A century ago, Tate borrowed five Van Goghs to inaugurate its new ‘modern foreign’ galleries
Lent by British private collectors, the Van Goghs subsequently went abroad—except for a fake, which is now in a castle in Wales
In June 1926, London's Tate Gallery opened its first rooms dedicated to "modern foreign" art, with King George V and Queen Mary attending the ceremony. To mark the occasion, the gallery organized a massive loan exhibition featuring over 250 works, including five Van Gogh pieces and one drawing. The Van Gogh loans, all donated by British collectors, included four paintings and a drawing, displayed in a newly built extension of the gallery.
Elizabeth Workman, an early Van Gogh collector, originally intended to lend Au bord de la Rhône, but it was replaced by Oleanders after her husband's financial struggles in 1928. Esther Sutro, another female collector, lent Café at Arles, acquired by Anna Clark and later the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1962. The Van Gogh works were displayed in the gallery's most impressive room, previously housing J.M.W. Turner's art.
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