New work has been discovered by the world-famous painter Vincent van Gogh. This is a preliminary study for the drawing ‘Worn Out’ that the painter made in 1882. The drawing, which according to the Van Gogh Museum is no less impressive than the final work, can be seen in the Amsterdam museum from Friday.
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The so-called ‘Study for Worn Out’ measures 48.8 by 30 centimeters and shows a man sitting exhausted on a chair with his head in his hands. The work is in the possession of a private individual who wishes to remain anonymous. He asked the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to investigate the provenance of the drawing.
Teio Meedendorp, senior researcher at the museum, concludes that stylistically the work fits effortlessly between the many figure studies that Van Gogh made during his time in The Hague. According to him, the link with Worn Out is obvious. The researcher also recognizes the way in which the drawing was created. “You also come across everything you would expect in a Van Gogh drawing from this period in terms of material use: thick carpenter’s pencil as a medium, coarse watercolor paper as a carrier, fixing it afterwards with a mixture of water and milk.” The back – where damage can be seen on the corners – also match the usual way in which Van Gogh attached a sheet of paper to his drawing board, namely with wads of starch.
According to the museum, ‘Worn Out’ is “one of the most powerful figure drawings from Van Gogh’s Hague period”. In letters to his brother Theo and friend Anthon van Rappard, Van Gogh described in detail how this drawing came about. According to the museum, the study provides a special insight into the working process.
Museum director Emilie Gordenker is happy with the find. “It is quite rare for a new work to be attributed to Van Gogh. We are proud to be able to share this early drawing and the story about it with visitors to our museum.”
The last time a Van Gogh was discovered was in 2018. It concerned the Paris drawing ‘The hill of Montmartre with quarry’ by the Van Vlissingen Art Foundation. The last painting – which is rarer – was added to the painter’s oeuvre in 2013; ‘Sunset at Montmajour’.
The preliminary study can be seen in the permanent collection presentation until 2 January, together with Worn Out and other works by Van Gogh from the same period.
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