Van Gogh & Co. on tour

One of the most significant treasures of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum is its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces. Since 2001, when it was greatly expanded with the addition of more than 170 works from the Fondation Corboud, the collection has been considered one of the most comprehensive collections of French painting outside France. Seventy of these paintings by masters such as van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet and Renoir are now going on an extraordinary exhibition tour of Japan under the title ‘Van Gogh and the Impressionists’. It will start at the Utsunomiya Museum of Art (19 April to 21 June 2026), then travel to the Abeno Harukas Art Museum in Osaka (4 July to 9 September 2026) and end at the Nagoya City Art Museum (19 September to 29 November 2026). 

The 70 paintings from the Wallraf are embarking on a special journey, as Cologne's oldest museum is at an important point in its history: from 3 August 2026, the museum will be closed until late 2028. After 25 years, the striking museum building designed by architect Oswald Mathias Ungers is in need of refurbishment, renovation and technical adaptation to the new extension, the foundation stone for which was laid on 21 October 2025. Designed by Swiss architects Emanuel Christ and Christoph Gantenbein, this building will provide an impressive new home for the Impressionists in the future. The expanded Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud is scheduled to open at the end of 2028. Before that, however, the Impressionist masterpieces will travel to Japan as ambassadors for Cologne, where they will promote the rich cultural treasures of the Rhine metropolis.