In her talk at Istanbul Modern, Emilie Gordenker will share the Van Gogh Museum’s distinctive founding story and the strategic approach it has pursued since 2021.
The final guest of this year’s “Museums Talk” program, through which Istanbul Modern has brought leading museum professionals from around the world together with art audiences since 2012, will be Emilie Gordenker, Director of the Van Gogh Museum.
Organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Istanbul, the event will take place at the Istanbul Modern Auditorium on Oct. 27. Gordenker will give a talk titled “Quality over Quantity: A New Strategic Direction.”
Emilie Gordenker has served as Director of the Van Gogh Museum since February 2020. In her talk, she will share the museum’s distinctive founding story and the strategic approach it has pursued since 2021.
Established through an agreement between Vincent van Gogh’s heirs and the Dutch state, the Van Gogh Museum opened in Amsterdam in 1973. Home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, the museum holds more than 200 paintings, approximately 500 drawings, hundreds of letters, and other works of art assembled by the family over the years.
An international center of expertise on Van Gogh, the museum presents the artist’s work in relation to that of his contemporaries through its permanent and temporary exhibitions and educational programs. The institution also conducts research into the artist’s life, practice, and oeuvre.
In 1999, a new exhibition wing designed by Kisho Kurokawa was added to the main building, designed by Gerrit Rietveld. A new entrance building opening onto Museumplein was completed in 2015.
Gordenker, born in 1965, has held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, and the Netherlands Institute for Art History. She has also taught at institutions including Rutgers University, New York University, Vassar College, and the Bard Graduate Center.
Before joining the Van Gogh Museum, she served as Director of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, where she led the museum’s major renovation and expansion following her appointment in 2008. She has served as Director of the Van Gogh Museum since February 2020.
The event will take place at the Istanbul Modern Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27. Admission is free and the talk will be held in English.
