Photo of Van Gogh?
Interesting news from the
Houston Chronicle:
bq. The photo dates to 1886 and is of an older man wearing a plain suit and small bow tie. He has light eyes, a well-kept beard and a thin, long nose. His hair is neatly combed back, and he has a distinct widow's peak.
bq. "I saw it and thought it was van Gogh right away, and the more I looked at it, the more I was sure," said artist Tom Stanford, who discovered the photograph while flipping through an album of cabinet card photographs (mostly of clergymen dating back to the late 19th century) at an antiques dealer's shop in Massachusetts.
bq. He bought the photograph for $1 and then immediately took it to photo historian Joseph Buberger, who has previously worked with photographs of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
And more:
bq. Buberger said he believes it is entirely possible that van Gogh drew and painted his self-portraits based on the photograph. He points to the time period -- van Gogh did most of his self-portraits at the time the photograph was taken -- as evidence. Also, after searching through databases, Buberger matched the photographer's name, "Victor Morin," which is printed on the front of the photograph, with an old studio in Brussels, where van Gogh spent much of his time.
Interesting - the article also states that there are only two known photographs of Van Gogh but that they may well be of his brother Theo since the photos do not match Van Gogh's self portraits.
Quite a bit of history to be buying for one dollar...
Posted by DaveH at February 25, 2004 10:51 AM