Anders van Beek found a photo in a family album of a man believed to be Vincent van Gogh. He also found a portrait of a woman believed to be the sister of the famous Brabant painter. The two images are now being studied by experts from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. That Omroep Gelderland reports.
Andries lives in Beneden-Leeuwen in Gelderland. “I collect pictures from the 19th century,” Andres says. “I bought the family album at a flea market in Purmerend. As soon as I got home, I studied the photos and thought: This could be a picture of Vincent Van Gogh.”
If the photo is correct, it would be a portrait of 30-year-old Vincent Van Gogh. And that would be very special, because so far there is only one picture of the painter from Zundert. Photography was on the rise at the time, but Van Gogh was not a fan of it.
The photograph was taken in 1883 by photographer Dirk Jean Le Grand of Breda, and can also be read on the reverse. In the album, he also found a photo of a woman suspected of being the younger sister of Vincent, Will van Gogh.
“Many art experts also see a striking resemblance.”
“I’m not sure it’s a portrait of Vincent, but it really could be very good,” says Beneden-Leeuwen collector. “I have presented the picture to several art connoisseurs in my circle of friends, and they, too, see an amazing resemblance.”
Van Beek says other members of the painter’s family may be in other photos on the album. “They are the same.”
According to Van Beek, there is also a connection between the photo album and the Van Gogh family and photographer Dirk Jean Le Grand. “Le Grand lived on the same street in Breda as Vincent’s father. The photo album belongs to the Verloop family. One member of this family then worked in the catering business in Noordwijk in the south of the Netherlands, where the Vincent sisters vacationed together.”
“If it turns out to be a picture of Vincent, that’s world news.”
“I don’t believe in fairy tales, but if you add them all, this photo is a good candidate to be a portrait of Vincent,” says a Beneden resident Lewin.
Last Wednesday he sent the photos to the Van Gogh Museum by email. “Out of 99.9 percent of these photos, the museum immediately says: ‘This is not it.’ They didn’t say that to me. I got an email on Thursday with a message saying, ‘We are investigating.’”
Although Andres is not one hundred percent sure that the pictures are from Vincent and Will van Gogh, he secretly dreams that they appear this way. “If it really turns out to be a picture of Vincent, that’s world news. Then I’ll get to CNN!”
