Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum: much chaos and four employees fired for inappropriate behavior

The Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum exhibition recently concluded at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: with the collaboration of a number of illustrators from The Pokémon Company, six Pokémon-style paintings inspired by famous works by Vincent van Gogh were created and displayed, such as Pikachu inspired by Van Gogh’sSelf-Portrait with Gray Felt Hat, Sunflora inspired by Sunflowers, and Munchlax and Snorlax that stay overnight in the Bedroom. Playful activities designed for children, educational materials, as well as an exclusive range of Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum products, which could be purchased in the Van Gogh Museum store and webstore and through the Pokémon Center, were also available as part of the exhibition. It would be the merchandise that would create uproar both in the museum store and online since, as Artnet News reports, videos were already circulating on social media on the day of the exhibition’s opening in which the shop was literally stormed; whole crowds went to the museum just to grab the Pikachu promotional card with the gray felt hat (the museum decided to stop distributing these cards to cope with the chaotic crowds these caused) and other products, such as the plush version of Pikachu with the gray felt hat, T-shirts, bags, and other collectibles, and then probably resell them. The entire collection had then been sold out online in less than twenty-four hours, so much so that the Pokémon Company had posted an apology to all fans on Twitter (the current X).

But that was not the end of the story: the Dutch newspaper Het Parool reported that in mid-December four Van Gogh Museum employees were suspended because during the Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum exhibition they did not follow staff-friendly behavior, committing a violation of the museum’s procedures and codes of conduct. According to reports from Het Parool, the Van Gogh Museum reportedly confirmed that these were employees from operational services, which then includes security guards and checkroom and cashier employees. One allegedly stole a box of Pikachu cards with a gray felt hat; another who had worked for the museum for twenty-five years allegedly informed visitors about the best time to buy tickets.

The employees suspended in mid-December, as also reported in Artnet News, have been fired by the museum and therefore will not return to work after the suspension.

Pictured: Pokémon at the Van Gogh Museum. Pikachu, by Naoyo Kimura, The Pokémon Company International

Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum: much chaos and four employees fired for inappropriate behavior

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