Andries Bonger (20 May 1861 – 20 January 1936) was a Dutch art collector, as well as
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
Johanna (Jo) Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a multilingual Dutch editor and translator of the letters of the van Gogh brothers. Sister-in-law of the painter Vincent van Gogh, and wife of his brother Theo van Gog ...
's brother and
Theo van Gogh's friend, who later became his brother-in-law.
Relationship with Theo
In December 1879, after finishing a course at the Amsterdam Trade School, Bonger traveled to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to work at Geo Wehry, a commodity trading firm that focused on tobacco, coffee, tea, and rubber. In 1881, he became librarian at the Hollandsche Club, an expatriate club in Paris, where he became friends with
Theo van Gogh. He later introduced his sister
Jo to Theo; they married in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
in 1889,
but he and his wife did not attend the wedding because he thought the wedding cost too much and they could not afford to travel.
Through Theo, he knew
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...
, who called him "André" in letters.
In a letter that Bonger wrote to his parents on March 31, 1885, he describes
Theo van Gogh as having received unexpected news the prior week that his father had died due to a "stroke of apoplexy" after having received a letter the previous day that he was in perfect health. He mentioned that Van Gogh was not very strong, and so this was a very melancholy circumstance. In several letters over the remainder of the year, Bonger comments on a growing appreciation for and friendship with Theo. In 1886,
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...
arrived in Paris, which meant that Bonger saw less of Theo. Bonger expressed his concern that Vincent's harshness towards Theo, who had begun to look haggard. Theo met Bonger's parents during a visit to the Netherlands in 1886.
Theo had hoped to open a gallery of his own, with his brother-in-law Andries as a partner. Despite promising talks, it never came to fruition.
Theo died six months after his older brother Vincent's death, leaving Andries's sister Jo holding the letters of Vincent to Theo and in control of Vincent's artwork. Andries believed that his younger sister should not have sole say about what became of these remnants of her marriage and attempted to exert his influence over her. She resisted and the close of the siblings were at odds. Andries managed the sales of some of Vincent's artwork whose sale Jo authorized.
Later life
In 1892, he returned to the Netherlands after taking a job with an insurance company based in
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
. Around this time, Bonger started collecting art, especially works by
Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French Symbolism (arts), symbolist painter, printmaker, Drawing, draughtsman and pastellist.
Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, he ...
and
Émile Bernard
Émile Henri Bernard (28 April 1868 – 16 April 1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and writer, who had artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Eugène Boch, and at a later time, Paul Cézanne. Most of his nota ...
, who were his friends.
He also owned works by
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...
and
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...
.
[ He is buried at Zorgvlied cemetery in Amsterdam.
]
See also
* Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
Johanna (Jo) Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a multilingual Dutch editor and translator of the letters of the van Gogh brothers. Sister-in-law of the painter Vincent van Gogh, and wife of his brother Theo van Gog ...
References
Further reading
*Luijten, Hans. ''Jo van Gogh-Bonger: The Woman who Made Vincent Famous''. Translated by Lynne Richards. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2022, 83.ISBN, 978-1350299580
1861 births
1936 deaths
Van Gogh family
Painters from Amsterdam
{{Netherlands-bio-stub