Van Gogh Irises Cotton Scarf
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
A large detail of the painting on organic cotton, about 27 by 71 inches, so it works as a scarf or as a light wrap. One thing to know before you gift it: the label says dry clean only.
Van Gogh gifts from the museums that own the paintings
Van Gogh is printed on more mugs, socks and tote bags than any other painter, and most of it is forgettable. One shortcut works well: buy from the museum that owns the painting.
The shop is a few rooms away from the original, the product was usually made for that museum, and the money goes back to the place that looks after the canvas.
We went through the 107 Van Gogh items currently listed across the museum shops on Gift Shop Atlas and picked 17. They are grouped by painting, because that is how most people choose: you already know which one the person loves.
Three American museums do most of the work here, because that is where these particular paintings live. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is not part of this site yet.
Irises (1889): the Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Van Gogh painted Irises in 1889, from the garden of the asylum at Saint-Rémy in the south of France. It hangs at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the Getty's shop has built a whole line around it.
Van Gogh Irises Mug
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
Fine bone china, a little over 12 ounces, and it arrives in a presentation box, which saves you the wrapping. The shop lists it as microwave and dishwasher safe, so it can be an everyday mug and not a shelf piece.
Van Gogh Irises Puzzle
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
1,000 pieces, finishing at 25 by 20 inches. Irises is a harder puzzle than it looks: wide stretches of similar blues and greens, with the single white iris as your landmark. A gift for someone patient.
Van Gogh Irises Music Box
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
A hand-cranked paper music box about two inches wide, decorated with the painting. It plays Beethoven's Für Elise, which has nothing to do with Van Gogh, and nobody has ever minded. A good small extra alongside a book.
Van Gogh Irises 11" x 14" Print
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
The least expensive way to bring the painting home: an 11 by 14 inch print. That is a standard frame size, so an off-the-shelf frame fits without custom matting. The frame is up to you.
The Bedroom (1889): the Art Institute of Chicago
Van Gogh painted his bedroom in the Yellow House in Arles three times. The first version is in Amsterdam and the third is in Paris. Chicago has the second, painted in 1889.
Vincent van Gogh The Bedroom Mug
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
An 11-ounce ceramic mug with the painting wrapped around it, microwave safe and fine on the top rack of the dishwasher. The simple, inexpensive option if the Getty's bone china feels like too much.
Vincent van Gogh The Bedroom Folding Tote
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
A shopping bag made from recycled plastic that folds down to roughly 4.5 by 5 inches and clips to a keyring. Opened up it is 16 by 26 inches, big enough for groceries. Practical, light to post, hard to get wrong.
Vincent van Gogh: The Bedroom Enamel Pin
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
A brass and enamel pin, somewhere between 1.25 and 1.75 inches across, on a backing card that tells you about the painting. Small enough to slip inside a birthday card.
Two more from Chicago
The Art Institute also holds a self-portrait from Van Gogh's Paris years, painted in 1887, and The Poet's Garden, painted in Arles in 1888.
Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait T-shirt
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
The 1887 self-portrait, the one built from short dabs of colour after Van Gogh had been looking hard at Seurat, on a plain cotton T-shirt. Sizes run from S to XXL.
Vincent van Gogh The Poet’s Garden Silk Scarf
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
The splurge on this list. A 33 by 43 inch silk scarf developed from The Poet's Garden, one of the pictures Van Gogh painted to decorate the room where Gauguin was going to stay. Hand wash, hang dry.
The Starry Night (1889): MoMA, New York
The Starry Night was painted at Saint-Rémy in 1889 and belongs to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
MoMA Moleskine Starry Night Large Notebooks - Set of 2
MoMA · New York
Two soft-cover Moleskine notebooks, 5 by 8 inches with 80 plain pages each, made with MoMA and printed with the painting from its collection. Plain pages suit people who sketch better than people who make lists.
Faber-Castell Paint by Number Museum Series The Starry Night Art Set
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
Sold by the Art Institute's shop, but it belongs in this section: a paint-by-number kit of The Starry Night on a 6 by 8 inch canvas, with six acrylics, a brush and a pop-up easel. An afternoon's project for a child, or for an adult who wants to see how the swirls are put together.
Books
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
If you buy one Van Gogh book, make it this one. A 560-page paperback selection of his letters, many of them to his brother Theo, with short linking passages that explain where he was and what was going on. He wrote better than most painters have any right to.
Irises: Vincent van Gogh in the Garden
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
The Getty's own book about its painting: a 208-page hardcover by Jennifer Helvey that sets Irises beside Van Gogh's other flower and garden pictures, and beside those of painters from Dürer to Monet. It pairs naturally with anything from the Irises section above.
Vincent van Gogh: Little People, Big Dreams
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
A 32-page hardcover picture-book biography from the Little People, Big Dreams series, made for reading aloud to young children. It closes with a short timeline and photographs.
And two that are just fun
"Vincent van Toe" Socks
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago
The self-portrait, on socks, with a pun. Mostly combed cotton, in one adult size (sock size 10 to 13).
Van Gogh Little Thinker Plush Doll
Getty Museum · Los Angeles
A 12-inch plush Vincent in a painter's smock. One ear comes off; it is attached with Velcro. Whether that is funny or in poor taste depends entirely on the recipient, so choose accordingly.
How we picked
We read the public catalogs of the museum shops. Nobody paid to be on this list, and no brand sent us samples: we have not handled these items ourselves. Sizes, materials and care instructions come from each shop's own product page, which is also where you buy.
Prices are read from the shops' catalogs and can change, and items sell out. When a pick is no longer listed by its shop, it drops off this page.
Want to see everything? Browse all 107 Van Gogh items from museum shops.