Title: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), innovator and entrepreneur: an experiential report of Van Gogh guides in Nuenen

Authors: Jan Ulijn; Aleks Veldhoen; Jacqueline Bekkers-Vermeulen; Sabine Hendrikse; Jos Pieterse; Nigel Saych

Addresses: Deceased; formerly of: Open University The Netherlands and Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands ' Vincentre Museum, Berg 29, 5671 CA Nuenen, The Netherlands ' Cultuuradvies, Berg 24, 5671 CC Nuenen, The Netherlands ' Vincentre Museum, Berg 29, 5671 CA Nuenen, The Netherlands ' Institute for Business Management in SMEs, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Rachelsmolen 1, 5612 MA Eindhoven, The Netherlands ' Interlex Language Services, Het Puyven 35, 5672 RA Nuenen, The Netherlands

Abstract: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was an innovator and an entrepreneur. This paper analyses letters of the 19th century and reports observations of Van Gogh experts as well as Vincentre guides. Furthermore 25 students specialising in innovation and entrepreneurship were asked to give their opinion about Van Gogh and his entrepreneurial skills. Using a questionnaire we asked expert and non-expert respondents to rank order five aspects of innovativeness and ten characteristics of entrepreneurship. The findings show that the innovative and entrepreneurial potential of Van Gogh highly reflect his imagination, creativity and analysing capabilities. Based on his quantitative work he was a hard worker. Taking his financial successes into account we can only say with hindsight that he was artistically far ahead and not recognized by his audience. Future research might investigate mood analysis in his letters and further explore the characteristics of innovation and entrepreneurship we used in this study.

Keywords: history of art; entrepreneurship; intrapreneurship; innovation; Vincent van Gogh; cultural studies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2020.107802

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2020 Vol.40 No.3, pp.337 - 372

Received: 14 Dec 2017
Accepted: 20 Apr 2018
Published online: 22 Jun 2020 *

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