Long-lost Van Gogh painting unveiled in Amsterdam

Amsterdam?s Van Gogh Museum on Monday unveiled a newly discovered landscape painting, abandoned for years as a forgery in a Norwegian attic.

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Director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Alex Ruger, presents the painter's "Sunset at Montmajour", dated 1888, on September 9, 2013. AFP

Note: In the audio, I use the American pronunciation of Van Gogh. The British pronunciation is Van Goff. The actual Dutch pronunciation is quite different. Hear them all here: http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=van+gogh&submit=Submit

Long-lost Van Gogh painting unveiled in Amsterdam

Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum on Monday unveiled a newly discovered landscape painting from the height of the Dutch master’s career, abandoned for years as a forgery in a Norwegian attic.

“Sunset at Montmajour,” a large oil landscape from 1888, was unveiled to applause by the museum’s director Axel Rueger as a “unique experience that has not happened in the history of the Van Gogh Museum.”

Depicting a landscape of oaks in the south of France, the painting was brought to the museum from a private collection.

Researchers set to work and authenticated it based on comparisons with Van Gogh’s techniques and a letter he wrote on July 4 1888, in which he described the painting.

It had been lying for years in the attic of a Norwegian collector who thought the painting was a forgery, after buying it in 1908.

“This discovery is more or less a once in a lifetime experience,” said researcher Louis van Tilborgh, who helped with its authentication.

“All research indicates that this is a painting by Van Gogh,” he added.

The long-lost painting was made at around the same time as some of Van Gogh’s most famous works, including “Sunflowers” and “The Bedroom”.

“This is a very, very special morning and you’re seeing a very, very happy director in front of you,” Rueger told AFP.

“When I was told that it had been authenticated as a genuine Van Gogh I could not believe it.”

The museum declined to be drawn on the identity of the mystery collector.

“Unfortunately we cannot divulge too much about the identity of this collector as we need also to protect his privacy,” Rueger said.

“But what I can tell you is that the painting has been lying in the attic for most of this time.”  AFP