A version of this article was published by Technorati on 24 February 2010.A small museum in a small town in The Netherlands 70 miles east of Amsterdam is home to Vincent Van Gogh's latest creation--officially recognized as such, that is.
Museum de Fundatie in the town of Zwolle began showing "Le Blute-Fin Mill" today (pictured).
The painting and its former owner will remain forever linked by a checkered past.
"Le Blute-Fin Mill" was previously owned by an art collector and curator named Dirk Hannema, who bought it in 1975 from an unsuspecting Paris art dealer for the equivalent of $2,700. Hannema later insured the painting for around $43,000.
Upon his death in 1984, the entirety of Hannema's collection became the nucleus for the Museum de Fundatie.
Hennema's claim of Van Gogh authorship went unsubstantiated for so long because of his poor reputation in the art world. His career showed great promise early on. At the age of 26, he was director of Rotterdam's famed Boijmans Museum.
In 1937, however, his reputation suffered decline when he purchased a Vermeer that was later confirmed to be a forgery.
During World War II, the Nazis saw fit to put Hennema in charge of all the museums in Holland. After the war, he was arrested as a collaborator and stood trial, but was not convicted.
Hennema was known as one who was always trying to hit a home run, always looking for that undetected gem from one of the great masters.
Some 26 years after his death, experts have finally confirmed, he connected on one ball that actually cleared the fence.
Not only is the painting original, but according to Louis van Tilborgh, curator of research at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, "Le Blute-Fin Mill" is an unusual addition to the artist's opus due to the comparatively large size of the human figures in the scene.
It will remain on display through July 4th.
No comments:
Post a Comment