museum connects to research platforms like Van Gogh Museum Academy and provides ongoing research project information.

The museum site in general gives viewers opportunities to interact with art and learn about art in a casual way. During Covid, the museum’s official Youtube channel also provided series like 4K Tour, Van Gogh Questions, and learn to paint for childrens. The museum continued to advertise and carry out the Official Meet Van Gogh Experience exhibition (currently in Lisbon), which is definitely something compelling to make people come back to museums after Covid.