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Tag: Vincent Van Gogh

  • Vincent Van Gogh May Not Have Killed Himself, After All

    Vincent Van Gogh has enriched the lives of countless people around the world with his art since his death in 1890, but to most, the man himself remains largely a mystery. If asked, a lot of people would say that the most well-known thing about him is the fact that he cut off his own ear to send to a woman. When the clearly troubled artist reportedly admitted to shooting himself in a wheat field just hours before he succumbed to his wounds, the cause of his death was documented as such, but a doctor and expert on gunshot wounds now says that he doesn’t believe Van Gogh turned the gun on himself.

    Dr. Vincent Di Maio says that if the artist had committed suicide, there would have been powder or soot residue on his hands; a lack of it would indicate that the gun was further away than he could have gotten it himself.

    “These would have been grossly evident. None of this is described [in any of the forensic accounts]. This indicates the muzzle was more than a foot or two away (closer to two rather than one). It is my opinion that, in all medical probability, the wound incurred by Van Gogh was not self-inflicted. In other words, he did not shoot himself,” Di Maio says.

    Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith say that Van Gogh may have been shot by accident by a pair of boys in that field, and chose to protect them by admitting to attempted suicide.

    A curator at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has said that it would have been in the artist’s character to take the blame for the shooting, especially if it was an accident.

    “I think it would be like Vincent to protect the boys and take the ‘accident’ as an unexpected way out of his burdened life. But I think the biggest problem you’ll find after publishing your theory is that the suicide is more or less printed in the brains of past and present generations and has become a sort of self-evident truth. Vincent’s suicide has become the grand finale of the story of the martyr for art, it’s his crown of thorns,” the curator said.

  • Vincent van Gogh Painting Goes For $62 Million, But Doesn’t Break Auction Record

    Not many people would be willing to spend millions of dollars on a painting, even if it was created by Vincent van Gogh.

    But a Chinese mogul opted to spend nearly $62 million dollars in a bid to make the unique artwork his own.

    The Vincent van Gogh painting in question called “Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies”.

    The painting is very much a van Gogh, as he had a very distinctive style.

    The masterpiece was created in 1890, in the home of his physician Dr. Paul Gache.

    It also has the distinction of being created weeks before Vincent van Gogh’s untimely death. Understandably, this fact increased its value tremendously.

    The van Gogh painting was one of the key items put up for auction by Sotheby’s in New York. Prior to the event, the artwork was said to be worth between 30 to $50 million.

    Amazingly, the van Gogh painting went for almost $12 million more than it was initially valued.

    Wang Zhongjun, one of the richest men in China, won the bidding war for the prized artwork with a bid of $61.8 million.

    He is the chairman of the influential Huayi Brothers film studio.

    Wang Zhongjun’s move to buy the van Gogh for more than the valued price could be the most spent by a Chinese collector of Western work. However, his bid is NOT the most ever spent on a Vincent van Gogh painting.

    As of now, the record bid for a van Gogh painting is $82.5 million.

    Although the wealthy businessman was no doubt pleased with his purchase, he had to endure quite a bit of criticism from the public.

    Certain Chinese citizens do not approve of such lavish spending, even going so far as to call it unpatriotic.

    Wang Zhongjun was criticized as a “mad man” and some have even wondered whether or not this is a sensible use of the money invested in his company.

    Still, the reaction over the van Gogh purchase is nothing compared to the controversy generated by a wealthy art collector named Liu Yiqian.

    Liu Yiqian not only spent an estimated $36 million on a rare Ming Dynasty wine cup, he then decided to drink from of it:

    The perceived desecration of a valuable artifact earned him quite a lot of backlash in China.

  • Stolen Van Gogh Painting Stays At Yale

    A Vincent Van Gogh painting called the The Night Cafe said to be owned by a family who claims it was stolen from them by the Russian government during the revolution, wants it back.

    “The family of Pierre Knowaloff claims that their grandfather, Ivan Morozov, purchased the painting in 1908, but when the communist regime took over Russia they nationalized every citizen’s personal property and later sold it off.”

    The Knowaloff family, however, would settle for damages in the form of $120 to $150 million instead, which is what the Van Gogh painting is estimated to be worth.

    However, Yale University was given the painting by alumnus Stephen Carlton Clark who claims he purchased the Van Gogh painting from a New York City art gallery in either 1933 or 1934.

    The lawyers for the Konowaloff family argued that the purchase of the Van Gogh painting amounted to “art laundering” since the Soviet government unlawfully seized the artwork. They called upon the United States to deem this act a theft and a violation of international law.

    But Yale argued that the communist’s nationalization of personal property did not violate international law. They also pointed out that invalidating previous actions by the Russians could create further tensions between the US and Russia, when Vladimir Putin and President Obama are already in strong disagreement about Ukraine. They also believed that siding with the family’s position would cast doubt over the ownership of artwork all over the world.

    Knowaloff’s lawyer, Allan Gerson, denied that Russian authorities were concerned about the case affecting Russian paintings:

    “There’s never been another case in which act of state has been invoked where the state — here, Russia — that the court is ostensibly trying to protect from embarrassment has actually cooperated with the court.”

    However, Judge Alvin Thompson on Thursday granted Yale’s request to deny the claims to the painting by Pierre Konowaloff, Yale’s lawyer Jonathan Freiman commenting on their win:

    “We’re pleased that the court has dismissed Konowaloff’s claims. The Night Cafe is a timeless masterpiece that the public can see free of charge, and in this suit Yale has worked to make sure it stays that way.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons