Jed
Sudkamp
Period 1
23 September 2013
Discovered Van Gogh
Painting Art Article
The article “Newly discovered Van
Gogh painting kept in Norwegian attic for years” by Mark Brown talks about how
the painting “Sunset at Montmajour” painted by Vincent Van Gogh was found in an
attic and will be put on display in the Van Gogh Museum. Finding the
masterpiece was a true sensation and caught many experts off guard when it was
shown to them. The picture was painted in 1888 and shows the wild yet beautiful
countryside near Arles, France with a ruined abbey on the hill of Montmajour. It
is now suspected that a man named Christian Nicolai Mustad bought the
masterpiece through the advice of art historian Jens Thiis. However, Auguste
Pellerin, a more prominent collector and also business rival of Mustad’s
convinced Mustad that the art was a fake. As many art owners at the time were
unsure of their art originality because of the increase of forgeries, it’s
logical why the art piece was sent to the attic. The painting was then rejected
twice as Van Gogh’s art after Mustad’s death in 1970. However, recent evidence,
including a letter written by Van Gogh that describes the scene of the art
piece, now suggests that the previous experts were wrong and that this was
indeed an original Van Gogh piece. The current owner of the piece is anonymous
at this point, but s/he has decided for the piece to be put on display on
September 14, 2013 in the Van Gogh Museum.
It should be well noted that the
finding of the “Sunset at Montmajour” is not insignificant in any way. The
journey of the painting as it traveled from owner to owner is also extremely
interesting by itself. Several articles, such as “‘Sunset at Montmajour’:
Long-lost Vincent Van Gogh painting discovered” and “New van Gogh painting
discovered: ‘Sunset at Montmajour’”, when pieced together, form the big picture
of the background and history of the piece from the hands of Van Gogh himself
to the museum solely dedicated to his paintings. Van Gogh made some of his best
paintings during the time he painted “Sunset at Montmajour” such as “Sunflowers”
and “Starry Night”. For an indicator of the price of “Sunset at Montmajour”, “Sunflowers”
is now worth forty million dollars. Vincent apparently after painting the picture
handed it to his brother Theo to add to his collection of almost 200 paintings.
It was later found that this piece was number 180 of the collection. Mysteriously,
there was no record of the painting after Theo evidently sold it in 1901. Mustad
then came along and bought the painting, banishing it to the attic where it
hibernated for sixty years. After passing through the hands of many other and
more recent owners, the piece finally received the fame it was due after it was
carefully examined and scrutinized by experts.
The discovery of this now famous
painting is yet another testament to the ever changing world of art. People
often undermine the value of art before new evidence is discovered. As is the
case with “Sunset at Montmajour”, only after extensive research on Van Gogh’s
letters regarding the inspiration for the piece and analysis of the brushstrokes
and X-rays were experts able to confirm that the painting was indeed an
original picture painted by Van Gogh. The discovery also shows the paranoia and
insecurity people feel about possible great works of art that they own. This
could be due to a fear of being rejected, ridiculed – especially with the
amount of forgeries available, and possibly a waste of money and time. If art
historians and experts are more passionate about finding old art pieces and
work harder towards finding them, greater discoveries could definitely be made
at a much faster pace, as well as not leaving perfectly well made art pieces to
rot in attics spread throughout the world.
Jed
Sudkamp
Period
1
23
September 2013
Works
Cited
Mullen, Jethro. “New
van Gogh painting discovered: ‘Sunset at Montmajour’”. CNN. 9 Sep 2013. Cable
News Network. 23 Sep 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/>
Sterling, Toby. “‘Sunset
at Montmajour’: Long-lost Vincent Van Gogh painting discovered”. WORLDNEWS. 9
Sep 2013. NBCNews.com. 23 Sep 2013. <http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/>
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