Van Goghs self portrait wasnt one...

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believe09

believe09

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Researchers have concluded that Van Gogh's famous self-portrait in the yellow hat is actually a painting of his younger brother.

"But senior researcher Louis van Tilborgh now believed the 1887 painting of a man wearing a light-coloured hat and a dark blue jacket was in fact Van Gogh's brother Theo, Vincent's junior by five years."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110621/lf_afp/netherlandsarthistoryvangogh
 
Wow!
That's interesting.

Who would think after 124 years????
 
This is sad, but the first thing that popped into my head was whether or not people who owned and sold the portrait would get a refund... :)
 
believe09 said:
This is sad, but the first thing that popped into my head was whether or not people who owned and sold the portrait would get a refund... :)
Click to expand...

:smile:
I wonder how many hands it has been through in all that time.
 
believe09 said:
This is sad, but the first thing that popped into my head was whether or not people who owned and sold the portrait would get a refund... :)
Click to expand...

Actually, it may be more valuable. It's still a Vincent Van Gogh painting, and Theo Van Gogh is famous in his own right as an art collector and the only person to buy his brother Vincent's paintings in their lifetime.

There are a number of Vincent Van Gogh self-portraits out there. If this story is true, this is the only Van Gogh portrait of Theo.
 
Phew Nova...I was worried for all of those who had their hands on this one, lol.
 
believe09 said:
Phew Nova...I was worried for all of those who had their hands on this one, lol.
Click to expand...

I'm not an art expert, so I'm only speculating. But the painting hangs in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, so it probably belongs to the museum.

BTW, the Van Gogh Museum is one of my favorite museums in Western Europe.

At least when I was there in 1979, Van Gogh's work was hung in chronological order so one got a real sense of his development as a painter AND his eventual descent into lunacy. Talk about a fine line between genius and madman! In Van Gogh, there was no line.
 
Agreed. And I am no art expert, but a lover of Van Gogh for the same reason you just mentioned...genius and madman.
 
believe09 said:
Agreed. And I am no art expert, but a lover of Van Gogh for the same reason you just mentioned...genius and madman.
Click to expand...

It's interesting that Van Gogh reproductions are now considered safe, conservative, middle-class decorations, something one uses to match the colors in the new sofa.

I know what that says about art. (That all art is based on conventions. The conventions we're used to seem "normal"; the ones that are new to us seem "odd.")

But what does is say about our notions of sanity and insanity?
 
Love Vinnie... when I stood before "Starry Night", I cried.
I think I like that the yellow hat man is Theo. Without him, VVG couldn;t have afforded paint.
But... it's upsetting for history to change. Poor Pluto isn't even a planet anymore.
 
noZme said:
Love Vinnie... when I stood before "Starry Night", I cried.
I think I like that the yellow hat man is Theo. Without him, VVG couldn;t have afforded paint.
But... it's upsetting for history to change. Poor Pluto isn't even a planet anymore.
Click to expand...

I agree about "Starry Night." I refuse to be a snob about that painting; I don't care how popular it is!

I love Van Gogh and didn't mean anything derogatory when I said people now buy reproductions of his work to match their sofas. That isn't his fault. (Nor is a repro of "Starry Night" the worst thing you can hang on your wall; not by a long shot!)
 
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