Surveys the history of the foundation in 1973 of the State Museum Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam. Gives a systematic description of the paintings, the graphic art, and the letters. In his letters, the painter is occupied largely with his use of color and that of his friends and colleagues. Van Gogh and his colleagues enthusiastically studied books by physicists about color. The relation between van Gogh's painting technique, his use of materials, and the present condition of his paintings is handled with reference to the pigments he used and their properties. Mention is made of the Violettomania, the preference of the Impressionists for violet, in relation to their use of cobalt blue and of the deterioration of various colors due to various factors. The use of very dry paints, made by extracting the oil on blotting paper, the practice of varnishing certain parts, and the consequences of these methods are all discussed.