DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

23 May 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

Washout: wettest May on record puts dampener on Van Gogh tribute

June 4, 2024
An artist's impression of the sunflower field. Photo: Van Gogh Nationaal Park

It should have been a colourful tribute to one of Vincent van Gogh’s best known works and a celebration of the arrival of summer – but it reckoned without the treacherous Dutch weather.

Two weeks ago workers, volunteers and schoolchildren painstakingly sowed 50,000 sunflower and dahlia seeds by hand that would grow into a giant living replica of one of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers paintings.

The seeds had to be carefully planted at the exact height and distance to ensure they resembled the artwork as closely as possible. Organisers threw a net across the field to stop mice and rabbits nibbling away at the sculpture, but they could do nothing about the threat from the sky.

Four weeks before the field in Etten-Leur should have opened to the public, the wettest May on record has turned the ground into a saturated brown mass.

“The sunflowers should have been about 10-15 centimetres high by this point, but unfortunately it’s all been soaked, rotten and washed away,” project leader Pierre van Damme told Omroep Brabant.

The attraction was due to be ready on July 1 as an extension of the Van Gogh National Park, which was opened four years ago in Noord-Brabant to celebrate Van Gogh’s legacy in the landscape where he grew up and began his artistic career.

“The contours and the paths with the wood chippings are still intact, thank God, but the seeds have been lost, including the 500 dahlias that were planted,” said Van Damme.

Yet he remains hopeful of salvaging the 7,000 m2 sculpture with a new batch of seeds now that the weather forecast looks more benign.

“We’re not giving up,” he said. “Vincent never gave up and we’re not giving up either. We are carrying on in the full conviction that it will come good.”

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Art and culture Society
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation
Latest
Show more
AEX falls as Trump threatens 50% import tariff on European goods
Dutch forensic experts develop deepfake video detector
Zaanstad says yes to tourist tickets for Zaanse Schans windmills
Fewer international child abductions by parents last year
Weekend brings showers and cooler weather, sun still possible
NewsHomeEconomyArt and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you information about coronavirus in the Netherlands.

Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days!

We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here.

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now