On the occasion of this exhibition, the Van Gogh Museum has for the first time gathered the three versions of the “Sunflowers” series painted in Arles by Van Gogh owned by itself, the National Gallery in London and the Yasuda Insurance company.
One of these paintings was intended to decorate Gauguin's room and the organisers of this exhibition have felt it was useful to put an end to polemics fuelled by Benoit Landais, a researcher based in Holland, about the work owned by the Yasuda company.
According to Landais, the “Sunflowers” version acquired in 1987 by the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Company is nothing else but a fake.
A study published by the Van Gogh Museum tries to prove that this version is authentic and not a forgery produced by French painter Emile Schuffenecker as Landais has been claiming.
The Yasuda company has however not accepted to have the painting thoroughly analysed by a laboratory but the authors of the study have stressed that the canvas used for its execution was of the same texture of those on which the other two versions were painted.
The Van Gogh Museum is adamant that the Yasuda version is authentic and said that the artist painted it after the one he produced in August 1888, which is now held by the National Gallery.
Landais has welcomed the release of such study and the readiness shown by the Museum to accept a debate on the Yasuda version but keeps firm on his position in stating that this work is nothing but a forgery. “The arguments offered in this study to not modify the script of such forgery, which I detected five years ago”, he told the daily “ Le Figaro”.
“The first version of the “Sunflowers” series is in fact in Amsterdam and Van Gogh made a copy of it now in London. The painting that is in Tokyo only appeared twelve years later and several elements confirm my thesis. I shall produce several clues proving that Van Gogh did not paint this work during the Van Gogh symposium due to be held next month”, Landais added.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is staging an exhibition confronting the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin due to run until June 2nd 2002.
This kind of clash between these two cursed artists who were the pioneers of modern art is seen as a rare event. Some 100 works produced during their stay in Arles in 1888 are being shown to visitors who will thus be able to decipher the differences between these painters who both had a very strong ego.
Van Gogh certainly displayed more emotion in his works than Gauguin who was more sensual with his brush. Both artists spent 63 days in Arles, a place that the Dutch artist truly considered as a heaven.
When Van Gogh arrived in Arles on February 1888 the town was covered with snow. Unmoved by the fact that the weather was cold whereas he was searching sun, Van Gogh was certain that he would reach his goal, that is to say determine a new way of painting unrivalled so far. He settled in the Carrel hotel-restaurant but finding his stay too expensive soon looked for another lodging, which he eventually found in May.
Van Gogh worked intensively and soon freed himself from Impressionist influences acquired in Paris to move towards a daring Expressionist style. In March, the weather changed and nature blossomed around Arles. Impressed by the scenery, the artist ragingly produced colourful works that were quite revolutionary at that time.
In May, the artist rented a small house to set up a studio where he painted ceaselessly. One element mesmerized him: the flashy, burning, blazing sun to which he devoted an incredible passion. However, Van Gogh was so immersed in his work that madness soon took possession of his mind.
Wishing to have Gauguin at his side with the ambition to create what was his dream, that is to say a studio in southern France, Van Gogh induced the French artist to come to Arles in October.
Gauguin found the house rather filthy and Van Gogh already rather strange. Trying to overcome his uneasiness he also did not like Arles much.
Van Gogh and Gauguin had little affinities together. The latter was strong and bulky and all the more practical knowing that he had to compose with dealers to sell his works while the former was a lonely person always filled with anguish and really not at ease in the company of people.
All the more, Gauguin did not regard Van Gogh as a close friend and held his companion's mad passion for painting in contempt.
Van Gogh used to transcend everything he saw, comparing Isaac Israels to Rembrandt and making Millet the equal of Delacroix while Gauguin ignored superlatives and stuck to sure judgements though he was much inclined to be a theorist who knew that by going his own way he would be less and less understood.
All they had in common was that they were rejected by the public, art critics and a society that crushed their dreams and transformed their lives into a nightmare. They started to work together and went in the vicinity of the Alyscamps, an alley bordered with tombs where Van Gogh produced four paintings and Gauguin two.
Filled with emotion, Van Gogh worked frantically to depict reality in an ecstatic way while Gauguin limited himself to express the poetry of what he saw.
Gauguin tried to induce Van Gogh to follow his imagination but the latter quickly felt at a loss. He then painted the members of the Roulin family and strengthened his style ignoring Gauguin's recommendation to represent peace and calm. As a result, the Dutch artist struggled with his brushes and could not express what Gauguin was trying to instil in his mind.
Van Gogh finally preferred to follow his instinct and quarrelled with Gauguin who had the sensation he was dealing with an obtuse mind. Refusing to change his style, Van Gogh went on to challenge Gauguin who could not bear his remarks.
Angry at Van Gogh's attitude, Gauguin thus became an enemy. As a result, the atmosphere in Arles quickly deteriorated and the two artists came to a clash. On December 25th 1888, Van Gogh had a fit of madness and leapt at Gauguin a razor in his hand but the French artist, sensing danger, avoided to be slashed. Vincent then fled and went on to cut his ear while Gauguin waited no longer to return to Paris.
There is finally little in common between Van Gogh and Gauguin, except for the fact that they were working outside conventional circles and both striving to develop a new kind of painting. They succeeded in their quest but not during their pathetic existences, Van Gogh committing suicide after feeling he would remain misunderstood forever, Gauguin fleeing the industrial world to seek refuge among natives in Tahiti where he spent his last years brooding over his failures.
The Yasuda sunflowers case
On the occasion of this exhibition, the Van Gogh Museum has for the first time gathered the three versions of the “Sunflowers” series painted in Arles by Van Gogh owned by itself, the National Gallery in London and the Yasuda Insurance company.
One of these paintings was intended to decorate Gauguin's room and the organisers of this exhibition have felt it was useful to put an end to polemics fuelled by Benoit Landais, a researcher based in Holland, about the work owned by the Yasuda company.
According to Landais, the “Sunflowers” version acquired in 1987 by the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Company is nothing else but a fake.
A study published by the Van Gogh Museum tries to prove that this version is authentic and not a forgery produced by French painter Emile Schuffenecker as Landais has been claiming.
The Yasuda company has however not accepted to have the painting thoroughly analysed by a laboratory but the authors of the study have stressed that the canvas used for its execution was of the same texture of those on which the other two versions were painted.
The Van Gogh Museum is adamant that the Yasuda version is authentic and said that the artist painted it after the one he produced in August 1888, which is now held by the National Gallery.
Landais has welcomed the release of such study and the readiness shown by the Museum to accept a debate on the Yasuda version but keeps firm on his position in stating that this work is nothing but a forgery. “The arguments offered in this study to not modify the script of such forgery, which I detected five years ago”, he told the daily “ Le Figaro”.
“The first version of the “Sunflowers” series is in fact in Amsterdam and Van Gogh made a copy of it now in London. The painting that is in Tokyo only appeared twelve years later and several elements confirm my thesis. I shall produce several clues proving that Van Gogh did not paint this work during the Van Gogh symposium due to be held next month”, Landais added.
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