Rapha x Van Gogh
2022 photos: Stan Koolen
The Van Gogh Museum is an Amsterdam institution. Dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries, it’s a place of peace and tranquillity where creative minds come to pause in contemplation. And what the museum is to art lovers, Rapha Amsterdam is to cyclists.
Since they share the same passion in their purposes, Rapha Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum have come together to create a truly unique collaboration. Merging Rapha designs with the works of a master painter, They’ve created a special edition collection that pays tribute to one of the world’s most celebrated artists.
THE YELLOW HOUSE
It was Van Gogh’s dream to found a collaborative art colony where fellow artists could inspire one another whilst under the same roof. When he moved, in 1888, to Arles in Southern France following a bout of bad health, he believed he’d found such a place. The Yellow House was a stucco-faced building in which Van Gogh rented several rooms and was at his most prolific.
“In a deep dive of letters and artwork from Van Gogh’s time at the Yellow House, we found the phrase ‘chez nous’, or our place, was often used. This term shares the ethos of Rapha Amsterdam, to be a place where you can feel at home. Reading these intimate letters is like uncovering the layers of texture in his paintings. It felt like we’d travelled through time into his personal secret world. In the visual language of the collection, we sought to emulate this through the use of collage, tearing back layers of preserved conversations, memories and art.”
JESS MONEY, LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGNER