The van Gogh You Never Knew

Outrageous History!

Imagine becoming a young widow with a baby boy and being entrusted with the priceless legacy of one of the world's most famous painters. That is the situation in which Johanna van Gogh-Bonger found herself when her beloved husband of only two years passed away. That husband was Theo van Gogh, brother of Vincent van Gogh. The two brothers died within a year of each other leaving Johanna or Jo, as she was known, to assume the responsibility of exposing the world to Vincent's ground breaking, post-Impressionist paintings. Jo was not an art dealer and Vincent's paintings had yet to attain their legendary status. Yet, through her perseverance she achieved this. Hans Luijten, a Senior Researcher at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam felt compelled to tell her story. He recently published her biography - "Jo van Gogh-Bonger: The Woman Who Made Vincent Famous." Join him in conversation from Amsterdam with journalist Ernest Granson on Outrageous History!