Van Gogh looked at the Brabant bonnet

For Vincent van Gogh, a white Brabant bonnet was “eternally beautiful”. Het Noordbrabants Museum places such bonnets alongside paintings, old photographs and research into the women who wore them.

Editorial team · 12 October 2026

The front of Het Noordbrabants Museum in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Photo: NielsF / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image source

In the exhibition Van Gogh en de muts (Van Gogh and the Bonnet), real Brabant bonnets come together with paintings by Van Gogh. The subject is the white bonnets that Brabant women used to wear.

On the walls hang, among others, Kop van een vrouw (Gordina de Groot) from the own collection of Het Noordbrabants Museum and Garenspoelende vrouw from the Van Gogh Museum. The two works show how the exhibition brings different collections together.

Vincent van Gogh, Head of a Woman with White Cap, 1885. Image: Vincent van Gogh / Wikimedia Commons · public domain · Image source

Alongside the paintings, old photographs and research are on show.

Vincent van Gogh thought the white bonnets “eternally beautiful”.

Van Gogh en de muts can be seen from 17 October 2026 to 3 October 2027 at Het Noordbrabants Museum, Verwersstraat 41 in ’s-Hertogenbosch. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.