In 1996 Liesbeth Heenk received her doctorate at the Courtauld Institute of Art on “Vincent van Gogh’s drawings. A analysis of their Function and Uses.” This thesis was the first to deal systematically with Van Gogh’s drawings.
The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
For the purpose of her dissertation Liesbeth examined 90% of all Van Gogh drawings. Because of the artist’s systematic use of drawing materials, no less than 63 drawings could be re-dated to a different place of origin. She rejected various drawings, and added some eight drawings to the oeuvre.
The lengthy PhD thesis has not been published. The first part of the dissertation consists of a detailed description and analysis of Van Gogh’s drawing activities, the genesis of the drawings and their uses in the working process.
Part two of the dissertation is an exploration of Van Gogh’s ideas and actions regarding the uses of the drawings after completion: whether they were kept in the studio, exchanged, offered as presents, exhibited or sold. This analysis reveals the artist’s ambivalent attitude towards exhibiting and selling his work. The PhD thesis has not been published, and is available in various museum libraries.
The 13-page introduction to the dissertation by Liesbeth Heenk
is freely available as e-book here:
