Exclusive: an unknown archive of treasures from Van Gogh’s doctor, Paul Gachet

The Art Newspaper revealed a previously unknown “Gachet Archive” containing extensive material from Dr. Paul Gachet (1828–1909)—Vincent van Gogh’s physician in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890—and Gachet’s son Paul-Louis Gachet Jr (1873–1962). The anonymous current owner granted the publication full access, and the trove includes a newly surfaced, securely framed version of Gachet’s charcoal drawing “Van Gogh on his Deathbed,” made shortly after Van Gogh died on 29 July 1890, two days after shooting himself on 27 July. Two related deathbed drawings are already in museums: one given by Gachet Jr to the Louvre in 1951 (now at the Musée d’Orsay) and another given to Theo van Gogh in 1890 (now at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). The archive also contains a scarce etching made by Gachet from the drawing (with perhaps around a dozen surviving examples) and a 1923 calligraphed folder by Gachet Jr listing Van Gogh-related items in the family collection.

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