They are more commonly associated with pop concerts or football matches than art exhibitions. But rows of ticket touts have become a familiar sight outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in recent weeks as they seek to get their hands on a limited edition Pokémon card.
There was so much interest in the card, which was being offered as part of an exhibition of modern art by Pokémon artists inspired by Van Gogh’s links to Japanese culture, that the museum has clamped down.
With touts feeding a booming resale market online for cards featuring Pikachu in the style of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat, it said it would stop handing them out.
“The Van Gogh Museum and the Pokémon Company International take the safety of visitors and employees very seriously,” the museum announced on its website at the weekend. As a result of recent incidents where a small group of individuals have created an undesirable situation, we have taken the difficult decision to no longer make the special Pikachu X Van Gogh Museum promotional cards available in the museum.”
From the first day of the temporary exhibition three weeks ago, there was a feverish atmosphere in an institution better known for handing out sunflowers and hosting royal visits to celebrate its 50th year.
Within an hour, the queue to see six small paintings featuring Pokémon characters inspired by Van Gogh was three deep. Visitors were racing to complete a treasure hunt to win their free card, the museum was fully booked and many toys had sold out.
“The phones haven’t stopped ringing in three hours,” said one of the security staff on the first morning. Another added: “It’s even busier than the Vermeer.”
There were scenes of scrambling in the shop for postcards, bags, branded clothes and toys and within days, people were offering the free cards online for €80 or more.
Cassia Edwards, 26, from Florida but living in Hilversum, in the north of the Netherlands, had told her friend Chanel Elbertsen that they needed to be at the train station first thing in the morning, and was one of the first 50 guests. “I was excited,” said Elbertsen, armed with a bag full of stock including one of the toys. “It’s one of my favourite painters; I love Pokémon and I have been playing since I was young. Van Gogh was a big lover of Japanese prints and nothing is more Japanese than Pokémon.”
For children themselves, the treasure hunt that would win them a card was a reason to engage with one of the Dutch greats: it involved answering questions such as how many sunflowers were in Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings (more than you think), as well as identifying obscure Pokémon characters in Corviknight inspired by Wheatfield With Crows by the Pokémon artist Naoyo Kimura.
Five-year-old Sven van Zee, his three-year-old sister, Milou, and parents, Marlo and Sabrina, took their first ever trip to the Van Gogh Museum, despite living nearby. “This got us over the threshold,” said Marlo van Zee on the first day. “He got the card, so he is happy.”
While the treasure hunt, paintings and educational material are still available in the museum, fans desperate to collect the cards should not panic. It will eventually be available through the Pokémon centre website and early next year in participating retailers in the Netherlands. “It will not,” the museum added, “be available via the Van Gogh Museum.”
A spokesperson for the museum said many fans had already enjoyed the promotion and claimed their card. “We have already welcomed many Pokémon fans and young visitors to the museum, who have enjoyed the Pokémon treasure hunt and the paintings,” he said.
“All Pokémon activities will continue to be available during the collaboration until 7 January 2024. Visitors can try the Pokémon adventure treasure hunt, view the Pokémon paintings inspired by Van Gogh and draw their own Pikachus. There are also other family activities during the autumn school holidays.”
