Why Does "Yellow" Move the Heart? - More Than Just Seeing "Yellow": The Van Gogh Museum's Challenge to Immerse with Light, Scent, and Sound

Why Does "Yellow" Move the Heart? - More Than Just Seeing "Yellow": The Van Gogh Museum's Challenge to Immerse with Light, Scent, and Sound

When you hear "yellow," what comes to mind? Sunlight, lemons, caution, or perhaps a slightly unhealthy complexion. It's rare for a single color to harbor such contrasting images. That's why the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam's decision to center an exhibition around "yellow itself" seems like a very contemporary choice.


1) Taking "Why Did Van Gogh Love Yellow?" a Step Further

The exhibition "Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour" starts with Van Gogh's iconic work 'Sunflowers' but doesn't simplify the answer. Instead of reducing yellow to "cheerfulness," "sun," or "hope," it explores how yellow served as a "medium of messages" in the cultural context of the late 19th century to around 1900. The museum's guides and announcements emphasize that yellow took on multifaceted meanings, including warmth, energy, modernity, rebellion, and spirituality.


What's important here is that yellow can become a "shortcut to emotions." If the exhibition merely followed the template of color psychology—red for passion, blue for calmness—it would quickly become bland. However, this exhibition aims to convey that yellow is an unstable entity that changes meaning with time and context, using a collection of works, materials, and experiences to make this point resonate with the audience.


2) Yellow Doesn't End with "Seeing"—An Exhibition Expanding to Smell and Sound

The main reason this topic is easily spread on social media is that yellow is designed as an "experience." According to the museum's announcements, not only artworks but also music, literature, and fashion are incorporated to allow an "unprecedented immersive experience" of yellow. Furthermore, light-based installations are highlighted, with Olafur Eliasson's work being exhibited in the Netherlands for the first time, adding to the buzz.


Yellow enters the eye quickly. It functions as a warning color because it visually "pierces." When combined with light effects, viewers will "bathe" in it rather than just "see" it. Depending on the design of the exhibition space, yellow can be not only pleasant but also aggressive or urgent. This duality aligns well with the sensibilities of today's audience.


3) The "History of Yellow" Is Not Just Optimistic

Yellow is not merely a bright color. Culturally and historically, yellow has embodied both celebration and avoidance. For instance, while it symbolizes "radiance," it has also been associated with prejudice and labels in certain eras. Media articles introducing the exhibition discuss the complexity of yellow—the coexistence of brightness and an unsettling shadow.


This complexity is also connected to Van Gogh's yellow. 'Sunflowers' can be read as an exaltation of life, but at the same time, it can appear as if it's on the verge of burning out. Yellow is a "color of hope," yet it can also appear "unhealthy if overdone." In other words, yellow reflects the fragility just beneath the surface of happiness. This is why yellow continues to captivate people across eras.


4) SNS Reacted to "Interpretative Space" Rather Than "Simplicity"

Observing reactions on social media, there are several patterns in how excitement is expressed.


(A) The Joy of Being "Instagrammable": Yellow Dominates the Screen
In official museum posts, yellow is described as "warm, exuberant, and radiant," yet also "bold, intrusive, and sometimes pathological." Such words are perfect for captions. On Instagram, comments like "Everything was Yellow" and "Experience yellow by 'smelling, hearing, and feeling'" are shared, indicating the intensity of the experience. Yellow is strong even on smartphone screens, making it a color that stops the timeline and easily ignites the desire to visit.


(B) The Surprise of "Learning About Color": The Exhibition Becomes a Lesson in Color Theory
On X (formerly Twitter), the official museum account introduces the exhibition while touching on the symbolism of yellow (sunlight, courage, modern life, etc.). Similar posts are shared across multiple accounts, creating a trend of reinterpreting yellow as a "concept whose meaning changes throughout history." It's interesting that the focus is not merely on "Van Gogh liked yellow," but rather on "what values yellow carried at the time."


(C) The Linguistic Expression of "Yellow Affects Mood"
In articles, a phrase attributed to Eliasson is quoted: "You 'see' blue and red, but you 'feel' yellow." Such expressions are easily re-quoted on social media, prompting experiential anecdotes (like "Being in a yellow room changes your mood") that connect color directly to emotions. It seems that the audience is preemptively verbalizing the exhibition's essence as an "experience."


(D) Practical Reactions to "When to Go?"
When traveler posts and ticket information pages start circulating, reactions quickly become practical. "Until when is the exhibition open?" "Will it be crowded?" "Can I visit other museums on the same day?" With the exhibition running from mid-February to mid-May 2026, it's easy to include in a spring European travel itinerary. On social media, the perspective of "incorporating it into travel plans" increases, transforming the exhibition from an event to a "scheduled plan."

5) "Yellow" Mirrors the Current Mood

Finally, let's consider why this theme resonates with the atmosphere of 2026. We are currently in an era where bright messages alone are insufficient. Positivity is necessary, but if you run solely on positivity, your heart gets left behind. Yellow, while pretending to be bright, also reflects fatigue, excess, and anxiety. In other words, it allows positive and negative to coexist without separation.


In that sense, it's natural that an exhibition revolving around "yellow" captures people's hearts. Color transcends logic to reach us. Yet, this exhibition doesn't just "reach" us. It shows the evolution of meanings that yellow has carried through history and contemporary works, returning the question to the viewer: "What does yellow mean to you?"


It's no wonder that social media is buzzing. Photographs are striking. But when you try to talk about it, it's deep. Moreover, the exhibition period is short. Yellow shines on the timeline, resonates on site, and grows in interpretation after returning home. Such a "two-stage impactful exhibition" might be what's needed now.


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