Unknown Archive of Van Gogh’s Doctor Paul Gachet Revealed

An anonymous owner has granted The Art Newspaper exclusive access to a vast archive of material from the collection of Dr. Paul Gachet (1828-1909) and his son Paul-Louis Gachet Jr (1873-1962). Gachet cared for Vincent van Gogh in the final weeks of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890 and depicted him in two portraits. The archive includes Gachet’s charcoal sketch Van Gogh on his Deathbed, dated 29 July 1890, made hours after the artist died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two similar deathbed drawings exist in the Musée d’Orsay and the Van Gogh Museum. Gachet also made an etching of the scene. Other items include a 1923 folder by Gachet Jr listing family Van Gogh memorabilia, a postcard from Jo Bonger to Gachet Jr dated 10 August 1914, a French translation of Bonger’s 1914 introduction to Van Gogh’s letters, an 1858 photograph of Gachet, a 1903 portrait of Gachet by Léopold Robin, and a sketch by Robin showing Gachet Jr painting his father. A photograph documents the chaotic 1963 auction of Gachet Jr’s effects in Pontoise. Gachet Jr donated most inherited Van Gogh and Cézanne works to the Louvre (now at Musée d’Orsay); no Van Gogh works remain in the archive. Another archive was sold to Georges Wildenstein in 1962 and is at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute. The current owner has no long-term plans for the collection.