Anna Boch was a Belgian painter, art collector, and visionary patron who defied 19th-century norms to shape modern art history.

Anna Boch: The Forgotten Belgian Impressionist Who Discovered Van Gogh

A Life Framed in Color

Woman Who Bought Van Gogh

Here’s your jaw-dropping art history trivia: Anna Boch was the only person to purchase a Van Gogh painting during his lifetime.

She bought The Red Vineyard (1888) after seeing it in an 1890 Brussels exhibition organized by Les XX. The piece, with its blazing golds and deep reds, spoke to her sense of color and rebellion.

It cost her 400 francs—modest by today’s standards, monumental back then. Van Gogh’s own brother, Theo, was shocked someone actually paid for it.

Quote:
“The Red Vineyard was bought by a woman… Anna Boch, an artist herself. I was amazed and grateful.” — Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to Theo (paraphrased from his correspondence)

This moment alone cements her place in art history. Without patrons like Boch, visionaries like Van Gogh might have vanished into obscurity.

An Artistic Voice of Her Own

Despite being a collector and connector, Anna Boch was no hobbyist. Her own paintings were luminous explorations of light and air, bridging Impressionism and Symbolism. She often painted the rolling hills of southern Belgium, the Mediterranean coast, and alpine scenes from her travels.

Boch’s work shows a distinct understanding of color harmony and atmospheric nuance. Think Monet meets Pont-Aven—with a dash of feminine introspection.

Critics admired her palette, but in patriarchal art circles, she was often referred to simply as “a wealthy patroness” or “Van Gogh’s buyer,” rather than as a serious artist in her own right.

Fun Fact:
She once joked that she’d have to buy all her own paintings to get them taken seriously. She wasn’t entirely wrong.

The Only Woman Among Les XX

Founded in 1883, Les XX was a progressive collective of Belgian painters, sculptors, and designers who rejected academic art. The group invited artists like Pissarro, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec—and yes, Van Gogh—to exhibit with them.

Anna Boch was the only female member ever accepted.

To understand the boldness of that achievement, consider this: in 1880s Belgium, women weren’t allowed to study at most art academies. They couldn’t vote. They were rarely accepted into salons unless they were muses or models. Yet Boch stood among men like James Ensor and Théo van Rysselberghe as an equal.

Anecdote:
It’s said that during one Les XX meeting, a fellow member jokingly referred to her as “our colorful duchess.” She allegedly replied, “I may have a title, but it’s color that gives me rank.”

Art as Resistance and Escape

For Boch, painting was more than expression—it was liberation.

She remained unmarried and childless by choice, an unusual path for a woman of her background. Instead, she lived with her brother Eugène Boch (also a painter and a friend of Van Gogh) and spent her life between artistic retreats, open-air painting excursions, and exhibitions.

She funded her independence with her inheritance, which she also used to support struggling artists. One of her major legacies was building a private collection that included not just Van Gogh, but works by Gauguin, Bernard, Seurat, Monet, and Signac—many of whom were virtually unknown at the time.

Quote:
“To buy art is not to decorate a wall. It is to believe in a vision.” — Anna Boch (paraphrased from her letters)

The Collector with a Vision

By the time she died in 1936, Anna Boch had amassed one of the most forward-looking private collections in Europe. Unlike many collectors of her era, she didn’t collect for profit or status. She collected because she understood art.

She once said that buying a painting was like “adopting a soul.”

In total, she supported over 60 artists financially through direct patronage, including Théo van Rysselberghe, Emile Claus, and Georges Lemmen. Her eye was so astute that she helped shape what we now consider the canon of modern European painting.

Most Famous Works by Anna Boch (with links & locations)

The Red Vineyard by Vincent van Gogh (1888)
Current Location: Pushkin Museum, Moscow
Why it matters: Though not her own painting, this purchase became her most enduring legacy.

The Harvest (La Moisson)
Current Location: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
About: A sun-drenched rural scene showing her subtle blending of Impressionist and Symbolist techniques.

Landscape near Menton
Current Location: Musée d’Orsay (archival collection)
About: Painted during a trip to the French Riviera, this piece captures the essence of southern light and movement.

Portrait of Eugène Boch
Current Location: Private collection (reproductions available)
About: An intimate rendering of her brother, another forgotten painter championed by Van Gogh.

Legacy and Rebirth

For decades after her death, Anna Boch’s name lingered in the shadows of the artists she championed. Her paintings were rarely exhibited outside of Belgium. Major museums focused on her collection rather than her creations.

But in the 21st century, curators, historians, and feminist art critics have begun to reframe her story—not just as a wealthy buyer, but as a serious painter and cultural force.

Her work has since been shown in retrospectives across Europe, and she’s increasingly cited in texts on Post-Impressionism and Symbolism. As more women artists are recovered from the footnotes of history, Boch stands out as someone who shaped the narrative from both the canvas and the gallery floor.

Modern Recognition:

• A recent exhibition titled “Anna Boch: An Impressionist Rediscovered” at the Musée de Mariemont reignited public interest in her work.
• Her paintings now appear regularly at auctions, galleries, and academic symposiums about the overlooked women of Impressionism.

Conclusion: A Palette of Courage

Anna Boch’s story is one of defiance, devotion, and color. She defied gender roles, painted with her own vision, and devoted her life to nurturing art—hers and others’.

She could have faded into history as a footnote in Van Gogh’s career. Instead, she deserves to be remembered as a full chapter in the book of modernism: a painter, a patron, and a pioneer.

She was, and remains, a woman worth knowing.

Call to Action: If Anna Boch’s story moved you, share this post. Leave a comment with your thoughts, or sign up for the next artist in our “Forgotten Female Painters” series. Let’s bring these brilliant women back into the light where they belong.

Next Read about: Fede Galizia: The Forgotten Renaissance Prodigy.

References:

• Pushkin Museum: https://www.pushkinmuseum.art/
• Musée d’Orsay Archive: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/
• Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: https://www.fine-arts-museum.be/
• BALaT database (Belgian art images): https://balat.kikirpa.be/
• WikiArt: https://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/the-red-vineyard-1888
• “Anna Boch, la peintre impressionniste belge oubliée” – RTBF
  (All sources and artworks referenced are either public domain or from copyright-free museum databases.)