“The Great Van Gogh Exhibition: The Langlois Bridge at Arles” Opens February 6, 2027 at the Kobe City Museum; Reservations Required for All Visitors from April 29

“The Great Van Gogh Exhibition: The Langlois Bridge at Arles” will be held at the Kobe City Museum (Chuo Ward, Kobe) from Saturday, February 6 to Sunday, May 30, 2027. Drawing on the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands, it focuses on Vincent van Gogh’s final years in Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise. Advance ticket sales and entry reservations began on Thursday, October 1, 2026. Until Wednesday, April 28, reservations take priority for entry on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only, and from Thursday, April 29 (a public holiday), entry is by reservation only.

Period I drew 1.1 million visitors at three venues; Period II covers “the second half of his career”

The Great Van Gogh Exhibition introduces Van Gogh’s career in two periods through the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum. According to the official website, Period I in 2025–2026, “Café Terrace at Night,” covered the first half of his career, from his Dutch years through Paris to Arles. The venues were the Kobe City Museum (September 20, 2025 – February 1, 2026), the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art (February 21 – May 17, 2026) and the Ueno Royal Museum (May 29 – August 12, 2026). The three venues together recorded 1.1 million visitors (according to the organizers).

The Kobe City Museum has announced that the Kobe venue drew about 530,000 of those visitors. Period II in 2027 explores the second half of his career, from Arles to his final years. In both periods, works are shown in chronological order, following Van Gogh’s career. As of October 19, the venues and dates of Period II other than Kobe were not posted on the official website.

The Kröller-Müller Museum is in De Hoge Veluwe National Park in Gelderland, the Netherlands. According to the Kobe City Museum, it holds and exhibits works by Van Gogh comprising about 90 oil paintings and about 180 drawings, among others.

Highlight: “The Langlois Bridge at Arles,” shown in Japan for the first time in about 70 years

The centerpiece is “The Langlois Bridge at Arles” (mid-March 1888, oil on canvas, 54 × 64 cm). The Kobe City Museum describes it as a work regarded as “a treasure of the Netherlands,” very rarely lent outside the country, and says this will be its first showing in Japan in about 70 years.

The Kobe exhibition’s website also introduces the following works. All are in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum.

• “Country Road in Provence by Night” (c. May 12–15, 1890)

• “Portrait of Joseph Roulin” (February–March 1889)

• “Sorrowing Old Man (‘At Eternity’s Gate’)” (May 1890)

• “Chestnut Tree in Blossom” (May 22–23, 1890)

The official website of the Great Van Gogh Exhibition says it will show about 50 works from the museum’s collection, starting with “The Langlois Bridge at Arles,” along with works by contemporaries such as Signac, Seurat and Gauguin.

Tickets, prices and entry reservations

Same-day tickets are 2,800 yen for adults and 1,400 yen for university students; high school students and younger are free. Advance tickets are 2,600 yen for adults and 1,300 yen for university students and are sold until 23:59 on Friday, February 5, 2027. An advance pair ticket for two adults (5,000 yen) is sold only through ticket agencies and can also be used one at a time. Sales of the “February-only ticket” (2,300 yen for adults), valid only from February 6 to 28, ended on September 30. Group tickets are not sold.

Kobe residents aged 65 and over pay half the adult same-day price (1,400 yen) on presentation of proof. Holders of a disability certificate or similar are free, and depending on the type of certificate, caregivers are also free. During the run, only same-day tickets can be bought at the Kobe City Museum window. A set ticket with admission to “AQUARIUM×ART átoa” (5,000 yen in advance, 5,200 yen on the day) is also sold exclusively through asoview!.

Entry reservations are accepted through the official online ticket service (e-tix) or by phone with CN Playguide (0570-08-9929, 10:00–18:00). From Saturday, February 6 to Wednesday, April 28, reservations take priority for entry on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, while on weekdays visitors can come without a reservation. Visitors who come without a reservation on priority days may have to wait to enter. The museum recommends reserving on priority days even for those who do not need to buy a ticket, such as high school students and younger.

From Thursday, April 29 (a public holiday) to Sunday, May 30, entry is by reservation only, and a reservation is required to see the exhibition. Each booking can include up to five people in total across all time slots, counted by category (paid, ticket holders and free). The museum expects crowding during the run and says it may change entry procedures depending on conditions.

A different collection from the “Drawbridge” at the Nagoya City Art Museum

At the Nagoya City Art Museum, “Van Gogh’s Drawbridge and the Impressionists: From the Collection of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum” is on view until Sunday, November 29. The Van Gogh “Drawbridge” (1888) on display there belongs to the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud in Cologne, Germany, a different collection from the Kröller-Müller Museum work to be shown in Kobe. For details, see our article on the Nagoya drawbridge exhibition. Major Western art exhibitions are also gathered in [2026–2027] Guide to Western Art Exhibitions.

Overview

Name: The Great Van Gogh Exhibition: The Langlois Bridge at Arles (The Great Van Gogh Exhibition, Period II)
Dates: Saturday, February 6 – Sunday, May 30, 2027
Hours: 9:30–17:30 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays and from April 29 to May 5; last entry to the galleries 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open if a public holiday), Tuesday, March 23, Thursday, May 6
Venue: Kobe City Museum
Address: 24 Kyomachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe
Access: 10-minute walk from the West Exit of JR Sannomiya Station and the West Exits of Hankyu and Hanshin Kobe-Sannomiya Stations; 10-minute walk from the East Exit of JR and Hanshin Motomachi Stations (no parking)
Admission: Adults 2,800 yen, university students 1,400 yen, high school students and younger free (advance: adults 2,600 yen, university students 1,300 yen)
Reservations: Priority for reserved entry on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays until April 28; entry by reservation only from April 29
Organizers: Kobe City Museum, The Kobe Shimbun, The Sankei Shimbun, Kansai Television, Hakuhodo
Special cooperation: Kröller-Müller Museum
Planning: Hata International
Official website: https://www.kobecitymuseum.jp/exhibition/detail?exhibition=397
Kobe exhibition website: https://www.ktv.jp/event/vangogh/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

For how ukiyo-e influenced Monet and Van Gogh, see What Is Japonisme? How Ukiyo-e Influenced Monet and Van Gogh.

*Top image: Vincent van Gogh, “The Langlois Bridge at Arles,” 1888, Kröller-Müller Museum (public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the official websites of the Kobe City Museum and the Great Van Gogh Exhibition (as of October 19, 2026) and press materials from Aquament Inc. (October 1, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team