If Van Gogh is in Public Domain, why there are restrictions in the Van Gogh museum?
<p>I've been to the <strong>Van Gogh museum</strong> in Amsterdam, and I was a little disappointed because there were no pictures of some of his most famous work - "The Starry Night" and "Starry Night Over the Rhône".</p>

<p>Well, it is well known that Van Gogh artwork is in public domain, according to this <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/38276/is-van-goghs-starry-night-in-the-public-domain">question</a>.</p>

<p>And I also know that these artworks are in the MoMA (New York City) and in the Musée D'Orsay (Paris). But why can't the museum use a replica? Or sell derived artwork in the museum shop? Or in the art books sold there? Or even tell us about these paintings during the history and life of Van Gogh presented in the museum? </p>

<p>It was like these paintings never existed!</p>

<h2>There isn’t a legal restriction</h2>

<p>Which is to say they could show replica’s if they wanted to; they just don’t want to. This is fairly typical - art museums display art, not reproductions of art. They also tend to be interested in displaying the art they have, not telling the life story of the artist.</p>

copyright public-domain