Behind the Pokémon craze: Lanzfeld Editions also produces popular Pokémon merchandise for the Van Gogh Museum. The average museum lover (and the average Pokémon fan) will not have missed it in 2023: the Pokémon exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum.
The Van Gogh Museum will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. To mark the occasion, the museum thought it would be a good idea to collaborate with Pokémon. The plan was to use Pokémon to introduce young people to Vincent van Gogh and his art in a new way. Little did the museum know, however, that this combination would lead to a real Pokémon craze.
During the exhibition (from September 2023 to January 2024), the museum will display Pokémon paintings based on famous works by Vincent van Gogh. Artists Naoyo Kimura (1960), Sowsow (1988) and Tomokazu Komiya (1973) created six paintings inspired by famous works by Vincent van Gogh, such as Pikachu inspired by Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, Munchlax & Snorlax inspired by The Bedroom and Sunflora inspired by Sunflowers. In addition to viewing the paintings, several educational activities were developed, including a treasure hunt, educational materials for schools and drawing lessons. After completing the treasure hunt, visitors were given a special Pokémon promotional card.
There was a huge demand for these cards. Because the Pokémon cards in the Van Gogh Museum were limited edition, it became a huge success. There were chaotic scenes outside the museum, and crowd barriers were erected throughout the museum to ensure the safety of visitors and staff. After two weeks, the museum stopped issuing the cards for safety reasons. There was also a huge rush in the shop for all the merchandise made for the exhibition.
Despite the sometimes extreme madness on the streets and in the museum shop, the Pokémon exhibition was a huge success, with high visitor numbers and worldwide attention for both Van Gogh and Pokémon. Many young people came to see the museum.
Various Pokémon items were available in the museum shop. Lanzfeld Editions had the honour of supplying exclusive items for this historic exhibition, including reproductions, notebooks, postcard folders, magnets and key rings. These Pokémon merchandise items were also very popular and flew off the museum shelves.
Lanzfeld Edition is the specialist in exclusive, bespoke museum merchandise. Want to know more? Contact us about the possibilities!
If you are still looking for a Van Gogh Pokémon card, these are not made by Lanzfeld, so you will have to look elsewhere: ……
