2024-04-25
The drawing ‘’The Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quarry’’ from 1886 has been attributed to Vincent van Gogh by researchers at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. After the painter’s death, the widow of Theo van Gogh passed the drawing to the Dutch art dealer J. H. de Bois, who sold in around 1917. The artwork has been owned by van Vlissingen family for over 100 years.
Teio Meedendorp, a senior researcher at the Van Gogh Museum, said that ‘’the drawing resurfaced when an art advisor working with the family saw it. Suspecting the drawing could be by the Dutch artist, the advisor arranged for it to be sent to the Van Gogh Museum for research.”
The research have shown that the subject, size, style, technique and materials were almost identical to those used by the painter. According to Meedendorp: “The paper is the same type, size, and has the same watermark that Van Gogh used in his early drawings in Paris.’’
Thanks to the first drawing, scholars were able to confirm the authorship of a second, similar drawing ‘’The Hill of Montmartre” from 1886, which is a part of the Museum’s collection. Previously, it wasn’t possible to investigate the drawing because of a lack of reliable comparative material.
Both drawings are currently on view at the exhibition “Impressionism and Beyond. A Wonderful Journey” at the Singer Laren Museum in Laren, Netherlands.