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Van Gogh Museum denies 'lost Arles sketchbook' is genuine
Controversy over the recently discovered book
In June this year an announcement was made that quite literally stunned the art world, as it was believed that a previously 'lost' sketch book by Vincent Van Gogh had been discovered.
The book apparently contains 65 sketches, including 10 human portraits plus pictures of farmers’ fields, boats, bridges, cypress, olive, poplar and almond trees and houses.
Until recently its existence was only known to a small handful of people and the publishing house who revealed the book to the public in Paris at a media conference this week, but there's a small fly in the ointment - although art historian Dr. Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov is convinced that the sketchbook is genuine, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam begs to differ.
Welsh-Ovcharov spent years looking at the drawings and is considered an authority on the life and works of Van Gogh. In her opinion there's no doubt that the drawings are by the man himself, however the Van Gogh Musuem released this statement in defence of their opinion as to why they believe they are simply imitations:
"For some time, the Van Gogh Museum has been aware of the album of drawings that has now been published under the title of Vincent van Gogh: The Lost Arles Sketchbook. At an earlier stage (in 2008 and 2012), our experts gave their opinion on its authenticity – an opinion not mentioned in the publication – at the request of various owners of drawings from the album. Our researchers and curators are happy about every new work that can correctly be attributed to Van Gogh, but on the basis of high-quality photographs sent to them of 56 of the 65 drawings now published, they concluded that these could not be attributed to Vincent van Gogh."
"After examining a number of the original drawings in 2013 and reading the recent publication, our experts have not changed their minds. Their opinion, based on years of research on Van Gogh's drawings in the museum's own collection and elsewhere – the Van Gogh Museum holds about 500 drawings by Van Gogh and four of his sketchbooks – is that the drawings in Vincent van Gogh: The Lost Arles Sketchbook are imitations of Van Gogh's drawings. The experts examined the style, technique, materials and iconography of the drawings in the sketchbook. Among their conclusions were that it contains distinctive topographical errors and that its maker based it on discoloured drawings by Van Gogh." Read the full statement from the Museum.
This statement comes after the media conference in Paris on Tuesday, where the launch of a large volume of high quality reproductions of the drawings was announced. The book will be published simultaneously in the US, UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan.
As to what happens to the original drawings, it's unclear at the moment if they will be sold at auction, donated to a museum or kept by the owner. With their authenticity under question, it's anyone's guess as to what they would make if they went under the gavel. Van Gogh works have sold for tens of millions of euros but if there's a glimmer of doubt as to whether or not they are real would people still want to own them? Probably..
