{"id":2007,"date":"2025-03-28T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2025-03-28T12:00:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T12:00:22","slug":"van-gogh-museum-dismisses-50-garage-sale-painting-as-fake-despite-15m-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2007","title":{"rendered":"Van Gogh museum dismisses $50 garage sale painting as fake despite $15m claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>A painting once scooped up at a Minnesota garage sale for just $50 has stirred the art world, with some claiming it could be a lost Vincent van Gogh masterpiece. But according to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, that claim just doesn\u2019t hold up.<\/p>\n<p>The painting, titled Elimar, shows a fisherman smoking a pipe and was allegedly painted around 1889. New York-based LMI Group International purchased the work in 2019 and launched a full-scale investigation to prove its authenticity. Their findings, compiled in a 458-page report, valued the artwork at $15 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have considered the new information mentioned in the LMI Group\u2019s \u2018Elimar\u2019 report,\u201d the Van Gogh Museum told the Minnesota Star Tribune. \u201cBased on our previous opinion on the painting in 2019, we maintain our view that this is not an authentic painting by Vincent van Gogh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That opinion was first issued in a February 1, 2019 letter from the museum, where officials stated, \u201cWe have carefully examined the material you supplied to us and are of the opinion, based on stylistic features, that your work cannot be attributed to Vincent van Gogh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, LMI Group stood by their claims. After acquiring the unsigned canvas, they spent $30,000 on analysis, examining everything from brushstroke patterns to shadowing on facial features. They even found a \u201cred in color\u201d human hair embedded in the paint. While DNA testing confirmed it belonged to a human male, the findings were deemed \u201cinconclusive\u201d due to the passage of time.<\/p>\n<p>The word Elimar appears in the lower-right corner of the painting in bold lettering, which the LMI team highlighted as a potential link to van Gogh\u2019s known inscription style. \u201cOne striking similarity to our subject work is the brown and red paint often used on van Gogh\u2019s signatures or inscriptions on his oil paintings,\u201d the group stated.<\/p>\n<p>In their final remarks, the team noted that the piece could simply be an undocumented original, lost over time. \u201cAny of the foregoing reasons could apply to \u2018Elimar\u2019 as a previously undocumented authentic work by van Gogh,\u201d the report concluded. \u201cIt is also highly conceivable that numerous undiscovered works by van Gogh will still emerge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1973, the Van Gogh Museum is widely regarded as the definitive authority on the painter\u2019s work and authenticates only about 35 pieces per year. On its website, the museum notes that van Gogh\u2019s oeuvre is \u201cvery well documented,\u201d and any new discoveries are increasingly rare.<\/p>\n<p>Van Gogh, who died in 1890 at age 37, is credited with creating more than 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings. Despite the rejection, Elimar continues to generate intrigue\u2014and debate\u2014among collectors and art lovers alike.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A painting once scooped up at a Minnesota garage sale for just $50 has stirred the art world, with some claiming it could be a lost Vincent van Gogh masterpiece. But according to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, that claim just doesn\u2019t hold up. The painting, titled Elimar, shows a fisherman smoking a pipe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}