Van Gogh Found in Attic Could Be Worth Millions? A 'Failure' Painting, Artist Says (VIDEO)
Museum officials verified a long lost painting packed away in a Norwegian man's attic for more than a decade as an authentic Vincent Van Gogh on Monday.
It took two years and two passes for museum officials to verify the most recently discovered Van Gogh painting. Originally brought to the museum's attention in the 1990's, a Norwegian man was told that the painting he owned was not an authentic Van Gogh. However, more than a decade later with new tools at their supply, The Van Gogh Museum says it has verified that the painting, titled "Sunset at Montmajour," is authentic.
"This is a great painting from what many see as the high point of his artistic achievement, his period in Arles, in southern France," Museum director Axel Rueger said during the paintings unveiling on Monday. "In the same period he painted works such as 'Sunflowers,' 'The Yellow House' and 'The Bedroom'."
Unfortunately, Van Gogh did not seem to agree with the painting's success, deeming it a "failure" in letters written by the artist to his brother in 1888. Those letters helped museum officials to verify the painting's authenticity.
The painting was denied authenticity in the 1990's because it was lacking a signature. A renewed search took two years, verification of style and paint used through chemical analysis, in addition to letters of reference to decide that Van Gogh was in fact responsible for "Sunset."
Researcher Teio Meedendorp said he and other researchers "have found answers to all the key questions, which is remarkable for a painting that has been lost for more than 100 years."
"Sunset" is not the first painting that Van Gogh ruled a failure. He also showed little hope for "Starry Night" which is now on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Just a few years after completing what would become one of his most famed masterpieces, Van Gogh committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the head. The same Van Gogh pieces that the artist ruled as failure are now sold at auction for tens of millions of dollars.
