It doesn't look like most of the Van Gogh's that I've seen, but what do I know.
Posted on 01/31/2025 10:57:53 AM PST by nickcarraway
You never know what you might find at garage sales and lockup auction - as one lucky antiques collector found out.
A painting bought for less than $50 at a garage sale in Minnesota might be a lost work by Dutch post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh.
Measuring 45.7 centimeters by 41.9 centimeters (18 inches by 16.5 inches), the painting, dated 1889, is believed to have been created during the artist’s stay at the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence psychiatric hospital in France just months before he took his own life, aged 37.
Van Gogh’s “lost” fisherman painting
The painting depicts a fisherman wearing a hat and smoking a pipe apparently repairing his net on an empty beach. The artists has titled the work, Elimar, inscribed in the bottom right corner.
Determining the authenticity of the painting has been a long and drawn-out process. LMI Group International, a New York-based data science firm specializing in art authentication, assembled a team of 20 experts in chemistry, art history and patent law to validate the artwork.
Scientific analysis revealed encouraging signs - the paint pigments and canvas weave were in line with the kind of materials used during the years Van Gogh was active (1881–1890). The bright red pigment PR-50, which was patented in 1883, helps date the work to the 19th century.
LMI explain that Van Gogh regularly painted “translations” of works by other artists and this one appears to be his take on the work of Danish artist Michael Ancher (1849-1927), who painted several studies of fishermen.
“Van Gogh painting” bought for $50 in Minnesota
The canvas was bought by an unsuspecting antiques collector at a Minnesota garage sale in 2016.
The painting still needs to be formally attributed to Van Gogh by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. If that happens, it’s value will skyrocket with some estimates gauging its value at a figure around the $15 million mark.
However, the Van Gogh museum has already stated that they don’t think it is authentic. The painting’s previous owner took it to the Dutch capital for evaluation in December 2018 when the center decided against attributing it to the tortured artist.
LOL! There certainly is a resemblance...
Nope - if the seller quoted or agreed to a price then it’s a contract and seller’s remorse doesn’t matter.
Happens all the time with collectibles where those in the hobby know that they may/may not be worth the price on the item. Same is true with house flippers that know if they put in $500 they can get back an additional $10k (pretend numbers there but you get the idea) or any other transaction.
Value to the seller is different then the value being placed by the buyer. Doesn’t make it fraud.
It doesn't look like most of the Van Gogh's that I've seen, but what do I know.
A couple years ago I saw a large dry bag for canoeing at a garage sale. I offered $5 and the guy accepted. As I was getting my money out I shook the bag and realized there was something inside it.
It was a Buck knife. I pulled it out and showed the seller. He said you can’t have that. I was holding a $20 in my hand. I held it out and he said “That works.”
The knife is actually worth $60-80 but we both walked away satisfied.
Is the writer of this piece a DEI hire?
Two whoppers stand out:
The artists has titled the work….
… it’s value will skyrocket….
Might be a counterfeit too.
“I think I lost possession of a valuable Obama sculpture. I hit the flush handle and it was gone before I could grab it.”
...LMAO!!
:^)
Doesn’t look like one even on the computer.
I suspect close up its not even remotely Van Gogh.
I expect that’s what we’ll hear.
There are two paintings in the National Gallery in Washington that the Rijksmuseum thinks are genuine Vermeers but the Washington gallery disagrees.
And OBTW, Coolidge’s “A Friend In Need” (AKA Dogs Playing Cards) is one of the three paintings Ben Affleck’s character keeps in his Airstream hideout in the movie, “The Accountant.” The other two are a Renoir and a Pollock.
Without the beard. It’s him!
I can see where there might be honest difference of opinion and difficulty with those paintings.
I can’t see it with this suspected ‘Van Gogh’. It’s too relatively crude.
This is a blow-up of the lower right-hand corner of the image of this painting at the WSJ:
I can't quite make it out but I'm pretty sure that's not how you spell "Vincent."
One's going east and the other is going west. So what?
Where is the real Kramer painting?
After the popularity of the show, many people say that the original painting is in a lodge in Connecticut. However, no one has been able to find the real painting. The Kramer painting from the Seinfeld show disappeared after its surprising appearance in the show.
I don’t know; but you can buy prints and posters of it all over the place.
(Maybe Michael Richards bought it and keeps it in his attic.)
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