A previously obscure double-sided drawing by Vincent van Gogh, created in the final weeks of his life, will be auctioned by Christie's in Paris. The sheet features a study of female pea pickers on one side and a landscape on the other, complete with color notations indicating Van Gogh's intention to develop them into paintings. The work has been authenticated by the Van Gogh Museum and carries an estimate of €100,000-€150,000.
The National Gallery in London opened its exhibition "Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers" (14 September 2024–19 January 2025) to five-star reviews, attracting a record 335,000 visitors. The article reveals ten surprising details about individual paintings on loan from around the world, including a self-portrait that once hung in the American ambassador's residence in Regent's Park, a painting executed on a dish towel when Van Gogh ran out of canvas, and the revelation that casino mogul Steve Wynn owns The Trinquetaille Bridge. Other surprises include a stark white replica frame for Roses, inspired by frames designed by Dr. Paul Gachet, and the fact that The Public Garden, Arles is owned by a foundation set up by Bernard Arnault, the world's third richest person.
London's National Gallery exhibition "Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers" displayed nearly all of its loaned paintings in ornate gilded frames, despite the artist's documented preference for simple, unadorned wooden frames. Van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil questioning the need for gilding, and Paul Gachet Jr., son of the doctor who cared for the artist, called gold frames around Van Gogh's works "an act of moral barbarism." A few exceptions stood out, including six paintings from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, which were shown in replica frames based on early 20th-century designs by Jacob van den Bosch, and a Van Gogh from Tokyo's National Museum of Western Art that was reframed in a replica of a frame once owned by Dr. Paul Gachet.
The article argues against the theory that Vincent van Gogh was murdered, asserting that he died by suicide on July 27, 1890. The murder theory, popularized by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith's 2011 biography "Van Gogh: The Life," claims that 16-year-old René Secrétan shot the artist, and that van Gogh protected him by claiming suicide. The author counters this with ten reasons, including that van Gogh's doctor Paul Gachet, his brother Theo, friends like Emile Bernard, and Paul Gauguin all believed it was suicide, and that police records support this conclusion.