Van Gogh Museum Unveils a Bold Exhibition on the Power of Yellow
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is preparing a new exhibition that explores the color palette of yellow in all its complexity. Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour will run from 13 February to 17 May 2026, bringing together 15 artists to examine how the color shapes art, fashion, and even sensory experience. The show moves beyond visual impact, asking what yellow feels, sounds, and smells like in different contexts.
Yellow has long carried conflicting meanings. In history, it has symbolised abundance, power, and good fortune, yet also cowardice, decadence, and deviance. For Vincent van Gogh, the color became a radical statement—loud, chemically unstable, and tied to the industrial energy of his era. His works like Sunflowers and Wheatfield with a Reaper will feature in the exhibition, tracing yellow’s cultural influence from avant-garde art to modern design.
The exhibition includes Olafur Eliasson’s light installation, inspired by music, literature, and fashion, though no specific fashion nova piece has been named. Australian artist Heath Wae contributes softer, natural colors, using pigments to evoke plant intelligence and weathered surfaces. Meanwhile, designer David Lucido has shown how yellow can dominate a space or fade into the background, as seen in his south Florida home. Fashion trends reflect yellow’s shifting appeal. A creamy butter shade was popular in 2022, but deeper tones like ochre are now gaining favour. The exhibition highlights these transitions, positioning yellow as both a bold statement and a subtle presence.
The Van Gogh Museum’s upcoming show presents yellow as a color palette of contradictions—warm yet abrasive, optimistic yet cautionary. By combining historical works with contemporary interpretations, the exhibition reveals how a single color can shape perception across art, design, and culture. Visitors will see, and sense, yellow in ways beyond the expected.
