Van Gogh found at flea market

Reuters ^ | Thursday, December 11, 2003

[presidio9]

A painting of field workers by Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, bought at a flea market 12 years ago for $1,800, is expected to fetch up to $3.6 million at an auction in France Saturday.

[Nitro]

I didn't hear that.

[Michael.SF.]

bought at a flea market 12 years ago for $1,800,

That must have been some high class Flea Market

[aomagrat]

Van Gogh found at flea market

I didn't know he was lost.

[william clark]

Still looking for the ear, though.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I wouold say that he's most likely the only Dutch speaking person with one ear at the flea market.

[ElkGroveDan]

Van Gogh Auction Postponed as Authenticity Checked

Fri Dec 12,12:31 PM ET

PORTETS, France (Reuters) - The auction of a newly discovered Van Gogh painting thought to be worth a small fortune has been postponed so that experts from Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum can check its authenticity.

The small town of Portets in southwestern France had been braced for a flood of visitors on Saturday, the day initially set to auction the painting of field workers which was bought at a flea market 12 years ago for 1,500 euros ($1,837). "The Van Gogh Museum offered late in the afternoon (on Thursday) to have another look at the painting, to carry out a fresh examination," auctioneer Eric Le Blay told Reuters.

Other experts and restorers say it is genuine, according to Le Blay, but the Van Gogh Museum has yet to deliver its verdict.

"In the interests of transparency, we prefer to postpone the sale. Based on the results, we will put the painting up for sale again," Le Blay said, adding he hoped the move would calm a wave of controversy that has erupted over the work's authenticity.

The small oil-on-wood painting depicting farm laborers under a heavy sky had been missing for close to a century when a eagle-eyed man spotted it in a second-hand market on the edge of Paris and noticed the signature "Vincent" in a corner.

An Italian laboratory identified its pigments as dating from the 19th century and said the colors were identical to other Van Gogh paintings and the signature at least a century old.

Another test showed the varnish also matched the type used by Van Gogh, who often painted flowers and fields.

Van Gogh expert Benoit Landais said he was convinced the work was an original. He told Le Blay it was painted in the Netherlands in 1883 and listed in an inventory made in 1890 after Van Gogh committed suicide. From 1894, it was lost.

Le Blay said earlier this week that bidding would start at 1.0-1.5 million euros but could reach double that. ($1=.8164 Euro)

[ElkGroveDan]

[djf]

There are probably a few undiscovered works. He moved a number of times, but at his peak was painting sometimes three or four paintings a week.
I have long considered him to be one of the most brilliant minds ever. Torn and tortured by the war within, the battle between his head and his heart.

[tubebender]

I went to a Flea Market yesterday and I bought a rare ash tray for $5. End of report...

[KangarooJacqui]

You know that he is considered bipolar by today's standards, don't you?

(BTW, I don't say that judgmentally. I have been diagnosed with the same disorder, and I take heart from people like Van Gogh... I just thought it ought to be mentioned, that is all.)

[ErnBatavia]

I went to a Flea Market yesterday and I bought

I bought some socks from a Korean.

[djf]

He was almost certifiably insane. I doubt the absinthe helped much. But he was deeply passionate and reverent, his letters reveal a man of great hopes and aspirations, but constant downfalls.

His great symbol, which says much about his spirit, was the almost ever present sunflower.
RIP, Vincent. Your moods and colors will last forever.

[Pharmboy]

I must relate this story.

About 6 weeks ago, I was in the south of France on business. I had a day of free time, and I and a colleague drove to Arles to scope out the van Gogh places.

I drove there and parked in the muni parking, and headed for the tourist office. There was a thirty-something dark-haired French woman at the desk. She made me for a Yank as soon as I walked in the door.

I said "I want to visit the house where van Gogh lived while he was here."

She said it is gone.

I said: "Perhaps you misunderstand. The house where van Gogh lived. How do I get there?"

Again she said it was no more.

I pressed.

Finally she said: "The Americans bombed it when they bombed the bridge that it stood close to." I said "Oops."

[Molly Pitcher]

Flea market find ping!

And as an art lover, too, I find this so very interesting.

[Age of Reason]

Your moods and colors will last forever.

If I remember correctly, his colors will not last forever; he was using a new kind of paint that we now know does not hold its color over time.

[djf]

Vincent's home in Arles

[Pharmboy]

Thanks, man. Based on your profile, the fact you're a Freeper and your appreciation of Vincent, I imagine we could have a nice conversation over some Scotch in a pub somewhere...or anywhere!

[aruanan]

Who pays $1800 for a painting at a flea market?

[Polybius]

Who pays $1800 for a painting at a flea market?

Someone who knows that it is really worth much more than that.