Image courtesy of MoMA Design Store. Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp

The Museum of Modern Art announces the launch of a new LEGO® Ideas set inspired by one of the most iconic works in MoMA’s collection, Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night (1889). The three-dimensional set reimagines the renowned painting—which has been in MoMA’s collection since 1935—in LEGO form, emphasizing the artist’s striking brush strokes and color choices. The set will be available on June 1 fo the general public at store.moma.org, at MoMA Design Stores in New York, and at LEGO locations globally.

Inspired by the view from his window at the Monastery of Saint-Paul de Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy, France, where Van Gogh spent 12 months, The Starry Night is one of the world’s most well-known Post Impressionist works. In creating this image of the night sky, Van Gogh heralded modern painting’s embrace of mood, expression, symbol, and sentiment. The new LEGO set was originally conceived by LEGO fan Truman Cheng, a 25- year old Hong Kong based LEGO fan, through a submission on the LEGO Ideas platform, and was developed when he realised that stacking different LEGO pieces together captured the look of Van Gogh’s iconic brush strokes.

With this set, LEGO fans can translate Van Gogh’s vibrant, expressive brushwork into three dimensions and bring a piece of MoMA’s collection into their home. In addition to elements comprising the painting’s iconic moon and stars above and village below, the LEGO set also includes a Van Gogh mini-figure, complete with a paint brush, palette, easel, and mini painting on a printed tile.

“At MoMA, we celebrate the opportunity to connect art and audiences, and are thrilled to be part of a new way to experience Van Gogh’s work, and to inspire the creative impulse in people of all ages,” said Sarah Suzuki, Associate Director, The Museum of Modern Art.

“At the LEGO Group, we want to inspire the world to get creative, so we’re incredibly proud to have brought this set to life in partnership with such an iconic institution as MoMA, allowing fans to be artistic with bricks, and to create and display their own masterpiece,” said Federico Begher, Head of Global Marketing.

The LEGO Ideas The Starry Night set will be available early on May 25 for MoMA members and LEGO VIPs, and on June 1 for the general public at store.moma.org; at MoMA Design Stores in New York, Japan, and Hong Kong; and at LEGO Stores and LEGO.com/StarryNight. The set retails for $169.99.

About The Museum of Modern Art Founded in 1929 by three progressive women under an educational charter, The Museum of Modern Art is dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern and contemporary art in the world. MoMA manifests this commitment by establishing, preserving, and documenting a dynamic collection of the highest order that reflects the vitality, complexity and unfolding patterns of modern and contemporary art; by presenting exhibitions and educational programs of unparalleled significance; by sustaining a library, archives, and conservation laboratory that are recognized as international centers of research; and by supporting scholarship and publications of preeminent intellectual merit. Central to MoMA’s mission is the encouragement of an ever-deeper understanding and enjoyment of modern and contemporary art by the diverse local, national, and international audiences that it serves.

About the LEGO Group The LEGO Group’s mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine. The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark, in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words LEg GOdt, which mean “Play Well.” Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. However, its products are now sold in more than 130 countries worldwide. For more news from the LEGO Group, please visit lego.com/aboutus. The LEGO® Ideas platform offers fans the opportunity to submit their own brick creations with the chance to have their concept brought to life with the help of LEGO master designers and a share of the profits. Find out more at ideas.lego.com.

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