vincent van gogh

New Chemical Research Uncovers Why Van Gogh Paintings Are Turning Brown

Filed under: Art

The works of painter Vincent van Gogh are some of the world's most prized pieces of art, partly for their vibrant tones, but some of those colors have been fading in recent years. Art researchers and scientists have been using X-ray microscopes to examine van Gogh paintings that have been losing their color and determine why once brilliant yellows have been turning brown in several key works of van Gogh and other artists of the late 19th century.

The results of the study were published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. The problem comes down to the chromium in a yellow pigment called yellow chrome which undergoes a chemical reaction when exposed to ultraviolet lighting (including sunlight), turning the painting brown. The paint, which gave works including van Gogh's Sunflowers paintings, their sun-splashed beauty has been known to darken under sunlight since the early 19th century. What's new is that now scientists have uncovered why this happens and can work to gain potential clues as to how to prevent it.

Tags: art restoration, vincent van gogh

Continue reading “New Chemical Research Uncovers Why Van Gogh Paintings Are Turning Brown”

$50 Million Van Gogh Stolen, Again

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Not too many paintings get stolen twice from the same museum. A painting of a vase of flowers by Vincent van Gogh was stolen for the second time recently from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt. The AP reports that the painting was also stolen in 1978 and was recovered two years later in Kuwait. The painting is worth a lot more now, an estimated $50 million. The painting known as both "Poppy Flowers" and "Vase and Flowers," was cut from the frame. Egypt's top prosecutor, Abdel Meguid Mahmoud has said that none of the alarms and only a handful of surveillance cameras were working when the painting was stolen. On Sunday, Egypt's culture minister, Farouk Hosni, announced that the painting had been recovered but later it was reported that the painting is still among the missing.

The small one-foot-by-one-foot painting is similar to a flower scene painted by the French artist Adolphe Monticelli and the Monticelli painting also is part of the Khalil collection. It is believed the van Gogh was painted in 1887, during the phase of rapid productivity that marked the years before his suicide in 1890.

Tags: art theft, cairo, egypt, mahmoud khalil museum, poppy flowers, van gogh, vase and flowers, vincent van gogh

Yale Sued by Former Van Gogh Owner

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Pierre Konowaloff believes that Van Gogh's painting, "The Night Café," was stolen from his great-grandfather during the Communist takeover of Russia. Now, it belongs to Yale University, and he wants it back.

According to this claim, Ivan Morozov acquired the painting in 1908 and owned it until the Russian government snatched it in the 1918 "change" to Communism. What was Morozov's, it seems, became Lenin's. Then, it passed through galleries in Europe and New York until it was eventually left to Yale by a collector in 1961.

The hook, for Konowaloff, is that Yale took the painting "with reason to know that it had been unlawfully confiscated or 'nationalized' without compensation," according to a report in Bloomberg.

This isn't the only claim that Yale is facing. The university also has to contend with a suit by the Republic of Peru, which wants to reclaim artifacts excavated from Machu Picchu.

Source

Tags: art, artist, artwork, communism, communist, communist party, CommunistParty, communists, machu picchu, MachuPicchu, russia, scandal, scandals, van gogh, VanGogh, vincent van gogh, VincentVanGogh, yale, yale university, YaleUniversity

Van Gogh Painting is a Fake

by Sandy Maple (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

When Rupert Murdoch's father, Keith Murdoch, staged a contemporary art exhibit in Australia in 1939, Vincent Van Gogh's "Head of a Man" was on display. It was later purchased by Australia's National Gallery of Victoria for $3,500 and has been a part of their collection ever since. However, last August, when the painting was shown at the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, critics noticed something wasn't right. The work, dated 1886, appeared to be of a different style than other Van Gogh paintings during the same period. What's more, the painting was never mentioned in the artist's letters.

"Head of a Man" was then sent to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam where experts have now declared it to be a fake. Gerard Vaughan, director of the National Gallery of Victoria, says the painting was most likely the work of a Van Gogh contemporary and makes clear that the painting was simply misattributed, not a deliberate forgery. Had the painting been authentic, it would have been valued at around $21 million.

Source

Tags: art, australia national gallery of victoria, AustraliaNationalGalleryOfVictoria, dean gallery, DeanGallery, fake, forgery, head of a man, HeadOfAMan, painting, rupert murdoch, RupertMurdoch, van gogh, VanGogh, vincent van gogh, VincentVanGogh

L'Arlésienne, Madame Ginoux to be Auctioned

by Matthew Collins (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Auctions

Have that bare spot on the wall that you just have to fill? How about a 26 x 21 masterpiece by Vincent Van Gogh. Christie's New York will auction off this important work by Van Gogh on May 2nd. It has been in the Bawkin Family collection and will come to sale with other Impressionist and Modern works in an evening sale. Expected to bring over $40 million, the painting was originally intended as a gift from Van Gogh to his friend and fellow painter, Gauguin. Painted while Van Gogh was in the Asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, it is a portrait of a woman both men knew. The rest of the auction catalog has not been revealed, so look for some other fine works to come from this auction as well.

Source

Tags: Art, Christies, vincent van gogh, VincentVanGogh