Dutch Museum Solves Van Gogh Mystery
Is it or isn't it? Turns out it is -- that is, a still-life painting of a dynamic flower arrangement that experts at the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in the Netherlands once believed to be the work of Vincent van Gogh but then questioned has been reattributed to the Dutch postimpressionist, thanks in part to some X-ray sleuthing.
Is it or isn’t it? Turns out it is — that is, a still-life painting of a dynamic flower arrangement that experts at the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in the Netherlands once believed to be the work of Vincent van Gogh but then questioned has been reattributed to the Dutch postimpressionist, thanks in part to some X-ray sleuthing.
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The painting, on a 100 centimeter by 80 centimeter (40×31 inch) canvas, was bought by the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in 1974 as a Van Gogh. The work was thought to come from the artist’s period living with his brother Theo in Paris from late 1886.
“But when they hung it (in the museum), doubts crept in” about its authenticity, said Van Tilborgh.
Experts thought the canvas was too large for that period, the depiction of a vase brimming over with flowers and yet more flowers lying on a table in the foreground was too exuberant, too busy. The signature was in an unusual position for Van Gogh — the top right hand corner.
With the doubts piling up, the museum in 2003 decided to attribute the painting to an anonymous artist instead of to Van Gogh.
But the detective work did not end there.
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