Size: on strainer bars

59 cm x 45 cm

23.22 in x 17.7 in

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Van Gogh Collaboration Painting with Student and Friend Anton Kerssemakers. Probably.

About The Painting...

After two years of extensive research, we believe this is an original Vincent van Gogh cottage collaboration painting.

The painting, Farmhouse with Barn and Well, has suffered significant damage throughout the years, as had several of Van Gogh’s paintings, and were subsequently restored and placed onto panels for preservation.

Without authentication, previous owners had little interest in conservation, though one must thank the art gods it was not completely discarded, given its dire condition.

"I follow no system of brushwork at all, I hit the canvas with irregular strokes, which I leave as they are, impastos, uncovered spots of canvas—corners here and there left inevitably unfinished— reworkings, roughnesses; well, I'm inclined to think that the result is sufficiently worrying and annoying not to please people with preconceived ideas about technique."

~ Vincent in a letter to his friend Émile Bernard

In 2020, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam received digital photographs via email of the Van Gogh cottage collaboration painting, Farmhouse with Barn and Well, for authentication purposes. The painting had not yet undergone x-ray or infrared imaging analysis; thus, their assessment was concluded entirely through photographs; quote: “based on stylistic features, the painting cannot be attributed to Vincent van Gogh.” This rejection method is one they frequently adopt to address the volume of authentication requests, simply because most of those received are not by the hand of their namesake.

However, this particular painting has all of the recognizable characteristics of a Van Gogh painting, and therefore we reject the decision made by the VGM. We believe, on this occasion, they are incorrect, as they have been before when several submissions were rejected by the museum and later authenticated as works by the Dutch Master.

After executing our research for two years and reviewing the X-rays, UV, Infrared, and Raking Light provided by the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Massachusetts, we categorically believe that this is the case with Farmhouse with Barn and Well and provide evidence as such.

The only significant contrast is a highly probable collaboration.

Vincent engaged in collaborations with his friend and student Anton Kerssemakers while in Nuenen and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec while in Paris.

There should be no question when preserving Vincent’s work, regardless of whether he painted the entire canvas or partially. The art world owes this to the gentle soul who gave us the joy of Sunflowers despite his inner turmoil.