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Van Gogh Self-Portrait Discovered Hidden on Back of Canvas Dated 1885

2022-07-14T15:15:20.847Z


The artist used to take advantage of all the materials when he was short of money and his face has now appeared thanks to X-rays applied to a work kept in the National Galleries museum in Scotland


Vincent van Gogh (Holland, 1863-France, 1890) painted with frenzy and on any material he could get his hands on.

When he was short of money to buy linens, or while he was waiting for the supply sent by his brother, Theo, to arrive, he was able to take advantage of even tablecloths and kitchen towels.

He also made use of already completed works, and this is precisely the case with the recently discovered

Portrait of a Peasant Girl with a White Cap

(1885)

.

Ahead, appears the young woman, portrayed in oil.

Two years later, Van Gogh painted a self-portrait on the back that has remained hidden until now.

It was covered under a thick layer of glue and cardboard, but an X-ray examination carried out by experts from the National Galleries museum in Scotland, which has had it in its collection since 1960, has revealed it.

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The discovery has occurred by chance, during research work on the painting of the peasant for an exhibition entitled

A Taste for Impressionism

(The taste for Impressionism).

Given the situation, it will be shown next to the images captured in X-rays so that the self-portrait can also be seen.

Once the exhibition is closed, the museum's restorers will try to recover the painter's face, but without rushing.

Frances Fowle, curator of the Scottish room —opened in Edinburgh— has declared to the British press that this process “must be done very carefully and we don't want to rush it”.

From Amsterdam, where the museum that bears the artist's name is located, his colleague Louis van Tilborgh has no doubts about the authenticity of the self-portrait.

As a veteran researcher and specialist in the work of his compatriot, he points out on the phone that "it fits into a kind of series, because Van Gogh has at least eight paintings in which he painted himself behind the canvas."

The artist thoroughly prepared the canvases before working, “so that he could paint from behind, which gives them added value.

From the point of view of art and emotions, of course.

Paintings like this one, found in Scotland, belong to public collections, so it's not for me to talk about monetary value."

In the Scottish museum they calculate that the layers of glue and cardboard were put on the painting around 1905. The work was being prepared for an exhibition at the Stedelijk museum, in the Dutch capital itself, and the face of the peasant must have been considered more interesting —complete— than a self-portrait that seems unfinished.

According to data provided by the Edinburgh Museum, the painting of the peasant woman was acquired in 1923 by Evelyn Saint Croix Fleming, the mother of Ian, the author of the James Bond spy books.

In 1960, it came to the museum.

The young model in Van Gogh's painting may have been Gordina de Groot, nicknamed Sien, who already appears among the diners in the canvas

Family Eating Potatoes

, also from 1885. In 1887, the date currently attributed to the hidden self-portrait, Van Gogh he came into contact with the work of Impressionists such as Émile Bernard or Paul Gauguin.

His style and use of color changed from then on, and light flooded his palette.

His devotion to art and his profession endowed his works with a particular intensity.

A frenzy that, together with his mental and health problems, eventually led him to the Saint-Rémy de Provence sanatorium, in southeastern France.

It was the year 1889 and he arrived there from Arles, where he had cut off his ear in an episode of psychosis.

As he was afraid of relapse, he entered the hospital of his own free will.

Despite his problems, it was a prolific stage.

However, just a year later he moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, a town near Paris, where he ended up shooting himself in the chest.

Source: elparis

All life articles on 2022-07-14

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