After two decades of detective work, forensic scientist Joseph Koestenhuber may finally have solved one of the world’s most notorious art mysteries.
It began innocently enough with a casual weekend trip to the garage sales, where an unlikely art collector-turned-detective stumbled upon what appeared to be an original oil painting by none other than the master of swirls, brushstrokes and post-Impressionism: Vincent van Gogh.
This particular find looked, at least superficially, like one of the many renditions of almond blossoms produced by Van Gogh in April 1899, when the artist was being treated for severe mental illness and epilepsy at Saint-Rémy asylum in the south of France. In recent years, multiple “authentic” Van Goghs attributed to the tumultuous period following the artist’s asylum stint at Saint-Rémy have begun to appear and be bought-up, much like this painting acquired for the impressive sum of five thousand dollars and subsequently placed by the garage seller at the relatively affordable price point of four-hundred.
Dubious as their origins might initially appear, more and more often such finds now appear at such seemingly out of the way gatherings and exhibitions claiming authenticity with ease, the latter with varying credibility.
One or more forger could be held accountable, says Dr. Peter Zegers and the curator Paul Remé together at the Kroller-Mueller museum which possesses over several dozen original masterworks. ‘For Van Gogh,’ asserts Zegers “a forged document would have very little effect at this stage but there could not be enough reasons for one who could afford ten to fifty [thousand pounds] and buy such painting…there would at the same least not want people to have proof and authenticity”.